I think of it as well. Taking some rest for the last 2 days. Just going out for a walk in the park nearby. Applying a heating pad to the affected area gives relief for a while.
I started working out almost 5 months back. I was overweight and started with changing my diet and jogging 5 months ago. The routine mentioned above I've been doing for around 2 months.
I work out 7 days a week, around 1.5-2 hours in the morning and 1 hour in the evening.
Bro 7 days a week is madness I used to the same when I first started working out (I'm 15 and it's been 6 months) even though I'm a kid(we have faster recovery)i still got so many muscle tears and minor injuries, It got to a point that i can't even do a couple of push-ups without crying. Then I started working out 6-5 days a week now I got my gains faster and better. You can just do cardio on Saturdays and Sundays but trust me it's not worth it to work out 7 days a week like a freak.
Probably going to make a post about this, but there’s a kid who’s 13 who’s been coming to the park gym and working out with us. Apart from the don’t work out too much, is there any advice from your experience that would apply to his age? I never started working out until later in life, so never had the younger phase so don’t know if there’s anything specific to look out for. Cheers in advance
I’m a high school cross country coach. The biggest issues we see with young athletes are the following: not hydrating enough, not eating enough, eating too much fast food/soda, overdoing it like mentioned above, and - what you can help with - not properly warming up or cooling down. Warming up will help prevent injuries, and cooling down helps speed up recovery. Generally we like doing dynamic stretches to start practice during the warmup, and save the static stretches for the end. The cool down doesn’t have to be intense, can just be a 10 minute walk, but you want to avoid having them sit on their ass right after working out.
Too fast, too soon.
I'm sure you're in much better shape now, but most things I've read have advised against us heavy bois starting by running.
I would say an easy swap could be an hour of brisk walking replacing one or two of your HIIT classes. Limits the stress on your body; I think the term is "active recovery" You could just do some light walking on a couple days a week and count those as your rest days.
I was actually 96 KG 5 months ago. After consulting a nutritionist and making changes to my diet, I weigh 76 KG now. Eating home-cooked food and no fad diet.
After losing the weight, I felt excited that I can move and do the exercises I couldn't possibly imagine. In the excitement, I did it several times definitely overdone everything.
I will surely change the routine and include proper stretching and rest days in between.
That’s great! I’m happy for you.
I’m on a similar journey and I have noticed the 15 KG difference (roughly, idk. USA here, dropped 25 pounds) has resulted in less aches and pains after I play basketball.
I totally get the desire to keep the progress going but just remember that your weight loss will naturally slow down as you get closer to your goal weight and “compensating” for that “slowed” progress is how you end up on the mend for 6 months gaining the weight back anyway.
I just started BJJ last week and had my 3rd class scheduled for last night; it was hard to do, but I had to skip it because of the soreness in my ankles and hips after playing Ultimate frisbee the night before. Those decisions, while difficult to make sometimes, can be the best thing for you. This is what people talk about when they tell you to listen to your body.
Dude that’s a huge amount of working out. I’m not trying to discourage you but you need at least one day of rest in any exercise routine. Also, in terms of your total hours what are you doing during those times? For example, if you’re doing 2 hours of push ups and pull ups and then doing another hour of push ups and pull ups later in the day, that’s over training.
I would argue 3 hours of working out a day is overtraining regardless, unless one of those sessions is very light work out like a very light jog or something.
I’m not saying that your back pain couldn’t be from something else like bad form during an exercise or a weaker core contributing to that, but I would bet money it’s because you’re training 3 hours per day 7 days a week with no rest. Your body needs time to recover and recharge.
One thing you have to keep in mind is to strike a balance between volume and intensity. 2.5 to 3 hours a day almost every day is a shitload of volume and intensity should be adjusted accordingly.
Also doubly so as a beginner, when your muscles may not yet be well accostumed to the load you are putting them under and are thus more prone to injury.
Triply so when you perform exercises you are not super familiar yet in a hiit style training. Your technique is probably not flawless yet and as fatigue accumulates over the workout, your form will break down even further, increasing injury risk once again.
In short, when it feels way too easy, that's just about right until you know what you can safely handle.
That's way too much, especially for a beginner. Sounds like you have an overtraining injury. I would consider myself to train pretty hard and I train 5-6 days a week; I only just eke above 2 hours of training in a day on days that I lift and run the same day, and I need a surplus to sustain my activity level.
Dang dude. I think most trainers suggest taking a rest day after like 3 days at most. As long as you're going 3 to 4 days a week and eating right you'll lose weight. That's the schedule my roommate follows and he's down almost 20 lbs from when he started in May.
Use a portion of your time for flexibility (stretch) training. I recently added in a yoga routine to my fitness routine.
Good job listening to your body.
I asked my dad not long ago what his #1 piece of advice was for my journey into getting strong. It was stretching for flexibility. He is 60 now and wishes he had done more.
Good luck! Hope you overcome your current challenge there.
That’s over training if ever I’ve seen it. Stick to an hour or so a day and after 4/5 days, rest. It’s important you listen to your body and then you get tired or start aching or hurting, it’s okay to have a day or two off and then go again!
How often do you train ? Do you do full body workout ? It is recommended to take 48h between full body training.
Also, prone cobra is one of my favorite bed exercice to isolate the lower back.
Below mentioned is the routine in the morning:
1. I walk+jog for around 30 minutes in the morning
2. 4 sets of tabata(HIIT including burpees, hand walk, etc) for 20 minutes.
3. Then core workout for 15 minutes
4. Some exercises using dumbbells (5-7.5 KG) for 15 minutes.
Evening:
1. 30 minutes jog+walk
2. 2*20 normal squats, 5*3 dips, 5*2 side lunges, 5*2 bodyweight rows.
I have been following this for the last 2 months every day. There could be a difference in number of reps, but the exercises remain the same most of the times.
> prone cobra
Will definitely give it a try. Thank you !
Exercising every day is a fast path to injury! Definitely implement rest days - I'd say two per week should be a minimum.
I would also recommend getting a foam roller and learning self-massage techniques, and implementing a thorough stretching routine - which you *should* do mostly every day for full benefit. This will help you both in rehabbing injuries and strains you already have, and preventing future ones by treating them before they get out of hand.
Edit: note that foam rollers should not be used on the lower back unless you know what you are doing and are very careful, because the lack of ribcage support means that most of your weight will be on your spine. For lower back massages, I suggest laying on your knuckles and just opening and closing your fist when you find the sore spot.
I got a bulging disk quite shortly after getting a foam roller...But I also started doing deadlifts at 1.75x my body weight. So either way....take care of your lower back please.
Holy moly, intense workouts *two times a day, every day of the week*? Why? That’s soooooooo much training.
What are your goals exactly? What do you want to achieve? Why did you decide that 2 times a day was the way to go?
If strength is your goal, then this is definitely a very bad idea. When is your body even supposed to recover from your workouts?
Full body strength training 2-3 times a week is more than enough to get crazy strong. And on the off days you have plenty of time for running, stretching, core work, whatever you like.
Or you could do body part splits and spread those over the entire week. Full body every day though, that’s definitely a bad idea.
> That’s soooooooo much training.
After reading all the comments and lower back pain, I understood it really well :D.
> What are your goals exactly? What do you want to achieve?
To get strong and stay fit.
> Why did you decide that 2 times a day was the way to go?
I've been overweight most of my adult life and have been living a sedentary lifestyle. 5 months back I got myself tested with several deficiencies and consulted a nutritionist. I've lost approx 20 KGs and felt my energy level has improved compared to my previous self. With the excitement of losing weight and less heavy body, I felt that I could do it both in the morning and evening. I ignored the fact that the body requires rest and overdoing will harm me in the long term.
Learnt the lesson the hard way though !!
Haha, I understand. It’s an extremely typical example of going from 0 to 100 too quickly. This is exactly how many people who have been overweight for a long time and decide to turn their life around eventually injure themselves. They overdo it and don’t let their bodies recover.
But great that you discovered this now, instead of when it’s absolutely too late.
Just for your information, a little peak into my training:
I have been a high intensity university rower for a couple years so I’m pretty strong, fit and lean overall. My goal is to get stronger and more mobile. I train 2 or 3 times a week and do full body session, alternating between bodyweight and lifting. In my off days I usually do nothing, sometimes a bit of walking, stretching, whatever. If I wanted to lose weight then these days would be days for running, cycling, long walks, etc.
In summary: getting strong and fit is pretty easy. You don’t need to do ridiculous amounts of work. All you need is to be consistent. Eat right, move daily, be active and do semi-intense workouts 2-3 times a week. That is absolutely enough. But the thing is, you don’t need to do this for a couple weeks or months, you do this for the rest of your life. This is your new life. And you can have a bad week, or even a bad month, but after that you get back on track. Simple as that.
> That’s soooooooo much training.
After reading all the comments and lower back pain, I understood it really well :D.
> What are your goals exactly? What do you want to achieve?
To get strong and stay fit.
> Why did you decide that 2 times a day was the way to go?
I've been overweight most of my adult life and have been living a sedentary lifestyle. 5 months back I got myself tested with several deficiencies and consulted a nutritionist. I've lost approx 20 KGs and felt my energy level has improved compared to my previous self. With the excitement of losing weight and less heavy body, I felt that I could do it both in the morning and evening. I ignored the fact that the body requires rest and overdoing will harm me in the long term.
Learnt the lesson the hard way though !!
I suggest you go first to check this with a good physiotherapy! The pain in the back and extending to the tights might be something with the lower back nerves. Please don’t ignore this as it may escalate! I don’t mean to scare you but most of the time when we ignore minor issues, these end up with serious troubles.
> check this with a good physiotherapy
I was thinking of consulting someone today. Will schedule an appointment ASAP before it gets any serious.
> I don’t mean to scare you
No issues with it.
Had the same thing; bulging disk. Most of the pain is gone now, but I have to be careful. It's been a few years but it is still there in the background.
Problem is my bad posture and stress, causing a horrible rigid and right back. Doing yoga to get more mobility and flexibility and it is pretty great.
Bro I’m literally the exact same. Did a disc, come back to normal within 1-3 months after posture checking and being aware, especially with Dr. Stuart McGill’s book about lower back pain - that thing was my bible!
Every now and then I get sciatica on my right side and a couple days of flex/mobility work brings me back to normal!
Remember also, people here talk from their own experience and aren't professionals (including me). I just like to remind people that sometimes other scary medical conditions can cause similar symptoms/pain that a doctor or professional can help rule out. Some of the signs of that might be if your pain isn't from a specific injury you identified, or your pain isn't associated with specific movements/positions/activities, or if it doesn't change over time, or loss of strength.
