I have two open ended questions about acute back injuries and my squat form.
I’m on week three of the Beginner Template, after taking a year off because Covid. Last Thursday was the volume day for squats. I tend to have a good deal of pelvic tilt in the bottom of my squat, and my back was pretty sore around the SI joint all weekend. Yesterday, Sunday, I was bending over to pick something up while fencing and my whole back just locked up and I had a lot of pain all day and slept really bad last night.
So today I came into the gym and did my high weight squat/ high volume deadlift day with very little sleep and a painful back around the SI area. I used RPE to adjust down my weight, but I also put on a belt to add some sort protection, real or imagined, for my back. I’m not lifting very heavy at all (BW 215, top set of 4 reps for squats of 165), so I shouldn’t need a belt at this point.
After the gym, my back feels way better. This seems to be pretty common with me, if I sleep.funny or do something else to hurt my back, chopping wood or some other physical activity seems to go way further than “resting” with my back pain.
Is doing intense physical activity to help with an acute back injury a good idea, or am I putting myself at further risk?
Secondly, the pelvic tilt I experience with no belt is almost gone, and the squats “feel” much better, with a belt regardless of the weight. Is this likely because I am bad at bracing, am I just built for squatting with a belt, or is it likely do to some other form issue?