Back Pain and Lagging Legs

Age: 22
Sex: F
Height: 5’5"
Weight: 117

And now for some background. I really got into lifting about six months ago, and I love it. I’ve cut a good eight pounds of body fat, and my upper body training has been progressing well. My upper body strength is quite good - when I started off I couldn’t do a single pull up, but I’m up to sets of five now. I’ve upped my bench and have been steadily increasing weight on my other upper body lifts.

The problem is with my lower body. Lower back problems run in the family, and for over a year I’ve been having sciatica and lower back pain for no apparent reason. MRI and X-rays came out fine, but I have all the symptoms of a pinched nerve. There’s no easy fix for the problem, so I’m just having to work around it. Since the scans came out fine, the doctor said I’m fine to do whatever I can tolerate as far as lifting goes. Lifting has actually seemed to help, but poor squat form was making it worse.

So I stopped doing weighted squats and I’ve been really practicing my form with wall squats; I’m not quite there yet but I’m improving. My problem is after I hit parallel my lower back rounds. Anyway, although I’ve been lifting for months, I’ve seen very little improvement in my lower body. I’m avoiding spinal loading exercises (squats and deads) until I can build up my lower body some more and (hopefully) do them without pain.

I’ve been doing a lot of barbell hip thrusts, walking lunges, leg curls, leg extensions, and split squats. I’ve also been doing some extensions to build up my lower back a little. I’ve noticed some improvement, but my lower body is still lagging pretty badly.

Leg curls: 4x6-8
Leg extensions: 4x6-8
Walking lunges: 3x10
Hip thrusts: 4x6-8
BW squats: 3x15-20, sometimes I’ll do a few sets of 5 with just the barbell to work on form.

This is a typical leg day for me. Since my progression was poor, I changed up my workout a few weeks ago to this scheme, which I usually do 2-3 times/week. Any changes/additions to the exercises or rep schemes you would recommend? Or should I just stick with it? Spinal loading and high impact are no-no’s, so no running, sprinting or weighted jumping. I haven’t tried box jumps.

Look into hip belt squats to avoid spinal loading. Good option for now until you get your back rehabbed. Also light weight goblet squats to work on your squat form.

I would recommend seeing someone like a physical therapist, chiro etc. to look at your back. My initial visit at a GP doc resulted in a “we dont see anything but here are some muscle relaxers”. Saw a chiro and turned out I had a bulging disc.

your lower back and hamstrings are tight and weak. This causing the Butt Tuck and it is pulling and causes lower back pain when you get to low. Start Stretching and foam your hamstrings, hips, glutes and lower back daily. I have to do it before every squat session or my lower back hurts so bad I cant even sit down. Start hammering some GHRs as well.

As for the squat your problem is not coming from having a loaded spine but due to the rounding off the lower back at the bottom. Get a box or bench or something and set it to a height about inch or 2 above where the Butt Tucking occurs. Stay at this height for a few weeks and then minimally adjust the height of the box or what ever you are using and continue. Doing this on top of the said mobility work will help you more than just not squatting.

[quote]The-German wrote:
Look into hip belt squats to avoid spinal loading. Good option for now until you get your back rehabbed. Also light weight goblet squats to work on your squat form.

I would recommend seeing someone like a physical therapist, chiro etc. to look at your back. My initial visit at a GP doc resulted in a “we dont see anything but here are some muscle relaxers”. Saw a chiro and turned out I had a bulging disc. [/quote]

Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll look into it. And yeah, I tried physical therapy but it didn’t seem to help me very much. I’ve been considering seeing a chiropractor but I’m hesitant. Other doctors typically don’t recommend it because it has a high rate of injury and can make your problems worse :confused:

[quote]Reed wrote:
your lower back and hamstrings are tight and weak. This causing the Butt Tuck and it is pulling and causes lower back pain when you get to low. Start Stretching and foam your hamstrings, hips, glutes and lower back daily. I have to do it before every squat session or my lower back hurts so bad I cant even sit down. Start hammering some GHRs as well.

