Off the Floor
Your Back Lights Up When You Lower the Bar
The fault
Pain or a hot, fatigued low back on the way down rather than on the way up.
Why it happens
Most lifters brace hard to lift and then let everything go to lower. The bar comes down through a loose spine that is moving segment by segment instead of hinging at the hip.
The fix
Learn to stabilize the midsection while moving through the hips and glutes. The load comes down on a braced torso with the hips traveling back, not on a spine that is bending its way to the floor.
About this fix
Originally published as "Keep Back Safe and Be Stronger" on 22 June 2015, part of The Lifting Fix, a free weekly weightlifting technique series Danny Lehr ran from June 2015 to December 2016. Every episode is free here and always will be. For the full structured course, see the professionally filmed program.