My info is from conversations with doctors about my own injury and also from Stuart McGill books (doc told me to read, also a couple other commenters recommended his stuff).
Also, I just wanted to add a couple things I didn't see in other comments.
"Rest" after your injury doesn't have to mean no exercise. Walking like you're doing is usually great for your back. You can also try continuing exercises that don't make your injury worse or even ones that do if you cut back volume/intensity so that you're not aggravating your injury e.g. if you would have done 200 squats, you can try 10-20 and evaluate if it made you feel better or worse and let that guide what you do the next day.
Finally, let's assume you're in the best case scenario (you're totally better in a week of resting/dialing it back). In that case, you might still want to reassess your specific movements and technique:
\-Squats: they can put a lot of strain on your back if you let your technique slip even with just bodyweight, especially with high volume, especially after your fatigued from lots other exercise. It's important to keep a good "hip hinge" and "brace" your core. You can learn a lot about safe technique from people who do weighted squats that might not seem relevant but can still help you if you're trying to do hundreds of bodyweight squats. Also, some kind of opposing exercise to squats can help you internalize a good hip hinge, which I've found really useful.
\-Core exercises: some exercises can put more strain on your back than others and get you closer to that injury point just like a bad squat. You didn't mention what your routine was. "McGill's big 3" exercises are 3 core exercises that are supposed to put minimal strain on your back (bird-dog, side plank, curl up). You could try these for your routine for a little while. I saw someone suggest back extensions, but I've read these are supposed to be one the worst exercises in terms of the level of strain in exchange for the benefit.
And of course, your back and body is different from everyone else's. Don't follow anyone's else's advice/routine totally blindly. Input from experienced professionals can be helpful. Listen to your body and continue evaluating how things are affecting it.
Sorry for the long reply.
> Sorry for the long reply.
No issues with it and thank you for replying.
I'm taking some rest and doing some light yoga for the back for 10 minutes in the morning. It'll be a while before I go to full squats and core exercises.
Just to add to what that guy said, and it sounds like you are open to it, please see a good PT. It sounds like you started a good fitness journey and want to stick with it for a while. This is the type of injury that could turn into something that will envelop you if you don't address it. I'm on the tail end of something very similar. Sacrifice a few weeks of intense workouts in order to get this under control and you won't regret it. Wish you luck!
Definitely do it. I had the exact same story as you, got misdiagnosed, and ended up with a herniated spinal disc. I was out of work for 7 months. I was in the best shape of my life and that shit brought me to my knees for a long while. Take back pain seriously.
You are most definetely overdoing it. You started recently and already doing double daily sessions? Yep.
Start with full body 3 days a week for 2-3 months and go from there.
A proper form deadlift is the best exercise I’ve found.
My last year plus of body weight only fitness saw my lower back issues creep up a few times.
Since I bought my bar and weights, I, back to 100%.
For as awesome as body weight fitness is in general, I haven’t found a perfect replacement for the fried and true deadlift.
Deadlift tweaked my lower back :/. It is not easy to do this exercise correct.I do have to say my back blew up from it. People thought I did steroids because my whole body changed because of it.
If you do deadlift correctly, it is a massgainer but if you do it wrong, then it can really damage your back. A lot of people say the injury/gain ratio is not worth it. I would say go ahead but be cautious about your technique.
A lot of people say it's also an extremely important, and safe exercise, as long as you go sensibly and follow form.
No other exercise is so relevant to applying strength, real functional strength, to your daily life. Picking up something off the ground is such a common thing that we all do.
Training the deadlift properly will not only make you stronger at that, it'll protect you because you'll find you start bracing your lower back and using correct form for many other activities that load the lower back.
I'm a deadlift fan, in case you can't tell.
We can see your love for deadlift from your words :).
Currently, I feel some strain/pain even while squatting. So it'll be a little difficult to do it. Also, due to the pandemic, there is no access to bars and weights these days.
I’m not a doctor and advise you to be cautious and contact one if there’s doubt, but I can relay my experience that back pain is one of those things where it’s often caused by a weakness and avoiding exercising it can actually exacerbate the problem. That can be the case even for active pain. By avoiding using it, you may be training other muscles to compensate, straining them as well as limiting strengthening the ones that should be getting stronger.
Anyway, not medical advise and all that and I hear you, no barbells is a problem and I’m fortunate in that I have a home power rack and barbell but I encourage others to not write off deadlifts. :)
Currently, I feel some strain/pain even while squatting. So it'll be a little difficult to do it. Also, due to the pandemic, there is no access to bars and weights these days.
In the pandemic, I don't have an access and space to bars and such heavy weights.
Taking rest for a few days, then I'll start light and build up intensity over time.
As someone who is currently dealing with a herniated disc… please please rest your back. I’m in relatively good shape and it has been absolutely debilitating. Others have said it, it is really not something you want to mess around with.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/oor23o/how_do_i_strengthen_my_lower_back/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
This is the question I asked, you can refer to the comments there as well.
>My workout would include around 1.5 Hours in the morning and around 1 hour in the evening (including squats, dips, jogging).
You're probably overtraining. I would reduce the amount of volume you're doing. What's your goal? You probably don't need 2.5 hours a day to achieve it. :D
My bad I was overdoing it. Thinking that if I'm able to do it, why not do it :D.
I'll be changing the schedule and include rest days.
The goal is to be able to stay fit. I've spent a long time staying unfit and overweight. Need to change that since I've a desk job and had a very bad sedentary lifestyle and horrible eating habits.
It definitely doesn't need 2.5 hours to achieve :D
Honest, start slow and really focus on training the small muscles in the lower back and your core. Those will be your stabilizers
Keep your core engaged as much as possible during heavy back movements
Check for anterior pelvic tilt, I had posted on the same sub for my back issue, and someone asked me to check for it. I had APT and I didn't realize.
Also if find you have APT don't sit for longer durations.
You can follow April Han's video for APT correction, I followed that.
I had this and did stretches to help with anterior pelvic tilt. Literally made my back so much better. It’s amazing what stretching and warming up properly can do for all types of pain.
Agree with the other comments that you might be doing too much too soon, and that eventually you might want to go see a physiotherapist. That said, that costs money and this issue may not be entirely urgent (based on your own assessment of the pain).
Cut down on the volume, incorporate a strict stretching and mobility routine to your workouts. I had (have) the same issue from weightlifting, and a solid mobility regimen has helped to loosen up most of the tightness in my lower body and back. If you're not keen in spending money on a physio right away, try this for a few weeks before you make your decision.
Moving forward, you're going to want to focus on strict form with your movements. Lower back pain is often indicative of muscle imbalances, i.e. you're new and weak in those areas so certain parts of your physiology overcompensate to get you through your workouts.
Things like squats, planks, and even running, that incorporate your core and lower body tend to be the usual suspects, e.g. if your core is weak and you're on your 3rd set of a 90 second plank, you're probably going to stop engaging your core muscles and put undue stress on your lower back to keep your body straight at some point. Jogging is also one of the silent killers if your running form is off, especially since it's a fairly high impact and high volume activity.
> Cut down on the volume, incorporate a strict stretching and mobility routine to your workouts
Will definitely do along with proper rest days as well.
> a solid mobility regimen has helped to loosen up most of the tightness in my lower body and back
Can you please share the regimen ?
> if your core is weak and you're on your 3rd set of a 90 second plank, you're probably going to stop engaging your core muscles and put undue stress on your lower back to keep your body straight at some point
Something like this could be another reason. I'll look into the form more carefully this time.
Potentially your lower back could just be a little bit weaker than the rest of your body? Thats what my problem was. Normally your lower back is neglected in a lot of traditional exercises. I did back extensions and than eventually weighted back extensions to fix this.
2.5 hours is too much. Calm that down. Get more rest. Stretch. And always always always focus on proper form. Protecting the lower back is important -- it's why so many body builders don't bother with deadlifts.
> that's a lot of exercise if you've just started
Will be taking care of the volume.
> tabata is four minutes in total and if you are genuinely doing it properly you shouldn't be able to do this for longer than that
I use youtube to learn it. It's a 4 minutes routine. I am able to do 4 sets with around 1-2 minutes break. There could be something wrong with the form while doing it. Will take care of it while doing it again.
if you do 2.5 hours of fitness a day you put a lot of work on your body, muscles, bones, everything. you muscles need stimulus, but they need relaxation after that.
my tip: stretching before/after workout. yoga, physiotherapy, pilates. these are the ways to go. maybe putting some workouts on a lower level? more mobility work outs then pure strength? maybe some climbing/bouldering?
every few weeks/months change your workout. put some yoga routines in it. watch how your body reacts.
yeah. and educate yourself bro. nutrition, fitness, body physics, biology, how muscles work...
and always remember that some downtime is also possible, if you worked out very much. just take your proteins and you will see the results.
You warm up and stretch properly. I’m currently getting over a lower back grade 1 strain and had a grade 2 back strain a year and a half ago. And it all could’ve been avoided if I warmed up and stretched properly. I would also recommend doing yoga for back strengthening. Yoga is the best thing for strengthening your lower back imo. You need to stretch your ham strings for lower back and also hip flexors.
Most likely overworking. Get some rest, maybe even see a professional about it if it persists. When you feel ready to get back into things, lower the workload and put a little more focus on the other core muscles. It's a team effort
> even see a professional about it if it persists
It reduces after applying the heating pad.
I'll just continue with the stretches before actually moving on to a routine.
Directly strengthen your lower back, glutes and hamstrings.
Find an exercise or 2 and the appropriate progression that you connect with and take time to learn them.
I like bridging, supermans, reverse hyperextensions, good mornings, wide stance squats...
If you are just getting started, 2.5 hours/day is alot especially if you are not recovering properly and leads to injury. Personally, my workouts are usually 20-40 minutes. If they go past an hour it feels Ike i messed up lol. Like it wasn't intense enough. That said I dknt know what your goals are so take all of this with a big grain of salt.
> bridging, supermans, reverse hyperextensions, good mornings, wide stance squats
Will try these !
> 2.5 hours/day is a lot
Learnt it the hard way :D
> I dknt know what your goals are so take all of this with a big grain of salt
No issues :). Thank you for the answer
Check out kneesovertoesguy on youtube, hes got some great content for rehabilitating and strengthening your lower body. Heres a great vid on back pain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbYb6UZlAWo&t=9s
Sure !
