New runner here, I am having an issue with my lower back/upper glute muscles! (Read 52 times)

Generally speaking, our muscles work in opposing pairs -- the biceps & triceps; hamstrings & quads, etc. And, in most cases, the opposing pairs are imbalanced in their power/leverage. Consider the muscles or muscle groups which oppose your lower back, the stuff on the front, and start working on strengthening them to equalize their opposing pair in your lower back.

It sounds from your description like your lower back muscles are tightening and cramping...

I’ve been running for a few months now, and recently I had to take a few weeks off due to getting really sick. So I started running again, but I have noticed that about half a mile into my run I develop this sore aching feeling in my lower back, or at the top of my glutes on both sides of my tail bone and it is driving me insane.. I stretch, I do warm ups and start off easy, but those muscles flare up and it makes it difficult to run. After about a mile and a half they stop aching and then I can run freely. Has anyone else had that issue? How do you fix that??? Any help would be appreciated

I get that same sore achy feeling in my lower back/ upper glutes myself for about a mile and then it wears off and I feel good.  I just write it off as my body is just getting itself warmed up for about a mile, so the first mile is always the hardest until the body is fully warmed up. It's been like this since I first started running 6 months ago, so I just write it off as "warm up pains" since it really hasn't progressed into an injury and quickly goes away after the first mile of running.

I am a fairly new running too, about 6 months progression from run/walk to running.

Yes, I also deal with exactly the same issue, since forever.

The root cause in my case is weak glutes and piriformis (The muscle that sits behind the glutes) due to too much time sitting.

Weak glutes get tired quickly, so the iliopsoas, front quads and front abs need to work harder. Eventually they reach a breaking point and start cramping.

It's unlikely I could solve it completely at the age of 41, but things that help:

- Strength training. Dead lifts, single leg dead lifts (airplanes), bulgarian squats, single leg squats, body weight squats, split squats.

Any thing that strengthens your glutes and core will help. Also anything that strengthens your back in general, even pull ups can help quite a bit.

- Trying to work standing up a bit during the day

- Using a massage ball against the piriformis before every run to release it a bit

- Stretch the iliopsoas muscle. This long muscle starts on your back rib cage and flows through your front pant's pocket region down to the front part of the quads.

You can also use a massage ball against this muscle, right in the front pocket region. You lay down face first on the ground, then place the ball at the front pocket region, then slide your other leg out in a figure 4 shape so you can control height. The weight of your body presses against the muscle and releases it a bit.