Hi everyone,
I’ve been barbell training for some time without ever experiencing this recent issue, consisting of tightness through the lumbar spine that is noticeable when flexing that part of the spine (e.g. sitting down to put on shoes). It feels similar to stretching a tight muscle and there is one point in the upper lumbar area that pinches mildly when reaching full flexion. It is more noticeable after being on my feet or seated for extended periods, leaning over and lifting objects such as when I’m working, and holding loads overhead while standing. Additionally, the vertebrae and between them feel slightly tender to the touch. I’ve been experiencing this for around a month in greater or lesser degrees. There is no tightness or pain in the spinal erector muscles, rather in the spine itself. I imagine that this issue is the result of a period of overzealous training with high volumes and intensities.
Following the onset of symptoms, I moderated the programming by reducing overall volume and removing exercises where lumbar stress seemed more noticeable (sumo deadlift, front squat). I’m in the middle of a week in which I remove exercises such as barbell deadlift and squat that heavily load the spine and have noticed a slight decrease in tightness, although the underlying issue is still noticeable. Any thoughts on other programming changes that could be indicated, or rehab strategies?
Thanks for any input.
Kevin
It sounds like you’ve made some smart initial changes, and it may simply take a bit more time for these symptoms to dissipate. The next step is to find a variety of movements and a dosage that you can tolerate, from which you can slowly progress back toward your goals. It is important to understand that there will likely be symptom fluctuations along the way as well, and that this is normal and is OK – the key is to be flexible / adaptable to these scenarios and adjust loading if necessary.
I would probably suggest introducing significantly less “powerlifting-specific” movements for a few weeks (e.g., goblet squats, split squats/lunges, lateral lunges, box step-ups, maybe some Turkish get-ups, single-leg RDLs with DBs/KBs, etc.) There are no rules here, but the idea would be to use these movements to continue training while giving the symptoms time to improve with tolerable doses of stress, then gradually transitioning back to the movements you’re trying to do (e.g. high bar squats, high rack pulls gradually progressed back towards the floor, etc.).
For more specific/individualized programming, we have the back rehab template, the package that comes with a one-time consultation with our staff, or for ongoing rehab coaching I’d pursue a consultation with our team. Hope that helps.
I appreciate the thoughtful response. I’ll put some of your ideas into action to see if that helps me get back to normal training. If I’m not able to figure this out on my own, I’ll look into a consultation with you guys.