Bodybuilding.net - Bodybuilding Forum

for some reason my back rounds while squatting. I wasn't aware of this all this time, a friend just pointed it out recently. I have NO control over this whatsoever. I've tried without weights and it still happens.

I also have a weak lower back and can indeed feel pain after a workout involving squats, I'm assuming because of this problem. Can anyone advise what to do?


I'm still new here and can't enter a link but if you goto youtube and search for Dan Squats 2011 I'm the first hit (red shirt and very low weights)

Would appreciate any advice!

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "rounds." But I'll make a few observations:

1. You may want to try putting your feet further apart. Watch some videos of powerlifters.


2. Some of us (me included) do not have great body leverages for the squat. I can't squat without a LOT of lower back involvement. This means its good to squat first, then use leg press for your next exercise. That way you keep training your legs after your back is exhausted.

3. Squats are a GREAT exercises, but there's nothing wrong with using other exercises like leg press, front squat, split squat, to supplement your training.

4. Sumo deadlift is another exercise that you may want to consider.

__________________
Kevin

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Start utilizing Front Squats. I had a training partner who was built the same way and the Front Squat fixed his issues.

thanks fellas.

arent front squats much harder to do properly tho? its taken me a long enough time to get the regular squats in decent form. plus i feel a lot of ... soreness.. on the shoulder / arm area after doing them. maybe im just not holding the bar properly.

Yeah Front Squats will take some time to get used to and feel quite awkward at first.

Why would you WANT to keep doing regular squats if they put your back in a compromised position?

well i figured that was something that could be fixed. no?

Generally I beleive it's a hamstring flexibility issue... at least that's what it was for me. Your hamstrings reach their flexibility limit and then they start pulling on your glutes and thus your hips have to "round under" or "butt wink" as it's called.

Try hamstring flexibility movements on your off days. Also try very light weight squats while focusing on only going as deep as you can before your lower back round. Focus on staying tight in the low back and use this to stretch the hamstrings (or whatever muscles are holding you back).

Hope this helps,

IW

makes sense ill give it a go. thx!

I'm not sure if i understood your question, but i guess you are having trouble keeping a good back position while squating.

Like said here before, maybe you have your feet too close.

Always keep your head pointing up, don't look forward or down, this will help you to keep stability on your back.

If you still having trouble keeping a good position, try using a small plank of wood, and keep it under your heels, this will help too, but don't get accustomed.


If you have a week lower back, i would recommend that you start doing dead lifts, this is very important to give you a solid mass.

Note: everything I'm about to say is with respect to a "low bar" squat, as advocated by Rippetoe in Starting Strength, because I am a beginner and that's how I am learning to do it.

As I've been teaching myself to squat with little weight (less than 200 pounds), I have learned that one little problem in form leads to a ton of other little problems that together can create a large problem, which for the squat will more than likely hurt your knees than your lower back. The "butt wink" is a product of lack of flexibility usually, and from what I've read, what it does is it takes the load off your hamstrings at the incorrect time during the movement and puts it on your quads, which causes your knees to move forward (VERY BAD). This is because when you break that back angle, the load has nowhere to go but to the quads, and what the hamstrings will not carry will be put on the quads at that particular point in the squat.

This is how I'd go about fixing it:

If you shove your knees out, you will be able to maintain better form deeper in to the squat. When someone says "shove" in this context, in reality all you are doing is keeping your knees parallel with the leg, which is important because if you do not, the tension will shift from your hamstrings to your quads, and thus to the knees, which will cause your knees to drift forward (away from you), which is how you get hurt squatting.

Also, your stance might not be wide enough. Your heels should be about shoulder width apart and your toes pointed out at approx. a 30 degree angle. Those are general guidelines; you can deviate from them minimally to account for your personal comfort and flexibility.

Another thing that no one has mentioned: if you feel a SORENESS, or a STIFFNESS in your back, that is one thing, but with that in mind if what you feel you would consider PAIN and not one of the aforementioned things, then you may have already injured yourself and you need to re-evaluate what you're doing.

I'll elaborate for a second so you understand the difference I'm trying to point out. Since I have started doing squats and deadlifts, I sometimes develop a sore back after athletic activity or lifting weights. It's because I actually HAVE lower back muscles that can become sore, not because I hurt my back. If what I was feeling was pain, then I'd need to see a doctor.

The squat and deadlift are the two best exercises in the gym, but you need to understand them in extreme detail in order to do them by yourself, without the attention of someone who knows what they're doing. I strongly recommend you buy the book Starting Strength and read through it two-three times, until you understand everything in it. It's one of those things where you not only need to understand what you're doing, but why you're doing it, or you will eventually hurt yourself, and become turned off to these mandatory lifts.