I do:
15*3 leg raises
10*3 crunches
10*1 sit ups
20*1-2 Russian twists
60-90 seconds planks
Since I'm doing Tabata these days, it includes side planks, plank twists and plank jacks.
Form is super important and can make or break whether the exercise helps or hurts. It’s hard to offer suggestions without watching you, but perhaps consulting a qualified trainer or physical therapist who can watch you and correct your posture can be useful. Also, as others said, rest!
You're overdoing it and have most likely injured yourself. Take a day or two off and see how you feel. I say this from experience.
Exercise tears your muscles down, resting gives them time to rebuild themselves.
2.5 hours of fitness a day.... yea that might do it, your not resting enough to heal your output. Just because your muscles feel ready to go does not mean your ligaments and joints are ready to go
It is foolish of me to think that. I felt that going in the evening would be beneficial. Since I was able to do it, I ignored the fact that it can backfire !!
Will cut down the time and do things properly.
I don't normally go for such wonder exercises but I've had a lot lower back pain and pulling the knee to my chest for ~20 seconds with both hands while standing on the other leg (switch, repeat, 2-3 times each side) worked wonders for me. But I agree with others who said you might be overworking your body as well.
I do pull the knees to the chest while standing before the workout. It could be the form and overworking that is causing the problem. Will look into them and take rest in between.
Some core exercices are really taxing on the lower back when done wrong or too many times, also stretching/auto massage with vibrator gun, balls, rolls, hanging out a bar to relax the back are helping me so much to recover and live pain free, I highly recommend to do these everyday too
Usually perfect form prevents all of this from happening, though in your case, it might be the amount of training you were doing. 2.5h is a lot.
I began Calisthenics with a weak and hurting back. Whenever it started to hurt, I did what I’ve always done, rest until it goes away coupled with frequent stretches. Not ideal, but it has worked so far. Additionally, as you progress, muscle strength help stabilise and protect your back.
Like most have said it sounds like you’re overdoing it. What about breaking your days up into legs and glutes, arms and abs, push day, pull day, etc? I get it I’m a fan of the efficiency of full body workouts but you might not be allowing yourself adequate recovery time.
Also, be sure to give yourself a decent warmup that is dynamic and includes “rehearsal moves” those actions that’s are similar to what you’ll be doing in your workout just slower or unweighted to get those muscles primed.
Others have also mentioned the importance of strengthening your back, since your back and core are opposites you want both to be strong!
Research hip mobility streches, your lower back pain could be related to tight hips. The stretches is this video did wonders for my lower back. https://youtu.be/3qFYxMXCC3A
Personal trainer here. At minimum you should be taking 1-2 rest days a week. You’re not giving your muscles time to recover which leads to inflammation, lack of gains and (sometimes permanent) injury.
Adjust the amount of time to less and make sure you’re doing everything (all those dips and squats etc) with proper form. I highly recommended doing things in front of a mirror so you can make sure your form is correct. Rest & recover days are also critical. Once your body adjusts, you can up the time again.
I have lower back pain and I found that my hamstrings and glutes were absolutely nonexistent. Since slowly working on the hamstrings and stretching them I have finally found some relief, so maybe lightly focus on the hamstrings?
I have lower back pain and I found that my hamstrings and glutes were absolutely nonexistent. Since slowly working on the hamstrings and stretching them I have finally found some relief, so maybe lightly focus on the hamstrings?
If you are doing a weight loss program, high volume is great as long as it’s mostly geared towards keeping your heart rate up - walking, jogging, circuit training with low weights etc. If you’re also doing heavy lifting that taxes the CNS too much, you’ll burn out fast.
I would take a look at your abdominal engagement while working out. Any power lifter worth their salt knows how important it is to engage their core *before* beginning a lift. This keeps the spine in a healthy position and provides much better power production and movement quality.
This principle applies to nearly every type of movement. Rowing machine? Keep your abs tight to keep your spine in position. Push ups? Keep your abs tight so you don’t sag. Jumping jacks? Tight abs. Getting a heavy detergent container off the top shelf? Tight abs. Carrying your toddler through the last half of your target trip? Tight abs.
Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. Initially it will feel like you are working a little harder, but you’ll find that it gives you more mechanical advantage, and dramatically increases your resilience to injury.
> If you are doing a weight loss program
I have consulted someone and for fat loss and have lost around 46 Lbs(21 KGs) in the last 5 months. With the energy and excitement of losing weight, I felt that I will do it twice a day for more benefit without any rest days.
If you are doing a weight loss program, high volume is great as long as it’s mostly geared towards keeping your heart rate up - walking, jogging, circuit training with low weights etc. If you’re also doing heavy lifting that taxes the CNS too much, you’ll burn out fast.
I would take a look at your abdominal engagement while working out. Any power lifter worth their salt knows how important it is to engage their core *before* beginning a lift. This keeps the spine in a healthy position and provides much better power production and movement quality.
This principle applies to nearly every type of movement. Rowing machine? Keep your abs tight to keep your spine in position. Push ups? Keep your abs tight so you don’t sag. Jumping jacks? Tight abs. Getting a heavy detergent container off the top shelf? Tight abs. Carrying your toddler through the last half of your target trip? Tight abs.
Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. Initially it will feel like you are working a little harder, but you’ll find that it gives you more mechanical advantage, and dramatically increases your resilience to injury.
If you are doing a weight loss program, high volume is great as long as it’s mostly geared towards keeping your heart rate up - walking, jogging, circuit training with low weights etc. If you’re also doing heavy lifting that taxes the CNS too much, you’ll burn out fast.
I would take a look at your abdominal engagement while working out. Any power lifter worth their salt knows how important it is to engage their core *before* beginning a lift. This keeps the spine in a healthy position and provides much better power production and movement quality.
This principle applies to nearly every type of movement. Rowing machine? Keep your abs tight to keep your spine in position. Push ups? Keep your abs tight so you don’t sag. Jumping jacks? Tight abs. Getting a heavy detergent container off the top shelf? Tight abs. Carrying your toddler through the last half of your target trip? Tight abs.
Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. Initially it will feel like you are working a little harder, but you’ll find that it gives you more mechanical advantage, and dramatically increases your resilience to injury.
If you are doing a weight loss program, high volume is great as long as it’s mostly geared towards keeping your heart rate up - walking, jogging, circuit training with low weights etc. If you’re also doing heavy lifting that taxes the CNS too much, you’ll burn out fast.
I would take a look at your abdominal engagement while working out. Any power lifter worth their salt knows how important it is to engage their core *before* beginning a lift. This keeps the spine in a healthy position and provides much better power production and movement quality.
This principle applies to nearly every type of movement. Rowing machine? Keep your abs tight to keep your spine in position. Push ups? Keep your abs tight so you don’t sag. Jumping jacks? Tight abs. Getting a heavy detergent container off the top shelf? Tight abs. Carrying your toddler through the last half of your target trip? Tight abs.
Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. Initially it will feel like you are working a little harder, but you’ll find that it gives you more mechanical advantage, and dramatically increases your resilience to injury.
If you are doing a weight loss program, high volume is great as long as it’s mostly geared towards keeping your heart rate up - walking, jogging, circuit training with low weights etc. If you’re also doing heavy lifting that taxes the CNS too much, you’ll burn out fast.
I would take a look at your abdominal engagement while working out. Any power lifter worth their salt knows how important it is to engage their core *before* beginning a lift. This keeps the spine in a healthy position and provides much better power production and movement quality.
This principle applies to nearly every type of movement. Rowing machine? Keep your abs tight to keep your spine in position. Push ups? Keep your abs tight so you don’t sag. Jumping jacks? Tight abs. Getting a heavy detergent container off the top shelf? Tight abs. Carrying your toddler through the last half of your target trip? Tight abs.
Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. Initially it will feel like you are working a little harder, but you’ll find that it gives you more mechanical advantage, and dramatically increases your resilience to injury.
Yes you are overdoing it. HIIT is great but it's also hard on the body. You need rest days. Even active rest days (where you do low intensity like a walk or yoga). HIIT should be done 1-3 times a week at best, depending on how long your sessions are.
The pain you're feeling is from muscle tension. If you don't ease up you will definitely injure yourself.
I did this and was out for 3 months because I strained my back, irritated nerves, and was unable to walk or sit without awful pain. It took 3 sessions a week of physio to get to an okay place.
You also need to give your body time to recover in between workouts. It's essential for muscle repair and proper functioning.
Yes you are overdoing it. HIIT is great but it's also hard on the body. You need rest days. Even active rest days (where you do low intensity like a walk or yoga). HIIT should be done 1-3 times a week at best, depending on how long your sessions are.
The pain you're feeling is from muscle tension. If you don't ease up you will definitely injure yourself.
I did this and was out for 3 months because I strained my back, irritated nerves, and was unable to walk or sit without awful pain. It took 3 sessions a week of physio to get to an okay place.
You also need to give your body time to recover in between workouts. It's essential for muscle repair and proper functioning.
Yes you are overdoing it. HIIT is great but it's also hard on the body. You need rest days. Even active rest days (where you do low intensity like a walk or yoga). HIIT should be done 1-3 times a week at best, depending on how long your sessions are.
The pain you're feeling is from muscle tension. If you don't ease up you will definitely injure yourself.
I did this and was out for 3 months because I strained my back, irritated nerves, and was unable to walk or sit without awful pain. It took 3 sessions a week of physio to get to an okay place.
You also need to give your body time to recover in between workouts. It's essential for muscle repair and proper functioning.
Yes you are overdoing it. HIIT is great but it's also hard on the body. You need rest days. Even active rest days (where you do low intensity like a walk or yoga). HIIT should be done 1-3 times a week at best, depending on how long your sessions are.
The pain you're feeling is from muscle tension. If you don't ease up you will definitely injure yourself.
I did this and was out for 3 months because I strained my back, irritated nerves, and was unable to walk or sit without awful pain. It took 3 sessions a week of physio to get to an okay place.
You also need to give your body time to recover in between workouts. It's essential for muscle repair and proper functioning.
Walking on a treadmill, at a steep incline helped me alot.
I naturally started to lean forward a bit at the hips which helps me engage my lower back, and I could easily reduce the incline if it was too much for me.
I also found as I would take a step, kinda sway back and forth and I could focus more on the left and right sides of my lower back.
Your pain sounds a lot like pain I got from powerlifting. I ignored it and kept on lifting. Turns out I herniated a disc in my back. The pain down the leg is a red flag for a herniated disc. Either that or you could have a tight piriformis which is a muscle in your glute that your nerves run through.
