Lower back problems

Whats up everyone. I’ve been working out Westside Barbell style for about a month now. As some of you probably know, they are big on core strength, that is, lower back and abs. Well, is seems ever since i started my lower back has just been killing me. Sometimes if i am just standing still or waiting in line it starts to throb. It seems i am always looking for something to lean on. I don’t have access to a Reverse Hyper Machine, so i have just been doing back extensions for lower back. It also gets hit hard doing Good Mornings. I’m at a loss for what to do. I would hate to stop squatting and deadlifting, but if it comes between that and having a pain free back later in life, i will have to stop. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

anton

The westside program as it is written is too much volume for a lot of lifters…especially if you’re a natural lifter. The program calls for a heck of a lot of volume on the posterior chain with all the reverse hypers, box squats, etc…you have to gradually build yourself up to handle all this volume. I’ve had several other people complain about the same thing after initiating this program for a few weeks. The remedy is to do the same workouts but spread them out over a 10 day cycle instead of a 7 day cycle…this will give you a couple of extra days rest.

Anton:

Without realizing it you may have already uncovered why your back is hurting - back extensions. Of course it is difficult to diagnose without seeing the problem, but the beauty of a Reverse Hyper is that you work the back by using the powerful muscles of the Glutes/Hams. Other questions could be would be have you kept up your abdominal training, do you actively stretch? I would suggest dropping the lower back extensions and substituting a non-weighted Reverse Hypers. Don’t worry, the Westside approach will work to make that back strong beyond belief.

John Davies