# lower back pain



## ChadsWick1234 (Oct 31, 2009)

I have had lower back pain for months. I have been lifting free weights and machines. I took 4 days off and the pain hasn't gone away. I would like to workout but I am afraid to do any free weight lifting. Could I just use the machines. I go to the doctor on friday but he will probably tell me to quit lifting for awhile. Should I just rest? The pain is in the lower left side of my back.


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## pita (Jan 17, 2004)

I'm obviously not a doctor, but you should probably rest until you know the nature of the injury. Do you have tight hamstrings?


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## GojiraMadness (Jan 14, 2010)

I'd definitely take a break and see what your doctor says. I know the feeling of not being able to work out, but it's not worth injuring yourself even further.. I hope everything turns out to be ok for you.


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## extrovertyish (Dec 14, 2009)

I'm not a doctor either! 
Alright buddy, I had sciatica (I think thats how you spell it) for a year or so, I think I got it from having to lift my motorbike off the floor when I had a bit of a slide situation in a gravel car park when I grabbed too much front brake. My bike weighs 270 kg and I wasn't lifting weights at the time, but I had to do something because my engine was very hot and petrol was leaking out over it so I somehow lifted it. Anyway, that's not the issue, I started getting pain in one side of my lower back and all down my leg, this went on for months and I rested it and rested it, but it wouldn't get better, actually the more I rested it the worse it got. So after six months or so, I decided to go and see a physiotherapist because the doctor kept telling me to rest and giving me anti-inflamitaries, anyways, the physiotherapist said that total rest was the worst thing to do with this sort of problem, he gave me some lower back stretches to do and said to get my back mobile again gradually. I had really bad OCD for a year after this and spent most of that year in bed 23hours a day, so I couldn't do these exerecises because I would have ended up repeating them over and over for hours. Anyway, towards the end of this spell in bed when my back had got even worse, I started lifting weights and following a programme of exercises which involved using free weights and some abdominal crunches and back extensions on a swiss ball. The plan was to be careful not to injure my back but to get it mobile again and strengthen it up also, before and after I did my workout I would do some of these lower back stretches taking care to ease into them slowly and gradually so that I didn't injure myself again. 
Hey presto! A couple of weeks of this and I was hardly in any pain at all, a couple of months and the stiffness and pain in my leg had nearly gone and I was enjoying the endorphins and looking forward to working out. The lower back is often neglected in training in fovour of the Abs, but this creates an imbalance between the two muscle groups which are supposed to be complimenting each other, so it's important to include some lower back extensions into your routine to minimze injury, the swiss ball is great for this and it totally improves the balance and confidence with any sport. You need to use correct technique while you're lifting free weights, it's easy to develop a bad lifting technique if you're lifting solo, because you've got no-one to point out any mistakes in your lifting style. I would advise you to go and see a doctor, just to check out that you haven't got anything more serious than a muscle strain, and go and see a physiotherapist (you only have to see the physio once, they give you mobility exercises and say to come back if you've got any more problems which you shouldn't have). If you're going to do free weights I would recommend going to a gym to check out whether your technique needs tweaking. That's what I'm going to have to do (tomorrow actually), because after two years of weight training on my own and injury after injury, I can say with no doubt that you'll gain more muscle more quickly and get less injuries if you get instruction off a qualified instructor. A good site to check out is exrx.net, all sorts of information on here, instructions on every exercise that you could possibly imagine, injury rehab advise, nutrition, stretches, all sorts of goodies and it's free. I hope that's been a help, just don't launch back into lifting huge weights straight away and like the other guy said - it's a pain in the butt not being able to exercise, but it's important to rehabilitate yourself back into it gradually otherwise you'll end up being off the weights for months like me. When you do get back on the weights you need to make sure you address what caused the injury in the first place, it's easy to get into bad habits with your lifting posture, also are you strengthening your back as well as your front. Muscle imbalances are something I learnt about before I started, turns out though that you can get imbalances in just about any muscle group, I've had shoulder and neck pain for a while now which it turns out is caused by a weakness in the muscles that pull in my right shoulder blade. That's why I've gone down the gym and asked them when it's quiet so I can go down there and get some proper weight time in and hopefully not get injured for a loooooooong time if ever again (I've been off for the last four months and I'm going freakin crazy(er). Good luck buddy.


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## VanDamMan (Nov 2, 2009)

Somtimes when you don't balance it out, you have a tendency to overwork some muscles which result in straining other tendons/muscles. Try to incorporate some full body exercises like swimming, plyometrics, yoga.


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## ryobi (Jan 13, 2009)

swimming is good

Plyometrics though, IDK I wouldn't do any with an injury

I have had a bad back since I was 16. At times it was unbearable. It's counter-intuitive, but inactivity actually makes it worse. Moving around a bunch on a soft surface is the best-like walking on sand or grass.


