From the desk of Victor Pride
Subj: How to heal lower back pain
Note: This article is not medical advice, it is quality of life advice
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Do you have lower back pain and want to cure it?
If so, you aren't alone.
In private conversation, many men have told me they have lower back pain and it is causing them misery.
For a while I thought I was the only one, but so many have said the same thing to me that lower back pain appears to be an epidemic.
No one seems to know how to fix it either, probably because nobody is looking in the right place…
If you have lower back pain you will naturally think the cause of the pain is the lower back but this is wrong.
If you have lower back pain then it is NOT your lower back that is the cause, the pain is caused by the surrounding areas.
If the surrounding areas are weak, pain will manifest in your lower back.
To learn where the pain originates you will have to face a harsh reality… If you have lower back pain it is because YOU caused it.
(And you can fix it).
If you have lower back pain, it is because….
YOU HAVE WEAK GLUTES & WEAK ABS.
The reason you have lower back pain is you have weak glutes. Weak glutes are the #1 cause of lower back pain.
What causes weak glutes?
The primary cause of weak glutes is a sedentary, “sitting down” lifestyle. It is this lifestyle that causes your lower back pain because it is this lifestyle what weakens your glutes and abs.
Pictured: An x-ray photograph of your glutes rotting off.
Sitting down too much causes weak glutes.
To get rid of your lower back pain you have to strengthen your glutes. To strengthen your glutes you have to go the gym and train them the same way you train biceps, triceps, deltoids, shoulders and quads.
Many people will train nearly all of their muscles except for their glutes and that is a big reason why lower back pain is so rampant. Glutes are a big muscle group and they need to be trained like any big muscle group.
So many people are afraid of looking silly in the gym by training their butt, but you will look even sillier as an old man who cannot walk because of intense lower back pain.
It is weak glutes that cause your lower back pain and if you do not train them with heavy weights what do you think will happen? Your glutes will not get stronger, they will get weaker.
The weaker your glutes get, the more pain you will experience in your lower back.
And you won't know what's causing your lower back pain until somebody screams it in your face:
YOU HAVE WEAK GLUTES!
To fix your lower back pain you have to develop muscle and strength in your glutes. To develop real muscle and strength in your glutes you have to lift heavy weights.
Walking, jogging, running, stretching, yoga - NONE of this will develop your glutes to where they need to be. You must develop muscle and strength on your glutes. To accomplish this mission, you must embark on a mission of lifting heavy weights.
(Don't forget to train abs frequently!)
Glutes are the #1 cause of lower back pain but you cannot ignore all muscles around the lower back.
Lower back pain can be caused by what is above the lower back and what is below the lower back. That means you likely also have weak abdominals.
Weak abs + weak glutes = lower back pain
Solution? Train your abs hard and train your posterior chain (posterior chain = lower back, glutes, and hamstrings).
You can choose any abdominal exercises you like to do, just be sure to train your abs 3 times per week or more. Abs can handle a lot of volume.
When it comes to glute training, it can get a little more complicated because gym machines will not help you. You must learn to do free weight exercises for your glutes.
Here are some of my favorites…
The Best Beginner's Glute Stretch/Exercise
The Best Advanced Exercise For Lower Back Pain
Glute ham raises - I tried a billion different exercises and this is the one I found to be the most effective. I believe this one exercise is responsible for a majority of my gains and I believe this one exercise is the king of all posterior chain exercises.
This exercise is so hard that you will likely not be able to do a single rep the first time you try it. No worries, most people cannot. Keep at it, stick with it. Always include this exercise in your routine and you will reap the rewards. When you can do 1 rep you will have made a significant improvement.
Here's a few alternate ways to perform glute ham raises (video)
The Top 6 Posterior Chain Exercises
(Posterior chain = lower back, glutes, and hamstrings)
To learn how to perform these posterior chain exercises, click the link that says ‘video' and the video will pop up in a new browser.
- Good mornings (video) - Good morning can be performs very frequently (like every time you train).
- Reverse barbell lunges (video 1, video 2) - Reverse lunges can be performed up to 3x per week. They are a great mass builder (ass builder?) and so require a day's rest in between sessions to less your glutes recover and grow.
- Sumo deadlifts (video) - Sumo deads can be performed 2x per week. Be sure to go HEAVY! Aim for no more than 5 reps per set.
- Sled pulls (video) - Sled pulls are a great active recovery exercise. While they help you recover, they also help to build your posterior chain. They can be performed many times per week, no rest time is necessary.
