Tired of getting injured

[wally1648]

I'm sick and tired of injuring my back.

I've been lifting for couple of years and squatting always gets me injured at some point.

“well, do something else!” you might say.

Thing is…I love squatting.

Anyway. More context.

I've been getting injured on and off for years, and at some point I said fuck it. No more squats. And I stopped for 1-2 years.

Recently, I said to myself “maybe I was a moron, maybe I was doing it wrong, maybe I didn't always warmed up properly, maybe I was going up in weight too fast, etc”

So I started squatting again. Two times/week, light weight, 8-10 reps, nothing remotely close to failure.

I felt comfortable so I increased the weight every week. 10 pounds/week, then 5 pounds as I was getting somewhat closer to failure. Then I deload for a week, restart with a weight heavier than the last time I started, then continue adding 5-10 pounds based on how strong I'm feeling.

Last week I was attempting what would be a PR since I restarted, (~185pounds, not much but it's honest squattin'). I was easily doing 10x175pounds a week before so I was expecting to get 8 reps now.

4 reps in, and half way of my 5th rep, I feel my right erector spinae drifting out to the right and then back inside and forward (towards my belly). What. the. fuck. And it wasn't like “omg I'm dying, I only have one rep left”, I could've at least got 4-5 more.

Anyway, sharp pain, tight back - fuck me. I don't think it's serious as I got better in just a few days, but…I'm sick and tired for this to keep happening.

My theory is that I'm so scared of getting injured when going heavier that I slightly over extend my back (cant say for sure though) causing it to pinch on the way up. Or that I fuck up my bracing at some point (because I was feeling pretty relax seeing how easy those first reps went). No idea…

I've attached a video from today. What the hell am I missing? Those of you who had/felt similar injuries, what changes have you made?

LE: It’s most likely a bracing issue.

After a couple of sessions of paying attention to every little thing I do, I noticed I tend to “unstack” my ribs as the weight gets heavier and heavier. I end up breathing in too much air, slightly moving my chest up to the point where my ribs are no longer properly stacked. That, plus the tendency to “keep my chest up” possibly leads me to an overextended position.

From now on:
- working on improving my core
- improve my bracing technique (longer breaks between reps to ensure I brace properly)
- slowly warmup increasing the weight while decreasing the reps (great tip from the comments)
- buy some proper shoes. those spongy things I have are bad af.

Thansk for the advice!

 

[jely]

@wally1648 My bet is on improper bracing.

 

[wally1648]

@jely Could very well be. There are times when I feel my bracing is indestructible like I could lift a zillion lbs, and times in which I feel it slightly off - asking myself “was that a good one? i kind of felt this one more in my chest than belly”. I know the theory behind bracing properly, I’m just not sure I’m doing it right 100/100 times

 

[gre97]

@wally1648 What exercises are you doing to prime the core before squatting?

Nvm, just saw your other comment. Consider adding in stuff like McGill's spine protocol, isometric offset loading, etc. Exercises that require you to "activate" the core stabilizers so they're potentiated for the lifts.

 

[gtorre]

@wally1648 I used to get injured a lot more. Here were my issues, do any of these apply to you?

1. Ineffective/irrelevant warmup. The amount of time or intensity you apply to your warmup matters less than how specific and incremental it is.

Good warmup: take time to very incrementally increase load while squatting in the exact way my working sets are gonna look.

Bad warmup: doing some random leg exercises and cycling on a bike for 5 minutes.

1. Divebombing my squats. Just going down too fast and bouncing back too fast. I am not athletic or young enough to make that work.
2. Increases in loads are too big. Going up in 10lb increments is probably too much. I go up in in 2-5lbs at most.
3. Attempting to PR all the time. Kind of self-explanatory.

 

[wally1648]

@gtorre I warm up pretty good - leg swings, hip circles, rotating knees (no idea what these are called), dynamic stretches. Then I do 2-3 warmup sets (15/12/10 reps), increasing the weight with each set.

No divebombing, 10lb might be too much - the reason I went with it is because I my starting point was super low (but maybe I overestimated)

PR wise, I only try it every ~5weeks. For example:

- week 1 - 100 pounds

- week 2 - 110

- week 3 - 120

- week 4 - 125

- week 5 - 130 - PR

- week 6 - deload

- week 7 - restart at 110 and build back up.

