As you can see in the picture on the right below, with hyper-lordosis your pelvis is tilted forward which causes your abs and glutes to stick out. Meanwhile, the excess arching puts stress on your lower spine which can cause lower back pain when you Squat, Deadlift, or even stand. This can turn into a hernia over time.

How to Eliminate Your Hyper-Lordosis. For guys the 2 main causes of hyper-lordosis are almost always too much sitting and excess body-fat. When you sit a lot, you hip flexors shorten which pull your pelvis forward as a result. Similarly, excess belly fat will pull your pelvis to the front and also make it tilt. Solutions:

1. Lose Your Belly Fat. Start by eating healthier: less junk food/soda, less carbs, and more whole foods (beef, chicken, tuna, veggies). Couple this with StrongLifts 5x5 3x/week to boost your metabolism and you'll gain muscle while losing fat and strengthening your abs.
2. Stretch Your Hip Flexors. Daily exercises like the warrior lunge stretch for sets of 15 seconds will stretch these muscles tight from sitting. Quick trick: squeeze the glute of your back leg for a bigger stretch.
3. Stretch Your Upper-body. Hyper-lordosis is almost always coupled with slouching shoulders so you need to fix that also. Get a resistance band and do daily shoulder dislocations for 3 sets of 10 reps.
4. Squat Correctly. Prevent lower back pain by pushing your abs out and your knees to the side when you Squat. The former will prevent excess arching, the latter will involve your glute muscles more.
5. Sit Less. Hard to impossible for most guys due to the nature of our job, but at least get up as much as you can and avoid sitting when you're not working (wait in queues standing, eat standing at home, etc)

Below: before/after picture of a StrongLifts Member who eliminated his hyper-lordosis in 21 days by simply stretching his tight hip flexors several times a day.

StrongLifts Member "IloveSquats" (26y, Australia). Left: hyper-lordosis, excess lower back arch and shoulders rolled forward. Right: 3 weeks of stretching later.

That's no photoshop in the right picture, he was just sucking his gut in. If you look at his lower back and shoulders it's clear there's a huge improvement - his hyper-lordosis is gone and his upper-back is straighter. StrongLifts Members can read how he did it inside the StrongLifts Community by going here.

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3 times a week I attempt to do sprints at the track for my intervals. I feel like I am getting a good workout until after when I feel the pain in my shins and sometimes the muscles around my knees.

I don't get sore at any other time, just after sprints. I run on the track so that it won't be so jarring on my joints. Is there stretches I can do after that will decrease the pain I feel? Or am I running incorrectly during the sprints?

Why Do You Get Shin Splints? Shin splints is a blanket term. Lack of recovery, like too much sprinting, can result in shin splints. But often there's more going on. Koryjane1979 mentioned knee pain too.

• Bad Footwear. Wearing shoes with heels can limit the range of motion of your dorsiflexors and tighten your plantarflexors over time.
• Limited Ankle Mobility. Limited dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM) and tight plantarflexors force your body to compensate mobility elsewhere.
• External Rotated Feet. Lack of ankle mobility will make your feet turn outward, while your lower-/upper-leg will turn internally to compensate.

Why You Should Look Into This. Lack of ankle mobility forces your feet out and turns your hip inward. This causes loss of external hip rotation ROM, which can force your knees/lower back to compensate mobility.

You understand shin splints, but also plantar fasciitis or achilles tendinosis, are just the tip of the iceberg. Often there's a lot more going on, which can result in lower back pain or knee pain or your knees buckling in on Squats.

Why Women Should Really Look Into This. Women have an increased Q-angle compared to men: wider hips, narrow knees. Couple this with the chronic wear of high heels, and you understand why women are more prone to ACL injuries.

By the way, the increased Q-angle is part of the reason why women often have a harder time keeping their knees out on Squats, Deadlifts, Lunges, etc.

Image credit: Doctor Latino.