- Wide stance box squats (This is a series called ‘So you think you can squat' and it is the best squat tutorial I have ever seen, it is a must watch video 1, video 2, video 3, video 4) - Box squats can be performed 2x per week. Box squats, if done properly, will likely be the #1 exercise you can do to build your hip strength and size.
- Hip thrusts (video) - Hip thrusts are fantastic glute builders and can be performed 3x per week.
How I Fixed My Lower Back Pain
To cure my lower back pain I had to embark on a 2-part mission:
- I had to learn everything I could about training the posterior chain and
- I had to go to the gym every single day and do the exercises until I found the ones that worked for me
You will have to do the same thing because a cookie-cutter routine will not help your glutes develop. My training is specific to my body and that is why it works well for me.
Speaking of my training…
My training has been solely focused in training my posterior chain and my results have never been better in my whole life. I simply pick a handful of glute/lower back/hamstring exercises and try them out. When I find one that works well, I stick with it. The exercises that work well for me are the exercises I listed above (but there are many more for you to find and try).
When I started this quest, I trained lower back, glutes, and hamstrings 5 days in a row and for the first time in years my back pain decreased significantly. It seemingly instantly got a lot better.
With muscle and strength in the glutes, lower back pain goes away. In just 5 days I felt fresh, I felt clean, I felt stronger than ever, I just felt great.
It is important to remember that even though you will get relief nearly instantly, this is a lifelong process and you are not allowed to ever quit. For lifelong results you have to put in lifelong work. Your pain did not develop overnight and the relief of 100% of the pain will not develop overnight either.
Oh, I forgot to mention one other side effects of training my posterior chain so frequently and heavy… My calves are developing better than they ever have before.
I have never in my life had calves and I did all the calf raises and seated calf raises etc. I tried all of that nonsense and my calves never grew more than a half inch. In 5 days of hard posterior chain training my calves blew up. They are bigger than they have ever been, I simply look at them in amazement.
The machines just do not work for leg development for me, and if you have lower back pain maybe it is the same for you.
Rules of Training Your Posterior Chain
I based my posterior chain routine off of the routines of elite powerlifters like Louie Simmons. Elite powerlifters know that strength comes from the glutes and they make the habit of training posterior chain up to 6 days per week.
Louie makes the case that strength comes from the glutes and abs. He has all of his guys train lower back, glutes and hamstrings basically every day and that is exactly what I have been doing.
(Here is Louie Simmons explaining why you want to use a wide stance squat to build your hips.)
Here are the basic training rules I follow:
- Train posterior chain at least 3x per week (more is better, I train them basically every day).
- Don't train light all the time, you must go heavy to achieve gains.
- You HAVE to work the glutes, do not worry about looking silly in the gym.
- Learn everything you can about posterior chain exercises.
- Always be willing to try a new exercise.
- Train heavy and train often.
- Do not forget to train your obliques!
- Train abs and obliques 3+ days per week.
- The ab wheel is a great way to train your abs.
- Do not be scared of training your lower back. If you never train your lower back you will never have a strong lower back.
- Eat enough calories to give you energy for training and recovery. Beef, chicken, fish, potatoes, sweet potatoes, white rice etc are your best foods for strength and muscle gain. If it's grown or raised on a farm, eat it. If it's made by a machine, don't eat it.
- Look at female fitness trainers on YouTube for ideas on new glute exercises.
- Focus on accessory exercises rather than on standards squats and deadlifts, squats and deads work your whole body but you want to focus on your posterior chain.
- Forget about using machines, use free weights and make the exercises work for your body.
- If you have never been to the gym before and have no real strength base, start with bodyweight hindu squats 3 sets per day, 7 days per week.
- Walk more because sitting is a disease and walking is the cure. Start by taking a 10 minute walk after 2-3 meals each day.
Notice there is no rule that says “cry about it, deflect responsibility and do nothing to fix it.”
Do not be a victim to your lower back pain. You caused it and you must be proactive to fix it. It is not your “sciatica” or any other million phantom causes aka excuses.
If you have lower back pain it is because…
YOU HAVE WEAK GLUTES
AND WEAK ABS.
You caused your lower back pain and it is you who can fix it. To fix your lower back pain you must develop your glutes and abs via heavy weight training.
Having lower back pain is a choice that you make.
Choose to have weak glutes and abs and therefore lower back pain or …
Choose to have strong glutes and abs and eliminate lower back pain.
It is as simple as that.
Until next time.
Your man,
-Victor Pride
i have tried doing my workout in the shower or heavy rain, the reasons are;
1. no sweating.
2. ability do more reps than usual.
3. the lungs will be soaked up with humidity and cleanse up the tar buildup.
4. which means more oxygen to the blood stream.
5. more blood circulation to the muscles.