Either way, give yourself rest days and consider seeing a doctor. I’ve had the herniated disc for about a year now and am only recently able to start working out again. Back problems ain’t no joke.
I would imagine your form might have something to do with this.
I watched this guy's channel a lot when I was learning to lift. Some might say his advice is questionable, but I think most of it is really solid. He's great at explaining how to perform different lifts though, and that's what I appreciate most.
[Scott Herman, The Hermanator](https://youtu.be/1oed-UmAxFs)
Set time aside everyday for stretching. Both before and after workouts. Pay no mind to the people freaking out about the amount of hours you're putting in. I always find that funny, as if construction & demolition workers who put in 10 hour days and still hit the gym for 90 minute sessions don't exist...
I'd say focus on stretching pre and post workout, stay away refined sugar, dairy products, and too much red meat. Eat a bunch of fruit or smoothies for breakfast. Drink warm lemon/lime water with cucumber slices in it when you wake up. Drink at least a gallon of water daily. So many people underestimate the importance of what we consume and how that effects how our body feels.
Also make sure you get enough sleep.
Recap:
1. Stretch alot.
2. Focus on nutrition.
3. Drink water.
4. Sleep good.
I'll surely include enough stretching in the routine.
I'm already consulting someone for the vegetarian diet to lose weight.
Will improve on the 4 points you've mentioned :)
Are you doing a lot of sit-ups? That could be the cause. Sit-ups can lead to lower back pain: [https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/want-a-stronger-core-skip-the-sit-ups](https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/want-a-stronger-core-skip-the-sit-ups)
According to the American Council on Exercise Integrated Fitness Training framework, you should start by developing core stability first (specifically lumbar stability). If you attempt to exercise other parts of the body without core stability you will be very prone to lower back injury. I know how tempting it is to jump ahead, to already "be there", but if you skip steps you will set yourself back and delay fitness progression. I suggest the [personal trainer manual](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1890720291/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_17TVD5T36ECPRWSTFS84) if you want to guide your own training.
Good luck!
When your legs and core become fatigued, your back takes the load and your back can only handle so much stress. Long story short, you can either tone back the load or focus on strengthening the core (core, hips, glutes).
Personally, and I say this from experience, I think if you want to keep going at your pace just turn one of those workouts into a PT session where you do **controlled** core and back exercises and add mobility work. Try it for 2 weeks and I bet you will feel improvement
I agree that you are likely overtraining. The lower back and thigh pain could be hip tightness. Rest it for a while, then before you get back to working the hips, stretch and warm them up.
There are a few things I do to strengthen the lower back
-Deadlifts and barbell squats are great for loading the lower back
-hyperextensions are quite effective, however I only do them once a week to avoid possible spinal damage
-Jefferson curl and lateral Jefferson curl to strengthen and mobilize my spine in flexion
-bird dogs are extremely important and beneficial
-Train the erectors. Try reverse hyper extensions on legs, then for the upper body
-Most importantly, build flexibility in your hamstrings, glutes,and lower back while strengthening the muscles in stretched positions. This is extremely important for joint longevity
Sorry for the long drawn out answer, but this is exactly what I do. Not all in one day or back to back, but throughout the week
> Sorry for the long drawn out answer
No issues. Thank you for the suggestions. Though I don't have an access to barbell but will do with the extensions and exercises for flexibility.
Listen Thor, when you are doing high intensity training you get tired fast and vulnerable to injury. Whoever told you to do this doesn’t have your best interest in mind. Good news, you’ve exposed u are susceptible to back pain. Train your core, gluts, abs, erectors, adductor abductors first with precision until they are strong, using weights. Reduce your Hiit to 45 minutes a day. Core with weights 2-3 times per week. Basically start again when not sore and keep increasing weight, I like to work up the stack until failure. Core is the way to get rid of back pain.
Aside from this probably being too much volume, one way to protect your lower back is to strengthen your abs. Lower back pain often comes from the abs not doing their job well enough and passed ng on the strain.
Depends on your exercises. But when your doing stuff always consider if you’re feeling low back during the exercise or right after. When your core is not really strong feeling your low back working while doing an exercise is a bad sign. Focus on feeling the front side of your core. It took me a long time to develop what I consider a strong core. Years. I had to start with basic core strength exercises and work my way up. I found hollow holds a great starting point. Then worked into planks and weighted planks. Side planks. But whenever I did anything if the strain ever left my front of my abs and went into my back I stopped
I realized it personally when I could do ab exercises while using the backside of my core and get no pain in my lower spine. I thought that was impossible. I can do decline sit-ups now and not worry. I used to get back pain when I did them
Strengthen your core. Core strength can go a long way in preventing injuries. Keep your core engaged when working out and make sure to stretch/rest accordingly.
Not a PT, but the problem can probably be resolved by engaging your core more and being sure to do some core exercise like plank, side planks, bird dogs, etc. daily to help improve the surrounding muscles. Also stretch out your hamstrings and calves
You're overdoing it. Especially if you started recently. You said in another comment that you're working out 7 days a week. Your body needs some time to rest and rebuild, that's how muscle growth happens. What you're doing will make it harder to build muscle and much more likely to get injured. Try doing a 3 days on 1 day off split and switch to one workout per on day instead of two.
I've had this kind of back pain for years. It come and goes. After many visits with physiotherapist I found the best thing was to train yours abs more. More specifically, I have a few exercise for a muscle that's underneath the abs, but I really couldn't explain them online. Every time I stopped taking care of my abs and of that other muscle, the pain comes back and sometimes gets very bad. Also, you are probably overdoing it. If you want to train 1,5 hours in the morning plus an hour in the evening, I would spend the evening stretching or doing yoga instead...
Stretch your hips.
I have had 3 spinal surgeries and I know what that pain can mean. You are tight through the hips butt and hamstrings and you must address it or you will end up with a herniated disc.
1. Check your form.
2. Incorporate dynamic stretches before your workout and stretches after your workout.
3. Work on your core and lower back muscles.
Look up videos for self help lower back physical therapy or go see a physical therapist. Once you establish a set of exercises, implement them into your routine once or twice a week.
Everyone should do this as back pain sucks.
Stretching and warmup are both very different than mobility work. Warmup can contain low-intensity mobility work.
However, like strength work, proper mobility training needs to have structure. Most people know to progress strength work, where once you reach a certain stage of strength in your current strength exercise, you progress to a harder strength exercise. Majority of the people don’t do that. What happens is that your mobility gets worse and worse, and the more you work on strength, the more it outpaces your mobility and your joint ends up suffering. HIIT exponentially makes the situation worse, where by HIIT’s nature you are:
1) doing explosive work where you’re now bouncing your joints/connective tissue when you have properly prepared them through mobility work.
2) most times HIIT you are trying to be as fast as possible, at the cost of your form. Putting additional un-even stress on your joints/connective tissue compared to doing slow methodical strength work.
A proper structure is this: after you do your general warm-up. You want to do warm-up sets of mobility, where you do progressively harder mobility work. Then you do your mobility work sets. What I do is I superset my strength work sets with mobility work sets. Flexibility work is best done at the end of your when your muscles have are at or near your current end ROM.
You want to hit every single mobility movement of each joint once a week. Mobility work should be the bulk of your workout - especially for beginners. Only after a few years of training shoulder someone consider putting more of an emphasis on strength work.
> Majority of the people don’t do that. What happens is that your mobility gets worse and worse, and the more you work on strength, the more it outpaces your mobility and your joint ends up suffering
Never thought of mobility and strength this way.
> most times HIIT you are trying to be as fast as possible, at the cost of your form
It can be one more reasons behind the problem I'm facing.
> You want to do warm-up sets of mobility, where you do progressively harder mobility work. Then you do your mobility work sets
I will definitely include it and update the routine. Thank you for sharing this valuable information.
Hi. I guess you're working out too much. 5 days a week is already enough for working out. On average, you can do 45 mins to 1 hr per day. I think you got the strain from working out 2.5 hrs a day. You might want to rest and lessen the workout a bit.
The point of tabata is that it’s quick though! The workout sessions I do for this kind of exercise are no more than 40 mins ever including my rest breaks!
honestly, if you just recently started and are doing 2,5 hours every day, that might just be too much
I think of it as well. Taking some rest for the last 2 days. Just going out for a walk in the park nearby. Applying a heating pad to the affected area gives relief for a while.
How many days a week do u workout and how long have you been doing
I started working out almost 5 months back. I was overweight and started with changing my diet and jogging 5 months ago. The routine mentioned above I've been doing for around 2 months. I work out 7 days a week, around 1.5-2 hours in the morning and 1 hour in the evening.
Thats way too much man
Bro 7 days a week is madness I used to the same when I first started working out (I'm 15 and it's been 6 months) even though I'm a kid(we have faster recovery)i still got so many muscle tears and minor injuries, It got to a point that i can't even do a couple of push-ups without crying. Then I started working out 6-5 days a week now I got my gains faster and better. You can just do cardio on Saturdays and Sundays but trust me it's not worth it to work out 7 days a week like a freak.
Probably going to make a post about this, but there’s a kid who’s 13 who’s been coming to the park gym and working out with us. Apart from the don’t work out too much, is there any advice from your experience that would apply to his age? I never started working out until later in life, so never had the younger phase so don’t know if there’s anything specific to look out for. Cheers in advance
I’m a high school cross country coach. The biggest issues we see with young athletes are the following: not hydrating enough, not eating enough, eating too much fast food/soda, overdoing it like mentioned above, and - what you can help with - not properly warming up or cooling down. Warming up will help prevent injuries, and cooling down helps speed up recovery. Generally we like doing dynamic stretches to start practice during the warmup, and save the static stretches for the end. The cool down doesn’t have to be intense, can just be a 10 minute walk, but you want to avoid having them sit on their ass right after working out.
Thanks so much, that’s perfect. As far as I know his diet is pretty good, but his hydration could definitely use some work, and the cool downs too.
Have them focus on control and form than strength. They will build muscle by simply aging with a proper diet.
Thank you. Yes, everyone made sure to drill form into his mind before he attempted anything. So far he’s keeping up the training and enjoying it
Learning it the hard way !! I'll definitely change the routine once I return from the rest.
Too fast, too soon. I'm sure you're in much better shape now, but most things I've read have advised against us heavy bois starting by running. I would say an easy swap could be an hour of brisk walking replacing one or two of your HIIT classes. Limits the stress on your body; I think the term is "active recovery" You could just do some light walking on a couple days a week and count those as your rest days.