As for the squat your problem is not coming from having a loaded spine but due to the rounding off the lower back at the bottom. Get a box or bench or something and set it to a height about inch or 2 above where the Butt Tucking occurs. Stay at this height for a few weeks and then minimally adjust the height of the box or what ever you are using and continue. Doing this on top of the said mobility work will help you more than just not squatting.

I’ve always had tight calves/hamstrings, and lately I’ve been stretching regularly and foam rolling, which seems to help greatly. Would you recommend stretching before or after lifts, or both? I’ve also been working on my ankle mobility. I’ve noticed the muscles ipsilateral to the nerve pain get extremely tight and haven’t been responding to the stretching as much. The foam rolling helps, but that shit can huuurt.

As for the box squats, I’ve been meaning to try them. It seems like they’re often suggested in articles as a means to improve your squat form.

Lately I’ve really been making sure to push my knees out and I’ve noticed a lot of tightness in my groin. I’m wondering if a tight psoas could be the root of my problem. I didn’t realize that it correlated with back pain. Reciprocal inhibition of the glutes would explain my lack of progressâ?¦ Any recommendations for good psoas stretches other than the standard kneeling stretch? I just picked up a book by Contreras, and I’ve been doing some exercises he suggested to work on glute activation. I remembered reading an article on tnation a few months back that he wrote about building better glutes, so I’m hoping I can get some good material out of his programs.

[quote]Knoxout wrote:

[quote]The-German wrote:
Look into hip belt squats to avoid spinal loading. Good option for now until you get your back rehabbed. Also light weight goblet squats to work on your squat form.

I would recommend seeing someone like a physical therapist, chiro etc. to look at your back. My initial visit at a GP doc resulted in a “we dont see anything but here are some muscle relaxers”. Saw a chiro and turned out I had a bulging disc. [/quote]

Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll look into it. And yeah, I tried physical therapy but it didn’t seem to help me very much. I’ve been considering seeing a chiropractor but I’m hesitant. Other doctors typically don’t recommend it because it has a high rate of injury and can make your problems worse :/[/quote]

It’s really a matter of finding an intelligent one. I wasted over a year waiting for my back to just heal itself up. Saw my chiro for a couple months after I became desperate and was back to squating in no time. My issue was entirely structural though so it’s not the answer for everyone.

I have had numerous lower back problems due to bad form and coaches with no experience giving bad advice. What I found has helped are box squats with perfect form. I’ve stopped doing those due to a plateu and now do Romanian deadlifts and front squats. The FS bother me a little, interestingly, but not the RDLs.

And fyi I deadlift over 400lbs pain free, do it is possible to fix your back.

Along with what Reed has recommended, it’s likely your hip flexors are overactive(tight) as well.

Your sciatica most likely is coming from an overactive piriformis and/or psoas. You can only relieve this through myofascial release. Sure the belt will offer temporary support, but eventually you’ll bust.

Find a professional that is certified in ART or ROLFing and get yourself fixed up. It will take a couple sessions, but it’s the best solution.

As for your leg routine, I’d minus everything except for BW squats.

Wouldn’t goblet squats be preferable over BW squats? The counterweight makes it much easier to balance, and most people can’t squat because of balance/muscle control as much as the flexibility issues they have.

[quote]magick wrote:
Wouldn’t goblet squats be preferable over BW squats? The counterweight makes it much easier to balance, and most people can’t squat because of balance/muscle control as much as the flexibility issues they have.[/quote]

Seeing that she doesn’t have goblets squats listed in her current routine, I didn’t think to mention it. But definitely.

[quote]Reed wrote:
your lower back and hamstrings are tight and weak. This causing the Butt Tuck and it is pulling and causes lower back pain when you get to low. Start Stretching and foam your hamstrings, hips, glutes and lower back daily. I have to do it before every squat session or my lower back hurts so bad I cant even sit down. Start hammering some GHRs as well.

As for the squat your problem is not coming from having a loaded spine but due to the rounding off the lower back at the bottom. Get a box or bench or something and set it to a height about inch or 2 above where the Butt Tucking occurs. Stay at this height for a few weeks and then minimally adjust the height of the box or what ever you are using and continue. Doing this on top of the said mobility work will help you more than just not squatting.

