Through my physical therapy practice and over a decade of coaching CrossFit athletes, I’ve realized that low back pain is one of the most common problems crossfitters and barbell athletes struggle with. While acute low back injuries can occur, low back pain is often a chronic issue.

I have lived with both acute and chronic low back pain from a herniated disc and annular tear at L4-L5 and L5-S1 (the two lower intervertebral discs in the lumbar spine). Some of the common CrossFit movements like push press, jerks, and kipping pull-ups were aggravating because I was not properly stabilizing my core and low back causing hyperextension.

Fortunately, low back pain can often be remedied and new issues prevented through a combination of strength training and mobility.

Building core, hip, and lower back strength through multiplanar exercises and lifting weights helped increase my strength and stability and decrease my low back pain and it can for you too!

In this blog we’ll cover:

1. Movements That Can Cause Low Back Pain in CrossFit

2. How the Glutes and Thoracic Spine Contribute to Low Back Issues

3. Exercises to Strengthen Your Lower Back and Core in All Planes of Motion

Movements that can Cause Low Back Pain in Crossfit

There are several movements that tend to place stress and strain on the low backs of CrossFit athletes. Often the cause is due to performing these movements at a high volume but lacking strength and stability in a specific movement pattern could also be the culprit.

Squats

Many CrossFit athletes brace their core by holding their breath and using the Valsalva maneuver to create intraabdominal pressure to stabilize their lower back during heavy, low-rep squats. But many WODs, or metcons, involve squatting higher reps at sub-maximal loads for time. It can be easy for athletes to focus more on speed than bracing their core. With high rep, sub-maximal loads, you want to brace your core while also breathing which can be challenging to do.

A lack of core bracing could cause excess movement in the spine like butt winking or shooting the hips up first, both of which can put stress on the low back. Moving for speed and under fatigue could also cause compensations like weight shifting side to side which can strain the sacroiliac joint (SI joint).

Learn more about how to fix lower back pain from squats.

Deadlifts and Kettlebell Swings

During strength training, the deadlift is a more controlled movement up and down performed at lower reps with heavier loads. During CrossFit workouts, similar to squats, deadlifts are often performed at higher volumes with lighter weight, usually with either touch-and-go reps or by dropping the weight from the standing position every rep or after every set.

You should be resisting flexion and extension of the spine during deadlifts, but it’s easy to get sloppy in the setup position or when lowering the weight during touch-and-go reps, especially if you haven’t dialed in the hip hinge movement pattern. This may cause you to use your lower back to lift versus properly hinging and using your glutes and hamstrings.

Similarly, kettlebell swings can place excess stress on the low back if the weight is lowered by rounding the spine versus sitting the hips back into a hip hinge. Since kettlebell swings are more dynamic and explosive, they can be more difficult to control flexion and extension of the spine and require more stability. During American kettlebell swings or overhead swings, the lower back can excessively extend or arch as the weight goes overhead causing more compression through the low back.

Kipping Swings

During kipping swings, athletes rapidly move from a hollow body position in which the spine is more flexed, or rounded, to an arched position. The kip swing should be a full-body movement that involves global hip, thoracic, and shoulder extension but if you lack mobility in any of these areas, the movement can happen more through the low back.

Burpees

Most people don’t think of burpees as a movement that can cause low back pain. However, the burpee requires a lot of movement through the low back. You are rounding your spine to get to the floor, then arching to push your body off the floor, then rounding again to stand back up.

Though burpees are safe since they are unloaded and we should be able to move the spine in different positions without pain, burpees do commonly cause pain if you lack core stability or are hinging through the same part of your spine every rep.

Overhead movements and the Olympic lifts

Any overhead movement has the potential to strain the low back, whether it’s a pulling motion like a pull-up or a pushing motion like a strict press or push press. All of which can cause hyperextension or overarching through the lower back, especially if you lack shoulder mobility or core control when in the overhead position.

The Olympic lifts, the snatch and clean and jerk, are more dynamic ground-to-overhead movements that require even more mobility and core stability. There are more transitions and more opportunities to get into a non-optimal spinal position.

Though low back pain is common, none of these movements should cause pain. If you have pain with these movements, or any other movements in CrossFit, find a provider that can help you dial in why you are having pain. The answer is NOT to just STOP doing these movements!

