4 Solutions for Post-Workout Back Pain

Have you ever stood up from a chair hours after a workout or gotten out of bed the morning after exercise to discover a stiff, achy, or painful lower back? Few people can honestly answer no to this question, especially when you consider that lower back pain is one of the most common reasons people visit healthcare providers and nearly 4 out of 5 people will have it at some point in their lives. 

Unfortunately, improper form during exercise or overdoing it during a workout is an all too common way to strain the lower back. Even as a physical therapist, I find myself waking up more often than I’d like with a stiff and achy lower back the morning after a good workout. 

If you’re in your 40s or older like me, it’s tempting to blame lower back pain on age. It’s true that the body changes in ways that we don’t like as we get older. But from my experience working with people from across the age spectrum, there are usually more important reasons for post-workout lower back pain than age. 

The good news is that, unlike age, most of the reasons for lower back pain after a workout are things that you can control. Here are four common reasons your back might hurt after a workout and what you can do about it.

Too much forward or backward bending of the spine  

By far the most common reason for lower back pain after a workout is too much forward or backward bending of the spine. Take a look at the people around you the next time you’re at the gym and you’ll see what I mean.

Too much forward bending of the spine commonly happens when performing exercises such as deadlifts, single leg deadlifts, situps, or crunches. The lower back ends up bending forward too much, making a rounded shape which can strain the lower back muscles and cause too much compression on the spine. 

Too much backward bending of the spine commonly happens during exercises such as squats, overhead presses, or while rowing on a rowing machine. The lower back ends up bending backward too much, making an arched shape which can also strain the lower back muscles and cause too much compression on the spine. 

The lower back should ideally be close to a...

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