Hi

I am 24 years old and have been working out for 3 years now. Unfortunately, I have been a little stupid because I have worked only my chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps and thats it. I never worked my back and legs and it seems their is a body imbalance. Now when I am working my chest, i go home and next morning when I wake up my back is so sore that i cannot even bend my back a little.

I know I need to start working my lower body and I am, but do you think I should take a couple of weeks off my upper body and just work loer body or simply take 2 weeks off gym and do nothing.....

this whole thing started while shovling snow but then I recovered. It seems as if lifting heavy weight on upper body are causing pain in my lower back. I dont feel any pain in my feet or legs though. Any help is very appreciated

What are you doing in the gym specifically? Exercises, reps, sets? Describe the pain: normal DOMS/soreness, or something different? Obviously, you have exceptional imbalances-it's not possible that you don't after 3 years of neglecting specific movement patterns and muscles.

Thanks for your reply

Well I work my arms twice a week, giving 2 days gap, I work chest twice a week giving 2 days gap. I work my shoulders once a week. I can life 185 pounds on bench press. I start with 10 reps, then 6, and my last set i do 3 to 4 reps. I do 4 exercises for my chest, 3 for triceps and biceps, 5 for shoulders.

One day, when i tried to life an 85 pound dumbell to do dumbell presses, I felt pain in my back and I dropped the weight, after that I just went home and took a week off. Anyhow, I dont have too much pain when I am working out, its only when i wake up in the morning is when i have the most pain, during the day I am ok.

I dont want to take any more weeks off, but what i might do now is do back and legs pretty much everyday, a physiotherapist told me that you can work your back everyday, its not a problem.

My lower back is not wide, I am going to try to make it a little wide, my waist is 29. But note than i am not a very big man.

Thanks for your reply and any advice is appreciated.

Your physiotherapist is misinformed: you cannot work your back everyday-there is no difference in the muscle physiology of the back vs. any other muscles of the body. Presenting an overload stress requires time (36-48 hours, on average) for adaptive physiology to occur. Yes, you can "exercise" everyday using weights that do not present an overload, but that's not how you grow and get stronger, so his/her point isn't applicable in this context (either that, or he/she is referring to corrective exercise such as various stretches and mobility work, which also does not represent an overload stimulus).

It sounds like you used poor form in picking up your dumbbell, and you strained your back. You should be focusing on soft tissue work (self-myofascial release is particularly helpful with muscle strains), and you should be learning proper form and corrective exercise to deal with the muscle imbalances and proprioception defecits that you undoubtably have from years of improper lifting and programming.

The good news is that you're young, and you can undo these things. Take a look at "The New Rules of Lifting" by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove: one of the better resources currently available. Go here: Inside-Out:* Your Guide To Ultimate Upper Body Performance for proper warm-up and mobility drills to help you to regain lost proprioception and mobility. Buy yourself a foam roller to address myofascial tightness that has undoubtably occurred from your routines, and limit all upper body pressing to closed chain exercises, such as pushups.

to me, the first thing that needs to be addressed is abdominal weakness.
You didn't mention doing any ab work, and without proper "core" strength and stability, you will be a lot more succeptible to sustaining a lower back injury.

If you had proper abdominal strength and knew how to use it when lifting, you shouldn't have hurt your lower back picking up that 85# dumbbell.

You need to "go back to basics" and really work on the mechanics of pelvic tilting and abdominal strengthening, and then be sure to incorporate those techniques into ALL of your lifting.

Once you have accomplished this, and you are less likely to injure your back, you can really start addressing some of the imbalances.

Hope this helps.

Wes

I really appreciate your answers. I have started working the core now. But at this point I might have to take 2 weeks off the upper body because I cant do my upper body workout properly due to this lower back pain, for example lifting bar for curls and others. Do you suggest completely taking 2 weeks off like do nothing and let the back muscle heal or should i go and just workout back and legs and core and take 2 weeks off upper body. I guess what i asking is "wouldnt working out my back right now hurt my back more? or would it help"

Thanks

I would take a week or 2 off of any heavy lifting. Some light hamstring and low back stretches should be okay, but stop if it seems to aggrevate it more.

If you have access to a heated pool or whirlpool, spend some time in there, but I'd certainly let it rest/heal, and then start with some abdominal exercises emphasizing proper technique, and then get back into the lifting slowly.

Wes

I'd take a little time off and when you get back be very cautious of form.

Something else to consider...

For me, I have never hurt my back lifting or any other physical exercise, but let me sleep in an odd position and I can be in a lot of pain for a day or two. It might be worth considering. Do you ever wake up on your stomach or in an odd, twisted position? If so try a body pillow and see if it helps.