Lower back pain after squats

Squats can be considered a whole-body, compound exercise in fitness. Although squats are good for health, the back pain after doing them also bothers everyone and affects their daily lives. There are only two reasons for back pain after squats, one is a posture problem and the other is a waist problem. For the problem of back pain after squats, we must make correct corrections based on these two reasons!

1. Why does your lower back hurt after squatting?

① A pole position that is too high makes the weight away from the center of gravity, making it more difficult to control the weight and easily injuring the waist. Of course, no matter whether you are in a high or low bar position, the correct way to do it is: keep your torso upright, hold the bar and sit back. This is the method that should be emphasized to protect the lower back.

② Squatting too deep; what if you squat until your anal hair touches the ground, but your hip joints don’t have the flexibility that weightlifters have developed over many years? You tend to hunch your back, and if the weight is heavy, you are more vulnerable to injury. Ordinary office-based fitness enthusiasts lack the flexibility that comes from special training. So what you need to do is, squat to a low position slightly below parallel, lock, and squat up, this will not only protect your knee joints, but also your waist. It also allows you to squat heavier weights.

③The back strap is not tightened. If it is not tightened, you are not squatting deep and your waist is still not at the balance point. The correct way is to tighten the back straps at the lowest point of your squat and maintain controlled tension.

④ Not exerting strength on the buttocks: If you sit in the office for a long time, it is more likely that you will relax your waist and arch your lower back when squatting, which will easily separate the buttocks muscles, making you feel as bad as being bitten by the legendary Tyrannosaurus Rex. Using your hips is the correct way to keep your waist from arching.

⑤ Not learning to use abdominal muscles (sinking qi into dantian): If you listen to the unwise coach’s advice to loosen or tighten your waist in order to maintain a small waist, it is easy to cause lumbar disc hernia or lumbar herniation.

2. Solutions to lower back pain after squats

① No matter what form of squat you do, do not let your knees go beyond your toes. The further the knee extends beyond the toes, the greater the shear force on the patellar ligament.

② Squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground or slightly lower. If your hips fall to your ankle joints, you are squatting too low, which is not only unnecessary but also easy to cause injuries to the knees, ankles and other joints.

③When the feet are slightly abducted, the quadriceps can contract better. The toes should never be pointed straight ahead! If your squat stance is too wide, your adductors will help your quadriceps work, which can put too much stress on the MCL.