Topic: 'Don't arch your back"

[Shaun Le Conte]

Saturday I hurt my bad while doing the snatch in the gym. I felt a sudden pain in the middle of the lift and crumpled over on the floor. So I've been going to a chiropractor this week, at least in part because it's a lot faster to see him than to get into my family physician.

Turns out I have a few misaligned lumbar vertebrae, but the injury was mainly a strained erector.

I asked the chiropractor today what might have gone wrong with my lifting that could have caused the accident. I was floored by his response. He said "you're arching your back too much while you lift". Seriously? I always thought that arching put the back in its strongest position. What do you think of this advice?

Shaun

[Tom Weary]

If you look at old photos of David Rigert (the archetype of Olympic lifters) you can see that his back was tight but flat.  You may be tightening your erectors to the point that your spine is concave, placing some kind of strain on it.  We often cringe when we see a novice lifter pulling with his hips too high and/or spine convex, but be careful not to overdo it and actually curve your back inwards.  Straight and strong!

[Matt Erdman]

Try to get Mike Wittmer's advice on it. I'm guessing it will be a little different.

I do know the US is one of the very few countries that is genereally opposed to back arching. Even just in mobility work, such as yoga. Obviously the Yogi's don't agree. I'm not sure about Canadia though.

[Guy Greavette]

Many years ago, our club had a number of chiropractors and Therapists come in to do measurements on our backs. They were quite surprised that there was an arch (slight for some, more noticeable on others) in the back of the weightlifters being measured. Apparently this is quite the opposite of what was taught back in the day (hopefully better information today). I guess what was taught is that naturally the back should curve the other way. We quickly informed them that if we had weightlifters lift this way, they would be seeing us more often. It was a great learning experience for these gentlemen.

[Mike Wittmer]

Matt is correct, I can't agree with it.

It is not possible to render an accurate opinion or diagnosis without the benefit of a clinical examination, so what follows is in general terms and not meant for Shawn's specific situation.

It is good advice to lift with your back extended, or in an arched position.  Every manual laborer knows to lift with the legs and keep the back straight.  Rounding the back, or flexing, puts the spine in a weaker position.  In fact, this is how most injuries occur.  With flexion, the spine is in what is called an open pack position.  The posterior elements (facet joints) are open and there is increased intervertebral disc space posteriorly.  In this position, there is greater chance for injury to the joint capsule and other ligamentous tissue (sprain), posterior or posterior/lateral disc bulging or herniation and strain of the paravertebral musculature. 

With the spine extended (the joints in the "close pack" position) there is less stress on the ligaments and the posterior aspect of the intervertebral disc.  Once the weight is overhead there is more pressure on the joints themselves and the pathomechanics of an injury in the overhead position are quite different from one while pulling. 

From the description, it would be my guess that this injury occurred because the spine was flexed, not extended.  But, that does not have to be the case and there does not have to be a solid explanation.  Once, I injured my back on my initial warm-up set of squats with 60 kilos.  At the time I could squat around 250.  Obviously, I didn't "break down" with the third rep of 60.  But something did happen and it just seized up.  My thinking is that there was an underlying issue and it was just going to cross the line from asymptomatic to symptomatic at some point and when that was going to happen it didn't matter if I was lifting or putting on a sock. 

Regardless, I hope this does not turn into a chronic problem and wish you a quick recovery.

[Shaun Le Conte]

Thanks for the replies, especially from Mr. Wittmer. I wish I was his client.

edit: It was pointed out by my fellow club lifters that I don't arch my back in the first place so the entire topic is moot.

[Andy Dick]

I think one thing to keep in mind is that there can be a slight arch in the back (ie streight or a slight arch) to keep it straight as has been stated.  What you should be careful of is overarching, think of the back positions in the shoulder press back in the day.  I would consider that overarching.  However, I have not witnessed it that often as opposed to flexing especially in olympic lifts.  Flexing the back puts stress on the back as well as overarching just in the opposite direction.  One thing I tell many of the athletes I work with (which you probably already know) is to keep that back straight with the slight arch but keep the abs tight to support the back in that position.