By: Ryan Bibeau, PT, DPT, CSCS, Clinical Athlete Powerlifting Coach
Many gym-goers, especially lifters like powerlifters or olympic weightlifters, will complain of low back pain at some point of their gym experience. For many individuals, this can be a difficult time and many struggle in finding effective methods to manage/improve pain, as well as return to lifting. In many cases, the focus of rehab and accessory exercises often include core stability drills, like bird dogs, dead bugs, etc. While these are great additions in a rehab plan, another great area to address/include is isolated low back training.
Especially for those dealing with low back strain, performing isolated low back work will truly target and improve many qualities in those muscles that other exercises fail to address effectively. These exercises also can be very time effective in throwing as a superset with other exercises during your workout. You can also very easily perform as little as two sets at the end and still get a great “bang for your buck”. If you’re really looking to return to heavier lifting especially, building up a strong foundation in your back will not only make those areas more tolerable with heavier load, but you might find you can lift a little bit more weight. Not to mention, many individuals don’t deal with as much low back tightness, guarding, or fatigue during their everyday activities. It’s common to perform squats to help build similar qualities in the quads for similar reasons, so why not the low back?
If you’re interested and want to try it out, I recommend starting with lighter weight and higher repetitions. Perform exercises like weighted back extensions, reverse hypers, or jefferson curls. These muscles especially respond well to higher repetition, as they work more as postural muscles assisting in endurance. An example can be 2 sets of 20 reps performing back extensions while holding onto 10 lbs! Like any other style of training, ensure that you progress these exercises over time, as your back fatigues less. Over time, you just might notice your back doesn’t tire out as easily when simply sitting/standing for prolonged periods. Even better, you might notice that heavy squat didn’t cause your back to stiffen or tire out as easily either! If worried about potential harm when doing these exercises, don’t hesitate to ask a qualified physical therapist, especially one who has experience in lifting themselves and/or other clients!
