Lower Back Tightness

MrCross

Mid 30s, played hurling most of life. Anyway gave it up and took up crossfit in last 16 months or so. Train 3-4 times a week. Stopped hurling. Have progressed well in terms of strength and mobility compared to before. Have put on nearly a stone in muscle. Anyway in the last 6 months if I run then about 10 minutes in I get extreme tightness in Lower back and have to stop. I don't get this doing any functional movements in crossfit, only running.

I stretch and foam roll regularly , focus on hamstrings, glutes and hip flexors also but does not help.

Not looking for medical advice just shared experience. Perhaps increase of body weight has impacted or heavy load from likes of squats has impacted spine. Appreciate any thoughts or feedback if anyone had similar?

jive

http://www.swolept.com/posts/fixing-anterior-pelvic-tilt-posture-tricks-to-make-your-butt-and-gut-smaller#.VwF1pexenCS

https://www.t-nation.com/training/hips-dont-lie

Might be relevant to you if you've anterior pelvic tilt. Caused me hamstring issues more than lower back but lower back tightness was definitely a symptom. Also rolling your lower back (the muscles not the spine) helps relieve issues...temporarily.

Hanley

You're heavier- that'll make it harder.

Running requires high levels of transverse plane core stability. I doubt you're doing anything for that in CrossFit. Therefore your back muscles work over time to stabilise your spine, and you get tight and ****.

Solution? Assuming no underlying issues - transverse plane core work consistently for a few weeks / months.

TheSegal

I have the same tightness when running any moderate distance (>3k). Only thing that helps is a long full body warmup followed by a lot of additional hip flexor stretching. I spend all day sitting down in an office though with work so my anterior pelvic tilt is terrible, been trying to resolve it but it's a long process

Transform

MrCross wrote: »

Mid 30s, played hurling most of life. Anyway gave it up and took up crossfit in last 16 months or so. Train 3-4 times a week. Stopped hurling. Have progressed well in terms of strength and mobility compared to before. Have put on nearly a stone in muscle. Anyway in the last 6 months if I run then about 10 minutes in I get extreme tightness in Lower back and have to stop. I don't get this doing any functional movements in crossfit, only running.

I stretch and foam roll regularly , focus on hamstrings, glutes and hip flexors also but does not help.

Not looking for medical advice just shared experience. Perhaps increase of body weight has impacted or heavy load from likes of squats has impacted spine. Appreciate any thoughts or feedback if anyone had similar?

can you hold a hollow position for at least 30secs? ON your back on the floor, feet 6inches off floor, arms extended overhead and lower back absolutely glued to the floor.

If not then thats a major problem you need to fix, breathing and bracing might be issue also

TheSegal

Transform wrote: »

can you hold a hollow position for at least 30secs? ON your back on the floor, feet 6inches off floor, arms extended overhead and lower back absolutely glued to the floor.

If not then thats a major problem you need to fix, breathing and bracing might be issue also

Just tried this, back has a major arch in it when I try to extend my arms over my head. Is this related to my APT or is this to do with lack of flexibility in my shoulders? I do a lot of shoulder dislocations, foam rolling my thoracic spine and rowing if that matters

thehamo

OP, im just going to leave this here

THIS COULD BE ANYTHING!

and I literally mean that. Over the course of my studies, i've become "less knowledgeable", meaning that the more I learn, the less I will make an immediate diagnosis of what is going on. I have literally seen people who according to them have "never been injured in their life" but by that they mean in the last 10 years. Dig a little deeper and you find out that they had a bad ankle sprain or break when they were 10 and their body has been holding that compensation their whole life, and has decided to rare its ugly head 20 years later.

Ok, you may have a tight abc or a weak xyz, but WHY is what needs to be answered. Your brain doesn't tighten up a muscle for no reason. Your brain doesn't stop sending a "you need to work now" signal to a muscle for no reason. The tight back is more than likely a symptom of something else going on. You can work your glutes out with a lacross ball and it may give you relief for a few days, but when your body senses the threat again, it will fall back into the same 'ol habbits where its been comfortable for the past however many years.

I suppose what im really getting to in a very round about way is, you need to see someone who can tell you after a clinical examination. It will save you a whole load of heartache and guesswork!

Transform

TheSegal wrote: »

Just tried this, back has a major arch in it when I try to extend my arms over my head. Is this related to my APT or is this to do with lack of flexibility in my shoulders? I do a lot of shoulder dislocations, foam rolling my thoracic spine and rowing if that matters

where do you live?

TheSegal

Transform wrote: »

where do you live?

I'm currently living in Galway city

Transform

TheSegal wrote: »

I'm currently living in Galway city

humm bit too far away alight, unlikely a shoulder issue but as mentioned it could be anything.

how do you fair on all this?

TheSegal

Transform wrote: »

humm bit too far away alight, unlikely a shoulder issue but as mentioned it could be anything.

how do you fair on all this?

Thanks for the video Transform. My hip flexors are far tighter than I imagined, if I prop my knee on the ground and my ankle against the wall I can only get my torso about 45 degrees upright, my right side is far tighter than my left. The pigeon pose stretch isn't too bad, after about 20 seconds it gets quite comfortable. Shoulder dislocations are getting better, feel a nice stretch in my chest when I do them but i'm about a foot away from each shoulder using a skipping rope instead of a length of pipe.

thehamo

TheSegal wrote: »

Thanks for the video Transform. My hip flexors are far tighter than I imagined, if I prop my knee on the ground and my ankle against the wall I can only get my torso about 45 degrees upright, my right side is far tighter than my left. The pigeon pose stretch isn't too bad, after about 20 seconds it gets quite comfortable. Shoulder dislocations are getting better, feel a nice stretch in my chest when I do them but i'm about a foot away from each shoulder using a skipping rope instead of a length of pipe.

Ronnie Warde, optimum body is your only man to see in Galway if you're looking to be fixed

Transform

TheSegal wrote: »

Thanks for the video Transform. My hip flexors are far tighter than I imagined, if I prop my knee on the ground and my ankle against the wall I can only get my torso about 45 degrees upright, my right side is far tighter than my left. The pigeon pose stretch isn't too bad, after about 20 seconds it gets quite comfortable. Shoulder dislocations are getting better, feel a nice stretch in my chest when I do them but i'm about a foot away from each shoulder using a skipping rope instead of a length of pipe.

work on that so and make sure you include hollow holds with lower back on the floor and some pallof presses into all your training sessions