How to Treat Shin Splints. Chances are your sprinting technique isn't optimal. Stop sprinting for now so your shins recover. In the meanwhile:

• Improve Ankle Mobility. Both plantarflexors and dorsiflexors. Do the exercises from the ankle mobility post and from this & this video.
• Strengthen Your Dorsiflexors. DARD work, Seated Dumbbell Dorsiflexion, Barbell Reverse Calf Raises, etc
• Wear Flat Shoes. Chuck Taylor All Stars for Squats & Deadlifts. Nike Frees for running. Women: drop the high heels at home.
• Go Barefoot. Do all your dynamic stretching exercises barefoot. Walk barefoot at home as much as you can.
• Improve Hip Mobility. You're probably tight in there. Do the exercises from the hip mobility post, get Magnificent Mobility if you need more.
• Soft Tissue Work. Feet & calves: toes up/in, rotate in/out. Foam roll the rest too while you're at it. Read the Soft Tissue Work guide.
• Strengthen Your Posterior Chain. Deadlifts, Rack Pulls, Box Squats, Glute Ham Raises, Pull-throughs, Reverse Hypers, Reverse Lunges, ...

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I have a really bad groin. When I try to Squat or run, a really sharp pain runs through my groin.

It's depressing, haven't done Squats or Deadlifts for 10 days, and can't get closer to my soccer goals since I can't play. So I just skipped Squats & Deads.

Why You Pulled Your Groin. Your groin, hamstrings & glutes are hip extensors. Excessive sitting can cause dormant glutes. This forces your hamstrings, groin & lower back to compensate. They get overactive, and injured.

Hamstring & groin strains are common in sports. Piriformis strains also happen (synergist in lateral hip rotation). And many lifters get back pain on Squats & Deadlifts. The cause is often the same: weak glutes.

How to Treat Your Groin Pull. Bad solution 1: static stretching, it can irritate your hip joint capsule. Bad solution 2: passive rest, no-one likes it. And neither solutions fix the cause of the problem. Better ideas:

• Soft Tissue Work. Remove the knots in your adductors. Do soft tissue work using a Foam Roller. This treats the symptoms (but not the cause).
• Warm-up Properly. No more static stretching or light jogging. Improve your hip mobility by doing dynamic stretches as warm-up.
• Hip Mobility. Split Stance Adductor Mobilization, Walking Spidermans, Lateral Squats, ... Check the post on hip mobility & Magnificent Mobility.
• Glute Activation. Supine Bridges, Birddogs, X-band Walks, ... Read the post on glute activation & Magnificent Mobility for more exercises.
• Train Your Legs. Speeds up recovery by flushing blood (nutrients) into the injured groin. Light Squats with a narrow stance (empty bar).
• Strengthen Your Posterior Chain. Pull-throughs, Glute Ham Raises, Reverse Hyper-extensions, Deadlifts, Box Squats, etc

4 Days Later, reader Endure reported:

My groin's getting better, I played a whole 30 mins of soccer on thursday, feeled really good.

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Quick example - knee pain. Some say that cracking/popping knees is evidence of trigger points causing joint stress. While I'm not sure that's true, removing those trigger points seem to diminish the cracking. Similarly, soft tissue work for the calves and IT band often eliminate knee pain almost instantly.

Keep in mind that world class Olympic athletes like Jon North (only 5kg away from breaking the American Snatch record, he used the 5x5 method to build his leg strength by the way) do daily soft tissue work. Why? Because it keeps nagging pains away, eliminates present ones and allows you to train hard.

Now you could get soft tissue work done via a masseuse (or an ART, although they don't have one in Belgium). But doing it yourself using a foam roller is less expensive, more convenient and you can do it daily at home for faster results.

Cheap rollers will get distorted fast, so invest in a high quality one like the Foam Roller Plus (it has a PVC pipe on the inside and thus lasts 5x longer than a regular roller). You can use a PVC pipe too, but it will be more painful.

Here's a video by Eric Cressey MS, author of Show & Go and 650lb Deadlifter, with Tony Gentilore CSCS showing you how to foam roll all your muscles.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technique Tips. I warn you, this will hurt the first time. Don't be surprised if you get bruises. The pain is your body telling you that you need soft tissue work. Stick with it and the pain will vanish after a few days.

• Be Persistent. IT band, glutes and chest muscles are usually the most painful spots. Spend extra time on them, working through the pain.
• NEVER Do Your Lower Back & Neck! You don't want to injure your spine. Foam roll whatever you want, but stay away from your lower back and your neck. Your upper-back you can foam roll.
• Tennis Ball for Small Muscles. Feet, infraspinatus and glute/piriformis you cannot work with the foam roller because these muscles are too small to reach. Use a tennis ball or lacross ball for those.

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People from all ages, occupations, and sport disciplines complain of low back pain. A tight Psoas often contributes to your back pain. Good News? You can avoid it... you can even fix it.

