I’ve been training for years and dieting is a real important part of training. So when I booked my holiday to Rio I knew I needed to diet down to bring the best shape possible to my holiday… this has easily been the toughest dieting period of my life. I cannot wait to just relax on my diet a bit and eat whatever the hell I want for a couple of weeks.
I’m single digit body fat right now (I reckon around 8% based off previous checks and looking at myself) and God the struggle to maintain single digit body fat is actually taking it’s toll on me for the first time ever.
I’ve had less than 100g of carbs for 8 days straight now… which is a bowl of my oats and a scoop of maltodextrin with my shake.
If you’re suffering from lower back pain I’d probably avoid barbell squats for the time being. I don’t think I ever use the barbell for squats anymore as I find the whole motion uncomfortable.
I prefer hack squats and a machine based front squat machine now. Less pressure on the joints and more controlled I feel.
With regards to core strengthening exercises - the best will always be basic movements like planks. And I feel that sticking to compound exercises and engaging your core are the other best ways to improving your core strength.
I have been doing goblet squats for that season. In my gym we don’t have the hack squat machine and the Smith Machine I find way to limiting in my movements i.e. too much pressure on the joints/not the ability too adjust.
I thought the same, but with the compound movements I experience the most inconvenience from my lower back.
Have you been to a doctor or physio re: the lower back pain? It’s always good to make sure it isn’t something more serious.
I know the key to developing a stronger lower back and core is exercises like deadlifts (and other variations of it) but I wouldn’t recommend any exercise that puts any degree of strain on your body until you’ve had your lower back checked out.
I have. That’s the whole frustrating part about it. Had it checked out with x-ray’s (not sure what the right translation is). They came to the conclusion I tweaked something in my lower back, but nothing serious.
I was advised to continue with exercising my core etc.
I also fucked my lower back a few years ago doing squats. I feel for you.
Now I still have annoying days at random where it really plays up and can stifle my movement. Not nice at all, worried I have to live with it, which I’m sort of doing.
Not saying you shouldn’t get it checked tho.
Also, I really recommend a lumbar pillow. They do me good on my bad days.
If it’s a physical injury to the back then I advise you to just stop any weight lifting or other forms of exercise where you use your back for support for a while. I don’t really think it’s a good idea to be doing core-strengthening exercises while in pain because a lot of them put pressure on the back too.
I’d focus on stretching, especially if you spend a lot of time sitting. There’s a very good stretching exercise where you lie on your back and you put your ass against a wall with your legs vertically raised against the wall too so that your hamstrings and calves are up against the wall, perpendicular to your core. You stay in that position for several minutes per day, it’s really useful for stretching the leg muscles and allowing the back to relax but I’d recommend that if you have chronic back pain, not too sure if you can perform it if you have a physical back injury.
It’s something that I’ve been treated for. It also appeared to be minor or so I was told. After treatment I specifically asked if I could continue/pick up strength training again and my physio said I could after some rest. Which I had I did nothing for four months . However with very particular exercises it gets a bit uncomfortable. Also my physio advised me to actually exercise my core because by strengtening it, it should prevent it from happening again.
I’ve also discovered this YouTube channel, and honestly it’s like a gift from the gods.
This vid may not be appropriate to you, but there are others - whole playlists for any problem.
He is a legit physio whose worked with many baseball teams among others. He’s obviously peddling shit but you don’t have to buy it for the good content.
I hope it can help your pain but he’s got some good advice for workouts as well.
I had shoulder pain for the longest time after messing about with behind the neck presses and his videos have helped them recover now.
Decided as of Monday to cut out the booze for a while and go full on clean for a few weeks. I’m a realtively in shape guy anyway who works out 4 or more times a week but always have had some really stubborn body fat around the love handles and lower back.
Anyone who has any free tips is appreciated. I’m reading it’s all just consistently clean eating and high intensity cardio which will be my aim for the next few weeks. I run at least 1-2 times a week and usually have a couple weight/strength sessions which I’ll stick to but look to up intensity on the cardio.
High intensity cardio isn’t really necessary. I can get to sub 10% body fat with 30-45 mins of fasted cardio every morning. That’s usually just me walking on an incline on the treadmill.
Diet is the absolute key first and foremost. I think people overdo the cardio sometimes and end up just eating away at muscle.
I guess it depends how you want your physique to look.
@SRCJJ most of my muscle comes from calisthenics in the form of pulls ups, squats, dips and press ups. A few annoying lower back injuries that never quite went away mean I don’t react well to weights anymore.
That’s a shame. But even then cleaning up the diet and increasing your cardio is pretty much all you’ll need to get rid of stubborn lower back fat. And the mental strength to keep your diet clean for long enough for it to make a difference.
I’ve always been predominantly a runner but due to injuries now I’ve cut the mileage right back and do a bit more gym work now One thing I’d suggest that may help motivate you for your running though is parkrun.
Loads up and down the country and there’s no pressure as it’s a timed 5k not a race. Suits all abilities.
. However with very particular exercises it gets a bit uncomfortable. Also my physio advised me to actually exercise my core because by strengtening it, it should prevent it from happening again.