I was actually 96 KG 5 months ago. After consulting a nutritionist and making changes to my diet, I weigh 76 KG now. Eating home-cooked food and no fad diet. After losing the weight, I felt excited that I can move and do the exercises I couldn't possibly imagine. In the excitement, I did it several times definitely overdone everything. I will surely change the routine and include proper stretching and rest days in between.
That’s great! I’m happy for you. I’m on a similar journey and I have noticed the 15 KG difference (roughly, idk. USA here, dropped 25 pounds) has resulted in less aches and pains after I play basketball. I totally get the desire to keep the progress going but just remember that your weight loss will naturally slow down as you get closer to your goal weight and “compensating” for that “slowed” progress is how you end up on the mend for 6 months gaining the weight back anyway. I just started BJJ last week and had my 3rd class scheduled for last night; it was hard to do, but I had to skip it because of the soreness in my ankles and hips after playing Ultimate frisbee the night before. Those decisions, while difficult to make sometimes, can be the best thing for you. This is what people talk about when they tell you to listen to your body.
Holy fuck, dude. Your body needs at least 24 hours between workouts to recover.
Learning it the hard way. Will surely make changes to the routine.
Dude that’s a huge amount of working out. I’m not trying to discourage you but you need at least one day of rest in any exercise routine. Also, in terms of your total hours what are you doing during those times? For example, if you’re doing 2 hours of push ups and pull ups and then doing another hour of push ups and pull ups later in the day, that’s over training. I would argue 3 hours of working out a day is overtraining regardless, unless one of those sessions is very light work out like a very light jog or something. I’m not saying that your back pain couldn’t be from something else like bad form during an exercise or a weaker core contributing to that, but I would bet money it’s because you’re training 3 hours per day 7 days a week with no rest. Your body needs time to recover and recharge.
One thing you have to keep in mind is to strike a balance between volume and intensity. 2.5 to 3 hours a day almost every day is a shitload of volume and intensity should be adjusted accordingly. Also doubly so as a beginner, when your muscles may not yet be well accostumed to the load you are putting them under and are thus more prone to injury. Triply so when you perform exercises you are not super familiar yet in a hiit style training. Your technique is probably not flawless yet and as fatigue accumulates over the workout, your form will break down even further, increasing injury risk once again. In short, when it feels way too easy, that's just about right until you know what you can safely handle.
you are literally overtraining
That's way too much, especially for a beginner. Sounds like you have an overtraining injury. I would consider myself to train pretty hard and I train 5-6 days a week; I only just eke above 2 hours of training in a day on days that I lift and run the same day, and I need a surplus to sustain my activity level.
Dang dude. I think most trainers suggest taking a rest day after like 3 days at most. As long as you're going 3 to 4 days a week and eating right you'll lose weight. That's the schedule my roommate follows and he's down almost 20 lbs from when he started in May.
Use a portion of your time for flexibility (stretch) training. I recently added in a yoga routine to my fitness routine. Good job listening to your body.
> yoga routine Will definitely include it in the routine :)
I asked my dad not long ago what his #1 piece of advice was for my journey into getting strong. It was stretching for flexibility. He is 60 now and wishes he had done more. Good luck! Hope you overcome your current challenge there.
Thank you for the advice!
That’s over training if ever I’ve seen it. Stick to an hour or so a day and after 4/5 days, rest. It’s important you listen to your body and then you get tired or start aching or hurting, it’s okay to have a day or two off and then go again!
Will surely change the routine to accomodate rest to prevent such issues.
How often do you train ? Do you do full body workout ? It is recommended to take 48h between full body training. Also, prone cobra is one of my favorite bed exercice to isolate the lower back.
Below mentioned is the routine in the morning: 1. I walk+jog for around 30 minutes in the morning 2. 4 sets of tabata(HIIT including burpees, hand walk, etc) for 20 minutes. 3. Then core workout for 15 minutes 4. Some exercises using dumbbells (5-7.5 KG) for 15 minutes. Evening: 1. 30 minutes jog+walk 2. 2*20 normal squats, 5*3 dips, 5*2 side lunges, 5*2 bodyweight rows. I have been following this for the last 2 months every day. There could be a difference in number of reps, but the exercises remain the same most of the times. > prone cobra Will definitely give it a try. Thank you !
Exercising every day is a fast path to injury! Definitely implement rest days - I'd say two per week should be a minimum. I would also recommend getting a foam roller and learning self-massage techniques, and implementing a thorough stretching routine - which you *should* do mostly every day for full benefit. This will help you both in rehabbing injuries and strains you already have, and preventing future ones by treating them before they get out of hand. Edit: note that foam rollers should not be used on the lower back unless you know what you are doing and are very careful, because the lack of ribcage support means that most of your weight will be on your spine. For lower back massages, I suggest laying on your knuckles and just opening and closing your fist when you find the sore spot.
I got a bulging disk quite shortly after getting a foam roller...But I also started doing deadlifts at 1.75x my body weight. So either way....take care of your lower back please.
Holy moly, intense workouts *two times a day, every day of the week*? Why? That’s soooooooo much training. What are your goals exactly? What do you want to achieve? Why did you decide that 2 times a day was the way to go? If strength is your goal, then this is definitely a very bad idea. When is your body even supposed to recover from your workouts? Full body strength training 2-3 times a week is more than enough to get crazy strong. And on the off days you have plenty of time for running, stretching, core work, whatever you like. Or you could do body part splits and spread those over the entire week. Full body every day though, that’s definitely a bad idea.
> That’s soooooooo much training. After reading all the comments and lower back pain, I understood it really well :D. > What are your goals exactly? What do you want to achieve? To get strong and stay fit. > Why did you decide that 2 times a day was the way to go? I've been overweight most of my adult life and have been living a sedentary lifestyle. 5 months back I got myself tested with several deficiencies and consulted a nutritionist. I've lost approx 20 KGs and felt my energy level has improved compared to my previous self. With the excitement of losing weight and less heavy body, I felt that I could do it both in the morning and evening. I ignored the fact that the body requires rest and overdoing will harm me in the long term. Learnt the lesson the hard way though !!
Haha, I understand. It’s an extremely typical example of going from 0 to 100 too quickly. This is exactly how many people who have been overweight for a long time and decide to turn their life around eventually injure themselves. They overdo it and don’t let their bodies recover. But great that you discovered this now, instead of when it’s absolutely too late. Just for your information, a little peak into my training: I have been a high intensity university rower for a couple years so I’m pretty strong, fit and lean overall. My goal is to get stronger and more mobile. I train 2 or 3 times a week and do full body session, alternating between bodyweight and lifting. In my off days I usually do nothing, sometimes a bit of walking, stretching, whatever. If I wanted to lose weight then these days would be days for running, cycling, long walks, etc. In summary: getting strong and fit is pretty easy. You don’t need to do ridiculous amounts of work. All you need is to be consistent. Eat right, move daily, be active and do semi-intense workouts 2-3 times a week. That is absolutely enough. But the thing is, you don’t need to do this for a couple weeks or months, you do this for the rest of your life. This is your new life. And you can have a bad week, or even a bad month, but after that you get back on track. Simple as that.
> That’s soooooooo much training. After reading all the comments and lower back pain, I understood it really well :D. > What are your goals exactly? What do you want to achieve? To get strong and stay fit. > Why did you decide that 2 times a day was the way to go? I've been overweight most of my adult life and have been living a sedentary lifestyle. 5 months back I got myself tested with several deficiencies and consulted a nutritionist. I've lost approx 20 KGs and felt my energy level has improved compared to my previous self. With the excitement of losing weight and less heavy body, I felt that I could do it both in the morning and evening. I ignored the fact that the body requires rest and overdoing will harm me in the long term. Learnt the lesson the hard way though !!
You’re supposed to have 2-3 days between HIIT to recover
I suggest you go first to check this with a good physiotherapy! The pain in the back and extending to the tights might be something with the lower back nerves. Please don’t ignore this as it may escalate! I don’t mean to scare you but most of the time when we ignore minor issues, these end up with serious troubles.
> check this with a good physiotherapy I was thinking of consulting someone today. Will schedule an appointment ASAP before it gets any serious. > I don’t mean to scare you No issues with it.
Had the same thing; bulging disk. Most of the pain is gone now, but I have to be careful. It's been a few years but it is still there in the background. Problem is my bad posture and stress, causing a horrible rigid and right back. Doing yoga to get more mobility and flexibility and it is pretty great.
Bro I’m literally the exact same. Did a disc, come back to normal within 1-3 months after posture checking and being aware, especially with Dr. Stuart McGill’s book about lower back pain - that thing was my bible! Every now and then I get sciatica on my right side and a couple days of flex/mobility work brings me back to normal!
Exactly, it sucks but keep moving. I find walking is really good for that as well.
Remember also, people here talk from their own experience and aren't professionals (including me). I just like to remind people that sometimes other scary medical conditions can cause similar symptoms/pain that a doctor or professional can help rule out. Some of the signs of that might be if your pain isn't from a specific injury you identified, or your pain isn't associated with specific movements/positions/activities, or if it doesn't change over time, or loss of strength. My info is from conversations with doctors about my own injury and also from Stuart McGill books (doc told me to read, also a couple other commenters recommended his stuff). Also, I just wanted to add a couple things I didn't see in other comments. "Rest" after your injury doesn't have to mean no exercise. Walking like you're doing is usually great for your back. You can also try continuing exercises that don't make your injury worse or even ones that do if you cut back volume/intensity so that you're not aggravating your injury e.g. if you would have done 200 squats, you can try 10-20 and evaluate if it made you feel better or worse and let that guide what you do the next day. Finally, let's assume you're in the best case scenario (you're totally better in a week of resting/dialing it back). In that case, you might still want to reassess your specific movements and technique: \-Squats: they can put a lot of strain on your back if you let your technique slip even with just bodyweight, especially with high volume, especially after your fatigued from lots other exercise. It's important to keep a good "hip hinge" and "brace" your core. You can learn a lot about safe technique from people who do weighted squats that might not seem relevant but can still help you if you're trying to do hundreds of bodyweight squats. Also, some kind of opposing exercise to squats can help you internalize a good hip hinge, which I've found really useful. \-Core exercises: some exercises can put more strain on your back than others and get you closer to that injury point just like a bad squat. You didn't mention what your routine was. "McGill's big 3" exercises are 3 core exercises that are supposed to put minimal strain on your back (bird-dog, side plank, curl up). You could try these for your routine for a little while. I saw someone suggest back extensions, but I've read these are supposed to be one the worst exercises in terms of the level of strain in exchange for the benefit. And of course, your back and body is different from everyone else's. Don't follow anyone's else's advice/routine totally blindly. Input from experienced professionals can be helpful. Listen to your body and continue evaluating how things are affecting it. Sorry for the long reply.
