I’ll turn 59 in September. I’ve been training with weights since my teens. Current weight is approximately 183 at 5’ 9" and I wear a size 33-34 pant. There have been some periods of inactivity due to life & family but I have been fairly consistently training. My lower back has been a constant source of training frustration for years. I got to the point where I would tweak my low back while squatting with progressively lower and lower weights. When I was much younger a typical squat workout started with an empty bar, 135, 185, 225, for warm-ups then 275+ for work sets. I was always a high bar squatter and just did them no formal instruction.
Always the tweak occurred on the decent. My lumbar area would tighten up and it was enough to dissuade me from continuing the workout. When i got to the point that the tweak happened with 135 or less I gave up on squatting. I transitioned to doing things like high repetition body weight squats, weighted step ups and weighted walking lunges. I never incorporated dead lifts into my workouts.
I ran across Rip and you folks while surfing the inter webs. It was probably hearing Rip say the best thing for a low back was Squatting & Deadlifting. So I set out to see if i could rehabilitate myself by starting light and working my way back. I have to say that I have a inherent fear now when it comes to squatting & deadlifting. A fear of re-injuring myself. Just getting comfortable squatting with 95 Lbs on my back was huge. Then the next milestone was 135 Lbs. It’s awful humbling squatting like I do with a teenage girl on the neighboring rack using 185+ Lbs.
Deadlifts also make me worry. I’ve worked up to the point where I am pulling 225 for 5 reps. Yet last Friday I tweaked my back on rep # 2. Same type of thing where the low back area spasms and there is no radiating pain.
I have studied form videos for both the squat & the deadlift. I have really tried to pay attention to proper form. I tried Low Bar Squats once recently and I had one heck of a time with enough shoulder flexibility to properly position and hang on to the bar. I was not really comfortable doing them.
In general I feel better (low back) doing the squats & deadlifts but I wish I could overcome the issues I have been experiencing. My question is basically are my expectations out of line given my age? I don’t feel or act old. I lead a fairly active lifestyle and really would like to increase/regain my strength squatting and work up to a respectable deadlift.
My typical Squat workout now includes many many warmup sets. I very gradually increase the weight on the bar. Cautiously working my way up. The most weight I have had on the bar for a set of 5 is 165 Lbs. This is mostly because of concern and not totally strength driven. I have been doing paused squats with 145 holding at the bottom position with ease. Not too long ago the thought of squatting with 135 was way too scary. Any thoughts on what I can do or should do?
Thanks for looking,
John .
