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Originally Posted by Bad@ssCamaro
Ok, expert advice would be much appreciated. I'm 6'3 and weigh about 215 and I am 49. I would estimate my body fat around 18%. I look very lean, it's just that my stomach holds all the fat LOL. I've been training for the last 2 1/2 months and have seen some pretty decent gains. The last couple of weeks, I have noticed when I am doing squats, after finishing sets that the weight gets heavy (after 225 lbs.) I feel this compression pain in my lower back. Not sure if its muscular or skeletal.
Wednesday was legs and shoulder day. 20 minute cardio before start and about 5 min. of stretching.Leg press first, no problems through the 4 sets. Leg squats next. Here lies the problem, First set isn't so bad - 185warmup. Next set - 225 and 10 reps - feel slight pressure in lower back after set. It dissipates after 1/2 a minute. Next set - 255 and finish 6 reps and then start changing weights for partner and wham, sharp shooting pains coming from lower back, I'd say near the kidney area, waist.
My question(s) - do you think I might be pushing too hard not allowing my body to adjust to the heavy weight? Is that portion of my lower back not capable of withstanding that type of pressure anymore? Would doing decompression (inversion) exercises be helpful in strengthening that area? Are there exercises to help withstand the heavy pressure of putting 275 lbs and up on my shoulders?.
I'm considering contacting somebody in sports medicine if this progresses any worse. For now I'm just going to eliminate the squatting for now. I've never had back issues before in case you're wondering. Any advice would be appreciated.  |
Welcome to being a dude. Your gut will always store fat first.
As far as your squats, if you're feeling pressure in your lower back, especially a pain, you need to check yourself. It's normally caused by a few things: You aren't stretching well enough before hand, your form is getting sloppy, or your core needs work.
You can help yourself by doing the following: Drop your weight and pay really close attention to your form. If your heels are coming off the ground (body weight is shifting to toes), you're doing it wrong. Try taking your shoes off if this is the case.
You can also get a weight belt, which will help keep you from leaning forward at your waist, and keep your lower back from rounding.
And spend more time working your core. Everything in your body should basically be flexed when you're doing squats, but it's especially important that you tighten your abs up. If not, the muscles in your lower back are going to try to compensate for it.
Personally, if you start feeling it at 225.. I wouldn't go any heavier, and probably drop weight a bit. Compensate by upping the reps a little bit, and eventually start increasing your weight slowly again.
I know some of this information is really "newbie" information, so I apologize if you already know this all.