6. feeling less tired.
7. feeling refreshed and good night sleep.
8. cleans your body as well.
9. focus on running(sprint) under heavy rain and everything else will be easy.
I used to do this too.
You get a better workout when you feel like you’re working against nature. Feels godly.
Either “it” submits and subsides, or I work through it.
You need to sweat, sweating is good for you because it releases toxins. If you’re runnin’ in the rain your pores are probably opened and absorbing all of the water. Too much water absorption via your skin is very bad for you. There is a very good reason people stay inside when it is raining. TOO MUCH WATER ON YOUR SKIN MAKES YOU SICK.
Fuck Vic… Thanks for this man.
Off to fix this while I’m still young.
You’re welcome. And you’re in for a treat.
Victor, you said you fixed problems with fasting in the past. Please consider a detailed post on that. Have a great week.
It’s in the works.
The reason most people have back pain is due to stress.
Read Healing Back Pain by Dr. Sarno.
I read the first chapter and my back pain has only come back twice since — and those two times, were for about 2 seconds each. I read that one chapter about 20 years ago. Before then, I would get back pain every couple of months.
I read that first chapter at work and 90% of the pain went away when I was finished. That afternoon, a coworker told me she saw me hobbling around in the morning, but in the afternoon I was fine. She asked me how. I told her about the book. This was on a Friday.
On Monday, she told me she read the entire book and her pain was gone. She had seen a chiropractor for 5 years and just canceled all of her appointments.
Read the book and get rid of your back pain.
Do all the frou-frou stuff you want to do, just make sure you do it after your gym training.
At the time of my back pain, I couldn’t stand up straight. I could barely walk, forget about doing squats. But what I could do was read.
Your advice is good, but it is not whole.
“At the time of my back pain, I couldn’t stand up straight. I could barely walk, forget about doing squats. ”
Your lower back, glutes, abs and hamstrings were weak and needed to be trained and that training needed to be maintained. Weak body = pain. Strong body = no pain. You “couldn’t” do it because you were mentally weak, this is what physical pain does to you. You think you cannot and this is the gravest mistake to make. You can and you must.
“You think you cannot and this is the gravest mistake to make. You can and you must.”
There are many paths to truth, Vic.
My back pain went away, and I didn’t have to step into a gym for it.
I’m not writing this to argue with you at all. Your method works. No doubt.
My truth is just as valid as yours, and as you help thousands of readers, I’m putting this out there for people whose pain is so great that lifting a weight isn’t an option, to help them as well.
What’s interesting to me is that our causes of back pain appear to be the same: weakness. Not dealing with stress causes it to manifest as physical pain.
Wrong. Back pain = unreleased tension. The weight training only goes to release tension and act as a mechanism to release stress. That’s the only reason a good gym workout might help with low back pain.
I agree. Stress can cause all sorts of issues.
This is correct, I also got rid of my back pain with Dr. John Sarno MD’s advice. He debunks the “weak core” nonsense, proves that the back is the most rugged structure in the human body, and that the epidemic of back pain is only a recent phenomenon. As recently as the 1950s almost no one had low back pain and if they did they didn’t make a big deal out of it.
One major thing Vic’s advice doesn’t address is that for thousands of years man did not go to the gym and focus on their core and glutes.
A few years ago Vic had some knee work done in Oregon, if I remember correctly. He just should have gone to the gym to strengthen his weak knee, per this article and his initial responses. Anything else is frou-frou.
To anyone reading this with back pain right now, buy Sarno’s book on Amazon. It’s like $7. No reason to suffer needlessly.
“One major thing Vic’s advice doesn’t address is that for thousands of years man did not go to the gym and focus on their core and glutes.”
For thousands of years they didn’t sit down all day. They did not have school desks to sit in all day so they developed proper posture which always contracts the glutes. They would spend 2+ hour vigorously walking, hunting and gathering. When they got back to camp to rest they would not sit on a chair because chairs are a new invention. They would rest in the natural human relax position which is, say it with me, a SQUAT. What does a squat work? The glutes.
“A few years ago Vic had some knee work done in Oregon, if I remember correctly. He just should have gone to the gym to strengthen his weak knee, per this article and his initial responses. Anything else is frou-frou.”
Your memory is poor and incorrect but the rest of what you said here is correct.
“As recently as the 1950s almost no one had low back pain and if they did they didn’t make a big deal out of it.”
