Back Tuck - Mid-lower back pain

So I recently got my back tuck down pretty good. It was probably not a good idea but I did probably 40 or so (spread out over an hour) a couple weeks back. I started to notice my vertebrae towards the middle of my back (probably about 8-11 up from my tailbone) started to hurt. A PT saw me and pushed on my back a little and said they were out of place. Is there something with my landing that would cause that...maybe an imbalance.

I notice also that when I under-rotate, only my left ankle gets bent (dorsi-flexed- I think that's the term for your top of your foot bending towards your shin) to where it hurts a little and can swell up (I've under-rotated a lot due to uncommitment or poor execution). Does that have something to do with my back...maybe one side is taking a beating and so my back on impact is getting compressed unevenly?

probably. standing back tucks have a lot of force upon landing, especially for a big guy. i generally never had any newbie to standing back tucks do so many the first time, especially when focusing on form and quality of repetition.

You are not yet ready to be tackling such a high volume of back tuck work. Also as you are currently unable to land cleanly, you may want to consider the following two options to prevent your short landing injuries:

1) Use a qualified spotter to assist your back tucks.

2) In the event, that you have no access to a qualified spotter, you may perform the back tucks off a slightly elevated surface (4"-12" high). Be sure to use an appropriate surface to jump from such as a spring board or padded block. For beginners, I do not recommend using plyo boxes or other "hard edged" objects to jump from as in the case of a technical error your shins may drag down the edge :cry:!

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer