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So I've been having my low back pain since 2 months now. Sometimes if I sit stationary the pain gets so bad that to get out of bed I have to push with my hands on my knees. Sometimes I have to wash my teeth standing vertical, not bending at the bathroom sink.

Any ideas of stretches/other treatments for this? I usually do a stretch for the hamstrings with a bent back... that takes care of both the hams and the spinal erectors, like this:



Any other ideas? The pain is at the SI joint I think, usually on the right side (the side with the least amount of ankle dorsiflexion, by the way).

After the stretch it's usually better, I can bend with less pain/no pain, but let it get stiff and it's really bad.

Not to mention I can't squat with this thing going on.

I've injured the low lumbar/SI joint area while ATG squatting 4 times. I haven't had any problems since I switched to parallel. I also did a lot of glute work with hip thrusts/glute bridges, core strengthening (including diaphragm and pelvic floor exercises), deadlifts with good form for low back, and a few things specific to the SI joint. Not sure to what extent these will help you, judging from your log your problem seems worse than mine. But I already had a decent core/back strength base before I focused on these areas.

If your pain is definitely in the SI area, you should try to figure out whether you have hypermobility or hypomobility. I'm pretty sur I have hypermobility because I always sit/lay down in positions that put uneven stresses on the SI joint, which over a lot of time pulls it out of position. It takes conscious effort for me to sit straight and lay on my back when sleeping, which I try to do whenever I can.

This guy (Marc Heller) specializes in low back problems:

http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=50535
I did a circuit of the SI resets every day for a while. Not sure to what extent they helped my back pain, but the doorway exercise makes my groin pain disappear (which is connected to SI joint problems).
 
http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=50277
Summary: massage the ligaments of the SI joint, it promotes healing

http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/search.php?q=marc+heller&site=DynamicChiropractic&btnG=Search&entqr=0&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&output=xml_no_dtd&client=all_sites&ud=1&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=all_sites&proxyreload=1
Other articles

1/27
BW:178
BP:130x6x6
Westside barbell style box squat: 135x5x8

1/28
BW:177
SL hammer strength hack squat: 90x5x8 (L,R)

1/29
BW:177
BP: 140x7x5
SL calf raises: 7 sets until height drop-off (L,R)+myo reps
Westside barbell style box squat: 185x5x8
Pullups: 8,7,8,4,4
BB calf raise: 205x5x10-15
Core circuit:
-90lb plank: 30,25,20secs
-45lb side plank: 45 seconds (L,R)
-Banded Palloff Press iso: 45 seconds, difficulty progression (L,R)

1/30
BW:176
3-step slrvj: around 25 jumps, getting wrist above rim every time. Definitely a low hoop, dunno how high it is
quad-oriented lunges: 185 3x8 (L,R: trying to balance out left and right quads)

Still too much snow to do any kind of running or bounding.

1/26
BW:177.4

squat: 312.5x1, 322.5x1, 332.5xfail, 332.5x1 

SVJx5: 30.5", 30.5", 31", 31", 30.5"

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKOR-u4wSaI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKOR-u4wSaI</a>

Not entirely sure about the depth, but I wasn't gonna do this shit a third time. Right leg looks parallel, left one for some reason does not. Camera angle maybe? I was really hoping firing up my CNS as much as I could would have a greater effect.

Edit: Ok, I outlined the squat in photoshop, overlapped it with 322.5 and the right leg is in the exact same position (right at parallel), but my left knee for some reason is dipping lower.

1/23
BW:173.2 PR
injury: right shoulder

18" snow here! Wow.

45 mins shoveling
20 mins stretching
Banded Hip Flexor Knee Drives:3x10

As little rest between exercises/sets as possible.

superset x5
-BP 135x5
-Bent over rows 135x5-8

superset x3
-OHP 35's x8
-L-BSS 35's x8
-R-BSS 35's x8

superset x3
-Pullups x6
-R-SL-Hip Thrust 185x8
-L-SL-Hip Thrust 185x8

Feeling really burnt out, only did half the volume workout. Pushing PR squat day back to Tues because Tues classes are cancelled.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BmuHGu-SB0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BmuHGu-SB0</a>
Dunno how accurate this is, but worth a watch.

Edit: Lol.

I got huge body dysymorphia yesterday squatting in the gym infront of a mirror. Felt skeletal, it really bummed me out. Maybe it's cause everyone around me was a lot bigger and i was like wtf, i lift? No. I'm freaking skinny. 175lb @ 6'3" crew checking in .. lol.. i wish i was a lean 200 .. but short of drugs it aint happening! Just embrace it i guess :/

I've actually felt the same way as you going to gym at my uni last semester. It's all in your head man. Plenty of those huge fuckers have half of their muscle mass as non-functional junk weighing them down. Verkhoshansky talks about it in his book, it's called sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, where the space between muscle fibers increases, but has no corresponding strength increase.

I mean most people that go to the gym have different goals than we do. Imagine if you did upper body circuits with high volume with the same vigor of chasing a big squat. I'm sure you would be huge, if that's what you really cared about. I'm pretty sure most girls don't care how big you are.

BTW, nice squat.  Very strong, especially considering you're 6'4".  Your femurs look LOOOOONG.  Probably have great potential in SL jumping

Thanks! I hope you're right. I have the long achilles and low mass for it too. It's just a matter of getting the technique down and getting a super strong p-chain.

1/22
BW:176.8
injury: left ITB a little, shoulder a little

morning MEBM: 235x20, haaard. long pauses at the end.

+6 hours

Deadlifts (3 minute rests): 4x6 245

+1 hour

Squat: 290x3, 300x2, 312.5x1x5, 317.5x1

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIb7PdRPXHM" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIb7PdRPXHM</a>

I didn't hype myself for these, 317.5 was not too difficult. I'm going to focus on depth+drop jumps tomorrow, take a rest day sunday (Maybe do a little volume or SL jumps if the snow is not too bad), and try to hit my 1RM Monday. Is there some kind of protocol for 1RM? I'm just planning to drink a lot of caffeine (which I normally don't drink at all), try to hype myself up as much as I can pre-lift. I'm expecting 1RM to be anywhere from 330-340.

After I get 1RM i'm probably gonna stop squatting and get my DL up to scratch. My back is so fucking weak and it's super important for Ultimate.

WEIGHT: 185.8! (168!!!!) 

first time i've been under 170 since, uh, i don't know it's been many years. since college maybe? waist is legit 30.5 which is the smallest also in at least 5 years if not longer. i've been at 31-31.5 for a long time.

Congrats man. As someone going through the same dieting shit as you I wanted to commend you on this cause it seems so damn hard. Do you have any particular foods you enjoy that you think have good value in a diet? I've been eating lots of berries myself.

Also, I noticed in your hip thrust video that you were doing the standard variation. You should try out the 'American' version if you haven't already https://bretcontreras.com/the-american-thrust/ I personally have had much better glute activation using this variation (probably cause I don't have an exceptional hip hinge). Another good exercise that I have been having good glute activation on is the dynamic pull-through, which requires practically no set-up.