Where and What is My Psoas? The Psoas is one of the largest and thickest muscles in the body. It attaches to the vertebrae of your lower back, and the head of your femur (thigh bone).

The Psoas is primarily responsible for hip and thigh flexion and has a lot of influence over your lumbar posture and the way your hips are positioned.

When you're sitting for a prolonged period of time, your Psoas is in a shortened position. Leave it for long enough, and it will start to think this is normal. Your tissues want to move into that resting position. Leaving you tight & contracted.

Incorrect posture during standing and walking (which is often caused by a tight Psoas) will leave it even tighter and harder to loosen.

Why Does It Cause Back Pain? A tight Psoas is a killer for your back for various reasons.

• If it is tight and in a contracted state, your Psoas will want to bring your lower back forward, moving you into an anterior tilt: lordotic posture.
• The pressure exerted by the Psoas whilst in a contracted state can compress the joints and discs of the lumbar vertebrae. This pressure causes degeneration and will make them more susceptible to injury.
• A shortened Psoas on one side will pull the spine or pelvis to that side, leading to many painful problems, including scoliosis.
• A tight Psoas will stop your Glutes firing and activating normally. This is Reciprocal Inhibition: the Psoas and the Glutes are opposing muscles.

Lack of Glute activity plus horrific posture can lead to overcompensation in other muscles of the back, leaving them tight and overworked. Couple this with the referring pain from the trigger points in your Psoas and you will be hurting.

Tips to Avoid A Tight Psoas. There are several ways to stop your Psoas turning into a hazardous plank of wood. All of which are easy to implement and should be even if you don’t suffer from back pain yet. Here goes…

• Postural Corrections. If we stay in a certain position all day, our tissues will want to move into that resting position, in this case, your Psoas. The best sitting posture is one that always changes.
• Sit Back in Your Chair. This will stop you leaning forward as much, and thus your Psoas won’t be in as shortened position in comparison to when you sit on the edge of your seat.
• Stop Hooking Your Feet under Your Chair. You put yourself in more hip flexion and therefore, more Psoas activation. Set your feet flat on the floor, or a raised platform if you are a shortie.
• Stand Up When Performing Exercises. You sit all day at work and keep your Psoas shortened. Do the opposite in the gym. Instead of the bike, get on the treadmill. Sub in Overhead Press instead of Seated Press.
• Stop Sleeping on Your Stomach. When you are on your stomach, your back goes into hyperextension. This is exacerbating what a tight Psoas already does to your back (anterior tilt). Change it up.
• Move More. Not staying in a seated position all day will go a long way to stopping you developing a tight Psoas. Get up more frequently, stretch more often, change positions… just keep moving!

Tips To Loosen A Tight Psoas. If you do suffer from low back pain and you suspect a tight Psoas, relax (maybe your Psoas will follow the lead), read the next few tips, and get cracking.

1. Stretch. Add Psoas and Hip Flexor stretches after your workouts. Get out of your chair at work occasionally and do some stretches. Do some at night before you go to bed. You can do this one:

2. Release. The most effective way to loose your Psoas is through a therapist. But you can do it yourself using a ball slightly larger & softer than a tennis ball. This massage technique releases your Psoas through an active range of motion.

• Lay on the ball, about 1-2 inches outside your belly button.
• You'll feel your Psoas respond as you lower yourself. It will hurt a little.
• Arch your back; come up onto your elbows. This will result in a more forceful stretch and release on your Psoas.

3. Activate Your Glutes. Active glutes will help inhibit and relax your Psoas. Here are my favorites exercises you can integrate into your warm-up, or do in your main program to help fire up your glutes and loosen your Psoas.

• Overhead Lunges. Stretch and glute exercise.
• Single Leg Bridge with Knee lift. Lifted knee stretches opposite Psoas.

A tight Psoas will give many more problems than I have outlined here. It’s easy to prevent them getting tight and there is a lot you can do about it if it does.

Generally, during everyday life, at the workplace and even at the gym people are performing movements that promote Psoas tightness. Start taking some notice and prevent these troublemakers from giving you pain.

Lauren blogs about fitness, strength training and nutrition at Laurensfitness.com. Check out her articles about hip flexor flexibility, foam rolling and the glycemic index.

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I've been doing Stronglifts 5x5 since November 2007. I injured my right shoulder while lifting 3 weeks ago. Pain between spine & shoulder-blade, shooting into biceps.

