Lower back pain: what should I do?

CrazyBoy · Post by **CrazyBoy** » Nov 30, 2005 13:41

Hello! The day before yesterday I trained my legs (as usual) at the gym. I did my warm-up, and got right to the squats. I started with a light weught (60kg) and afterwards continued with the maximum 102kg. At the second set with the max weight I felt a sharp pain in my lower back and I couldn't bend my back. Since monday I've recovered but I still hurt. What should I do. I've noticed that doing hindu squats my back pain diminished somehow. What should I do?

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Dec 01, 2005 06:49

First thing is to get yourself checked out.It's quite easy to injury your lower back during squats due to the amount of forward lean you may have been using(Hindu squats take any forward lean out of the equation which is why you don't feel the pain).
How many warm up sets do you do?You say you then used your max weight-What rep/set scheme are you using?

Dragon.

CrazyBoy · Post by **CrazyBoy** » Dec 01, 2005 14:39

Thanks Dragon for the reply!
First of all, I want to correct something in my first post: it's not Hindu squats but Hindu push-ups that made me feel good.
Well, my training plan for the legs is this: in case of squats, I do one set as warm-up with a light weight and three more sets with the maximum weight. I keep a notebook with all the trainings and the weights used then.
I guess that my back pain appeared due to the fact that I leant to much forwards.
Now, due to those hindu push-ups my back pain has diminished 90%.

Kit · Post by **Kit** » Dec 01, 2005 19:50

you say 90%, which means it still hurts, which means you are still injured. Don't play around with back injuries (don't risk anything!) Back injuries can grow and put you out of action in an instant. I recommend you get yourself checked out by a doctor who can help you with appropriate methods of rehab. I also recommend you don't do any more weighted squats until you are ready.

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Dec 02, 2005 06:29

As Kit says,you need to make sure you're 100% before you go back to weighted squats.

You didn't mention your reps for the squat or poundages you're lifting.
Looking at your working plan though i'd say one of two things could be happening.
1)If there isn't much weight difference between your warm up set and work sets then your warm up set is too heavy.
OR...
2)If you are using a light warm up set then performing only one before you move onto your max weight isn't enough.

A few things to try(once you are ready!!)

1)If you perform max weight work sets then i'd do 3 warm up sets.My first warm up set is performed with an extremely light weight,2nd warm up set is slightly heavier,3rd warm up set is heavier still.The final warm up set i perform is about 85% of my work set weight.

2)If you are concerned about injuring your lower back again i would increase the weight and drop the reps.Because your lower back stablizes your torso during squats it can become fatigued before your legs do.This can lead to injury.
Low reps will increase your strength but keep you relatively fresh.

Dragon.

CrazyBoy · Post by **CrazyBoy** » Dec 02, 2005 09:43

Kit, I wasn't planning to get back to performing squats or deadlifts with weights until my back is 100% rehabilitated. I don't want to create more damage as it is and besides this injury scared me seriously and made me more focused and more wise so I hope in the future I won't make the same mistake again.
Dragon I suppose that I wasn't very warmed-up when I did the squats and thus injured myself. I talked to a doctor and he said I should warm-up much better otherwise I could damage a ligament or a vertebrae and that would be the end of my sports carrier. I will try your version of warming-up and tell you how it felt.
Thank you both!!!

backinjured · Post by **backinjured** » Dec 06, 2005 20:21

what you should do is not complain about it, I've had back pain for three years now

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Dec 07, 2005 06:35

To keep on doing the same thing and "work through" an injury isn't going to make it go away,and will probably make it worse.

No pain,no gain definatley doesn't apply to injuries.

Dragon.

CrazyBoy · Post by **CrazyBoy** » Dec 07, 2005 15:14

Hey backinjured, I don't complain about it but I am worried it can be a serious injury and I don't want to do more harm.
But I am happy to say that the pain is healing very fast.

Post by **Thomas Kurz** » Jan 06, 2006 11:42

CrazyBoy wrote:I suppose that I wasn't very warmed-up when I did the squats and thus injured myself. I talked to a doctor and he said I should warm-up much better otherwise I could damage a ligament or a vertebrae and that would be the end of my sports carrier

Warming-up more before heavy lifting is good but makes sure you warm-up with the correct form of movement (right position of the spine and right direction of movement). See my columns on squats and on back exercises ( http://www.stadion.com/column_stretch20.html , http://www.stadion.com/column_stretch21.html , http://www.stadion.com/column_stretch22.html ) .

CrazyBoy · Post by **CrazyBoy** » Jan 07, 2006 11:36

Thanks mr Kurz. I must say that after injuring my lower back, I immediatly checked those colums (I already have them on my computer). Thanks anyway.