Every week a patient comes into my office who has somehow strained their lower back. Upon questioning a common answer they report is an increase in working out at the gym. I next ask them which exercises they have been performing at an increased frequency. Their answer is almost always dead lifts, or squats. These two exercises are very helpful at building up muscles in the lower extremities especially if performed using weights; but the problem lies in improper form.
Improper form is driven by two things: too much weight which compromises proper form, and inflexibility in the lower extremities muscles and tendons. Hamstring, hip flexor, calf, and Achilles tightness will force your body during a squat to pitch forward and take the load from your heels to the mid or front part of your foot. This postural shift will then force the lower back to take the brunt of the weight being lifted, thus resulting in a repetitive use strain. The tricky thing is the strain usually doesn’t occur till your workout frequency or amount of weight being lifted increases. So, people can go along for some time lifting the same weight, thinking their form is ok due to a lack of pain, but in reality its a strain waiting to happen. For those lucky enough to be super inflexible, this can easily cause a disc herniation.
This faulty movement pattern is easily fixed, and something that our office routinely corrects for our patients. So next time you don’t like working out because it hurts-remember, its usually increased load plus bad form.