Prior to that, I've had persistent pain in my right shoulder. I think the pain was from holding my right hand out for the mouse plus bad sitting posture. I'm working to address the ergonomics of my desk.

The injury required me to drop 10 lbs off my Overhead Press and Bench Press. I’ve continued lifting through the injury. Not increasing the weight for presses but focusing on technique.

Daily I've been doing:

• 20x Shoulder Dislocations
• 2x10 Scap Push-ups
• 3x10 Face Pulls
• 3X10 Behind The Neck Pulldowns

Should I take a break from pressing to allow the shoulder time to heal? Are there other exercises that would assist in strengthening the shoulder girdle?

The Infraspinatus. One of your 4 rotator cuff muscles. The Infraspinatus is a dynamic stabilizer & assists in outward arm rotation. It's located behind your shoulder & covers your shoulder-blade.

Image credit: A.D.A.M.

How Do You Get Infraspinatus Injuries? Habitual overload or repetitive strain related to outward arm rotation can injure your Infraspinatus. Examples:

• Keeping Arm in Front/Overhead. Driving car with your hands on top of wheel, working on computer without elbow support, etc
• Reaching Back Repeatedly. Controlling computer mouse, forehands in tennis, smash in volleyball, etc

Symptoms of Infraspinatus Injuries. Although the infraspinatus is located behind your shoulder, pain is usually felt in your front shoulder.

• Front Shoulder Pain. Pain down into biceps. Pain feels as if it's deep in the joint. Side shoulder, neck & shoulder-blade can also hurt.
• Stiff/Weak Shoulder. Shoulder & arm tire out more easily on one side than the other. Muscle imbalances. Stiffness. Arm going numb.
• Restricted Mobility. Reaching back – like when putting on your jacket – is difficult. Lying on your shoulder when sleeping hurts.

How to Treat Infraspinatus Injuries. Other rotator cuff muscle will compensate the weak/injured infraspinatus. This can cause problems in your whole shoulder – like frozen shoulders. Don't let this get out of hand.

1. Fix Posture. Correct posture when sitting & doing exercises like Barbell Rows or Bench Press is shoulder-blades back & down. Hanging shoulders & flaring shoulder-blades is bad posture. Exercises you can do:

• Shoulder Dislocations. Improve upper-body mobility. 3x10 reps as warmup / on recovery days. Start with a wide grip.
• Doorway Chest Stretch. Tight chest muscles will pull your shoulders down. 3 sets of 10 seconds post workout/ on recovery days.
• Bike Face Pulls. Strengthen your upper-back & traps. Squeeze your shoulder-blades when pulling back. 3x10 reps post workout.
• Pelvis Realignment. Problems with your shoulders often means problems with your hips. Check for symptoms of lordosis.

2. Trigger Point Therapy. Trigger points are knots in your muscles caused by overstimulation. These can shorten & stiffen your muscles. Movement stresses muscle attachments, which can damage connective tissue & distort joints.

Popping shoulder joints are evidence of joint stress caused by trigger points. Stretches & rehability exercises can irritate trigger points and aggravate your pain. To remove the knots:

• Infraspinatus Massage. Massage your shoulder-blade using a tennis ball against a wall. 20 strokes several times a day.
• Rhomboid Massage. Between shoulder-blade & spine lies the Rhomboid which can also be overworked. Massage it using a ball or Thera Cane like in this video.

3. Prevention. Posture realignment exercises & trigger point therapy won't do much if you have bad posture the other 20 hours of the day.

• Sit Correctly. Build the habit of sitting with your shoulder-blades back & down. Put a post it on your computer "shoulder-blades back & down".
• Drink More. The best way to move more when you have a desk job. You'll be forced to get out of your chair to go to the toilet.
• Switch Sides. Use your left hand for a while so your right hand gets a break. It takes 2 days to build dexterity in your other hand. Persist.
• Quality Chair. Adjustable chair with elbow support so your shoulders stay relaxed. Aeron Chairs or Steelcase Chairs are worth the money.
• Balanced Program. As much pulling (Rows, Pull-ups) as pushing (Bench & Overhead Press). 1 overhead session for each Bench Press session.

Stay away from painkillers. Pain is your body telling you something is wrong. Find out what. Educate yourself. Ask your doctor's advice. But make sure you treat the causes, not the symptoms.

Take it slowly with weight lifting in the meanwhile. Lower the weight, spend time improving technique & slowly build back up. Don't worry about strength loss, getting rid of injuries is more important in the long run.

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