Pull ups for Lower Back Pain?

What if pull ups could be useful for lower back pain?

Everybody wants a magic bullet for their lower back pain.

What if I told you that you can improve your lower back pain and build a barnyard back in the process–with pull ups? Pull ups are an excellent exercise for muscle and strength. Go here to learn why.

Pull ups are an excellent exercise for those with lower back pain. They can help you strengthen muscles that stabilize your spine, and can help make your back feel better.

Anatomy and Physiology of the Latissimus Dorsi Muscles 

Your lat muscles attach to your spinous processes from T7-L5, or the entire span of your lower back. (When you train your lats properly, you should feel a contraction from your humerus to your tailbone!)

In reality, the lats are a large and very powerful muscle group. They help produce spinal extension and play an important role in lower back rehabilitation.

When the large lat muscles fire to produce spinal extension, they work alongside the smaller stabilizer muscles: the multifidus and erector spinae. After lower back or spinal disk injury, the multifidus and erector spinae muscles can atrophy quickly. Since training the lats will cause the smaller spinal stabilizers to fire, training the lats can help the smaller muscles to recover strength, size and function after lower back injury.

More strength, control and activation of the lats = more synergistic activity from the smaller spinal muscles.

This means restored strength, size and control of all the back muscles responsible for spinal movement and stabilization. 

Additionally, this means less likelihood for re-injury and continued pain down the road. 

So any exercises that strengthen your lats– like lat pull downs and bent over rows–can help you on your journey towards better lower back health, right?

Yes and no. 

While lat pull downs and bent over rows will help strengthen the lats, the pull up actually promotes spinal decompression.  Spinal decompression can help your back feel better, faster.

Exercises that allow for spinal decompression are those that allow the feet to hang down unsupported, including, you guessed it, the pull up.

Is Spinal Decompression Helpful?

Spinal decompression allows the disc space to expand and allows improved oxygen and nutrient delivery into your discs. This nutrient delivery allows your back to heal better after lower back pain or injury.

The pull up is a spinal decompression exercise, making it a great choice for your long-term lower back health.

Any time you hang from a pull up bar with your weight unsupported and good core control, your discs can decompress and allow nutrient delivery back into your discs.

Unfortunately, your back receives very little decompression benefit during normal activities of daily living. 

And if you squat or deadlift a lot or do a lot, you are constantly putting your spine under compression. You can read more about that here.

Fortunately, exercises like the pull up can be very helpful in helping you to achieve some spinal decompression and help your back feel good for years to come.

Proper Pull Up Execution

The pull up is much more technical than most people believe.

Hang from a bar and let your shoulders relax into your ears.

Now tighten up your gluteal muscles. You want to maintain good core muscle control so that you can use your lats to perform the exercise and prevent any movements that might cause pain.

Keep your spine in a neutral position. The neutral spinal position is the safest position to transmit load. This is true for any exercise, including squats, deadlifts, and you guessed it, the pull up.

While keeping your glutes tight, pull your shoulder blades back and down first and then think about putting your elbows in your back pocket.

Next, pull your chin to the bar by producing a slight arch through your back.

Proper pull ups

If performed this way, you should feel your pull ups across the entire span of your lats, right into your tailbone.

Most people have never done their pull ups this way, so getting used to this technique can take some time. It is also more challenging than simply rushing through your reps.

Common Mistakes

What if you do not feel your pull ups in your lats?

Likely you are relying too much on your bicep muscles and are not thinking about putting your elbows in your back pockets. Pulling your elbows back will help you to fire your lat muscles.

You also should make sure you are keeping your glutes tight to ensure you are keeping your core in a neutral position.

Improper pull up: elbows forward, No neutral spine, legs in incorrect position

If you make those subtle corrections, you will definitely feel your pull ups more in your lats. Now you will be well on your way to strengthening those muscle groups while delivering a healthy dose of spinal decompression.

What to Avoid

If you have any kind of lower back pain, kipping pull ups are probably out. At least until you can properly generate a “kip” from your hips instead of your lower back.

Practical Implementation

I put together the following pull-up programs for you. You can add these short pull up workouts to your existing weight training program. They are short enough that they will not likely pose any issues to your overall recovery from a total body strength program.

Depending on your current pull up progression, these programs will help you to improve your lat strength and lower back health.

Bump up to the next level when your current pull up program gets easy (this may take anywhere between six and twelve weeks).

What if you can’t do pull ups yet? Can you still strengthen my lats and help my lower back feel better?

Most definitely you can do pull up regressions until you are ready to perform the real deal. You can do lat pull downs and end your training sessions with bar hanging to still get the spinal decompression benefits of pull ups.

Beginner Program

Beginner Program: (You definitely cannot do 1 pull up right now)

 Monday: Lat Pulldowns 3 x 12-15

 Wed: Hang from a Bar 3-5 x 10-15 seconds

 Friday: Assisted Pull ups (use the assisted pull-up machine or Bands) 3 x 5-8 reps

Less Beginner Program

Slightly Less Beginner Program: (You could do 1-2 pull ups)

 Monday: Lat Pulldowns 3 x 12-15

 Wednesday: Hang from a Bar 3-5 x 20-30 seconds

 Friday: Assisted Pull ups (use the assisted pull up machine or Bands) 3 x 5-8 reps

Intermediate Program

Intermediate Program (You could eek out 5 pull ups, if your life depended on it)

 Monday: Lat Pulldowns: 3 x 12-15 reps

 Wednesday: 3 sets x 3 reps with perfect form

 Friday: Assisted Pull ups (use the assisted pull up machine or Bands) 3x 5-8 reps with as little assistance possible

Advanced Program

Advanced Program (You can do 10+ pull ups with perfect form)

Monday: Pull ups: 3 x 8 with perfect form, pause at the top for 1 count to feel the contraction in your lats

Wednesday: 5 x 5 reps with the heaviest weight you can use with perfect form (don’t worry if you can only use 5-10 lb or start, you will be able to add a bit as you go)

Friday: 1 set x As Many Reps as Possible (AMRAP) with perfect form

 

Can I hurt my back worse doing pull ups?

It is not likely, if you are using perfect form.

If you start off gradually and let your body adapt over time to your new pull up regime, it is unlikely that you can overdo your pull ups, at least from a lower back perspective.

Sure, you could potentially injure other body parts, like your bicep tendons or elbows, but provided you follow the tips above about working up gradually, this is unlikely as well.

Done correctly, pull ups are one of the safest exercises you can potentially do.

If you follow the advice in this article, you will be well on your way to strengthening your lats. You will improve your lower back function. Incorporate the pull up into your routine, and you will be on your way to pain-free back gains for a long time.

Note: this article is not a substitute for specific medical advice. If you have ongoing pain, please seek advice from a qualified physical therapist.