The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:
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Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.
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Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.
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A month and a half ago I started a new exercise routine and I've stuck with it longer and better than I ever have before in my life. However, I've noticed that squats cause me lower back pain. I have a pretty pronounced lumbar curve, and at a glance I might have mild lordosis. I tried focusing on making sure my core was tight while squatting and that seemed to improve it, but only slightly. I'm 25, work in retail and use good posture when lifting. Most of my leisure time is spent at a computer. I get 8 hours of sleep a night, usually sleeping on my side or back. I'm 5'7", 137 lbs. My diet is mediocre - I stay away from chips, soda, fried foods, and hydrogenated oils but have a mild protein bar addiction, drink an average of 2 alcoholic drinks a day, and have too many simple carbs. Does the motte have any idea how to fix the back pain, or failing that, any good leg workouts that don't use squats?
Elevate your life from the back squat life to the front squat life. It moves the main load in your back up to your mid back and reduces your chance of injury (if you get into a bad position, instead of feeling like you can tough through it and hurting yourself, you literally can't help but drop the weight). Embrace the Squat-Hinge Continuum from this article at Stronger By Science and realize that the variations don't matter that much unless you're planning on competing on a particular movement. Grab one from the squat end (front squats are safest) and one from the hinge end (whichever you prefer; good mornings are ones that most people end up most susceptible to injury, so perhaps avoid), and you'll be fine.
Only downsides are that you'll need to work on wrist flexibility (it'll probably hurt your wrists when you start; it'll go away) and that you'll have to take the ego hit and drop the weight ~25% (but you can always compute a fake 'back squat equivalent' when you're inevitably wanting to compare yourself to some other bro in your own silly head (no one else cares)). The other downside is that you'll start looking at all the Oly lifters out there and be constantly tempted to want to learn how to start throwing the weight above your head.
(Parting shots: Split squats are also fantastic, especially for some sports, but the extra stability of going bilateral helps you get to the loads you probably want. Don't be afraid to learn to use a belt.)
EDIT: Can get to more refined advice with measurements of your mobility. It took me a long time to learn that my sports resulted in me really lacking mobility in internal hip rotation and needing this sooooo good. Yoga can definitely help, but I find that the most common yoga programs do miss some directions that can be important, depending on your particular needs.
I've always thought RDLs were the same thing as SLDLs.
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