Pain

Body building, weight lifting and back pain

By: Thomas E. Hyde, DC

How weight lifting and body building cause back pain

Extending or flexing the back muscles against resistance (the weight) can result in stress fractures (such as spondylolysis), muscle strain and ligament injury during weight lifting and body building
Exercises performed during weight lifting and body building such as clean-and-jerk, dead-lift, snatch, and squat can be particularly stressful
Older persons who do weight lifting may already have some disc degeneration which can make them more susceptible to the strains of weights

Know the condition of your back and keep weight amounts within your personal limits before you begin weight lifting
Use less weight but do more repetitions when lifting weights or body building
Use a training machine rather than free weights for certain weight lifting exercises.

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Discuss this with both your spine specialist and trainer, understanding there is a trade-off. A machine may reduce stress on the back (for example, quadriceps done sitting at a machine versus squats holding weights) and can generally be used by someone with little or no supervision. But free weights add proprioception (self-regulation of posture and movement in response to the free weights) that a machine does not.
Use a spotter when working with free weights to protect your back while weight lifting
Consider wearing a belt for weight lifting (first ask the recommendation of your trainer or spine specialist, as there are conflicting studies on the merits of belts)
Do not perform exercises such as the clean-and-jerk, dead-lift, snatch or squat without proper supervision, as they pose greater risk for back injury and back pain