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Hey guys , just wandered. I done some lunges step up on a 6inch stairs with 2 5kg dumbbells in each hands. I try to use as little of my non-working leg to give me a little push up. What I do is I just use my non-working leg and push off the ground lightly and lift it up that it doesnt touch the ground. after I do that, I am in a lunge position with my legs slighlt below parallel. AFter that , I just keep my back as arched as I can by holding my breath and push up. The problem is, I really feel my lower back muscles being used( it feels like the really upper glutes section). The next day, My lower back were quite sore. And my glutes were not sore at all.

well, be careful as "arching as much as you can", it's better to keep the back flat than excessively arched.. to keep it neutral you have to have a strong core, you might have to focus on tightening the abs to help it from excessively arching.. excessively arching can teach some improper mechanics for jumping/sprinting/etc, plus it can put MORE strain on the lower back.. you definitely don't want any rounding, you just want a nice flat back.

as for lower back soreness, it could very well be due to the thoracolumbar fascia being overworked.. http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=36201

any time you use your lats/glutes in a manner that is much different than normal, you could 'inflame' that fascia a bit.. which will feel just like back pain.. if this pain happens every session then your form is definitely the issue.. best thing would be to get it on video so we can all check it out.

So my question is, If I would to do a certain compound exercises like lunges which targets the glutes, hams and quads, and thn I feel the stress on my lower back(with my back arched), what does this mean? Is my back the weak link or my leg muscles are just not strong enough that it uses the support of the lower back?

i have a feeling you are over-arching your back.. just stand up straight and arch your back, that's using the erectors improperly.. if your form is good and you still get back pain, then either you're not in good enough condition to perform the exercise without stressing the back/thoracolumbar fascia, or your back is the weak link..

oen more question which relates to this. I did some travelling lunges a few days ago, and I feel my hams sore the next day. are my hams the weak link?
 thanks guys

well, in the case of lunges, if your hamstrings are getting sore, then that would generally mean they are 'not up to par' with the glutes/quads.. soreness is not a true indicator of a weak link though, i mean you can get sore in a certain muscle group while having that muscle group is doing the most work/is the strongest.. when i do lunges, i mostly get glute soreness, but when i was alot weaker with lunges, i mostly got hamstring soreness..

it's really hard to pinpoint a 'weak link' just on soreness.. a few things can happen:
1. a muscle group gets sore because it is doing the most work (stronger link, taking over)
2. a muscle group gets sore because it is weak (weak link)
3. a muscle group gets sore because it gets place in an extreme eccentric "stretch", such as the adductors in squatting
4. a muscle group's fascia gets inflamed because the body was not able to handle those forces properly

hehe!

peace man

well i have stopped lunges step up. in fact, maybe in 10minutes or so I;ll start warming up and workout. I'm going to s=do reverse lunge with a greater step. I do it in a way it reassembles travelling lunges.

elevated reverse lunges are great, love those.

And I do try to keep my back a straight as possible through my whole workout. Do you think i might be inflexible? I cant reach my toes with my legs straight. I did a test by myself before and the results were that I did work on that stretch. basically, sitting down, legs straight, and reach for your toes. I could only touch barely touch it after basketball. AFter stretching it for like 20sec or so I can slowly touch it. and for hip flexors, I still am not sure where it is. I have googled it, but jsut doesnt make sense. I mean, they say normally tight hip flexors are what makes ppl hard to squat down. But you see, when you squat down, I only see my glutes and back getting stretched. Has not a single thing to do with the hip flexors. They are below your stomach, somewhere around there. unless I got it wrong.

all you have to do is finish your sessions with some light static stretching.. don't get too caught up in reaching your toes or not, it's not actually that important.. what is important though is that you're not getting TIGHTER.. so just finish each session (basketball/strength) with static stretch of quads, hamstrings, hip flexor, lats, chest, calfs.. if you are consistent, flexibility will improve.

And well what you said is all true. Not sure if this will help, but when I do single leg RDL, i squeeze my glutes hard, when i go through the pulling motion, I feel it in my glutes. I do it until my glutes are really uncapable of doing another rep of good form. Yet , my hamstrings get sore the next day. But I think its the glute bridges that makes my hams sore. thats the one I really feel my hamstrings. So if it was the glute bridges, doesnt that mean my other workouts are not intense enough?
Wow this are so complicated. SO how do I test my weak link thn?

it's too hard to pinpoint the weak link over the internet and without proper equipment.. neuromuscular testing would be effective, but so to would just being able to do certain movements until an estimated 1RM (weight room stuff).

consider everything a weak link, you need strong glutes, hamstrings, quads, calfs, core, and upper body muscles (lats/pecs/shoulders etc). if you perform exercises that hit those muscle groups, through a full range of motion, everything will take care of itself.. add in jumping/sprinting, and you're good to go.

making training too complicated, especially when you don't have much equipment, will just become a burden.. just hit the whole body & try to make everything stronger (bodyweight or weighted):
- squat
- lunge
- ghr
- pullup/chinup/horizontal pullup
- pushup/dip
- calf raie
- core
+ sprint, jump, basketball

peace man