Winter Training Slump: Why Your Back Feels Tight When You Start Lifting Again

The Winter Pattern

When it’s cold, dark, and the roads are covered in snow, training gets inconsistent. Even people who normally lift 3–4 days a week end up with:

• Missed sessions from weather

• More sitting (work, school, snow days)

• Less walking and general movement

• A couple random high-effort days (shoveling, hauling salt, pushing cars)

Then you finally get back into the gym and your back feels tight during warm-ups; or the first hinge day feels awful; or you wake up the next morning feeling like you got hit by a truck.

That’s not a sign you should stop training. It’s usually a sign your body de-loaded for a few weeks and then got asked to do “everything” again.

Why It Happens (Even If You’re Fit)

This isn’t an “old people” problem. It happens to athletes, lifters, and active adults.

A winter slump usually creates three things:

1) Your hips get stiff and your back does extra work
Less walking plus more sitting often reduces hip extension and rotation. When hips stop contributing, the low back picks up the slack.

2) Trunk endurance drops
Not “core strength” in the Instagram sense. More like: can you maintain position and breathe while you hinge, squat, carry, and brace? That capacity fades faster than people think.

3) Tissue tolerance decreases
If you haven’t loaded hinges, carries, and squats consistently, your body is less tolerant to volume. The same workout that felt normal in October can feel like too much in February.

The Fix: A 10-Minute Reset Before You Lift

Use this before your first few sessions back (or anytime your back feels tight during warm-ups). The goal is to restore motion, turn on the right muscles, and give your trunk something to work with.

1) Restore hip motion (2 minutes)

• 90/90 hip switches: 6–10 slow reps

• Hip flexor stretch: 30–45 seconds per side (gentle)

2) Turn on glutes without cranking your back (2 minutes)

• Glute bridge hold: 2 sets of 20–30 seconds

3) Build trunk endurance (3–4 minutes)

Pick two:

• Dead bug: 6–10 controlled reps per side

• Side plank (knees bent is fine): 15–25 seconds per side

• Bird dog hold: 10–20 seconds per side

4) Rehearse the hinge (1–2 minutes)

• Dowel hip hinge or wall hinge: 8–12 reps

If you do nothing else, do the hinge rehearsal. It’s the fastest way to clean up the pattern that usually irritates backs when people return to lifting.

How to Return to Lifting Without Paying for It

The mistake most people make is treating their first week back like they never missed time.

Use this approach for 1–2 weeks:

• Cut load to about 70–80% of what you were using

• Cut volume (sets) by about 25–40%

• Keep intensity moderate and focus on clean reps

• Add volume back gradually session to session

You’re not starting over. You’re just rebuilding tolerance. If you were consistent in the gym before that winter slump, your body will re-acclimate quickly but you need to give it the proper chance to do so.

For hinge days (deadlift, RDL, kettlebell swings)

• Start with slower tempos and fewer sets

• Add carries (farmer carries) instead of more hinge volume

• Keep the goal: finish feeling better than you started for the first week

For squat days

• Use a box squat or goblet squat early if depth or control feels off

• Build range of motion back as hips loosen up

Snow-Related Reality: Shoveling Counts

If you shoveled hard in the last 24–48 hours, treat that like a training session.

• Reduce hinge volume that day

• Do the reset above

• Keep the workout simpler (squat plus upper plus carries)

A lot of “random back tweaks” come from just training plus shoveling stacked together.

When to Get Checked

Most winter tightness improves quickly with movement and smart loading. Get medical guidance if you have:

• Worsening numbness or tingling down the leg

• Significant weakness (giving way, foot drop)

• Loss of bowel or bladder control

• Severe pain that isn’t changing at all after 7–10 days

How We Handle This at Strength Through Movement

If your back keeps getting tight every time you return to training, we want to start by addressing the underlying cause. We start by looking at:

• How you hinge and brace

• Whether your hips are contributing

• Trunk endurance under load

• What volume and intensity you can tolerate right now

Then we build you back up with a simple progression: restore motion, rebuild capacity, and load the patterns you actually need.

Getting Started

If you’re in Lancaster and winter knocked your training off track, come in for an assessment. We’ll figure out what’s driving the tightness and give you a plan that makes sense.

Strength Through Movement
315 W James St, Suite 210Lancaster, PA 17603717.598.2698

Corrective exercise, strength training, and sports performance in Lancaster, PA.