I’ve started working with dumb bells for most of my upper body work, and I do declare I am a convert to the free weights! I can’t believe I didn’t try it sooner. Anyway my question: is any pain in the lower back always a bad thing? I notice that during some standing moves I will feel a little pinching in my lower back. If I re-adjust my stance and am more conscious of my core muscles keeping everything tight it does improve, but I just want to make sure I’m not setting myself up for injury. Would a belt help me with this? If so, any recommendations for type/brand?

Follow up question: I have yet to figure out how to do much with free weights for my lower body work out. I'm trying out some squats and lunges with just my own body weight, any other ideas?

From my experience, pain in anything is bad, unless you are talking about the immediate burning sensation in the muscles being worked. Lower back pain is usually a sign of something wrong- either structurally, strength imbalances, or improper form. If tightening your core muscles makes it go away, you probably need to work on lower back and ab strength.

Heres an article about why form is so important.

If you workout in a gym, I'd suggest having an experienced trainer check your form and show you some lower back exercises.

There are loads of free weight lower body exercises. Take a look at exrx.net and click on some of the lower body muscles to see which exercises to do.

Here's a short list.
Dumbbell and single dumbbell squats, free bar squats
weighted lunges- the combinations are endless
deadlifts
romanian deadlifts
one legged dumbbell deadlifts


Mel

Unless you have something wrong with your back, pain during exercise is a matter of form. Really really concentrate on your form and moving the weight with the intended muscle, not with your back. Lower your weight and don't increase it until you do have the form under control.

I see so many people swaying their back when trying to do bicep curls, etc and just cringe.

The same holds true for lower body exercises. Do squats and lunges with just your body weight until holding your back properly becomes second nature. Using a belt won't help. As far as I know, they are to prevent a hernia when lifting heavy weights. In fact, they can do more harm by preventing your back muscles from developing on their own at their own pace.

As Mel mentioned, there are a ton of good lower back strengthening exercises. Use a stability ball. Take a yoga class. Work lower back exercises into your routine (make sure they are not on lower body days).

Unless you are experienced, don't attempt any variation of the deadlifts until you get someone to teach you the proper form. I do deadlifts with a light bar, and at the first sign of a twinge, drop the bar and go back to focusing on form.

After body weight, using dumbbells can be the next step in adding weight to your lower body exercises. However, legs respond nicely to higher reps with just body weight.

Hope this helps...

Thanks so much for the feedback and suggestions. I'm sure my form does need some help as I am new to this. Up till now I pretty much exclusively used machines doing isolation work, so getting all my muscles to work together will take a bit of practice I imagine. I've been doing yoga for a few months now, I plan on trying out a pilates class this weekend. Hopefully that will help whip those core muscles into shape.