Lower back pain type feeling

[BFCcasual]

I dunno WTF is up with me.... i get a weird pain in my lower back if i train abs. Don't get any lower back pain from other exercises.

I bought am ab roller but i get a simular pain. I've strengthened my lower back but still cant do ab exercises

Would anybody reccomend an ab belt? (one of those electronic slendertone things)

Not really interested in a 6 pack but seen as abs are a muscle group i feel as they need to be trained. Would stomach vaccuums 2 - 3 times a week be enough?

Any advice would be great

[Hartley110]

There is numerous possibilities of what exactly could be going wrong.

Can you post your routine? And include your 1 rep maxs if you know them. (or 5rms)

[soloS]

I have the same problem

[BFCcasual]

There is numerous possibilities of what exactly could be going wrong.

Can you post your routine? And include your 1 rep maxs if you know them. (or 5rms)

Sunday - Chest + Back
Wednesday - Shoulders + Trcieps
Thursday - Legs + Biceps

Had this problem from before i started training though

[Hartley110]

Sunday - Chest + Back
Wednesday - Shoulders + Trcieps
Thursday - Legs + Biceps

Had this problem from before i started training though

What exactly do you attempt to do to train your abs? It is likely your abs are so weak that your lower back is forced to come into play.

Because you had a weak lower back/abs before your training and you still do now.

I had the same problem. And it is easily fixed.

Since I do not know exactly what you do on your training days. My best advice to get the ball rolling is this.

Sunday - Chest + Back Hanging Leg Raises 3x as many as possible
Wednesday - Shoulders + Trcieps Pull Throughs 3x10 (when you max the stack on the cables, work up to 3x25)
Thursday - Legs + Biceps Leg Raises 3x as many as possible

Do that for 2 months before switching the lifts.

If you post exactly what you do on those days I can help you out more. If not, do what I advised.

[mattyoc3]

do u deadlift? cause if u get pain in ur back from ab exercises and dont from deadlifting id be soooo surprised that would be crazzy

[BFCcasual]

What exactly do you attempt to do to train your abs? It is likely your abs are so weak that your lower back is forced to come into play.

Because you had a weak lower back/abs before your training and you still do now.

I had the same problem. And it is easily fixed.

Since I do not know exactly what you do on your training days. My best advice to get the ball rolling is this.

Sunday - Chest + Back Hanging Leg Raises 3x as many as possible
Wednesday - Shoulders + Trcieps Pull Throughs 3x10 (when you max the stack on the cables, work up to 3x25)
Thursday - Legs + Biceps Leg Raises 3x as many as possible

Do that for 2 months before switching the lifts.

If you post exactly what you do on those days I can help you out more. If not, do what I advised.

Tried sit ups and leg raises but cannot finish more than a few reps

Can't do hanging leg raises because my gym dosn't have that equipment

Anyway my routine

Chest + Back; Bench, incline bench, decline bench/flat dumbbell bench, cable crossover, Wide grip pull ups, Wide grip pull downs, upright rows/rows, Deadlifts

Shoulders + Tri's; Shoulder press, side dumbbell raises, front dumbbell raises, shrugs, Dips (not with dip machine), Close grip bench, behind neck tricep extensions, tricep pushdowns

Legs + Biceps; Leg press, Leg extensions, Squats, calf raises, Dumbbell preacher, hammer curls, EZ barbell with elbows against wall

[CasualUK]

i get the same mate ****s me right off. but since iv been traing my lower back more i seems alot less that i get bad lower back pain

[Hartley110]

Tried sit ups and leg raises but cannot finish more than a few reps

Can't do hanging leg raises because my gym dosn't have that equipment

Anyway my routine

Chest + Back; Bench, incline bench, decline bench/flat dumbbell bench, cable crossover, Wide grip pull ups, Wide grip pull downs, upright rows/rows, Deadlifts

Shoulders + Tri's; Shoulder press, side dumbbell raises, front dumbbell raises, shrugs, Dips (not with dip machine), Close grip bench, behind neck tricep extensions, tricep pushdowns

Legs + Biceps; Leg press, Leg extensions, Squats, calf raises, Dumbbell preacher, hammer curls, EZ barbell with elbows against wall

You can do the leg raises on a dipping station, just face the opposite way.
But don't think you are alone in the fact that you get back pain while trying to do sit ups, more people than you think have that problem. How many different ab exercises have you tried? Do they all result in the same pain? And where exactly is the pain?

