I think it’s safe to say we all have delt with some type of joint or lower back pain somewhere along our fitness journeys… Is it because CrossFit is unsafe, or maybe weightlifting is just bad in general and you should never do it? F*** No.
The truth is weightlifting, gymnastics, and high-intensity exercises has helped millions of people change their lives and has introduced them to new possibilities that were never an option before they stepped foot into a CrossFit gym. CrossFit has athletes in their 90s, in wheelchairs and even missing limbs doing functional fitness all around the world and all of them are better off for it (Check out this short video if you don’t believe me: Wheelchair Pushups: Meet the Inspirational Amputee Crossfit Trainer – Bing video). What’s the deal then? Why does this work so well for some people and seem to negatively impact others?
Experiencing an injury such as low back pain or shoulder impingement doesn’t mean what you were doing for exercise is wrong, it means something prior to you performing that exercise was wrong. As trainers, our focus is ensuring our clients are progressing appropriately and safely, but unfortunately, these injuries still happen. So, what can we do to mitigate this?
1st: Education is key. Learning the movements correctly from the beginning is the best thing we can offer you as coaches. This gives the right perspective and mindset to have when first starting your journey at the gym. The main topics we try to emphasize while going over each movement during our on-ramp sessions with new clients are:
- Range of motion
- Points of performance
- Safety check
- Intensity
For example, when learning the deadlift (cue backs everywhere tightening up just from reading the word), the coaching looks like this:
- Range of motion: bar at mid-shin, back flat, lats squeezed to your side, head neutral, hips lower than shoulder – knees lower than hips
- Points of performance: weight on heels, shoulders slightly in front of the bar in setup, bar stays in contact with the legs throughout the movement, hips and shoulders rise at the same rate until over knees, at the top hip is completely open, chest is up, and knees are straight
- Safety check: spine needs to stay stiff the throughout the whole movement (lumbar curved maintained)
- Intensity: stay light and keep volume low until you have at least 5 good deadlift sessions/ workouts in, then begin to add load and volume as you and your coach feel comfortable
Without ever hearing these cues, it’s easy to see how someone may go wrong when performing the deadlift when just starting out.
2nd: Acting on what you’ve learned, aka staying disciplined! This is the obvious but oh so elusive one. We’ve all picked up some weight we had no business picking up. I’ve been doing this for 10+ years, and I just tried to back squat 400lbs the other week when I knew I was not ready for the weight that day. I totally smoked my lower back in the process. I get it. It’s difficult when the energy is good, everyone’s lifting heavy around you, and you want to push yourself. This is when it is crucial to stay disciplined and stay within your capabilities. This doesn’t mean to never go for a PR, but ensuring you do everything you can to prep your body before going for that heavy rep will save you a lot of wasted time and discomfort.
3rd: Accessories, accessories, accessories… Like most gyms, we program a warm-up and cool-down every day. Obviously, these are meant to first wake up your body, get your heart rate up so you can crush the workout. Afterwards, cool you down, so you don’t have to drive home with your heart rate at 200. BUT we also program movements into these that are meant to help build our bodies up. Accessory movements train those smaller muscles that may get neglected during a bench press or back squat or deadlift. Training the small muscles will help us= perform the heavier compound lifts more safely and more efficiently. Bringing a higher level of intention and effort to warm-ups and cool-downs alone can do a lot for your body and overall fitness, if you’re not already doing it.
4th: Assess and re-test (Now we are getting into the weeds) – Let’s say you have been doing CrossFit for 5 years, your technique is awesome, you hit good warm-ups and cool-downs and you even stretch at home (aka 5-gold stars). However, you STILL struggle with joint issues and random aches and pains. I would say this issue may be more common than beginners hurting themselves. And it makes sense – as our confidence grows, and as we spend more time in the gym, our intensity goes up and we push ourselves harder and harder every year. But, if we didn’t get a solid foundation of movement and accessory work when we first started lifting (don’t feel bad, 90%+ people haven’t), then as we get better and demand more of our body’s, injuries will start coming up. This is when we need to take a step back, assess what is going on, and put in work to address what’s happening. This is key. It’s not realistic to take a month off and come back to the same routine and expect your knee to have fully solved its own issues during those 4 weeks. We must figure out what is causing the pain, and you might be surprised how simple this can be and how similar what you are experiencing is to what others are going through! Other times it can be more complicated, but either way we need to figure it out. From there, we can make a plan to address the faults, so that we can correct the issue. If you want to be healthy, and able to workout for the rest of your life, this will likely be an ongoing process for a very long time, but it is the only way to keep yourself active and in the gym!
Step #4 in action – Coach Alec
If you’ve met Alec, you know he moves great. He’s strong, and he does the extra work to take care of his body. So why does Alec’s lower back flare up every year and totally remove him from class workouts for weeks at a time? It could be a few things, but by looking at his athletic background, overall level of pain, and which movements are causing him pain we can start putting together a plan to help his back. By introducing new accessory movements, different ranges of motion, eliminating the movements causing him pain and focusing on building strength and mobility in the muscles surrounding the problem area, we can try to make some real change that hopefully lasts and ends this on-going cycle for him.
Self-assessment from Alec on where some things went wrong for him:
- Consistency – “the importance of dedicated “practice” with the basics. This is something I struggle with. We’re a bit engrained with a mentality of quick fix or moving on to the next thing but in reality, dedicated focus to solving the problem will improve the long-term outcome. Hence, I keep having flare ups.”
- Genetics – “A touchy subject that gets bastardized a lot in the fitness community, but with the right spin I think we could convey that no matter how you’re born/built you can work to improve your state. I think of individuals who don’t have the best posture/form but are super strong. We see clients where their posterior chain is quite rigid (shoulders forward, rounded back, tight hamstrings, etc.), and may not be injured and even may excel within their current capabilities. But I’d love to see what improvements could be made with pared back intensity and focus on some basic flexibility/mobility work. Back to me, with longer limbs I tend to rely on my arms/back in the deadlift. The way my body is structured, I tend to neglect my lower body and was never really taught how to engage all the muscles in my legs. So I think the message here could simply be, no matter your DNA…there is room to improve, even adjust, your foundational movement patterns.”
Alec’s assessment/ plan:
Triggering movement: Heavy deadlift
What causes pain: Deadlift, explosive lifts, high power output workouts
Hypothesis: Lack of strength and mobility in the hips (glutes, hamstrings, and hip flexors) is causing low back to hyper extend and take on more load than it could handle.
Corrective movements:
- Accessory movements focused on glutes, hamstrings, and hip flexors: banded hamstring curl, GHD hip extension and back extension, banded good morning, sled pull forwards and backwards, Hip flexor leg lifts, reverse hyper on GHD
- Hip range of motion strength training: Box squats, sumo deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats
- Thoracic spine range of motion: Tempo overhead squats
Alec will do the scheduled work for 2 months. Afterwards, we will assess how his back feels. Depending on the results, whether or not the workouts helped or not, we now have a better idea of what has been causing Alec’s pain and can either readjust the plan or keep doing what is working.
Our goal is to keep you all healthy and stay progressing in the gym. If you have questions or need help with any problem areas let us know and we will do our best to assist you.
