How to avoid overworking lower back?

[desklamp2]

Hi.

How can I avoid overworking lower back? Almost everything I do hits lower back in some way... squats, DLs, cleans, even in bench I cant help but arch some and use my lower back. My lower back is always sore and it gets overworked. It wouldn't be much of a problem if I did not stay sore, but I stay sore for a week from a workout. This soreness isn't fixed by eating more or by "working out" the soreness, if I try to "work out" the soreness it just gets worse.

so how can everyone do all these exercises that work the lower back, every one of them?

Okay thanks.

[thestoebz]

Hi.

How can I avoid overworking lower back? Almost everything I do hits lower back in some way... squats, DLs, cleans, even in bench I cant help but arch some and use my lower back. My lower back is always sore and it gets overworked. It wouldn't be much of a problem if I did not stay sore, but I stay sore for a week from a workout. This soreness isn't fixed by eating more or by "working out" the soreness, if I try to "work out" the soreness it just gets worse.

so how can everyone do all these exercises that work the lower back, every one of them?

Okay thanks.

Did you just start lifting? My back doesn't stay sore for a week ever. How many days do you work out each week?

What does your program look like?

[71Avido]

How many days/week are you training?

[KyleKeough]

1.) Review your technique so that your overworked lower back isn't a result of correctable technical mistakes.

2.) If not #1, try introducing more vertical-torso-position squat and deadlift variations into your training.

[Jason2459]

The best thing I've ever done for my lower back is incorporate reverse hypers practically every day. Right after doing them I'm usually not to functional so I do them last in my training but when I wake up the next morning its a huge difference between when I do them and don't do them. I don't do a lot of weight and do something like 4-5 sets of ~20. You don't have to buy an actual rev hyper either though having a real one now is really nice and more stable then what I had before. I did make a cheap rack mounted one and my rack wasn't as stable as others could be. But there's lots of ways to set this up and do them.

[desklamp2]

Did you just start lifting? My back doesn't stay sore for a week ever. How many days do you work out each week?

What does your program look like?

I didn't just start liftin, no. I used to work out more, 4 or 5 days a week.. At that time I tried to do clean, bench, squat or DL, and pull ups and abs or something. It was too much though, the soreness would never lessen in my lower back, and my DL and squat would only go up when I stopped doing them. Now I work out much less, 2 to 3 days a week, with one being bench and the other usually squat or something that involves lower back, and maybe 1 day of pull ups and arm curls and abs or something. I've done benches consistently for a long time, a few years in a row, and the soreness would always be around 6 days. This is the case with light or heavy weight, and whether I cut down on sets and auxillaries. If I do back squats, both legs and lower back will be sore for 6 or 7 days. It's because of soreness I work out much less now.

I do focus on core lifts a lot more than auxillary lifts though, but I still don't think to be so sore is good. I can only get in 4 workouts for a lift a month, which is OK, I still make slow gains on bench, but I can't gain with the other lifts that involve back just because of the inconsistency which I do them.

[m3dude]

The best thing I've ever done for my lower back is incorporate reverse hypers practically every day. Right after doing them I'm usually not to functional so I do them last in my training but when I wake up the next morning its a huge difference between when I do them and don't do them. I don't do a lot of weight and do something like 4-5 sets of ~20. You don't have to buy an actual rev hyper either though having a real one now is really nice and more stable then what I had before. I did make a cheap rack mounted one and my rack wasn't as stable as others could be. But there's lots of ways to set this up and do them.

ive had no success trying to do the myriad versions of ghetto reverse hypers. theres literally no gym around LA that has them either. for op, i found that as my abs and hips/hams get stronger my lower back feels less and less worked with squats and deads.

[tom11]

Hi.

How can I avoid overworking lower back? Almost everything I do hits lower back in some way... squats, DLs, cleans, even in bench I cant help but arch some and use my lower back. My lower back is always sore and it gets overworked. It wouldn't be much of a problem if I did not stay sore, but I stay sore for a week from a workout. This soreness isn't fixed by eating more or by "working out" the soreness, if I try to "work out" the soreness it just gets worse.

so how can everyone do all these exercises that work the lower back, every one of them?

Okay thanks.

Deadlift only once a week, squat high bar 2 times a week, stop doing any free weight barbel rows (if you do any) and fix your technique in dead and squat (which probably suck).

[HamburgerTrain]

It sounds like you either have some loading error issues or you just have a weak lower back. Either way, re-evaluate your form on everything and start doing some direct back work. If nothing else, just some super high rep stuff to get some blood flowing in there in between workouts.

[ocsd2015]

I have been on a power lifting/ bodybuilding routine for about 2 months now. I have not had a lower back issue in almost 2 years now I have had bad pain in my lower back for two weeks. The first time I was warming up for squats and my back started to seize, I stopped the workout and stretched but the next few days my back was pretty painful. A week later my back felt back to normal so I squatted again but with very light weight and high reps but after the third set my back seized up again. I had no indications of pain before the first time.