Why Does My Lower Back Hurt During Overhead Press
How Rib Flare And Shoulder Restriction Create A Lumbar Extension Compensation
Stand with your back against a wall. Raise your arms overhead and try to touch the wall with your wrists. If your lower back arches away from the wall, your overhead press is compensated. You do not have full overhead range. You have lumbar extension disguised as overhead reach.
The Overhead Press Compensation Test
True overhead position requires approximately 170 to 180 degrees of shoulder flexion with a neutral spine. This demands adequate shoulder mobility, thoracic extension, serratus anterior function, and a ribcage in internal rotation. When any component is missing, the body compensates through lumbar extension.
Why Your Lower Back Makes Up For Your Shoulders
By arching the lower back, you tilt the trunk backward. It looks and feels like your arms are overhead when they are actually at 150 degrees of shoulder flexion plus 30 degrees of lumbar extension. The bar is overhead relative to the ground but not relative to your shoulder joint. This loads the lumbar spine under heavy weight.
How Rib Flare Prevents True Overhead
Flared ribs mean the scapula does not have a flat surface to upwardly rotate on. The serratus anterior cannot anchor the scapula because the ribs are in the wrong position. The Right BC pattern, described in PRI research, internally rotates the shoulder, further reducing available flexion range.
The Scapula Cannot Rotate On A Flared Ribcage
Shoulder mobility drills performed on a flared rib cage build mobility on an unstable platform. The moment you load the pattern, mobility disappears because the scapula cannot maintain position. The fix starts at the ribs, not the shoulders.
How To Restore True Overhead Position
Restore rib position with breathing work and oblique engagement, and the serratus can anchor the scapula. True overhead returns. The lower back stops compensating. MOVECHECK tests overhead reach and cross-references with Ribcage and Breathing stages to identify whether the limitation is at the shoulder, ribcage, or both.
See This In Your Own Body
Every concept in this article is tested in the MOVECHECK assessment. Find out which patterns apply to you.
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