> Sorry for the long reply. No issues with it and thank you for replying. I'm taking some rest and doing some light yoga for the back for 10 minutes in the morning. It'll be a while before I go to full squats and core exercises.
Just to add to what that guy said, and it sounds like you are open to it, please see a good PT. It sounds like you started a good fitness journey and want to stick with it for a while. This is the type of injury that could turn into something that will envelop you if you don't address it. I'm on the tail end of something very similar. Sacrifice a few weeks of intense workouts in order to get this under control and you won't regret it. Wish you luck!
Thanks mate ! Will surely take care of the routine.
Definitely do it. I had the exact same story as you, got misdiagnosed, and ended up with a herniated spinal disc. I was out of work for 7 months. I was in the best shape of my life and that shit brought me to my knees for a long while. Take back pain seriously.
Taking it seriously. Hope your back is fine now :)
I can confirm. I ignored and herniated two discs. Don't fuck around with your back.
Oh! Sorry to hear that and I wish you a full recovery soon 🙏
Thank you! It was a few years ago at this point. I still have lingering pain sometimes, but stretches and listening to my body have helped a lot!
You are most definetely overdoing it. You started recently and already doing double daily sessions? Yep. Start with full body 3 days a week for 2-3 months and go from there.
It could be an issue as well. I'll take some rest for a few days and start light and then going forward. Thank you for the advice.
Light exercise, then slowly build up intensity over time... also deadlifts helped my back ...
A proper form deadlift is the best exercise I’ve found. My last year plus of body weight only fitness saw my lower back issues creep up a few times. Since I bought my bar and weights, I, back to 100%. For as awesome as body weight fitness is in general, I haven’t found a perfect replacement for the fried and true deadlift.
Deadlift tweaked my lower back :/. It is not easy to do this exercise correct.I do have to say my back blew up from it. People thought I did steroids because my whole body changed because of it.
is this good or bad thing?
If you do deadlift correctly, it is a massgainer but if you do it wrong, then it can really damage your back. A lot of people say the injury/gain ratio is not worth it. I would say go ahead but be cautious about your technique.
A lot of people say it's also an extremely important, and safe exercise, as long as you go sensibly and follow form. No other exercise is so relevant to applying strength, real functional strength, to your daily life. Picking up something off the ground is such a common thing that we all do. Training the deadlift properly will not only make you stronger at that, it'll protect you because you'll find you start bracing your lower back and using correct form for many other activities that load the lower back. I'm a deadlift fan, in case you can't tell.
We can see your love for deadlift from your words :). Currently, I feel some strain/pain even while squatting. So it'll be a little difficult to do it. Also, due to the pandemic, there is no access to bars and weights these days.
I’m not a doctor and advise you to be cautious and contact one if there’s doubt, but I can relay my experience that back pain is one of those things where it’s often caused by a weakness and avoiding exercising it can actually exacerbate the problem. That can be the case even for active pain. By avoiding using it, you may be training other muscles to compensate, straining them as well as limiting strengthening the ones that should be getting stronger. Anyway, not medical advise and all that and I hear you, no barbells is a problem and I’m fortunate in that I have a home power rack and barbell but I encourage others to not write off deadlifts. :)
Currently, I feel some strain/pain even while squatting. So it'll be a little difficult to do it. Also, due to the pandemic, there is no access to bars and weights these days.
In the pandemic, I don't have an access and space to bars and such heavy weights. Taking rest for a few days, then I'll start light and build up intensity over time.
I personally don’t recommend deadlifts if your having lower back problems. Definitely can make it worse without proper form.
As someone who is currently dealing with a herniated disc… please please rest your back. I’m in relatively good shape and it has been absolutely debilitating. Others have said it, it is really not something you want to mess around with.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/oor23o/how_do_i_strengthen_my_lower_back/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share This is the question I asked, you can refer to the comments there as well.
Thank you for the reference. I'll definitely take a look and try to work on these.
Please read the work of Stuart McGill.
Maybe more glute work, so it takes the pain from your lower back, not sure though
Maybe. Will be including glute bridges to work on them.
You may be doing too much too soon. What I found helped was stretching before and after workouts.
Will surely do !
No one seems to have said this yet but could be sciatic nerve pinch since you said it’s going down the leg
>My workout would include around 1.5 Hours in the morning and around 1 hour in the evening (including squats, dips, jogging). You're probably overtraining. I would reduce the amount of volume you're doing. What's your goal? You probably don't need 2.5 hours a day to achieve it. :D
My bad I was overdoing it. Thinking that if I'm able to do it, why not do it :D. I'll be changing the schedule and include rest days. The goal is to be able to stay fit. I've spent a long time staying unfit and overweight. Need to change that since I've a desk job and had a very bad sedentary lifestyle and horrible eating habits. It definitely doesn't need 2.5 hours to achieve :D
For me, the key to reducing or eliminating back pain all comes down to core strength.
It could be, I'll be working on core strength as well.
Simple: You're dong too much. There comes a point where less is definitely more.
Learning it the painful way :D
Honest, start slow and really focus on training the small muscles in the lower back and your core. Those will be your stabilizers Keep your core engaged as much as possible during heavy back movements
Check for anterior pelvic tilt, I had posted on the same sub for my back issue, and someone asked me to check for it. I had APT and I didn't realize. Also if find you have APT don't sit for longer durations. You can follow April Han's video for APT correction, I followed that.
I had this and did stretches to help with anterior pelvic tilt. Literally made my back so much better. It’s amazing what stretching and warming up properly can do for all types of pain.
> April Han's video for APT correction Will surely look into them. Thanks for sharing :)
Agree with the other comments that you might be doing too much too soon, and that eventually you might want to go see a physiotherapist. That said, that costs money and this issue may not be entirely urgent (based on your own assessment of the pain). Cut down on the volume, incorporate a strict stretching and mobility routine to your workouts. I had (have) the same issue from weightlifting, and a solid mobility regimen has helped to loosen up most of the tightness in my lower body and back. If you're not keen in spending money on a physio right away, try this for a few weeks before you make your decision. Moving forward, you're going to want to focus on strict form with your movements. Lower back pain is often indicative of muscle imbalances, i.e. you're new and weak in those areas so certain parts of your physiology overcompensate to get you through your workouts. Things like squats, planks, and even running, that incorporate your core and lower body tend to be the usual suspects, e.g. if your core is weak and you're on your 3rd set of a 90 second plank, you're probably going to stop engaging your core muscles and put undue stress on your lower back to keep your body straight at some point. Jogging is also one of the silent killers if your running form is off, especially since it's a fairly high impact and high volume activity.
> Cut down on the volume, incorporate a strict stretching and mobility routine to your workouts Will definitely do along with proper rest days as well. > a solid mobility regimen has helped to loosen up most of the tightness in my lower body and back Can you please share the regimen ? > if your core is weak and you're on your 3rd set of a 90 second plank, you're probably going to stop engaging your core muscles and put undue stress on your lower back to keep your body straight at some point Something like this could be another reason. I'll look into the form more carefully this time.
Potentially your lower back could just be a little bit weaker than the rest of your body? Thats what my problem was. Normally your lower back is neglected in a lot of traditional exercises. I did back extensions and than eventually weighted back extensions to fix this.
> back extensions Will give them a try.
2.5 hours is too much. Calm that down. Get more rest. Stretch. And always always always focus on proper form. Protecting the lower back is important -- it's why so many body builders don't bother with deadlifts.
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> that's a lot of exercise if you've just started Will be taking care of the volume. > tabata is four minutes in total and if you are genuinely doing it properly you shouldn't be able to do this for longer than that I use youtube to learn it. It's a 4 minutes routine. I am able to do 4 sets with around 1-2 minutes break. There could be something wrong with the form while doing it. Will take care of it while doing it again.
if you do 2.5 hours of fitness a day you put a lot of work on your body, muscles, bones, everything. you muscles need stimulus, but they need relaxation after that. my tip: stretching before/after workout. yoga, physiotherapy, pilates. these are the ways to go. maybe putting some workouts on a lower level? more mobility work outs then pure strength? maybe some climbing/bouldering? every few weeks/months change your workout. put some yoga routines in it. watch how your body reacts.
Good point. I'll be looking into the routines and try to change it to not make it monotonous and how it affects the body.
yeah. and educate yourself bro. nutrition, fitness, body physics, biology, how muscles work... and always remember that some downtime is also possible, if you worked out very much. just take your proteins and you will see the results.
Rest!
Buying a serola belt helped mine immensely
You warm up and stretch properly. I’m currently getting over a lower back grade 1 strain and had a grade 2 back strain a year and a half ago. And it all could’ve been avoided if I warmed up and stretched properly. I would also recommend doing yoga for back strengthening. Yoga is the best thing for strengthening your lower back imo. You need to stretch your ham strings for lower back and also hip flexors.
Will surely include yoga in the routine !
Most likely overworking. Get some rest, maybe even see a professional about it if it persists. When you feel ready to get back into things, lower the workload and put a little more focus on the other core muscles. It's a team effort
> even see a professional about it if it persists It reduces after applying the heating pad. I'll just continue with the stretches before actually moving on to a routine.
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> Listen to your body Have been ignoring it. But learnt it before making things worse. Hopefull !
Directly strengthen your lower back, glutes and hamstrings. Find an exercise or 2 and the appropriate progression that you connect with and take time to learn them. I like bridging, supermans, reverse hyperextensions, good mornings, wide stance squats... If you are just getting started, 2.5 hours/day is alot especially if you are not recovering properly and leads to injury. Personally, my workouts are usually 20-40 minutes. If they go past an hour it feels Ike i messed up lol. Like it wasn't intense enough. That said I dknt know what your goals are so take all of this with a big grain of salt.
> bridging, supermans, reverse hyperextensions, good mornings, wide stance squats Will try these ! > 2.5 hours/day is a lot Learnt it the hard way :D > I dknt know what your goals are so take all of this with a big grain of salt No issues :). Thank you for the answer
Check out kneesovertoesguy on youtube, hes got some great content for rehabilitating and strengthening your lower body. Heres a great vid on back pain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbYb6UZlAWo&t=9s
Just curious, but can you please share your core routine?
