Hey.
About 2 months ago I started having a Low back pain that was new to me. (Maybe because of a overtrainig - and maybe not)
Thats around the time that the gyms closed, so had to stop squatting and deadlifting because lack of equipment ,and the back was still hurting (not all the time but in a lot of different movments)
2 weeks ago my gym opened and I tried to program around the pain, I lowerd the Squat volume to 3X5 Per week (previously was 6 sets, and added 3 sets of leg press instead) - and the deadlift volume to 1X5 per week (previously was 3 sets). also I lowerd the load to about 60kg on both lifts (squat 5rm was 100kg and dealift 5rm was 120kg).
I thought that I could progress back from that starting point , but every time I squat/deadlift (even with that low volume and intensity) my back hurts more during and after the sets. and some time after the training it comes back to the usual pain.
So Im wondering how should I react to that, should I lower even more the intesity or should I stop squatting and deadlifting and switch to other exrecises , or maybe just overcome the pain and go as planned?
On a daily basis the pain is not hard at all, but in the lifts it get quite hard. is the low back rehab tamplate will be good for me?
I think you should lower the load. If you are able to lower the load enough that you can tolerate squat and DL, it may be worth trying some higher rep sets (but if you need too keep the reps low in order to tolerate the exercise, then keep the reps low). If you get to a point where you don’t feel ready to add weight, or reps but think you can manage another set, that may be a valid move as well. The goal is adding weight, but increasing the amount of tolerable exposure to the lifts may help you add weight.
Sounds like you aren’t super trained, especially now that you’re just coming back to the gym, so it may not be a big deal, but if you want to replace the stimulus that you lose from reducing weight on the squat and DL you could add more leg press.
If you can’t find a tolerable load for squat and DL you could experiment with tempos, different bar/hand/feet positions, partials, DB variants, unilateral variants. (ordered from most to least specific, if you can tolerate a more specific exercise then start there)
You absolutely have the right idea, you need to find a starting point and it is preferable to try finding a tolerable load before going to a different exercise. That means if all you can tolerate is squatting or DL the empty bar, you should start there.
I don’t know anything about the rehab templates, hopefully someone else will speak to that.
Sorry you are experiencing some frustration, but these things happen and finding the movement that you can continue training where things don’t feel worse and get better over time is a decent first option.
Without knowing your programming, there isn’t really a goto from this side of the fence without knowing more details.
While leg press is a decent option to help dose stimulus for the legs, we also want to dose appropriate stimulus for the lower back.
If it were me, I would note if I felt discomfort that worsens after the first squat or deadlift of the training week. If so then try to find a variation or ROM that I can tolerate the current volume. Find something that is fairly close. So if you low bar squat than trying high bar would be a good first option. Same as deadlift…if you conventional pull, perhaps try sumo or working off blocks. Work down the latter of specificity of the movement and we can usually find an option to continue training while things improve.
If you can tolerate that movement with the current volume, than continue training with the goal to work your way back to full ROM or original lift if you prefer. Adding volume when it’s appropriate.
Thanks!
So if I can LB squat and conventional deadlift with really light load (I need to check but for sure empty bar/or 40 kg) so I need to start from there, and work my way up only if Im not feeling any pain during the set?
And when it comes to volume, I was squatting 6 sets /week , and deadlifting 3 sets/week. and now I will squat 3 sets/week ,leg press 3 sets/week, and deadlift 3 sets per week, (squat and deadlift with light load), is that good? or should I do more/less volume?
“So if I can LB squat and conventional deadlift with really light load (I need to check but for sure empty bar/or 40 kg) so I need to start from there, and work my way up only if Im not feeling any pain during the set?”
Yes, though I’ll add that it doesn’t need to be pain free (has anyone ever had a DL session that felt like relaxing on the beach?), it just needs to be a level of pain that you can tolerate. I would say you can tolerate it if the pain is not actively making you more afraid of the movement but is instead kept down to a level that allows you to gain confidence with the movement. Also, there should not be a dramatic and long lasting increase in pain after the workout. Every time you squat and DL you should try to give yourself the most exposure to the heaviest loads that you can tolerate. What you can tolerate will probably fluctuate week to week, so every session you could warm up with some BW variations of the lifts, then do a couple sets with the empty bar and then go up by 5-10kg increments until you are at a load that is as heavy as you can tolerate/feel comfortable exposing yourself to. Over time the load that you can tolerate should trend upwards. Use this approach until you can tolerate loads that produces significant muscular fatigue.
“when it comes to volume, I was squatting 6 sets /week , and deadlifting 3 sets/week. and now I will squat 3 sets/week ,leg press 3 sets/week, and deadlift 3 sets per week, (squat and deadlift with light load), is that good? or should I do more/less volume?”
For squat and DL if you reduce the load to the heaviest that is tolerable and find that you can tolerate higher reps sets with that load, then I think it would be worth doing those higher rep sets.
The leg press is a way to keep building muscle while you’re rebuilding your squat and DL. I don’t have enough information to know if 3 easy sets of squats, 3 easy sets of DL and 3 hard sets of leg press is an appropriate hypertrophy stimulus for you at this time, nor do I know if the acute:chronic workload is appropriate. The missing information is: When you were doing 6sets of squats and 3sets of DL how were you responding? What did you do while the gym was closed and how were you responding? If the leg press is a new movement I would aim to be conservative and do something along the lines of 3sets of 8reps @ RPE6,7,8. If after a couple weeks you find that is not enough stimulus for hypertrophy then you could increase the stimulus a little.
I hope none of this confuses you, as I think you are correct about what your next steps should be, and I’m just focusing on the details.