Lower Disk Pain- Squats are killing me

[BCeagle]

Hurt myself last year pressing myself too far on squats and led to sloppy form. Painful enough that there were times I couldn't straighten my back. Been lifting for months without pain and started to squat again and had back pain again. I tried again today, with light weights and felt like i could feel the discs being squeezed.

My main leg workouts have always been, squats, deads and calf raises. I have also been shying away from deadlifts until this is resolved.

Can I just replace squats with front squats? any other advice? I was told to add sprints too.

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

A man goes to the doctor and says "doc my back keeps killing me after squats".
Doc says "stop doing squats."
You should NEVER continue with a movement if it causes you pain, simply pick something else to do.

My advice would be to avoid all exercises that involve spinal flexion - this could include deadlifts depending on your form - and choose movements where your lower back stays fixed in position.
So for your legs front squats may help, isolation movements like leg extensions/curls, glute bridges, etc.
For back cable rows tend to keep your back fixed in position, dumbbell seated rows, pullups/chinups are all good options.
Basically, unless your a powerlifter I see no reason why you HAVE to deadlift, squat, etc.

I see no benefit to sprints - the high intense nature of them makes them unsuitable for developing lower back strength.
However, I do recommend doing some direct lower back work with no flexion in order to take advantage of how the lumbar spine & regional muscles were designed to work.
I HIGHLY recommend an exercise known as "bird dogs" (youtube it for a demonstration) - it looks like a simple move but is an excellent way of strengtgebing your back & will certainly help with any disk issues you may have.

 

[halfwit]

Look up when you squat/deadlift. Seriously pick a point on the wall in front of you and don't move your noggin. Most injuries I see come from turning the head or looking down when there is pressure on the spine.

I do agree with Ripped, but I would like to point out that bad form is often to blame.

My .02c

 

[SJC]

Why not go to a chiro and get fixed. It obviously hasn't fixed itself.

 

[cybrsage]

Just to be sure (since I am still new to deadlifts), you are supposed to keep your back straight while lifting, right? You bend the knees while looking at the wall (I use a mirror so I can see my form). As you lift, you keep the bar near the lefts and straighten only the knees. When the knees are straight, you quickly bend at the waist, keeping the back straight the entire time. So it is a "back of the waist" lift and not a "spine" lift, correct?

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Just to be sure (since I am still new to deadlifts), you are supposed to keep your back straight while lifting, right? You bend the knees while looking at the wall (I use a mirror so I can see my form). As you lift, you keep the bar near the lefts and straighten only the knees. When the knees are straight, you quickly bend at the waist, keeping the back straight the entire time. So it is a "back of the waist" lift and not a "spine" lift, correct?

Sort of.

You want your back to remain in a neutral position, this doesn't necessarily mean dead straight - it means the position your back is in naturally when your walking round, etc.
There should be no "bending" of any kind, you should be actively extending from the hips in an explosive fashion to finish the move.
The movement should be completed thanks to active extension from the knees & hips, rather than any actual pulling from the back.

Its abit difficult to correct deadlift form without a video - I always recommend people film themselves from a side angle so I can see exactly whats going on (I do this for squat form correction also).
But I understand if some guys are not comfortable doing this

 

[carverelli]

The biggest mistake I see people do is first movement as the lift starts is the ass comes up first. This invariably leads to the lumbar muscles doing the majority of the work. It happens on my squats when my back starts to tire. Caution should be exercised so a squat doesn't become a good morning movement

 

[tury694]

Are you using an A.I? When I use too much adex my back hurts like crazy after squats. I've been told I have excellent form too. Deadlift form, now that's a different story.