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## Richard321 (Jun 28, 2011)

After getting adequate rest, you can start with gentle exercises like walking and swimming. These activities will help you to relieve your back pain.


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## esboy (Jun 28, 2011)

I also encounter this lower back pain and it occurs every 3 to 4am,,,,...And it was so painful that's why I consult to a doctor and the doctor suggest me to relax for a month cause I was overworked....


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## Jemma (Jun 10, 2011)

Don't know for sure obviously but usually lower back pain caused by physical exercise such as lifting occurs because you aren't using your core muscles correctly. So if you work on strengthening those and then start lifting again, while correctly lifting using your core muscles you shouldn't hurt your back. Pretty much weight training should be strengthening your body not damaging it.


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## PaysageDHiver (Jun 18, 2011)

Jemma said:


> Don't know for sure obviously but usually lower back pain caused by physical exercise such as lifting occurs because you aren't using your core muscles correctly. So if you work on strengthening those and then start lifting again, while correctly lifting using your core muscles you shouldn't hurt your back. Pretty much weight training should be strengthening your body not damaging it.


Yes. If yours is a strength imbalance issue, then strengthening your core with cable crunches (



) and side bends (



) should help a lot. After you get used to these exercises, use enough weight that you can't do more than 10-12 reps.


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## wraith (Feb 22, 2010)

Could very well be linked to hamstrings. Immobility is so common in today's lifestyle.


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## PaysageDHiver (Jun 18, 2011)

liero133 said:


> Could very well be linked to hamstrings. Immobility is so common in today's lifestyle.


That too. Stretch and strengthen the hammies. No leg curls. Try romanian deadlifts (



)--one of my favorite movements. Strengthens the posterior chain (low back, butt, hammies) like crazy, and in a functional way. You can start with dumbells (keep them out in front of you) or just the bar. This exercise will make you sore as hell, but it's more than worth it.


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## tikolo (Jul 13, 2011)

I currently have back pain, but it’s from playing hockey. But i went to my doctor and they gave me a page by exercises i might do to extend my back. i have to do them 4 times a day, but it helps remain the pain gone. I’m confident if you searched for worse back pain exercises you can find out several.


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## purplefruit (Jan 11, 2011)

^^ I developed lbp from improper gait, inactivity, working retail standing up, etc., all that good stuff. I had similar recommendations from my physio, plus went through electrical treatments for a bit.

Stretches are really helpful, and usually quite simple..just devote a few minutes to it every morning and your condition will improve. There is no need to over-stretch, with practice you will naturally become more flexible. Also it feels good to get the kinks out of your muscles.


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

Yoga once or twice a week keeps the chiropractor away. If you do a yoga routine properly, you can get rid of any pain you have by stretching.


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

Here a couple of stretches for you.

The first one is a simple child's pose:






The woman in the video doesn't do it so well but the instructions are all right, your arms have to actively stretch out and you press from your fingers rather than your hands as you basically try to move your *** towards your feet. From there, you can move your hands to the left until your abs are over your knees and your arms are straight to the side. As you are in this diagonal position, you are still pushing your glutes towards your feet. That's probably the most important component of this stretch. Gives you an incredible stretch in your lower back. Do the same on the right side. Hold it for 30+ seconds. It's a nice release.

Camel Pose.






Basically you are bending back and you want to lay your head back and push outwards with your chest. Also a nice release. Guarantee you if you do these two stretches, you'll feel like working out again. Releases it.


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## ForeverStallone (Apr 4, 2011)

Join a weightlifting site if you haven't already and record yourself doing the lifts and post the vids for people to critique your form, assuming you're doing squats, deads and other compound lifts. Also read up on proper technique and how to use your core muscles. Also the other suggestions about stretching hamstrings is good, also strengthen your glutes.
Other times lower back pain can be from a tight psoas muscle so look up stretches for that. Try foam rolling you're glutes as there a trigger points there that cause low back pain. Also stretch your hip flexors and look up hip mobility exercises.

Psoas stretch I just found but there's heaps more, just search around http://www.floota.com/PsoasStretch1.html

This talks about trigger points in the glutes - http://saveyourself.ca/articles/perfect-spots/spot-12-gluteus-maximus.php

Just found this for hip mobility but there are lots around. Look up "Agile 8"


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

That child's pose would do wonders for my back (I hurt it shoveling over a foot of snow/ice mixture - it was a BAD storm!) It would feel like I threw my back out when I wasn't careful. Fortunately, I have not been in so much pain since - that child's pose is awesome from stretching the back muscles.


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## Bothain (Jul 20, 2011)

As you have shared your problem I would suggest you that you must have to follows the Doctor,s advice other wise your pain on lower left side of your back might be increases by starting game .

Clarkston Gym


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