Training : Lower Body Training
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I've always heard that squats are the best exercise for training your legs, but they usually hurt my lower back. Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening?
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If you could perform squats with your back at a 90-degree angle, you'd have a perfectly straight back. But most people lean forward at about a 70-degree angle, especially when the weight gets really heavy. The more you lean forward, the more stress you place on your spine in your lower back region. Some experts say that if you weigh 200 pounds and you're squatting with 300 pounds, but leaning forward at about 70 degrees, you're placing approximately 1,500 pounds of pressure on your 5L vertebra (one of the vertebral bones in your lower back).
With proper stretching and technical coaching, you can squat at an 80-degree angle, which would greatly reduce the load placed on your back. Be sure to keep your shoulders back and your head up, fixing your eyes on a spot on the ceiling. If you look down, you have a tendency to let your shoulders roll forward and increase your forward lean.
You may also want to incorporate some alternative leg exercises into your program, such as lunges, step-ups, and single-leg presses. For descriptions and illustrations of these exercises, check out "Question of Strength" in the August 1998 issue of Muscle Media (No. 69, p. 43-44).
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