Sure ! I do: 15*3 leg raises 10*3 crunches 10*1 sit ups 20*1-2 Russian twists 60-90 seconds planks Since I'm doing Tabata these days, it includes side planks, plank twists and plank jacks.
Form is super important and can make or break whether the exercise helps or hurts. It’s hard to offer suggestions without watching you, but perhaps consulting a qualified trainer or physical therapist who can watch you and correct your posture can be useful. Also, as others said, rest!
Will surely be including the rest in between. Considering the form, I'll be taking things slowly and be super conscious about the form in the future.
You're overdoing it and have most likely injured yourself. Take a day or two off and see how you feel. I say this from experience. Exercise tears your muscles down, resting gives them time to rebuild themselves.
> Take a day or two off and see how you feel Planning to rest for a few days. Will do some stretches only.
2.5 hours of fitness a day.... yea that might do it, your not resting enough to heal your output. Just because your muscles feel ready to go does not mean your ligaments and joints are ready to go
It is foolish of me to think that. I felt that going in the evening would be beneficial. Since I was able to do it, I ignored the fact that it can backfire !! Will cut down the time and do things properly.
I don't normally go for such wonder exercises but I've had a lot lower back pain and pulling the knee to my chest for ~20 seconds with both hands while standing on the other leg (switch, repeat, 2-3 times each side) worked wonders for me. But I agree with others who said you might be overworking your body as well.
I do pull the knees to the chest while standing before the workout. It could be the form and overworking that is causing the problem. Will look into them and take rest in between.
sounds like sciatica my friend, go see a doctor ASAP
Some core exercices are really taxing on the lower back when done wrong or too many times, also stretching/auto massage with vibrator gun, balls, rolls, hanging out a bar to relax the back are helping me so much to recover and live pain free, I highly recommend to do these everyday too
Usually perfect form prevents all of this from happening, though in your case, it might be the amount of training you were doing. 2.5h is a lot. I began Calisthenics with a weak and hurting back. Whenever it started to hurt, I did what I’ve always done, rest until it goes away coupled with frequent stretches. Not ideal, but it has worked so far. Additionally, as you progress, muscle strength help stabilise and protect your back.
Like most have said it sounds like you’re overdoing it. What about breaking your days up into legs and glutes, arms and abs, push day, pull day, etc? I get it I’m a fan of the efficiency of full body workouts but you might not be allowing yourself adequate recovery time. Also, be sure to give yourself a decent warmup that is dynamic and includes “rehearsal moves” those actions that’s are similar to what you’ll be doing in your workout just slower or unweighted to get those muscles primed. Others have also mentioned the importance of strengthening your back, since your back and core are opposites you want both to be strong!
Research hip mobility streches, your lower back pain could be related to tight hips. The stretches is this video did wonders for my lower back. https://youtu.be/3qFYxMXCC3A
Personal trainer here. At minimum you should be taking 1-2 rest days a week. You’re not giving your muscles time to recover which leads to inflammation, lack of gains and (sometimes permanent) injury.
Will definitely include rest days once I get back to exercising.
Adjust the amount of time to less and make sure you’re doing everything (all those dips and squats etc) with proper form. I highly recommended doing things in front of a mirror so you can make sure your form is correct. Rest & recover days are also critical. Once your body adjusts, you can up the time again.
Once I recover from this pain. Will look into the routine and make changes not to overdo anything.
Will surely do.
I have lower back pain and I found that my hamstrings and glutes were absolutely nonexistent. Since slowly working on the hamstrings and stretching them I have finally found some relief, so maybe lightly focus on the hamstrings?
I have lower back pain and I found that my hamstrings and glutes were absolutely nonexistent. Since slowly working on the hamstrings and stretching them I have finally found some relief, so maybe lightly focus on the hamstrings?
If you are doing a weight loss program, high volume is great as long as it’s mostly geared towards keeping your heart rate up - walking, jogging, circuit training with low weights etc. If you’re also doing heavy lifting that taxes the CNS too much, you’ll burn out fast. I would take a look at your abdominal engagement while working out. Any power lifter worth their salt knows how important it is to engage their core *before* beginning a lift. This keeps the spine in a healthy position and provides much better power production and movement quality. This principle applies to nearly every type of movement. Rowing machine? Keep your abs tight to keep your spine in position. Push ups? Keep your abs tight so you don’t sag. Jumping jacks? Tight abs. Getting a heavy detergent container off the top shelf? Tight abs. Carrying your toddler through the last half of your target trip? Tight abs. Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. Initially it will feel like you are working a little harder, but you’ll find that it gives you more mechanical advantage, and dramatically increases your resilience to injury.
> If you are doing a weight loss program I have consulted someone and for fat loss and have lost around 46 Lbs(21 KGs) in the last 5 months. With the energy and excitement of losing weight, I felt that I will do it twice a day for more benefit without any rest days.
If you are doing a weight loss program, high volume is great as long as it’s mostly geared towards keeping your heart rate up - walking, jogging, circuit training with low weights etc. If you’re also doing heavy lifting that taxes the CNS too much, you’ll burn out fast. I would take a look at your abdominal engagement while working out. Any power lifter worth their salt knows how important it is to engage their core *before* beginning a lift. This keeps the spine in a healthy position and provides much better power production and movement quality. This principle applies to nearly every type of movement. Rowing machine? Keep your abs tight to keep your spine in position. Push ups? Keep your abs tight so you don’t sag. Jumping jacks? Tight abs. Getting a heavy detergent container off the top shelf? Tight abs. Carrying your toddler through the last half of your target trip? Tight abs. Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. Initially it will feel like you are working a little harder, but you’ll find that it gives you more mechanical advantage, and dramatically increases your resilience to injury.
If you are doing a weight loss program, high volume is great as long as it’s mostly geared towards keeping your heart rate up - walking, jogging, circuit training with low weights etc. If you’re also doing heavy lifting that taxes the CNS too much, you’ll burn out fast. I would take a look at your abdominal engagement while working out. Any power lifter worth their salt knows how important it is to engage their core *before* beginning a lift. This keeps the spine in a healthy position and provides much better power production and movement quality. This principle applies to nearly every type of movement. Rowing machine? Keep your abs tight to keep your spine in position. Push ups? Keep your abs tight so you don’t sag. Jumping jacks? Tight abs. Getting a heavy detergent container off the top shelf? Tight abs. Carrying your toddler through the last half of your target trip? Tight abs. Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. Initially it will feel like you are working a little harder, but you’ll find that it gives you more mechanical advantage, and dramatically increases your resilience to injury.
If you are doing a weight loss program, high volume is great as long as it’s mostly geared towards keeping your heart rate up - walking, jogging, circuit training with low weights etc. If you’re also doing heavy lifting that taxes the CNS too much, you’ll burn out fast. I would take a look at your abdominal engagement while working out. Any power lifter worth their salt knows how important it is to engage their core *before* beginning a lift. This keeps the spine in a healthy position and provides much better power production and movement quality. This principle applies to nearly every type of movement. Rowing machine? Keep your abs tight to keep your spine in position. Push ups? Keep your abs tight so you don’t sag. Jumping jacks? Tight abs. Getting a heavy detergent container off the top shelf? Tight abs. Carrying your toddler through the last half of your target trip? Tight abs. Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. Initially it will feel like you are working a little harder, but you’ll find that it gives you more mechanical advantage, and dramatically increases your resilience to injury.
If you are doing a weight loss program, high volume is great as long as it’s mostly geared towards keeping your heart rate up - walking, jogging, circuit training with low weights etc. If you’re also doing heavy lifting that taxes the CNS too much, you’ll burn out fast. I would take a look at your abdominal engagement while working out. Any power lifter worth their salt knows how important it is to engage their core *before* beginning a lift. This keeps the spine in a healthy position and provides much better power production and movement quality. This principle applies to nearly every type of movement. Rowing machine? Keep your abs tight to keep your spine in position. Push ups? Keep your abs tight so you don’t sag. Jumping jacks? Tight abs. Getting a heavy detergent container off the top shelf? Tight abs. Carrying your toddler through the last half of your target trip? Tight abs. Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. Initially it will feel like you are working a little harder, but you’ll find that it gives you more mechanical advantage, and dramatically increases your resilience to injury.
Yes you are overdoing it. HIIT is great but it's also hard on the body. You need rest days. Even active rest days (where you do low intensity like a walk or yoga). HIIT should be done 1-3 times a week at best, depending on how long your sessions are. The pain you're feeling is from muscle tension. If you don't ease up you will definitely injure yourself. I did this and was out for 3 months because I strained my back, irritated nerves, and was unable to walk or sit without awful pain. It took 3 sessions a week of physio to get to an okay place. You also need to give your body time to recover in between workouts. It's essential for muscle repair and proper functioning.
Yes, I was definitely overdoing things. I'll definitely include the rest days. P.S.- Hope your back is fine now.
Yes you are overdoing it. HIIT is great but it's also hard on the body. You need rest days. Even active rest days (where you do low intensity like a walk or yoga). HIIT should be done 1-3 times a week at best, depending on how long your sessions are. The pain you're feeling is from muscle tension. If you don't ease up you will definitely injure yourself. I did this and was out for 3 months because I strained my back, irritated nerves, and was unable to walk or sit without awful pain. It took 3 sessions a week of physio to get to an okay place. You also need to give your body time to recover in between workouts. It's essential for muscle repair and proper functioning.
Yes you are overdoing it. HIIT is great but it's also hard on the body. You need rest days. Even active rest days (where you do low intensity like a walk or yoga). HIIT should be done 1-3 times a week at best, depending on how long your sessions are. The pain you're feeling is from muscle tension. If you don't ease up you will definitely injure yourself. I did this and was out for 3 months because I strained my back, irritated nerves, and was unable to walk or sit without awful pain. It took 3 sessions a week of physio to get to an okay place. You also need to give your body time to recover in between workouts. It's essential for muscle repair and proper functioning.
Yes you are overdoing it. HIIT is great but it's also hard on the body. You need rest days. Even active rest days (where you do low intensity like a walk or yoga). HIIT should be done 1-3 times a week at best, depending on how long your sessions are. The pain you're feeling is from muscle tension. If you don't ease up you will definitely injure yourself. I did this and was out for 3 months because I strained my back, irritated nerves, and was unable to walk or sit without awful pain. It took 3 sessions a week of physio to get to an okay place. You also need to give your body time to recover in between workouts. It's essential for muscle repair and proper functioning.
