What to do about lower back pain after squats

[pete6032]

Never in my life have i had lower back pain after squatting. I did something this morning, probably poor posture, and now I'm having a lot of tightness in my lower back. In the long term I will do more stretching and be cognizant of my form, but what i can do in the next 12 hours to loosen up my back?

 

[whm1974]

Real Simple Solution: Quit Squatting And Your Lower Back Will Stop Hurting!!! Or to Keep It Simple Stupid(KISS): RSS:QSAYLBWTH!!!

 

[deadlyapp]

Ignore whm who has probably never done a heavy squat in his life.

I every so often get major lockup in my hip and low back. Best advice I have is use a lacrosse ball to work the hip and low back as much as you can, do some good stretches such as cat/camel, pigeon pose, etc, and if no resolution over a few days get a good massage and or see a chiro

 

[Red Squirrel]

On similar tangent when you start to get into heavier weights how do you deal with your shoulders? I find my shoulders hurt just from the weight of the bar. I also find it can be hard on the elbows because of the awkwardness of how you have to position your arms to hold it back, but that is less dependent on the weight. Even doing that movement without the weight is just awkward. Is there a point where you want some kind of harness or something to distribute the weight?

 

[purbeast0]

If squats hurt your neck/shoulders, you aren't holding the bar correctly. Most inexperienced people place the bar way too forward. You want to basically pinch your traps and pull your shoulders back, and hold the bar along that part. I actually also find doing squat motions without a bar very awkward myself. It feels way more natural/comfortable to do it with a bar.

The heaviest I've squatted is like 365lbs and it never hurt.

I now go lighter weight but do more reps. Yesterday I was doing sets of 10 with 295lbs and it doesn't hurt at all.

As for lower back pain, just take a break. Try to figure out what you did to get that pain. It's not normal. Years ago I messed up a disc doing squats wrong, by leaning forward too much and arching my back the wrong way, and to this day it can still bother me. What helped me A TON though was an inversion table. After like 5 years of nagging pain, I got one and within a week my back felt better than ever.

I also do not recommend using a belt. All it does is give you a false sense of security. Not using one will help strengthen your core and develop those muscles to help stabilize. Again, this is stuff I know from experience, as I used to use a belt all the time too.

 

[highland145]

Core work should be in your weekly schedule and what deadly said. Plus...laying on the floor, right foot on the outside of the left knee, pull the knee to the left. Hold that 30+ seconds. Repeat a couple of times on both sides. Pay attention to relaxing. I tend to want to flex the hamstring.

During those, I'll also pull the knee to the opposing shoulder.

edit: and what pur said about the inversion table. I don't have one but have a friend that swears by his. Uses it right before he goes to bed.

 

[deadlyapp]

Good advice from @purbeast0 and some logic.

If you have any pain anywhere in your upper body from doing squats - you're doing them wrong or you are highly inflexible in your shoulders. I've easily squatted mid 300's with no pain and regularly unrack 400+ with no pain.

If you want to squat safely without learning how to handle the bar correctly, then get a safety squat bar.

 

[realestvibe]

You probably need to take a break from squats and then do other forms of exercise. Different workouts target different parts of your body.

 

[whm1974]

Didn't I already mention that if you are having lower back pain doing squats, simply stop doing them?Feeling pain has a good damn reason to exist don't you know?

Damn bodybuilders and weightlifters, don't have the commonsense to quit when it hurts.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Lol @ advice to stop doing them. Imagine if you brought your car to the mechanic and you said every time I turn left it makes a weird noise and he said "well stop turning left".

 

[deadlyapp]

Lol @ advice to stop doing them. Imagine if you brought your car to the mechanic and you said every time I turn left it makes a weird noise and he said "well stop turning left".

Actual logic.

If you have pain, stopping the movement completely is literally the worst thing you can do. Do you know what they do at physical therapy? They force you to work through ranges of motion that might otherwise hurt you or cause pain.

Yes, you obviously shouldn't add load, speed, or complexity while working through pain, but you absolutely should not stop moving.

 

[pauldun170]

Never in my life have i had lower back pain after squatting. I did something this morning, probably poor posture, and now I'm having a lot of tightness in my lower back. In the long term I will do more stretching and be cognizant of my form, but what i can do in the next 12 hours to loosen up my back?

I'm going to assume you are doing traditional barbell squat and not some stupid smith machine.

Where exactly are you experiencing pain?
Left side, right side, both? Middle?
When do you experience pain? sitting? standing? Bending over?

Form is probably the culprit and if you are an office worker, sitting for extended periods of time will destroy your body resulting in weakness in your core.

