Training Lower Back

Lower Back:

Lower Back (Erector Spinae) is a group of muscles responsible for overall power of your body.  It consists of three heads; Iliocastalis, Longissimus, and Spinalis.  A well developed lower back is very important in many sports such as football, wrestling, and, of course, power lifting.   Deadlifts have many variations, all of them work lower back as a target muscle and quads, hamstrings, and glutes as synergists or stabilizers.  Here they will be discussed in detail and minor variations will be pointed out.  All deadlifts are basic compound movements. Regular Deadlift is the original deadlift in which your legs bend at the knees pretty liberally.  Its almost half a squat.  With feet flat beneath the bar, squat down and grasp the barbell with a shoulder width or slightly wider overhand or mixed grip.  For better quality of the movement use overhand grip, but if you choose to use a mixed grip (if your forearms aren’t strong enough for overhand) that’s fine too, just remember to alternate mixed grip from hand to hand.  Lift the bar by extending hips and knees to full extension.  Pull shoulders back at the top of the lift if rounded.  Return, through the flexion of your lower back (which you must feel) and repeat.  Throughout the lift, keep hips low, shoulders high, arms and back straight.  Keep the bar close to body to improve mechanical leverage. Straight-Leg Deadlift In this variation of the deadlift, your legs should remain nearly perfectly straight (almost), but not immobile, throughout the entirety of the movement.  You can do this on a platform, but you will need good lower back and leg flexibility.  Your back should be more rounded than if you were performing regular deadlifts.  Your legs and hips should move back and forth as you are lifting the weight accordingly, but no vertical movement of the legs should occur through the bending of the knees.  Stiff Leg Deadlifts this variation is much like the straight-leg deadlifts except your legs bend at the knees.  But unlike the regular deadlifts the whole leg isn’t moving, only the upper part, above the knees.  From knee to ankle, there should be no significant movement, it should remain as stationary as possible.  You can do this on a platform as well (8” should be enough).  With knees bent, lift the bar by extending at hips until standing upright.  Pull shoulders back at to of lift if rounded.  Extend knees at the top if desired.  Lower bar to the top of the feet by bending the hips.  Bend the knees slightly during the descent and keep waist straight, flexing only slightly at the bottom.  Lower back may bend slightly during full hip flexion. Hyper Extension (Back Extension) is an exercise that can be done with or without weights.   First, position thighs prone on the padding and hook heels on platform.  Hold the weight close to your chest or behind the neck (don’t press on the neck).  Lower body by bending the waist until it is fully flexed.  Raise, or extend your waist until the torso is parallel to legs or in other words, your body is completely straight.  You may go further up if you want.  Although articulation of the waist is emphasized, some hip extension may accommodate the movement.