[/quote]

This is the longest post I’ve ever seen Reed write, and when it comes to squatting, this guy knows his shit. I would advise you read and reread this post.

Start doing lunges and Romanian Deadlifts.

Lunges are an excellent exercise for lifters with back problems as the down position gives your phoas (hip flexor) a really good stretch whilst your back is still in an upright position. When you get good at them you can add load and thus get a good training effect on your quads. The key is to keep your chest proud throughout the entire movement. If you lean forward pressure goes onto the lower back and that is the opposite of what we want.
You could pre exaust first with leg extensions to get a better stimulus to your quads if you like. This would reduce the amount of load needed.
Once you get good at them you could certainly turn it into a split squat.

To strengthen your glutes and hamstrings try Romanian Deadlifts. I doubt any exercise does a better job and when performed correctly is completely safe. Some beginners avoid RDL’s thinking they will get lower back issues but this isn’t really the case. The key of course is to maintain a straight back. Do not round your back at all during the movement. Just focus on the glutes.
Push your buttocks back and slide the bar down your thighs until you feel your hamstrings tighten a bit then come back up with a hip thrust. Don’t worry about trying to lower to a certain point or any other such rubbish. Only go to where your mobility lets you go with a straight back.
By thrusting your hips at the end you are promoting a posterior pelvic tilt and this is desirable as most people with lower back pain have an anterior tilted pelvis.

Strengthening glutes and hamstrings takes a lot of strain off lower back and will help you with your injury.
Of course you should see a good remedial massage therapist and get your sciatica sorted then work on correcting the problem by what I’ve stated above.

Edit: Static stretching the hamstrings only has a limited effect. Basically they can expand somewhat for a brief time. Loaded stretching on the other hand has a more positive effect which is another plus for the RDL.

Thank you for all the advice! I made an appointment at a chiro clinic that also does decompression, manual therapy, etc. I did a bunch of box squats to work on form but I was still feeling it mostly in my low back. I got the boyfriend to check my form, and he said that my problem was excessive anterior pelvic tilt. So what looked like flexion to me was evidently my spine going back to neutral when I broke parallel?I think bad advice from other lifters led me to overcompensate. So I’m really working on maintaining a neutral spine. Hopefully I’ll get it down and squatting will be pain free :slight_smile:

Video?

I started doing goblet squats and bodyweight squats while really working on keeping a neutral spine. I also started doing some hip flexor stretches and glute activation exercises before lifting, and it has helped a ton. I realized I wasn’t properly activating my glutes during my lower body lifts and was slipping into anterior pelvic tilt. Also started seeing a chiropractor, I’ve done a few sessions of EMS, decompression, and adjustments. He’s going to add in some more stabilization exercises and some NMT massages next week, and I’m not supposed to lift until then. I’ll post a video sometime next week if I can. I have squatted just the bar a few times since I posted and evidently my form looked good.

Try the hill climb drill on the bike here…

Also any reason you’re not using the leg press?

[quote]Knoxout wrote:
I started doing goblet squats and bodyweight squats while really working on keeping a neutral spine. I also started doing some hip flexor stretches and glute activation exercises before lifting, and it has helped a ton. I realized I wasn’t properly activating my glutes during my lower body lifts and was slipping into anterior pelvic tilt. Also started seeing a chiropractor, I’ve done a few sessions of EMS, decompression, and adjustments. He’s going to add in some more stabilization exercises and some NMT massages next week, and I’m not supposed to lift until then. I’ll post a video sometime next week if I can. I have squatted just the bar a few times since I posted and evidently my form looked good. [/quote]

Similar to front squats, goblet squats force you to brace your abs which help to rotate your pelvis into a neutral position. It could be possible that you weren’t activating your core in the past. If so you can do exercises like planks or pausing the goblet squats at the bottom to target mainly your core and remember to always brace it for all lifts that load the spine.

Edit: In addition to bracing your abs, learn to tighten your chest and lats as well (regardless of how light the weight is) while doing the goblet squats so your torso remains rigid. This is necessary when you transition to back squats and deadlifts later on.