- Not the worst thing in the world to take an inflammatory for day or two.
- Avoid sitting for extended periods of time.
- Avoid any sort of position for extended periods of time.
- Take break from 1-2 weeks break from your squatting and deadlifts routine. Replace it with accessory movements. Pay careful attention to pain reduction progress. If you screwed up and you hurt....the advice to "stop squatting" is correct. Stop the movement, assess and let it heal.
- Figure out whats wrong with your form and establish a proper warm up routine. You can toss up some light weight on the bar for this.
- ONce you figure out what you did wrong and the pain subsides, gradually work your way back up to your normal squat routine.

Depending on the damage done and your age, full recovery could take a week or 6 months.
Use it as opportunity to address issues with your routine.

 

[pete6032]

I rested for a couple days and felt a lot better. Rolled my back on a foam roller to loosen it up. I do work in an office and hate sitting.

 

[killster1]

front squats, less weight, work on form by video taping your self, yes foam roller or massage. Never tried a invert table and always was curious to how long the decompression will last i thought it was very short term guess i can do another research on it or buy one with a good return policy i have a knobby roller not made of foam that i love to use after a work out. I try to only do squats 1 day a week and same with deadlifts.

 

[WelshBloke]

Actual logic.

If you have pain, stopping the movement completely is literally the worst thing you can do. Do you know what they do at physical therapy? They force you to work through ranges of motion that might otherwise hurt you or cause pain.

Yes, you obviously shouldn't add load, speed, or complexity while working through pain, but you absolutely should not stop moving.

That absolutely depends on what is causing the pain.

 

[Mai72]

A Few Thoughts:
*Lower the amount of weights
*Do an alternative to squats, like using dumbbells
*Warm up and stretch before squats
*Make sure you are engaging in proper form
*Have someone spot and critique your form

I still do squats but I use light weights. I got away from doing lifts like the barbell row and went to Tbar rows. I messed up my back a few years ago doing rows, and decided that I needed more support, so now I do the Tbar version. The same with deadlifts. I can't do those anymore. One bad form and you can snap your back. Great exercises though.

 

[shellycooper928]

It probably means you're just not doing them correctly. Make sure to keep your back straight while squatting. If you feel you have to bend, then don't try to squat so deep. Also, make sure to stretch those hamstrings!! very important

 

[mike8675309]

Lower back pain will be increased during a squat if your form is off, especially if you struggle with hip mobility. That can cause you to tip forward more than you should, placing more stress on your lumbar spine. Work on hip mobility before increasing weight. Ensure the bar path is straight down. Likely if you look at your bar path now it bumps out as you try to squat. I have a similar issue so I don't squat heavy right now. I continue to work on hip mobility. Sumo squat helps.

 

[AntonioHG]

Work on strengthening your lower back with some back extensions, your core with cable crunches. Make sure to place the bar as high as you're comfortable, consider wearing heel lifting shoes to move the weight with a more upright torso. Finally, be sure to take a big breath and press it down as if you're going to be punched in the gut, hold it on the descent, ascent and then release at the top for each rep. Consider wearing a lifting belt so you can reinforce the tight core and prevent yourself from being folded by the weight.

(I've had this happen with heavy sets (405x8) with no belt and too much bad form)

 

[GoodEnough]

update?

 

[Sd936]

Im 33 today an have had back pain since i was 14-15. People thought i was kidding when i told them i had back pain at such a young age. I went to the best doctors trainers and chiros and til this day nothing helps but ibuprofen and my wife or kids walking on it on occasion . Im in pain as i write this. Most days i just deal with it until it gets unbearable. I fear I will deal with this for the rest of my life.

 

[GoodEnough]

Im 33 today an have had back pain since i was 14-15. People thought i was kidding when i told them i had back pain at such a young age. I went to the best doctors trainers and chiros and til this day nothing helps but ibuprofen and my wife or kids walking on it on occasion . Im in pain as i write this. Most days i just deal with it until it gets unbearable. I fear I will deal with this for the rest of my life.

What did the MRI show ?

 

[UsandThem]

Im 33 today an have had back pain since i was 14-15. People thought i was kidding when i told them i had back pain at such a young age. I went to the best doctors trainers and chiros and til this day nothing helps but ibuprofen and my wife or kids walking on it on occasion . Im in pain as i write this. Most days i just deal with it until it gets unbearable. I fear I will deal with this for the rest of my life.

What did the MRI show ?

Yup.

You are not in that bad of shape if ibuprofen and kids walking on your back helps. Even strong prescription painkillers did not totally alleviate the pain for me on particularly bad days/periods.

This is coming from someone who battled back pain for 10 years, and finally had a doctor send me in for MRIs (and eventually surgery after shots into the discs/nerves didn't improve the problems). Find a true spine specialist and(not a more general orthopedic doctor) and do a MRI. Beware it's not cheap, but you will most likely figure out what is causing your issues.