Common Back Workout Mistakes That Cause Injury Reddit

The 3 Back-Breaking Mistakes Everyone on Reddit Makes

The most common back workout mistakes that cause injury reddit threads talk about aren't about lifting too heavy-they're about lifting with your ego, which leads to three specific form breakdowns: rounding your low back, jerking the weight, and not bracing your core. You've felt it. You see someone pulling 315 pounds on the deadlift, so you load up 225 even though 185 felt shaky. You grip the bar, yank it, and it comes off the floor. For a second, you feel strong. But your lower back is shaped like a question mark, and the next morning you can barely bend over to tie your shoes. That's the ego tax. The fear of that sharp, electric pain is what stops progress. It makes you scared of the very exercises you need to build a strong, resilient back. The truth is, your back isn't fragile. Your technique is. Fixing it isn't complicated, but it requires you to drop the weight, kill your ego, and focus on three things that actually matter. We're going to break down exactly what those are, why they cause injury, and how to fix them for good, starting today.

Why Your Back Workout Is Making You Weaker

That tweak you feel in your lower back during a barbell row isn't random. It's physics. Your spine is made of 33 vertebrae stacked like poker chips. When they're aligned in a neutral position, they can handle immense compressive forces. Your powerful back and leg muscles, like the erector spinae, lats, glutes, and hamstrings, do the work of moving the weight. The problem starts with something called lumbar flexion under load. In simple terms, it's rounding your lower back while it's holding something heavy. When you do this, you shift the load from those big, strong muscles onto the small, vulnerable structures of your spine: the intervertebral discs, ligaments, and smaller stabilizing muscles. Think of trying to pick up a heavy box. If you squat down with a flat back and drive with your legs, it feels manageable. If you bend over at the waist with rounded shoulders and a curved back, you immediately feel that strain in your lower back. That's lumbar flexion. This is the single biggest mistake that turns a back-strengthening exercise into a back-breaking one. It happens in two main scenarios:

1. The Deadlift Ego Pull: You load too much weight. To get it moving, you abandon the hip hinge and instead just yank the bar up, letting your lower back round completely. The force that should be on your glutes and hamstrings is now being pressed directly into your lumbar discs.
2. The Row 'Jerk': You're trying to row 80-pound dumbbells but can only strictly move 60. To complete the rep, you use body English, violently jerking the weight up. This momentum creates a shearing force on your spine as your torso snaps up and down. Each rep is a small gamble with a spinal injury.

Both mistakes come from the same place: trying to move a weight your muscles can't handle with good form. Your body finds a way to move it, but it does so by sacrificing your spinal health. The solution isn't to stop doing rows or deadlifts. It's to learn the mechanics so you can load the right muscles and protect your spine. You now understand the concept of a neutral spine. But knowing it and *feeling* it are different. Can you honestly say you maintained a perfect neutral spine on every single rep of your last back workout? If you're not tracking your form, you're just guessing and hoping you don't get injured.

Stop guessing if your form is right.

Film your lifts. Track your progress. Know you're getting stronger safely.

The 3-Step Protocol to Bulletproof Your Back Workout

Fixing your form isn't about watching one more YouTube video. It's about rebuilding your movement patterns from the ground up. This protocol requires you to lower the weight significantly for 2-4 weeks. Your ego will fight you, but this is the only way to build a foundation for long-term strength and avoid becoming another injury statistic on a Reddit thread. Follow these three steps without skipping.

Step 1: Master the Hip Hinge (Without Any Weight)

The hip hinge is the most important movement pattern for back health. It's the foundation of a deadlift, a barbell row, and a kettlebell swing. Most people who hurt their backs think they're hinging, but they're actually just bending over. Here's how to learn the difference.

The Drill: The Wall Tap. Stand about 12 inches away from a wall, facing away from it. Place your feet shoulder-width apart. Now, keeping only a very slight bend in your knees, push your hips straight back until your butt taps the wall. Your chest should lower towards the floor, and your back should remain perfectly flat. You should feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings. Then, squeeze your glutes to return to a standing position. That's one rep. If you don't feel your hamstrings, you're squatting too much. If your back is rounding, you're not keeping your core tight. Do 3 sets of 15 wall taps as part of your warm-up for every single workout for the next month. This is not optional. It burns the pattern into your brain.

Step 2: Learn to Brace Your Core (The Right Way)

“Engage your core” is useless advice. Most people think it means sucking their stomach in. The opposite is true. A proper brace creates a rigid cylinder around your spine to protect it.

The Drill: The Brace for a Punch. Stand up straight. Take a big breath of air *into your belly*, not your chest. Feel your stomach, sides, and lower back expand outward. Now, without letting that air out, tighten your abdominal muscles as if you're about to get punched in the gut. You should feel a 360-degree wall of pressure around your entire midsection. This is a brace. It should feel incredibly stable. Practice this by holding a plank for 30-60 seconds. During the plank, take a breath into your belly and brace. You'll feel your entire torso become rock-solid. This is the feeling you must replicate on every single heavy lift.