Sorry that routine isn't too great man. I could explain why but that would take awhile.

Do this routine. Focus on increasing the weights and reps every single work out, then every 4-8 weeks:
Take 1 week off. Or, only go in the gym 2x that week and do half the # of work sets, half the # of lifts and use 10-15lbs lighter weight.

Push, Pull, Legs

I don't care what those high frequency fanatics say, a simple Push, Pull, Leg Split works great for most beginners. If you can squat 3 x a week on a periodized program and make progress by all means do so. But.......many beginners don't have the work or CNS capacity to have that work and just get frustrated and quit. I would rather see them do something that works and add on as time goes by. An example is:

Monday, Chest Shoulders Triceps
Bench Press or Dip 3x5
Incline Bench BB or DB 3x10
Military Press 3x10
Skull Crushers 3x10

Wednesday
Chin-Up or Lat Pull-Down 3x10
Row 3x5
Barbell or DB Curl 3x10
Abs 3x10

Friday
Squats or Deadlifts 2x5, 1x10. deadlifts 1x5, 1x10
Leg Press (optional if squatting that day) 2x10
Standing or Leg Press Calf Raise 3x15
Pull Throughs or Reverse Hyper 3x10

Iron Addict
__________

[BFCcasual]

Feels like a tingling in the lower spine

Get the same pain when doing most ab exercies

Can do hanging leg raises but my gym dosn't have that machine. Do you think an electronic ab belt and stomach vaccuums would be sufficent?

And i would be really interested into why you think i have a poor routine (not being sarcastic, always willing to take advice)

BTW really appreciate the time your taking to try and help me, cheers fella.

[Hartley110]

Feels like a tingling in the lower spine

Get the same pain when doing most ab exercies

Can do hanging leg raises but my gym dosn't have that machine. Do you think an electronic ab belt and stomach vaccuums would be sufficent?

And i would be really interested into why you think i have a poor routine (not being sarcastic, always willing to take advice)

BTW really appreciate the time your taking to try and help me, cheers fella.

The problem with your routine is that it has too many similar movements for one body part and I can correctly assume that the overall volume of your work out is much too high to make rapid strength gains.

You see for example with your chest day, after doing flat Bench, do you really think that you need 2 more big lifts for your chest? You are trying to stimulate strength/size by doing what is required, and no more. Doing incline bench, decline bench/flat dumbbell bench after your main pressing movement is only going to make your chest (and the other muscles involved) take much longer to recover and grow than is needed.

As a beginner you can progress from work out to work out. You could literally train your legs on monday, take tuesday off, and your legs would be ready to train again on Wednesday after only 24 hours rest. (if you used appropriate volume and whether or not your CNS could handle it is completely different) Simply put, this is because you cannot damage (train) your legs hard enough with the weight you are using to make them need longer than 24 hours to heal. As you go up in your level of training and the amount of weight you can lift, you will train a body part less frequently and actually do less work sets than a beginner.
Beginners need a few basic lifts, done frequently.
While intermediates can benefit from a variety of lifts, done with a little less frequency than a beginner.


Let's compare your routine to this proven one written by a reputable trainer who works with 100+ clients at a time.

Chest + Back; Bench, incline bench, decline bench/flat dumbbell bench, cable crossover, Wide grip pull ups, Wide grip pull downs, upright rows/rows, Deadlifts

Shoulders + Tri's; Shoulder press, side dumbbell raises, front dumbbell raises, shrugs, Dips (not with dip machine), Close grip bench, behind neck tricep extensions, tricep pushdowns

Legs + Biceps; Leg press, Leg extensions, Squats, calf raises, Dumbbell preacher, hammer curls, EZ barbell with elbows against wall


Monday, Chest Shoulders Triceps
Bench Press or Dip 3x5
Incline Bench BB or DB 3x10
Military Press 3x10
Skull Crushers 3x10

Wednesday
Row 3x5
Chin-Up or Lat Pull-Down 3x10
Barbell or DB Curl 3x10
Abs 3x10

Friday
Squats or Deadlifts 2x5, 1x10. deadlifts 1x5, 1x10
Leg Press (optional if squatting that day) 2x10
Standing or Leg Press Calf Raise 3x15
Pull Throughs or Reverse Hyper 3x10

Notice how each day the first movement is a heavy (low rep) compound lift, then there is only 1 other lift for that body part done with higher reps, and only 1-2 other lifts.