Ok so again I want to preface this with a couple things.
1) I don't have anabolic use or tons of experience with individuals who do, so I can't guarantee this advice will be as helpful for those individuals. Stuff about possible kidney implications are beyond the scope of this post.
2) These ideas aren't things I came up with myself, but I have experimented with the ideas and have others who have as well with decent success. It also probably isn't 100% applicable to bodybuilders, but figure any help could at least be useful. If anyone wants more specifics I can lead them where to look.
My thoughts might be a bit sporadic to as I spent a bit of time (too much now haha) thinking how this could connect with anabolic use, but I probably don't know enough to make concrete connections.
2) First, low back pumps can be from a host of things but with higher rep movements or in combination (circuits) with other movements this issue can be quite hard to deal with for some.
I don't want to get too sciencey, especially as some of this is a bit more conjecture like, but maybe a quick pump reasoning breakdown can help explain why in some situations this is happening.
When you exercise blood flows to the muscle, when you contract a muscle it should help facilitate sending blood back to the heart (via venous return, anyone interested can google
Skeletal Muscle Pump for more info).
Theoretically bodybuilders or strength athletes tend to have systems where they have very strong muscles, at least in comparison to their hearts, so getting pumps is "easier" for them in this scenario. Their weaker cardiac systems though lead them to being more prone to this though (and when looking for building muscle and the possible benefits of increased "metabolic stress" this isn't a bad thing in certain scenarios).
Generally though with enough rest or proper cardiac strength the pump will dissipate. For reasons I haven't totally been able to figure out yet lower back musculature seems to have a more innate issue in regards to gaining and then not being able to resolve this blood flow (and some individuals seem to get this issue in other muscles to a lesser degree).
Why is this more prone to happen in individuals with anabolic use? Honestly I don't know. Increases in blood pressure? Changes in blood volume? Something else? Regardless there is a possibility these may tie into just a more exaggerated response similar to what even non-enhanced athletes struggle with.
Next that leaves us with what can we do? Again if it isn't due to the above reasons then some of the other possible solutions outlined by others may be of use, but if it is related to more muscular pump issues then here are some suggestions.
Things to keep in mind...we are going to assume this is more in isolation (it doesn't sound like most people with these issues mentioned on these boards at least are doing big circuits or crossfit style work, which may require different style work to fix).
First, it could just be conditioning. As alluded to above it could just be a matter of the heart not being strong enough to "fight" the level of the muscle pump. This isn't usually as common in isolation, but for people who heavily neglect cardio it could.
Next, is it your coordination or mechanics?
Now this isn't to say individuals form is wrong and the issue (although it may), but to just maybe highlight that in longer duration/higher repetition sets smaller deviations in form may "chip away" and turn into a bigger issue than say a lower repetition high effort set.
It could be a ton of things, but biggest offenders I've found are either coordination (which may shift as higher reps are done), mobility/stability in either the lumbar and/or thoracic spine, and/or how these relate with your breathing.
You may find if you have poor thoracic mobility or you over arch in your "reaching" back (depending on squat style) a higher repetition style set may be part of the cause of the increased pump. In conjunction if you can't maintain proper breathing through the diaphragm on these high rep sets you may find yourself being forced into poor positions as the set duration increases.
I am rambling a bit now, but hope that gets people thinking a bit and you can maybe see how inter-related all that is. If you have worse cardio you'll probably have more issues with breathing for example.
Fixes can be pretty individual, but for me personally I had good positions, good mechanics, and saw biggest improvements from increased cardiac abilities and dedicated breathe work, but again my use case was probably quite different as well.
Sorry for the ramble and long post and super long delay as well.
) might help!
