BAR Physical Therapy | Phoenix, AZ
Back pain is one of the most common issues we see among lifters from competitive athletes to weekend warriors. While it’s often blamed on the movement itself (“deadlifts hurt my back,” “squats bother my spine”), the truth is that the exercise isn’t usually the problem.
It’s the way the exercise is being performed.
As physical therapists who work daily with athletes, barbell lifters, and CrossFit® athletes here at BAR Physical Therapy in Phoenix, we’ve seen the same patterns over and over again. The best part? Most back pain is preventable and fixable with better mechanics, smarter loading, and a clearer understanding of how your body should move.
In this blog, we break down five common lifting mistakes that trigger back pain and exactly how to fix each one.
Let’s get into it.
This mistake shows up most often during deadlifts, squats, and kettlebell movements. Instead of using the hips and legs to create power, lifters unintentionally shift the workload into their lower back.
The lumbar spine is great at stabilizing and supporting load but it’s not meant to generate force. When it becomes the primary mover instead of the hips, tissues around the spine get overloaded.
✔ Re-learn hip hinge mechanics
Practice controlled hip hinging with a dowel or PVC pipe touching the head, upper back, and tailbone. This ensures the spine stays neutral while the hips move.
✔ Strengthen glutes and hamstrings
Movements like kickstand RDLs, Single leg stance w/ weight passes, and hamstring sliders help shift power away from the low back.
✔ Use your legs to initiate the lift
In deadlifts, think: push the floor away instead of “pull the bar up.”
Redistributing the workload makes lifting feel lighter and keeps your back happier.
Some spinal flexion isn’t inherently dangerous. In fact, your spine is built to bend. But when heavy loads meet excessive rounding when you are untrained, back irritation becomes very common.
When the spine rounds under load, the demand on the spinal stabilizers increases dramatically. Muscles fatigue faster and vertebral discs experience more stress.
✔ Master bracing
Learning to create intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is a game changer. Cue:
“Fill your ribs and stomach 360° before each rep.”
✔ Strengthen your upper back
Rows, face pulls, and thoracic extensions reduce mid-back collapse.
✔ Keep the bar close
In deadlifts, think: glide the bar along the shines. The closer the bar, the less leverage against your spine.
✔ Decrease load temporarily (de-load week)
Reducing 10–20% of the weight intensity for a few weeks while improving form usually fixes the issue long-term.
A strong core isn’t just about sit-ups or planks it’s about being able to create stiffness so the spine stays stable under load.
Lifters often think they have a “weak core,” but the problem is usually coordination, not strength.
When the core can’t control the torso, the lumbar spine absorbs the torque and load instead.
✔ Practice 360° breathing
Expand into your ribs, obliques, and lower abdomen. Not just “belly breathing.”
✔ Train anti-movement patterns
These build real-world strength:
✔ Brace before you move
Set tension at the top, then squat or pull. Don’t try to brace after you’re already in motion.
Small improvements in bracing create massive improvements in performance.
This is one of the most common reasons for back pain especially in younger lifters or athletes pushing for PRs.
Your tissues adapt to load over time. When weight increases faster than your tendons, muscles, and stabilizers can keep up, strain happens.
✔ Slow down your reps
Use 2–3 second eccentrics for a few weeks (1 lifting block) to reinforce control.
✔ Stick to a progression plan
Increase weight 2.5–5% at a time, not 10–20%.
✔ Prioritize warm-up sets
Gradually work toward your working weight with 4–6 incremental sets.
✔ Leave 2-3 reps in the tank
Not every session needs to be a max-effort grind.
Remember: strength improves from consistency, not chaos.
Pain is information. It doesn’t always mean stop but it does mean pay attention.
What starts as mild tightness can turn into full-blown back pain if ignored.
Fatigue reduces coordination and bracing. When stabilizer muscles are tired, the spine loses support and compensations happen.
✔ Adjust the movement, not the entire workout
Swap heavy deadlifts for RDLs, or back squats for hack squats and keep moving.
✔ Use load management (De-load)
Reduce volume or intensity for 1–2 weeks to calm irritated tissues.
✔ Stay ahead of the problem
Mobility, recovery days, and accessory work reduce chronic tightness.
✔ When in doubt, get evaluated
Physical therapy can quickly determine whether the issue is mobility, technique, or strength related.
If your back pain:
It’s worth getting evaluated.
Lifters often assume back pain means they need to stop training. That’s rarely true. Most of the time, you just need better mechanics, better loading, or targeted strength work.
At BAR Physical Therapy, we help athletes and gym-goers in Phoenix train pain-free. Not by taking them out of the gym, but by teaching them how to move the right way.
Back pain isn’t random. It’s almost always the result of poor movement patterns, rushed progressions, or fatigue-based compensations. The good news? Every mistake on this list is fixable.
When you correct the root cause, your performance skyrockets and your back becomes more resilient than ever.
If you’re struggling with back pain during lifting, or want a professional movement analysis, BAR Physical Therapy is here to help you get back to training with confidence.
Author: Wesley Desrosier PT, DPT, CSCS, Cert. DN
Owner of BAR Physical Therapy – Phoenix, Arizona
Specializing in rehab and recovery for athletes, workers, and veterans
Lifting injuriesBack pain rehabWeightlifting PhoenixGym injury preventionPhysical therapy for athletesBAR Physical Therapy PhoenixStrength training rehab
