I am currently cutting weight (went down from 125 kg to 110) , and at the middle of the process , I guess I injured my lower back (pain started after a session in which I deadlifted with the bar not directly in the middle of the foot and still made the lift with a cost). When I putting the bar on my back and trying go north then 100 kg weight on the squat , the pain flares up (its really bad) , that I can’t even stand with the barbell on my back because its firing down to the legs too .
I went to the doctor and she said that it is probably a strained muscle at this area and needs time to heal .
My question is: should I pause the cut for a bit until the injury heals and go on maintanance or even a slight calorie surplus (say 300) , or should I keep cutiing , but squatting with a weight that won’t flare the injured area up (I guess it will be 100 kg cause everything north of it flares it up baddly)?
I could handle 150+ kg squat prior to this and now with the pain can’t even handle 120 :(_
Are you familiar with this article?
Don’t catastrophize, and just because you can’t handle your regular squat weight now doesn’t mean you won’t be able to in the future.
No , I will read it .
The question is should I do the rehab while continuing cutting (I am planning to get to 105-100 kg body weight) or should I go up in calories while the low back heals ?
I would re-read the article and do some further reading on their pain articles. It will take time to change your understanding of pain, but pain doesn’t necessarily mean there’s “damage” that needs to heal.
I’m not a rehab clinician nor am I a doctor, but if I were in your place I would probably stick to maintenance calories for a bit, but that’s not based on anything specific other than cutting being uncomfortable while trying to deal with pain/injury (for me at least).