Slight Lower back pain from Squatting/deadlifting

[Sinsst]

Hey girls,

Recently I managed to get my gf to properly start weightlifting, for about 2 months. The first month I made a program for her which was more centered towards high reps. However, the 2nd month I sort of took a decent program from internet and changed it to be more suitable for her needs. This week she decided that she wanted to deadlift a bigger weight (110 lbs) for 5 reps. She managed to do it with what I saw was really good form (no back bent or anything). But she accused a lower back pain at the tailbone/above glutes. Next day she was supposed to squat, but the pain was still there, especially during this movement. We noticed that if she widened the squat stance, the pain was less intense. However, it's been bothering her even now (not intensely, but bothering).

Things to note:
*she has excessive Anterior Pelvic Tilt (i think even slightly more than a woman is supposed to have)
*i'm not 100% if she hyperextended at the top of the movement, but i don't think so. Last week she had lower back pain when squatting heavy as well (5RM).
*she had lower back pain in the past due to her posture with slouched back. I gave her more back exercises than chest to try to correct that through musculature

I honestly think the problem is the APT, but i'm not sure. Personally I remember when I started deadlifting I had a mild lower back pain as well, but i think that area just fortified in time. (I have a bit of APT for a male as well). So i'm wondering, since there probably are many females with APT, did you have the same problem, how did you fix it? Just going light weight (10rm+)?

Thanks!

[vhenley164]

Perhaps have her go and see a physio. I found that I was getting some back pain down one side of my back when dead lifting and we found that due to an old knee injury I was putting a lot of weight on my better leg and my back was then trying to stabilise me. Have since been working on this and doing exercise that encourage my body to take equal weight on both legs.

Perhaps a physio could look for any slight biomechanical problems that lifting is causing to act up

[natnat5]

I also recommend stretching. I was having a lot of lower back pain and I went to get a massage and learned my IT band was crazy tight. I did a lot of stretching and used the foam roller after every workout and my back pain went away. A lot times it's not actually your back that has the problem but somewhere else and your back is just trying to compensate for it.

[Sinsst]

After a few trials we isolated the pain to the left side of the coccyx (she has a really prominent/visible coccyx). I'm still not sure what's the issue but ibuprofen gel alleviated the pain. She will deload for a week and we're buying a foam roller and see where she goes from there.

I agree physio is a really good idea, but I don't think we can afford that, so it's just trial/error and google. If anybody else has any ideas they are much appreciated.
Thanks

[sparkle12]

Hiya I was wondering if your gf ever got to the bottom of this?

I seem to be having a similar problem but I'm not sure where the problems occurring from as I had it a while back randomly, which went away after a week or so. I've only recently started lifting weights again, and today this seems to have come back with a vengeance!

It's a constant dull pain which increases when I tighten my glutes or walking upstairs. It seems to be in an odd area.

Having read your last post it also seems to be occurring on the left side of the coccyx.

[mariia]

can you try a different type of dl? Like sumo dl. I think its less agressive for your back and it still works.

[birdiefu]

The specific region you mention that is painful to hear sounds like it may be SI joint aggravation....*or* a variety of other issues (disc, muscular, etc). I would suggest she rest until the pain is better, if not see a doc. When she gets back to squats/dls, that APT should really be addressed. Usually, the glutes are being underutilized, and there is too much focus on lumbar/spinal musculature, which leads to improper spinal position under load (bad ju-ju) - also, with squats, make sure she does *not* have any buttwink going on in order to reach depth.

Would work on glute activation exercises, postural work (not just at the gym, everyday especially when sitting, etc), and working on spot-on form, even if she feels she must have only "baby weights" right now.

Pretty good article with pics, one at top (excessive arch) and #2 especially

http://stronglifts.com/deadlift/back-pain/

[oregonchick76]

The specific region you mention that is painful to hear sounds like it may be SI joint aggravation....*or* a variety of other issues (disc, muscular, etc). I would suggest she rest until the pain is better, if not see a doc. When she gets back to squats/dls, that APT should really be addressed. Usually, the glutes are being underutilized, and there is too much focus on lumbar/spinal musculature, which leads to improper spinal position under load (bad ju-ju) - also, with squats, make sure she does *not* have any buttwink going on in order to reach depth.

Would work on glute activation exercises, postural work (not just at the gym, everyday especially when sitting, etc), and working on spot-on form, even if she feels she must have only "baby weights" right now.

Pretty good article with pics, one at top (excessive arch) and #2 especially

http://stronglifts.com/deadlift/back-pain/

I 2nd the SI joint. I actually tore my SI a few years ago during a bad DL attempt and spent the following 8 months log-rolling out of bed it hurt so bad. It took over a year to heal up from, but I'm back to heavy DL's. It's something I have to be very careful of though.

[mtnliones5]

This sounds like what happened to me. I had this dull ache in my low back right above the coccyx. I kept trying to figure out what it was coming from. It became less severe but was still there for awhile. Then when I was deadlifting I heard a popping noise followed by immediate pain. I took a week off from the gym and saw a chiropractor who said it was a pulled muscle and after a couple weeks I no longer have any pain in my low back.

I think I have sleepy glutes and that is what caused my back problem. I wasn't squeezing my glutes at the top of the movement so my low back was taking a lot of the weight.

I am very cautious about deadlifting now. You could have her rack pull or as someone else already said try sumo deadlifts.

If your gf has severe ant pelvic tilt then she may have sleepy glutes as well AND really tight hamstrings. Both of those combined can be a dangerous combination when performing squats and deadlifts. Make sure she stretches and try doing to glute activation exercises.