Lower back exercises

How to train your lower back

The erector spinae run along both sides of your spine. Their job in the gym is mostly to hold your back straight while your hips do the work: in a deadlift, a squat or a row, they keep your spine from rounding under the load. When you extend your back from a bent position, they move it.

The hip hinge is the main pattern. The deadlift and the good morning load the lower back heavily together with the glutes and hamstrings, so they come first in a session and need good form more than heavy weight. The back extension on a bench trains the same muscles with your body weight or a light plate and is easier to learn.

Keep your back neutral, move from the hips, and stop a set when you can no longer hold your position. Two heavy hinges on one day add up for the lower back: Muscla never puts two hinges, such as the deadlift and the Romanian deadlift, on the same day.

If you tell Muscla to spare your back, the plan leaves out the lifts that load it most, such as the deadlift, the Romanian deadlift and the barbell squat. With pain that does not go away, see a doctor or physiotherapist first.