Back pain is a common problem through CrossFit, Powerlifting, and Olympic Weightlifting, especially when performing exercises like squats and deadlifts. If you're experiencing back pain during these exercises, it's important to identify the root cause and address it to avoid further injury.
Here are the top five places to check if you are experiencing back pain during your squats and deadlifts, and how you can address each issue:
1. Mobility restrictions in the hamstrings
Tight hamstrings can limit your range of motion during squats and deadlifts, causing you to compensate with your lower back. To address this issue, we recommend incorporating a combination of soft tissue mobility (like foam rolling) and dynamic hamstring stretching/ mobility exercises into your warm-up routine.
2. Neural tension issues in the sciatic nerve
The sciatic nerve runs from the lower back down to the feet, and tension or compression in this nerve can cause pain and discomfort during exercises like squats and deadlifts. This typically gets confused with tight hamstrings, but this requires a completely different solution than stretching the hamstrings. To address this issue, we recommend incorporating neural tension exercises (like nerve sliders) into your daily routine.
3. Limited hip mobility
Limited hip mobility can cause compensations in your lower back during squats and deadlifts. Many people who have Femoral Acetabular Impingement, for example, are unable to bend enough at the hips and must round their lower back to get the rest of the motion. For these cases, we can incorporate hip mobility exercises like banded hip distractions, hip openers, and glute activation exercises into the daily warm-up.
4. Poor spinal stability
Poor spinal stability can lead to compensations and injury during squats and deadlifts. To address this issue, incorporate exercises that strengthen your core and back muscles, such as the McGill Big 3 (bird dogs, side planks, and curl-ups)
5. Inadequate motor control
Lastly, even if you have the best mobility and spinal strength, you will collapse if you can't control the movement under load. Motor control refers to your ability to control your movements during exercises. Inadequate motor control can lead to different compensations and injury during squats and deadlifts. To address this issue, it's best to rework hinging, squatting, and extension based patterns unloaded to relearn the proper body mechanics and then start loading them.
If you're experiencing back pain during squats and deadlifts, sign up for our upcoming Bullet Proof Back Workshop at 8Well in Huntington.
The seminar is for you if:
You have ever had back pain while lifting
You’ve been told to stop deadlifting or squatting because it is “bad for your back”
You want to learn strategies and skills to deadlift and squat well into your 60s
To sign up for the session, download the 8Well app or going onto our website at 8welllife.com. Then proceed to 4/29 in the booking calendar. Feel free to reach out to me or team@8welllife.com with any questions.
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