Lower back pain when stationary

Pain & Rehab Forum [Moderated]
1

Hi Team,

I have been experiencing lower back pain for the last month or so. The pain is only noticed under two conditions, either when im seated and I shift my weight onto my tailbone, or when I “round/ tuck” my pelvis (Think the cat position of the cat-cow exercise). This makes bending down without bending at the knee hard. Further, any activity involving bringing the head closer to the knees gets painful.

When im up and about, moving , walking ,etc I feel no pain or discomfort. I have not stopped working out and have in fact made steady progress since. However I do feel pain when I initiate a deadlift or when I am at the bottom of a squat, even though absolute strength or performance is not hindered.

A month ago I overshot my rpe on a set of squats and had to grind to finish the last rep. Following that I coincidentally dislocated a toe and had to rest a week during which the back pain started developing (No pain during the actual squat workout).

Based of your content I believe it is unlikely this is the single cause for my pain, but I am putting it out there nevertheless.
Would you say the pain is just a cumulative effect of fatigue over weeks of training , or are there bigger factors that could be playing a role ?

Extra information if it helps - I am a 25 yr old male with no history of back pain . I started strength training 5-6 months ago for the first time in my life.

Thanks for any insight , I appreciate the free content you give out to us.

2

Hi there,

I am sorry to hear that you have had this experience with your low back. It sounds like overall you are managing quite well as you have been able to continue training and making steady progress with your lifts.

t’s hard to answer more specific questions without a consultation; however, I would agree that there is unlikely a singular cause to your low back pain. Based on the narrative you provided, it seems likely that you likely out kicked your coverage a month ago when overshooting RPE on the squat. I wouldn’t be overly concerned with “bigger factors at play” and would continue training within a tolerable load. A general recommendation would be to find a tolerable weight for your deadlift and squat that does not exacerbate your symptoms too much, and start there. Typically, we would recommend starting at a lower intensity (decrease RPE) and gradually build back over time and as symptoms begin to dissipate. If you have not already, I recommend checking out this article to provide general advice.

Hope that is helpful. If you need more guidance along the way, we also offer remote consultations.

3

Thanks for the response,
I have since reduced the intensity of lower body movements and hopefully should see a decrease in pain.

4

Happy to hear that! I hope you experience some reduction in symptoms. If not, feel free to reach out to us.