We all know what muscle soreness feels like the day after a taxing workout. But when it’s in your lower back, it can be worrying. How do you know if what you’re feeling is DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) caused by exercise, or actual, lower back pain (ie. you have injured yourself)? Here are a few ways you can tell.
DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness):
– Feels like a dull ache, stiffness or soreness in the muscles
– Comes on after exercise
– Lasts 2-3 days, easing off over time and not getting worse
– You feel it more when you’re moving, rather than when sedentary
LOWER BACK PAIN:
– Can feel dull and achey, too, but can also feel like a jolt or an electric shock (DOMS does not feel like this)
– Can radiate into the legs & glutes (DOMS stays muscle-specific)
– You feel it whether you are moving or sedentary
– Has no correlation to recent exercise; can come on at any time
– Lasts longer than 2-3 days (if it is a chronic condition, it can last weeks/months at a time)
In particular, you might get DOMS in your lower back region after deadlifting. This is because during a deadlift, one of the main muscle groups worked are your erector spinae – the group of muscles that run along your spine. And, just like any other muscle, when the erector spinae are worked hard, they get sore. Although this can feel uncomfortable, it’s nothing to worry about – as with all muscular soreness, the advice is to stay hydrated, maintain gentle movement (eg. walking or stretching), and it will ease off after a few days on its own.
Another main muscle worked in the deadlift is the latissimus dorsi or ‘lats’, as it’s known. This runs all the way down the sides of your back into the mid-lower back region. So sometimes, what you perceive as lower back pain is actually just sore lats!
I hope this helps you differentiate between low back pain (caused by injury) and DOMS, so you can tell whether it’s something to worry about, or not.
Conni
Conni Arnold Fitness 