Hello,
I have been strength training on and off for about 2 years now. During the winter of 2017/2018 was the first time I was really able to stick to a program and be consistent (mostly because I bought my home gym). I had 315lbs of weight and figured that would last me a while, but by the spring of 2018 I was squatting and deadlifting 315 for reps without to much issue. I continued to do this for a couple more months, following a 5/3/1 template but just increasing my rep range on the ‘heavy’ week.
In July I finally bought an addition 2, 45lb plates so I could start to train beyond 315, and of course I wanted to try and see what my real 1RM was after training at 315 for so long. I first tested my squat and got to about 350 and stopped there. The next day I wanted to test my deadlift. I kept adding 10lbs and lifted them fine up to 380. At 380, I completed the pull with decent speed, but felt some pretty intense acute pain in my lower back. Luckily, I had literally watch Alan Thralls video where he hurts his back with Austin a few days prior, so I at least had some sense what I should do.
I tried not to panic, and did some body weight squats and banded RDLs etc… The pain and stiffness was pretty intense for the first week (sciatic type symptoms), but I kept moving and did some light weight strength training and the pain decreased for about 6 weeks. I also train for cycling and decided to focus on that for the last few months of summer.
I may have over corrected, but I basically started back down in the high 100s, and slowly worked my way back up. I am about 4 months since the injury and I am squatting and deadlifting in the mid 200s with no pain, and making progress again.
But this is where I am a little confused what to do. When I workout (either strength training or cycling), I experience no pain. Usually my back actually feels the best during exercise. But I still have the issues during all the other times. I wake up and my back hurts, if I sit on the couch my back hurts, if I stand to long my back hurts etc…
(mostly lower back/glute pain, no pain down the leg like there was for the first 6 weeks).
So I guess my questions are:
Will continuing to strength train and exposing my body to these movements eventually help with pain during normal day to day type activities, like sitting?
If I complete a set of squats or deadlifts with 0 pain, but in the following hours or next day I feel an increase in pain, does that mean the movement was not pain free?
In the most recent BBM podcast, they had mentioned a ‘spike in fatigue’ can increase your chance of injury, do you think that was what happened? My body was strong enough to lift the weight, but I had not exposed it to any weights over 315.
Thanks for your help.
EDIT:
I am male, 30 years old, and I weigh about 190lbs. I have been lightly active my whole life skiing and cycling, but I am (was?) extremely undertrained, and never did any formal fitness plan or training up until about ~2 years ago.