How the Glutes and Thoracic Spine Contribute to Low Back Issues

As it can become all-consuming, people often think about low back pain in isolation. But in fact, two areas above and below (the hips and thoracic spine) can contribute to issues in the lumbar spine. As with any trouble spot, too much tension or weakness can flow upstream and downstream in the body.

The glutes play a huge role in maximum strength and power development, and so they are very important to any CrossFit athlete. Not only are they the largest muscle group in the body, but the deep glutes are also key stabilizers for the hips, pelvis, and spine.

If you’re not properly utilizing your glutes or posterior chain, this can place too much emphasis on the low back muscles, making the lower back a prime mover instead of a stabilizer. This can create excess movement in the spine and can increase shearing force and compression which over time could cause disc or nerve compression issues.

Not only do you need a strong posterior chain, you need a mobile posterior chain. Tightness in the hamstrings, glutes, and spine, including the thoracic spine and lats, can decrease your ability to properly squat, hinge, and perform overhead movements without compensations.

Mobility exercises like a hamstring and glute release and a thoracic spine mobilization can increase mobility in the hips and mid-back, alleviating extra stress through the lower back.

Exercises to strengthen your lower back and core in All Planes of Motion

Rather than waiting to treat back pain after it’s already a problem, you can do things to proactively prevent it as much as possible. This starts with building core strength, stability, and endurance throughout all the different planes of motion your spine moves:

• flexion

• anti-flexion

• extension

• anti-extension

• lateral flexion or side bending

• anti-lateral flexion

• rotation

• anti-rotation

Not only do you need to move in all planes of motion, you need to be able to resist it. CrossFit involves a lot of flexion/extension during movements like sit-ups, burpees, and kipping swings, AND anti-flexion/anti-extension during deadlifts, squats, push-ups, and kettlebell swings. But CrossFit does not involve many lateral flexion/side-bending or rotational movements.

Adding accessory exercises to build strength and stability in other planes of motion can be helpful if not necessary!

Flexion and Extension

To build resilience in flexion and extension, work on segmental spine motion using exercises like cat/cow, a wall-assisted Jefferson curl, or a weighted Jefferson curl.

Performing hollow arch holds AKA superman holds, and progressing to a reverse hyper will build strength in the posterior spinal musculature. If you are a beginner you can start with single-leg reverse hypers off a bench and progress to double leg, then move to performing more range of motion off of a GHD.

Developing strength through these exercises carries over well to gymnastics movements like kipping pull-ups, burpees, and handstand push-ups where your body moves from flexion to extension.

Rotation and lateral flexion/Side Bending

There are not as many rotational or lateral flexion/side-bending movements in CrossFit WODs; however, these movements are crucial to a well-rounded core and healthy spine. Strengthening these motions and resisting them are equally important.

For example, strengthen the lateral core by doing a kettlebell side bend or using a Copenhagen side plank to resist side bending.

To work on rotational strength and stability, do movements like a crossbody kettlebell deadlift, half-kneeling banded chop, or a pallof press. Progressing further to a pallof press while reaching overhead not only works on anti-rotation but also anti-extension through the spine.

Stability and Endurance

CrossFit athletes need to have explosive power, stability, and endurance. You need strength for heavier, explosive movements like the clean, but also the capacity to stabilize your core for higher reps with sub-maximal loads during longer workouts.

The Sorenson hold is a well-studied and effective exercise for building low back endurance. Those with low back pain have been shown to have significantly lower hold times in the Sorenson hold than those without low back pain. Start with 3 sets of 30-second holds, working up to a goal of 2-3 minutes to decrease your chances of having low back pain in the future.

Weighted carries are another great exercise that builds core strength and endurance. One-sided carries also require you to resist rotation and lateral flexion. Variations include:

• Farmer’s carry

• Suitcase carry

• Front rack carry

• Overhead carry

• Sandbag carry

Challenge yourself to go heavier than you think you might need to, as a common mistake I see is athletes going too light.

All of these exercises mentioned will force you to slow down, move with intention, and work on neuromuscular control and stability. You’ll be able to work on core bracing while breathing which is good practice for maintaining an optimal low back position during CrossFit movements. Not only will you get stronger but you will decrease your chances of having low back pain.

Want to get out of pain, prevent injury, and increase performance? Check out my eight-week low back-specific accessory program for CrossFit athletes.