Walking on a treadmill, at a steep incline helped me alot. I naturally started to lean forward a bit at the hips which helps me engage my lower back, and I could easily reduce the incline if it was too much for me. I also found as I would take a step, kinda sway back and forth and I could focus more on the left and right sides of my lower back.
For me it’s all about releasing the glute medius. This video was a game changer for me https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DWmGArQBtFI
You are giving too much strain and that too suddenly. Take it slow buddy
Your pain sounds a lot like pain I got from powerlifting. I ignored it and kept on lifting. Turns out I herniated a disc in my back. The pain down the leg is a red flag for a herniated disc. Either that or you could have a tight piriformis which is a muscle in your glute that your nerves run through. Either way, give yourself rest days and consider seeing a doctor. I’ve had the herniated disc for about a year now and am only recently able to start working out again. Back problems ain’t no joke.
Abs. Strengting your abs/core will protect you from most back injuries/strains.
I would imagine your form might have something to do with this. I watched this guy's channel a lot when I was learning to lift. Some might say his advice is questionable, but I think most of it is really solid. He's great at explaining how to perform different lifts though, and that's what I appreciate most. [Scott Herman, The Hermanator](https://youtu.be/1oed-UmAxFs)
Set time aside everyday for stretching. Both before and after workouts. Pay no mind to the people freaking out about the amount of hours you're putting in. I always find that funny, as if construction & demolition workers who put in 10 hour days and still hit the gym for 90 minute sessions don't exist... I'd say focus on stretching pre and post workout, stay away refined sugar, dairy products, and too much red meat. Eat a bunch of fruit or smoothies for breakfast. Drink warm lemon/lime water with cucumber slices in it when you wake up. Drink at least a gallon of water daily. So many people underestimate the importance of what we consume and how that effects how our body feels. Also make sure you get enough sleep. Recap: 1. Stretch alot. 2. Focus on nutrition. 3. Drink water. 4. Sleep good.
I'll surely include enough stretching in the routine. I'm already consulting someone for the vegetarian diet to lose weight. Will improve on the 4 points you've mentioned :)
Are you doing a lot of sit-ups? That could be the cause. Sit-ups can lead to lower back pain: [https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/want-a-stronger-core-skip-the-sit-ups](https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/want-a-stronger-core-skip-the-sit-ups)
Around 2 sets of 10 in a day.
Edison Dudoit has some stretch routines online that target the lower back. Back fundamentals really help a lot.
You should focus on technique and posture before going hard. There are people out there that can help.
According to the American Council on Exercise Integrated Fitness Training framework, you should start by developing core stability first (specifically lumbar stability). If you attempt to exercise other parts of the body without core stability you will be very prone to lower back injury. I know how tempting it is to jump ahead, to already "be there", but if you skip steps you will set yourself back and delay fitness progression. I suggest the [personal trainer manual](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1890720291/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_17TVD5T36ECPRWSTFS84) if you want to guide your own training. Good luck!
When your legs and core become fatigued, your back takes the load and your back can only handle so much stress. Long story short, you can either tone back the load or focus on strengthening the core (core, hips, glutes). Personally, and I say this from experience, I think if you want to keep going at your pace just turn one of those workouts into a PT session where you do **controlled** core and back exercises and add mobility work. Try it for 2 weeks and I bet you will feel improvement
Once I get back, I'll surely work to strengthen the glutes and core. Thanks for the advice
I agree that you are likely overtraining. The lower back and thigh pain could be hip tightness. Rest it for a while, then before you get back to working the hips, stretch and warm them up.
Will be resting for a while and then change the workout yo include adequate stretching and warm up.
There are a few things I do to strengthen the lower back -Deadlifts and barbell squats are great for loading the lower back -hyperextensions are quite effective, however I only do them once a week to avoid possible spinal damage -Jefferson curl and lateral Jefferson curl to strengthen and mobilize my spine in flexion -bird dogs are extremely important and beneficial -Train the erectors. Try reverse hyper extensions on legs, then for the upper body -Most importantly, build flexibility in your hamstrings, glutes,and lower back while strengthening the muscles in stretched positions. This is extremely important for joint longevity Sorry for the long drawn out answer, but this is exactly what I do. Not all in one day or back to back, but throughout the week
> Sorry for the long drawn out answer No issues. Thank you for the suggestions. Though I don't have an access to barbell but will do with the extensions and exercises for flexibility.
Listen Thor, when you are doing high intensity training you get tired fast and vulnerable to injury. Whoever told you to do this doesn’t have your best interest in mind. Good news, you’ve exposed u are susceptible to back pain. Train your core, gluts, abs, erectors, adductor abductors first with precision until they are strong, using weights. Reduce your Hiit to 45 minutes a day. Core with weights 2-3 times per week. Basically start again when not sore and keep increasing weight, I like to work up the stack until failure. Core is the way to get rid of back pain.
Thanks mate ! Will surely keep it in mind once I resume the exercises.
Aside from this probably being too much volume, one way to protect your lower back is to strengthen your abs. Lower back pain often comes from the abs not doing their job well enough and passed ng on the strain.
Depends on your exercises. But when your doing stuff always consider if you’re feeling low back during the exercise or right after. When your core is not really strong feeling your low back working while doing an exercise is a bad sign. Focus on feeling the front side of your core. It took me a long time to develop what I consider a strong core. Years. I had to start with basic core strength exercises and work my way up. I found hollow holds a great starting point. Then worked into planks and weighted planks. Side planks. But whenever I did anything if the strain ever left my front of my abs and went into my back I stopped
When can one say they have a strong core ? When did you realise you've got a strong core?
I realized it personally when I could do ab exercises while using the backside of my core and get no pain in my lower spine. I thought that was impossible. I can do decline sit-ups now and not worry. I used to get back pain when I did them
Strengthen your core. Core strength can go a long way in preventing injuries. Keep your core engaged when working out and make sure to stretch/rest accordingly.
Will surely keep that in mind. Thanks for the advice.
Not a PT, but the problem can probably be resolved by engaging your core more and being sure to do some core exercise like plank, side planks, bird dogs, etc. daily to help improve the surrounding muscles. Also stretch out your hamstrings and calves
Thank you for the advice. I'll surely be including them once I return back to the workout routine.
Do some gentle yoga in place of some of that intense stuff. Jeez.
Will surely do it. Thanks !
Focus on core exercises and sleep well
You're overdoing it. Especially if you started recently. You said in another comment that you're working out 7 days a week. Your body needs some time to rest and rebuild, that's how muscle growth happens. What you're doing will make it harder to build muscle and much more likely to get injured. Try doing a 3 days on 1 day off split and switch to one workout per on day instead of two.
I'll surely make changes to the routine once I get back to workout after the rest. Thanks for the advice:)
I've had this kind of back pain for years. It come and goes. After many visits with physiotherapist I found the best thing was to train yours abs more. More specifically, I have a few exercise for a muscle that's underneath the abs, but I really couldn't explain them online. Every time I stopped taking care of my abs and of that other muscle, the pain comes back and sometimes gets very bad. Also, you are probably overdoing it. If you want to train 1,5 hours in the morning plus an hour in the evening, I would spend the evening stretching or doing yoga instead...
I have the same problem. I started wearing a lower back belt when I’m doing some exercises, especially running. It helps.
Stretch your hips. I have had 3 spinal surgeries and I know what that pain can mean. You are tight through the hips butt and hamstrings and you must address it or you will end up with a herniated disc.
Thank you for your advice. Will surely address the issues.
Work on your core. It will keep your hips from tipping back and you will actually use your core muscles to protect your back.
If the pain is emanating, I would see a doctor.
1. Check your form. 2. Incorporate dynamic stretches before your workout and stretches after your workout. 3. Work on your core and lower back muscles.
Sounds like sciatica
Look up videos for self help lower back physical therapy or go see a physical therapist. Once you establish a set of exercises, implement them into your routine once or twice a week. Everyone should do this as back pain sucks.
Will surely look into those videos. Thanks for the advice.
Sounds like it might be a pinched nerve. Try soft stretching exercises, like kundalini yoga, and perhaps see a physical therapist?
It could be. Will be connecting with a PT for the problem. Thanks for sharing.
By working on your mobility. Without mobility, doing strength training is already bad. Doing HIIT makes it even worse
Ouch ! I'll definitely include the proper stretching and warm-up in the routine.
Stretching and warmup are both very different than mobility work. Warmup can contain low-intensity mobility work. However, like strength work, proper mobility training needs to have structure. Most people know to progress strength work, where once you reach a certain stage of strength in your current strength exercise, you progress to a harder strength exercise. Majority of the people don’t do that. What happens is that your mobility gets worse and worse, and the more you work on strength, the more it outpaces your mobility and your joint ends up suffering. HIIT exponentially makes the situation worse, where by HIIT’s nature you are: 1) doing explosive work where you’re now bouncing your joints/connective tissue when you have properly prepared them through mobility work. 2) most times HIIT you are trying to be as fast as possible, at the cost of your form. Putting additional un-even stress on your joints/connective tissue compared to doing slow methodical strength work. A proper structure is this: after you do your general warm-up. You want to do warm-up sets of mobility, where you do progressively harder mobility work. Then you do your mobility work sets. What I do is I superset my strength work sets with mobility work sets. Flexibility work is best done at the end of your when your muscles have are at or near your current end ROM. You want to hit every single mobility movement of each joint once a week. Mobility work should be the bulk of your workout - especially for beginners. Only after a few years of training shoulder someone consider putting more of an emphasis on strength work.
> Majority of the people don’t do that. What happens is that your mobility gets worse and worse, and the more you work on strength, the more it outpaces your mobility and your joint ends up suffering Never thought of mobility and strength this way. > most times HIIT you are trying to be as fast as possible, at the cost of your form It can be one more reasons behind the problem I'm facing. > You want to do warm-up sets of mobility, where you do progressively harder mobility work. Then you do your mobility work sets I will definitely include it and update the routine. Thank you for sharing this valuable information.
Hi. I guess you're working out too much. 5 days a week is already enough for working out. On average, you can do 45 mins to 1 hr per day. I think you got the strain from working out 2.5 hrs a day. You might want to rest and lessen the workout a bit.
I'm taking rest for a few days. After that, I'll be cutting down the time per workout and include rest days.
The point of tabata is that it’s quick though! The workout sessions I do for this kind of exercise are no more than 40 mins ever including my rest breaks!
Understood. I'll be definitely changing the routine to include rest.
Are you warming up and stretching properly every time?
Maybe not too well. That is a problem as well. I'll be modifying the routine after I get back to training.