lower back pain when I wake up

To preface, I am 22 years old and very active. I work out 3-4 days a week with relatively high intensity. I do the following excercises in my workout (but not all in the same day): Squats, Romanian Deadlifts, Deadlifts, Bent-Over Rows, Incline/Flat Bench Press, Pullups, etc.

So...I have been experiencing this back problem for about 3 years, which is about when I started getting into weight lifting. It doesn't happen every morning but I would say 4 out of 7 days a week. Whenever I wake up in the morning, I have a dull, but VERY annoying stiffness/pain in my lower back. Sometimes it wakes me up and I can't go back to sleep. It never bothers me during the day, just when I have been sleeping.

I used to sleep on my stomach and I found that this was a major cause, so I started sleeping on my back and side. This helped, but the pain still persisted. I have had several mattresses, but I still get the same result.

The only thing that makes the pain feel better is if I pull my knees to my chest (sort of like a fetal position I guess) or get up and walk around.

Has anyone ever experienced this? Could it be related to my weight lifting? I'm only 22 so I don't think I should be experiencing back pain like this...any input is appreciated.
 
I get it a lot also, especially the morning after I do deadlifts. Just get up and do a round of swinging arms or some other type of twisting movement, and some toe touches or stretch kicks to stretch and re-align the lower back.
 
It may be that you are working your back more than your abdominals and you back tightens up, and your abs, being weaker, just let them (you did not mention any major ab work in your plan, though most of those exercises do use the core muscles, it is not in a strength building way, and you may want to throw a few in there...)

Also, if stretching it out helps, it may be just that you need to stretch better after your workout, of course it may be that you are not using your core muscles properly during the exercise and therefore not supporting your spine properly.

Also, if you have been experiencing this for three years, you could simply have an overuse injury, and might need to rest a little more.

OR you could be like millions of Americans who have back pain for no reason (they can figure out) whatsoever.

Me, personally, I broke my back at 16 turning around in class to talk to the kid behind me. Backs are funny, if they are out of wack you should pay attention, or something else could go wrong.

Good luck, hope this helps somehow (though I feel there are a whole lot of "maybe's" in here...
 
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