They didn’t have stress in the 1950s? Stress is a brand new invention? No, of course not. It is foolish to think back pain is caused by stress, stress has always existed. Back pain is a new phenomenon which coincides with computers and computer chairs aka sitting down all day. To ignore this obvious reality is a very stupid thing to do. Lower back pain en masse is new, caused by weak glutes and abs from sitting down all day. This is not difficult to comprehend and you are giving foolish advice that will help no one. It is not stress, it is weak musculature of the glutes.
I found that heavy deads and squats relieved my lower back pain.
Exactly the problem I am having now. I could not figure out why my lower back was killing me. Good stuff, Sir!
It’s funny. I’m going through this now. I was just thinking about finding a solution & then boom you come through with this article. Law of attraction comes through. Thank you for the great article. Bought all of your books in the past. Your blog never disappoints.
Thanks Ted.
I bought a hyper extension bench last year just for my lower back, and I noticed a lot less back pain when I do 100 reps a day. So, I will add some of your exercises when I am using my hyper extension bench on my lower back. I have had lower back pain for over 20 years. I was evening thinking about having an MRI done on my lower back just to see if I have messed it up while I was doing hard azz Army training. Thanks for the article.
GLUTES. Train the glutes.
I started at a gym and found a good trainer a couple of months ago. I’m still the weakest guy in the gym, but I’m a lot stronger than I was in August. I was doing planks a few days ago and it set my lower back on fire. 3 rounds of 20 seconds was all I could do. Took a few days to recover. Shooting for 4 rounds this week.
This has been an interesting experience. I’m an old man (60) who has never had much success in getting a good workout routine going. I have absolutely no aptitude. But after getting really sick this past summer, I realized that I had lost 20 pounds with most of it being muscle mass. Since I’m an ectomorph, losing weight is a very bad thing.
So, I asked around and got multiple recommendations for a Crossfit place near my home. My previous experiences with looking at Crossfit have not been very positive, but I decided to give it a try. After the intro lessons, one of the owners was blunt and said I was no where close to being ready for their regular classes. I think he wanted me to go away, but he offered individual training sessions at what I think is a very reasonable price (works out to $25/hour including gym). I spend most of my sessions with a younger guy who pushes me close to my limits, it’s great. After two months, the owner who was not very encouraging has come to realize that I really am serious about this and I’m going to keep showing up. He has seen my muscles quivering when I’m trying to finish the last rep.
When I started my search, I was upfront that I was looking for a “brutally effective program” and I think I found it.
That’s excellent Matt, stick with it.
Great advice, posterior chain weakness is all to common.
Another exercise to add is the Jefferson Squat, something Kai Greene does:
https://youtu.be/egrp-unkBnY
Thanks Marius. The jefferson squat is very good.
My back always hurts when I’ve been sitting too much.
I can do the hardest deadlift/squat workout/hiking 3k+ meters/running a half marathon ;etc and I get no back pain.
Sitting is absolutely crap for our bodies.
We have got to keep moving at all times for optimal health and quality of life.
Stomach vacuums are a fantastic core strengthening exercise and can be done every single day. They also give the illusion of a trim waist and help with correct posture.
Thanks for the article Vic.
Sitting is the worst, physical activity is the best.
Hey Vic, what was the name of the doctor or clinic in Oregon that you went to to fix your knee? I had a torn minicus on my right knee. I had arthroscopic knee surgery where the doctor took most of the cartilage out 13 years ago. I still have pain and can’t do weighted squats. I only do bodyweight exercises for my lower body. I went for an MRI this year & they told me that I barely have any cartilage in there. They wanted to perform a knee replacement & I said he’ll no. I need to find a way to regrow it so that I can start heavy squats again. I was going to try getting stem cells in it but the doctor said that it’s not 100%. What do u recommend based on your experience? I want to go back to doing the body of Spartan for my lower body but the pain is so bad that I walk with a slight limp. Any suggestions? Thank you.
“Hey Vic, what was the name of the doctor or clinic in Oregon that you went to to fix your knee?”
I have never been to Oregon and I have never had a problem with my knee. I don’t know anything about knee repair.
Great post, Vic.
The word about back pain needs to get out. It’s easily preventable and reversible with honest and balanced training.
I’ve never had lower back pain but have had intense upper back pain for years. I cured my back pain within days with heavy back training (Rows, deadlifts, pull ups…the usual suspects).
I would also suggest trying front squats for people with lower back pain. Your body must be in perfect alignment to perform front squats which strengthens all your weak points. Plus, it really trains you glutes, abs and entire torso!
Can’t wait to see what’s next!
Thanks Hozzy.
At one point when I was training Brazilian Jui Jitsu, I would do 100 hip bridges (lying on my back, knees bent, then pushing the hips forward and up while squeezing the glutes) followed by 50 fire hydrants each leg (like a dog marking the ol’ territory) 7 days a week. It was awesome for conditioning and helping with hip escapes, shrimping, even kicking Muay Thai style but I felt that it did’nt necessarily add much to the strength or size of my glutes.
