Lower back pain

[Yaad Mohammad]

I used RLL, just BW on a block next to PB while holding the PB rails helpful twice in 2010. 3-6 months without barbell work made my lower back weak when I got back under a bar.

Mainly used them because Louie Simmons has gone on record of using them for his lower back issues. Unfortunately, the UC Berkeley Rec Gym did not have a reverse hyper. I did do some back extensions on the PB but also used a fair amount of PB and Ring swings purposely piking on purpose to loosen up my lower back that had tightened up BIG TIME.

Good Mornings could also be used. Again, light weight and super high reps.

As has been said, the super high reps allows for more blood flow which heals tissue.

I also looked into a lot of Yoga "snaking" for loosening up my lower back.

What about headstand RLL? Also, about the Yoga thing. Does pike stretches help?

[Blairbob]

When your lower back is tight, you will hate pike stretches. It can be excruciating just sitting in a 90 degree flexion pike. So it depends.

Ehh, I probably would not mess with HeSLL if your lower back is in pain. The whole being on your head. I would do a similar exercise hanging upside down against the stall bars or upside down on rings or in between the PB. It wouldn't be terribly difficult upside down on rings or PB but that's ok.

I would still prefer the pikey swings in support or hang. And an inversion chair if you have access to one.

If you can get into a knee hang upside down that helped my friend with his lower back pain. Sort of just hang and arch and hollow.

Another might just be to lay down and do tuck or pike leg lifts.

[Yaad Mohammad]

When your lower back is tight, you will hate pike stretches. It can be excruciating just sitting in a 90 degree flexion pike. So it depends.

Ehh, I probably would not mess with HeSLL if your lower back is in pain. The whole being on your head. I would do a similar exercise hanging upside down against the stall bars or upside down on rings or in between the PB. It wouldn't be terribly difficult upside down on rings or PB but that's ok.

I would still prefer the pikey swings in support or hang. And an inversion chair if you have access to one.

If you can get into a knee hang upside down that helped my friend with his lower back pain. Sort of just hang and arch and hollow.

Another might just be to lay down and do tuck or pike leg lifts.

I don't have access to rings at the moment, so I can't do most of the things you just mentioned. About the pike stretches. Yes, they're extremely hard now, but are they bad? I don't know and I'd like to know. Also, the pike leg lifts, are you sure they're good? It feels a bit bad.

[Joshua Naterman]

Lifts into hollow holds help for the lower back.

Look, there are no answers for you, only suggestions. We aren't there, we can't go step by step. You have to do what feels good. You may find that pike stretches up to a certain point are fine, so just do that. You will benefit from pelvic clocks, but move gently and just like with everything else use small ranges of motion.

You have to start getting creative, I mean you don't need equipment. If you have a couch and a chair you can do everything you need to. Pile heavy stuff on the couch, including people if they are around, and then lean over the chair so your core is on and legs are hanging off, and hold the bottom of the couch. Now you can do proper RLL. The headstand version is no good for you right now, the only place there is real tension on the muscles is in a very stretched position and if pike stretches aren't feeling good why the hell would you do the weighted equivalent?

For curl ups, lay across a bench or chair with your thighs on the bench/chair and have someone put their hands on your heels to hold you in place. It won't be all that hard on them and then you can do curl ups. You have to ask for help from the people around you, and that is my recommendation. You need to do what you need to do, there are not always workarounds.

If you can't do anything else, make a pile of heavy stuff on the couch and a pile of clothes or something else to lean your thighs on so that you're on a makeshift incline, and can then do curl ups alone.

I have little sympathy for the lack of equipment, because I've done decline bench press on a pile of couch cushions and a million other ghetto exercises when there was nothing else around. If I needed to I would have piled up dirt into a ramp. You have to be actively in search of answers, because they don't care enough to search for you.