 

[gtorre]

@wally1648 I think that's not a great warmup, honestly.

Think about it. You're doing a bunch of opener exercises, which is ok, but not specific to heavy squats. Then you're donng a bunch of light squats at high volume. Then you're straight into your maximal load working sets. At what point are you prepared for the load? To me it seems like there's a big gap between your working sets and your warmup sets.

If your goal is to squat 190 for 8, then maybe a pyramid warmup should look like this:

• the bar for a set of 10
• 80lbs for 8
• 110lbs for 5
• 130lbs for 3
• 160lbs for 2
• 175 for 2
• 180 for 1
• 185 for 1

Something to try. The benefit of doing something like this is you spot any niggles long before your working sets.

 

[uzezi]

@gtorre Yeah , I always warm up with singles as working approaches

 

[wally1648]

@gtorre Hmm, I never followed this approach. I am increasing the weight and decreasing the reps, but not to this degree. I do 65lbs for 15, 90lbs for 12, 155lbs for 10 and then go into 180lbs for 8.

But what you’re saying makes sense. Thanks!

 

[gtorre]

@wally1648 It's a sample, and you may find this is overkill. But the general idea is you want to grease the groove between having not squatted to squatting at your max weight.

 

[wally1648]

@gtorre I’d go with overkill rather than another injury every day of the week

 

[dananglingson]

@wally1648 I totally get the rationale behind doing higher rep (8-10) warmup sets, but I've seen a lot of weightlifting pros/influencers saying it's better to do lower reps as you still prepare your body for the weight, but you don't cause any fatigue. So you're primed and fresh for your working sets

As for your pain, I feel for you because I was constantly getting back pain when I would squat. I changed 2 things and haven't had that pain since: 1) I keep my ribcage tucked and tight to avoid any arch in my back. In the vid you posted I believe I'm seeing a little bit of arching, so maybe this can help you. And 2) I've been focusing on my bracing more and keeping my core tight. I don't think I'm perfect yet but it's enough to avoid the back pain

Good luck!

 

[wally1648]

@dananglingson Thanks! That's my suspicion as well - I either failed to brace properly or slightly overextended my back, or both.

I'll do combination of better/lower reps warmup + more focus on bracing and stacking and hopefully this won't happen again..

 

[bebe107]

@gtorre Just injured myself doing RDL’s, which led me to this post. Very helpful info. Thank you for the breakdown.

 

[khankorp]

@gtorre This guy gets it.

Also, adding in foam rolling, banded squats, and other squat specific exercises should help.

 

[dawn16]

@gtorre This. 3. People get too enthusiastic about going heavier too soon. They’re are many ways to make lighter weight “harder”, that won’t injure the spine

 

[dawn16]

@wally1648 Have you hired a coach to help you with this?

A real expert might be the answer. For $100 you can get someone who really knows their shit to evaluate your form, your weight, your technique, all of it

 

[itrm]

@wally1648 Have you considered front squats? Because of the bar placement they will (a) put less strain on your lower back (and shift it to your core/upper back), (b) cause you to reduce the total absolute load/weight without a reduction in overall intensity (probably a plus for injury prevention) and (c) force you to be even more strict in your form (otherwise you just drop the bar). Plus they're easier to bail.

It is true that they require somewhat more technique and mobility than traditional backsquats--but so what? Doesn't seem like you're not in any rush to reach some specific or abitrary goal. No harm in slowing down and taking the time to learn this great movement. I avoided these for years until a shoulder injury prevented me from back squatting, but now really glad I was forced into it. Just on their own they are an amazing core and stabilization exercise.

FWIW, your backsquat form looks pretty good to me. As some have mentioned, pyramiding up in smaller increments at lower reps might be a better warmup.

 

[june12]

@wally1648 Hey have you tried front squats? They keep me nice and strict so I don't hurt my back.

 

[mikeb34]

@wally1648 Maybe keep your head a little more neutral/look straight ahead. Reps toward the end seemed to collapse a little forward going down.

Really, form looks good overall. Maybe stay away from training to that sort of fatigue - the effect on later reps was apparent.

Look into Cluster Set training. You'll be using more weight, but the reps are done staying away from failure.