Working out with a weak back will change how you do everything in the gym. The back is a critical part of the overall core – everything from your shoulders to your knees – and when it’s weak, you can feel unstable with heavy compound movements like the deadlift and squat.Also, whenever you try to go heavy with a big lift, you’ll risk serious injury because you don’t have the ability to control the weight and remain in a good position – i.e., a straight or neutral back. This will limit the benefits you’ll be able to achieve with any program and turn you into a walking time bomb.
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Re-Establish Global Core Stability
The first thing you need to do is to work on re-establishing global core stability. This means being able to use your entire body as a single unit and hold that a good position for a greater length of time. Think about global core stability as being able to keep your body in a straight line when you’re performing a plank variation or being able to keep your back straight from the time you lift the bar off the ground when deadlifting, until you set it back on the ground.So the key is to get in a good position (straight back) and then hold this position (bracing) by contracting all of the muscles that surround your torso and coordinating that with your entire posterior chain – all of the muscles that run from your neck to your heelsIncorporating exercises like isometric bridging, back extension iso-holds, side planks, plank variations, RKC planks, one-arm farmers walks, or any exercise that forces you to keep your torso straight and engage your upper back, core, glutes, and hamstrings at the same time.
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Attack the Top and Bottom
After your increase your global core stability, the next goal is to attack your back at the top and at the bottom. Strengthening your upper back with chin-up variations, pull-up variations, inverted rows, face pulls, and band pull aparts will start to build strength and hypertrophy across your entire upper back, mid-back, and posterior delts. Strengthening the low back and spinal erectors with Romanian deadlifts, good mornings, kettlebell swings, hip thrusts, and various hinging movements will not only develop strength of the posterior chain, it will teach you how to hinge at the hips with a neutral spine – a critical movement quality needed for heavier barbell lifts.
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Regress Your Compound Exercises
Until you begin working on the first two training goals above, I would not recommend putting a barbell on your back or loading up a heavy deadlift. All good programs have progressions and regressions and taking a step back in your training will allow you to accelerate forward faster than you ever could if you never addressed your underlying weaknesses or limitations.
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Increase Volume of Fundamental Movements
Since you’re working on better core stability and strengthening your upper and lower back, it is a perfect time to increase the volume of the fundamental movement patterns. These fundamental movements serve as a teaching tool for position, control, and range of motion and will help you transition to heavier strength training exercises as you get stronger.Fundamental Exercises vs. Compound Barbell LiftPushups = Bench PressGoblet Squat = Barbell SquatKettlebell Swing / Deadlift = Barbell DeadliftSo, more pushups, goblet squats, and kettlebell swings or deadlifts! All of these fundamental movements should be perfected and progressed with greater intensity (load) or volume when you’re ready.
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Take a Step Back
Taking a step back and identifying your individual weaknesses will allow you to take ownership of your workouts. And, as Gray Cook says, “Never build fitness on top of dysfunction.” This means never sacrifice good technique and the position (of your back) just to add more weight to an exercise that you can’t even perform with proper technique. If you can do this, you’ll be training and moving better for the rest of your life.
Working out with a weak back will change how you do everything in the gym. The back is a critical part of the overall core – everything from your shoulders to your knees – and when it’s weak, you can feel unstable with heavy compound movements like the deadlift and squat.
Also, whenever you try to go heavy with a big lift, you’ll risk serious injury because you don’t have the ability to control the weight and remain in a good position – i.e., a straight or neutral back. This will limit the benefits you’ll be able to achieve with any program and turn you into a walking time bomb.
Re-Establish Global Core Stability
The first thing you need to do is to work on re-establishing global core stability. This means being able to use your entire body as a single unit and hold that a good position for a greater length of time. Think about global core stability as being able to keep your body in a straight line when you’re performing a plank variation or being able to keep your back straight from the time you lift the bar off the ground when deadlifting, until you set it back on the ground.
So the key is to get in a good position (straight back) and then hold this position (bracing) by contracting all of the muscles that surround your torso and coordinating that with your entire posterior chain – all of the muscles that run from your neck to your heels
Incorporating exercises like isometric bridging, back extension iso-holds, side planks, plank variations, RKC planks, one-arm farmers walks, or any exercise that forces you to keep your torso straight and engage your upper back, core, glutes, and hamstrings at the same time.
Attack the Top and Bottom
After your increase your global core stability, the next goal is to attack your back at the top and at the bottom. Strengthening your upper back with chin-up variations, pull-up variations, inverted rows, face pulls, and band pull aparts will start to build strength and hypertrophy across your entire upper back, mid-back, and posterior delts. Strengthening the low back and spinal erectors with Romanian deadlifts, good mornings, kettlebell swings, hip thrusts, and various hinging movements will not only develop strength of the posterior chain, it will teach you how to hinge at the hips with a neutral spine – a critical movement quality needed for heavier barbell lifts.
Regress Your Compound Exercises
Until you begin working on the first two training goals above, I would not recommend putting a barbell on your back or loading up a heavy deadlift. All good programs have progressions and regressions and taking a step back in your training will allow you to accelerate forward faster than you ever could if you never addressed your underlying weaknesses or limitations.
Increase Volume of Fundamental Movements
Since you’re working on better core stability and strengthening your upper and lower back, it is a perfect time to increase the volume of the fundamental movement patterns. These fundamental movements serve as a teaching tool for position, control, and range of motion and will help you transition to heavier strength training exercises as you get stronger.
Fundamental Exercises vs. Compound Barbell Lift
Pushups = Bench Press
Goblet Squat = Barbell Squat
Kettlebell Swing / Deadlift = Barbell Deadlift
So, more pushups, goblet squats, and kettlebell swings or deadlifts! All of these fundamental movements should be perfected and progressed with greater intensity (load) or volume when you’re ready.
Take a Step Back
Taking a step back and identifying your individual weaknesses will allow you to take ownership of your workouts. And, as Gray Cook says, “Never build fitness on top of dysfunction.” This means never sacrifice good technique and the position (of your back) just to add more weight to an exercise that you can’t even perform with proper technique. If you can do this, you’ll be training and moving better for the rest of your life.
