How Do You Fix Back Pain from Squats
Do you experience back pain during or after doing squats? Despite being active consistently training, many clients I see still experience back pain and stiffness. In order to find the effective solution, you must understand the underlying cause of back pain with squats. In this article, I’ll shed light on why your back might hurt when you squat and provide practical strategies I do with my clients to build pain-free bulletproof low backs.
Why did I hurt my back squatting?
The squat is a foundational human movement that is done daily by every human being. The squat requires mobility in the ankle, knee, and hip joints. When you start adding weight to a back squat, it takes a high demand of muscle strength and coordination to perform a weighted squat. When it comes to finding the cause of back pain when squatting, you want to check three main areas.
Volume- how much weight, how frequently.
Mobility- ankle, knee, hip, low back, mid-back, and shoulder all matter
Strength- spine stability, hip strength, and quad weakness
Technique- less optimal technique will increase the stress on your lower back
It could be one of those issues causing back pain when you squat, but more than likely it’s a combination of factors leading to back pain when you squat. Technique and Mobility typically go hand in hand are the first thing I check when someone is having issues with squatting.
What is the Best Squat Technique
When it comes to looking at how you move during a squat, the Points of Performance you want to look at include :
Braced Neutral Spine
Knees Track Slightly Outside of Toes
No Change in Spine Position throughout Movement
Watch the video below for a demonstration for the optimal position and technique of a squat
Common Technique Faults in a Back Squat
Once the weight is added to a back squat, a lot can go wrong putting excess stress on your knee, hip or lower back. When it comes to lower back pain with a back squat, here are the common faults include:
Overextension at Start
Poor spine stability can lead to overarching the spine at the start to compensate for the weight. If that is the case, you must prioritze your spine position with proper bracing and breath
Loss of Neutral Spine
At the bottom of the squat, your spine and shin bone angle shoulder are the same.
When the hips sit high, the back angle will be lower and there is much more stress going on the lower back which can cause muscle tightness and pain.
Quad Dominant or Low Back Dominant (Good Morning)
Getting out of the bottom position of the squat takes the most muscle and force demand. When coming out of the bottom, you want your hips and shoulders to raise at the same time. When the weight gets heavy or volume gets high, it is common to have muscle imbalance that change the technique
Quad Dominant technique will have the shoulders raise first and hips second using the quad muscles and putting high amounts of stress on the knee
Low Back Dominant technique will raise the hips first and look like a Good Morning exercise and by far the most common tecnhical fault for people who have low back pain when back squatting.
When should you get help?
If you are dealing with a low back injury in the gym and are wondering what to do, read this post Why Your Back Hurts and What You Should Do. to Fix It. If you are stuck and need help, you should have a Total Body Diagnostic to look at your volume, mobility, strength, and technique to get to the root of the problem. With the right assessment, you will know exactly what to do and can get personalized plan together which will expedite getting you back to the gym pain-free.
If that sounds like you, we should talk.
A Total Body Diagnostic to find the exact root of your back problem and outline a precise plan to work on your deficits and exactly what your back needs. No cookie-cutter back programs, no handouts with 10 pictures of stretches to do before you lift, only EXACTLY what you need to move better and feel better.
If you are interested in getting help, set up a Free Strategy Call to get clarity of your situation and set up your first visit where you can learn how to fix your back pain in the gym.
Click the button to find a time that works best for you!
Dr. Ryan