These exercises that you talk about here are definitely things I will be putting into practice!
This is all top notch advice Victor! Not a lot of guys pay attention to the Posterior Chain, which is a big mistake as we get older.
One of my favorite moves for the PC is the Romanian Deadlift (RDL). You can’t load it as heavy as the traditional deadlift, but you can go high-rep and really feel it.
Take care big dog.
Thanks Sonny.
Guess I’m old school. Just put a whole whack of weight on a bar and lift it. (Deadlift)
Most guys with work can pull 400 lbs. Pull more and get your Man Card at 500 lbs.
Man I am way off from that but I sure as hell aim to get there within the next 3 years!
You can do it. Persistence and proper technique.
Oh yeah, eat like a beast.
Interesting article.
I remember when I got stuck at deadlift of 335 lbs… I thought it was because I had weak back.
But as soon as I incorporated ab roller exercises, squats and hyperextension exercises with roman chair… I was able to get up to 365 lbs in few weeks.
After that, I thought there must have been correlations of all that.
Funny thing is when I don’t exercise much and sit in front of computer all day, I am more likely to have back pain but when I do exercise daily, I don’t feel much back pain.
“I remember when I got stuck at deadlift of 335 lbs… I thought it was because I had weak back.”
A good powerlifting program focuses 20% on the big 3 lifts (deadlift, squat, bench) and 80% on accessory work. Strength comes from building up the weaknesses, especially the hips. Strength never comes just from doing deadlifts because at a certain point your deadlift will stall because your weaknesses will stop you. You can never build strength simply by doing deadlifts, you can only test where your strength is at by doing deadlifts.
I feel like chairs aren’t designed right. The only chair I like is a dentist chair because of how the back reclines.
People are not made to sit in chairs, the best way to sit is in a squat. This is the way we are designed. Chairs do significant damage to our bodies.
I had for years chronic lower back pain to the level that I good nerve sparsm in my lower back while sleeping.
I tried every main lower back/glute yoga/stretch/mobility exercise out there, even acupuncture… Almost everything helped for like a few hours and BÄM again pain.
well…3 weeks ago I cut out ALL the bullshit that hurts my lower back/glutes and started x3 times weight/strength training for glutes.
My improvement in the last 3 weeks are like the difference between the sky and the earth. CRAZY!
Thanks for this freaking cool post Victor!
Already saved the links and I will raise my glute/ab training to 6 days per week.
Joe Rogan swears by the reverse hyper, says it saved his lower back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9tU7_w7rvw
Great article Vic!
I especially like your training rule that states: “Look at female fitness trainers on YouTube for ideas on new glute exercises.”
Ok, you’ve twisted my arm, I’m willing to make that sacrifice for a healthy body.
Very happy that Vic is just a big a fan of Matt Wennig’s “So you Think You Can Squat” Tutorial as I am. It was the very first squat tutorial I watched and right after watching it, having not done a single squat in my whole life, I was able to squat 225 for triples. Nowadays I squat 225 for sets of 5-8. My high triple is 285 or something like that. But I’ve been slacking in the gym which is not good.
A couple questions, however: Are low bar squats or high bar squats better? I personally have only been doing high bar squats. Also, is it necessary to go ass to grass?
I’d love for Vic to do a post on shoulder pain, as I’ve been experiencing really bad shoulder pain for 6 or so months now :/
I decided to get on this with the simplest exercise i could think of. Taking a long walk around a lake and squeezing my buttocks, first left then right then left as i walk.
Sounds stupid.
Did it for 45 minutes and today my legs and lower back have been the loosest they’ve been in months.
A good starter exercise
It isn’t stupid, it is actually the best way to start this training.
Great stuff.
That “So you think you can squat” series is especially useful.
Float tanks, which you’ve written about, are also great for lower back pain.
Did you notice any relief when you did your float?
All the best,
Derek
Great post Vic.
Could you give a sample week of training the posterior chain? I don’t have low back pain but the tendons behind my knee get tight and I’m sure that posterior chain training would be beneficial to that too. Or did you just follow a basic west side template?
100% agree on posterior chain work is essential for lifters, Victor. Have you ever tried yoga style mobility routines? I found them helping me to feel more fluid and making me move better in general, especially “bridging”. Just look at old people, they barely move their spine. “You are as old as your spine.”- A Chinese proverb.
Yeah I do a bunch of yoga style stretches every single morning.
Great! Keep killing it.