If you’re a gymnast, chances are that at some point in your career you’ve had lower back pain. Gymnastics is a sport that requires a lot of extension-based skills that can be done repetitively. The sport also demands that gymnasts do rotational and hyperextension skills, all of which can put a lot of stress on the spine. Often, this leads to lower back injuries in the form of spondylolysis (fatigue fracture of the pars interarticularis of the vertebrae) and/or spondylolisthesis.1
This is a problem because these are very painful injuries. Typically, they start with a diffuse stiffness and ache in the lower back. The gymnast may also have spasms in their lower back as the muscles in their spine try to help splint and protect these injured structures. In some cases, the gymnast can continue training through this pain until it becomes too much. This is when they might start to have trouble standing for long periods of time, a loss of confidence in their ability to do back-bending skills and their impact landings may become very uncomfortable.
Most of these injuries are caused by a combination of factors. The excessive amount of repetitions of back bending, the repetitive hyperextension of the lower back and /or rotational movements, strength imbalances and poor technique1 all put together to create an environment where a gymnast’s lower back might get stressed beyond its capacity.
Specifically, when a gymnast does these extension-based exercises like bridges, front/back walkovers, back handsprings and many other high-force dynamic moves, the facet joints in the lower back close more than they are supposed to. This can cause compression on the lower back structures like discs, ligaments, and muscles. Over time, this can lead to irritation of the muscles/ligaments/joints and if left unchecked may progress to a stress fracture of the lower back bone called a spondylolysis.
This type of injury is very difficult to treat and will usually require a few weeks/months of downtime from the sport until it heals. Injuries like these can be very scary for gymnasts because they’re afraid to tell their coaches that they hurt. They may also fear that their coach will dismiss the problem or not want them to miss practice. This is why it’s so important that gymnasts are honest with their coaches about any pain they’re having and that preventative measures are implemented well before the back starts to hurt. If you have back pain that persists for more than 2 weeks, it’s a good idea to see a specialist who treats gymnasts to evaluate it further.
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