Step 3: Choose the Right Exercises (and Drop the Ego)

Once you've practiced the hinge and the brace, you can start loading the patterns. But you don't start with a 400-pound deadlift. You start with exercises that provide support and allow you to focus on form.

• Phase 1 (Weeks 1-4): Supported Movements. Your goal here is zero spinal load. Focus on chest-supported rows (using a machine or an incline bench with dumbbells), seated cable rows, and lat pulldowns. For these, you can focus entirely on squeezing your back muscles without worrying about stability. Aim for 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps, stopping 2 reps short of failure.
• Phase 2 (Weeks 5-8): Introduce the Hinge. Now you can start practicing the hinge with light weight. The best exercise for this is the Romanian Deadlift (RDL) with dumbbells or a light barbell (just the 45-pound bar is fine). Focus on the wall tap movement: push your hips back, keep your back flat, feel the hamstring stretch. Only go as low as you can without your back rounding. Do 3 sets of 8-12 reps. You can also do single-arm dumbbell rows with one hand on a bench for support.
• Phase 3 (Week 9+): Advanced Lifts. Only after you can comfortably RDL 135 pounds for 8 reps with perfect form should you even consider a conventional deadlift from the floor. You've now earned the right to perform the big, complex lifts because you've built the necessary foundation of motor control and stability.

You know the steps. You have the drills. But reading this article and actually executing this plan for the next 8 weeks are two different things. The biggest barrier is consistency, and the only way to ensure consistency is to have a clear record of what you've done. Do you know what you'll be lifting in week 4 versus week 8? If not, you're just hoping for progress.

Your proof of a stronger, safer back.

Every workout logged. See your lifts increase without the back pain.

What Your Back Training Will Look (and Feel) Like in 60 Days

Embarking on this form-first approach will feel strange. It's a deliberate step backward to take a giant leap forward. Here’s the honest timeline of what to expect so you don't get discouraged and quit.

Week 1-2: The Ego Check. This phase is the hardest mentally. The weights will feel insultingly light. You'll be doing wall taps and planks while others are lifting heavy. You will feel zero back pain, but you might also not feel like you're getting a 'good workout'. This is normal. You are not training for muscle fatigue right now; you are training your nervous system to execute perfect movement patterns. Trust the process. Any sharp, pinching, or electric pain means you've broken form. Stop the set immediately.

Month 1: The 'Aha!' Moment. Around week 3 or 4, something will click. While doing a light RDL or a dumbbell row, you'll feel your lats, glutes, and hamstrings engage in a way you never have before. You'll feel the power coming from your hips, not your lower back. The weight on the bar is still light-maybe you're only using 65-95 pounds for your RDLs-but the movement feels powerful and safe. You'll finish your workout feeling a deep muscular soreness in your mid-back and glutes, with zero pain in your lumbar spine.

Month 2-3: Building Real Strength. Now you can start applying progressive overload with confidence. You'll be adding 5 pounds to your rows and RDLs each week. Your back will feel like a pillar of support, not a fragile liability. You might be barbell rowing 135 pounds for clean, strict reps, feeling it entirely in your lats. The fear you once had is gone, replaced by the confidence that you own the movement. This is when you start building the strong, thick back you've been after, and you've done it without spending a single day sidelined by injury.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Role of a Lifting Belt

A lifting belt is not a passive back brace. Its purpose is to give your abdominal wall something to push against, increasing intra-abdominal pressure and making your brace even stronger. It's a tool for advanced lifters, not a crutch for bad form. Do not wear one until you can brace perfectly without it.

Deadlifts and Back Safety

Deadlifts are not inherently dangerous; dangerous form is. A deadlift performed with a perfect hip hinge and a braced, neutral spine is one of the best exercises for building total-body strength and a resilient back. Master the RDL first to earn the right to deadlift from the floor.

Differentiating Good Pain from Bad Pain

Muscle soreness (DOMS) is a dull, diffuse ache in the belly of the muscle that peaks 24-48 hours after a workout. It feels tender to the touch. Injury pain is often sharp, electric, or localized to a joint or a specific point on the spine. If pain radiates down your leg or gets worse with specific movements like bending, it's a red flag.

Best Back Exercises if You Have a History of Injury

If you have a history of back injury, prioritize supported movements that isolate the back muscles without loading the spine. Chest-supported rows, machine rows, lat pulldowns, and seated cable rows are your best friends. They allow you to train your back muscles to failure safely.

Fixing an Asymmetrical Pull or Imbalance

If you notice one side of your back is stronger or you pull unevenly, switch to unilateral (single-limb) exercises. Single-arm dumbbell rows, single-arm lat pulldowns, and even single-arm RDLs force the weaker side to do its own work. Film yourself from behind to spot and correct these imbalances.