low back limitations

[bluejacket]

here is a problem im having and im hoping some are familiar with it.

my lower back has the annoying habit of "tightening up" on me when it gets too activated (say heavy squats or heavy sldl). let me explain what i mean by "tighten up".

i have a strong low back. years of squats, deads and just plain back work with both good and bad form have seen to that. i can squat, dead etc with no real discomfort (out of the ordinary) up to a certain level of heavyness but once i get there ...trouble. usually its the 2-3 week of 5s so im close to top wgt and obviously using all i got (while trying to maint. good form) to get my 5 reps.

heres the problem. its not a strain and its not bad form or weakness it mostly feels like my entire low back muscles are gorged with blood making them feel stiff, tight, weak and me feeling debilitated. its not just the wgt forcing me into poor form either as i can duplicate this feeling by doing a few bw sets of hyper ext.

as i mentioned before i can cruise thru 6-7 weeks of an 8 week prog with no trouble at all but real hvy sq followed by hvy sldl and i limp over to the bench for chest. btw, a couple sets of db press and i feel 100% again, is this the blood changing locations?

typically i dont do any specific low back work for 2 reasons. 1) the above mentioned exer. hit it very well and the development i already have is much better then the rest of me. 2) even simple low back specific exer. like bw hyper ext. brings on the "tightness" so i avoid them.

has anyone heard of this or exper. it. obviously its been hampering me for a while. i feel my quads and hams are relatively strong but i can never really tax them as 1-2 sets in with the heavy stuff and im really tight.

any thoughts? thanks.

 

[Peak_Power]

For most people lower back problems like you describe are a result of weak or poorly activating abominal core muscles.

If the core muscles are weak, then the lower back over-compensates, and contracts to keep you stable, and because its taking more strain than it should, gets sore and tight.

You can strengthen your abominal core muscles with pilates exercises like hover/plank, leg raises, pelvic tilts (flattening back against ground) etc. take a pilates class and take note of the exercises you do, and then repeat. Might be some free stuff on the net too.

Most people who do core work regularly tell me that their back problems disappear.

 

[bluejacket]

interesting.
i typically do serious ab work (2-3 exer per w/o) for a month or so and then "coast" if you will doing 1 exer. per w/o (diff. ex. each time) for the next 2-3 months. its been a while since the serious work so perhaps it is related to ab work.

a few questions though.....
poorly act. ab core muscles doesnt explain the identical "tightness" i can achieve by simply doing bw hypers, at least not to my thinking.

why no real problem with lower wgt yet higher reps on the sldl and squats? im not saying there is none at all when at my 15 rep max for squat but it doesnt seem out of the ordinary and certainly not as debilitating as heavy 5s.

i hear you about the core work solving a lot of back problems im just not sure in this case, shouldnt i be seeing more evidence of this weakness in other exer. and at others wgts.???

let me know what you think.