Back Pain Can Actually Be Caused by Weak Pectoral Muscles

JAKARTA - The common cause of back pain is due to poor posture, lack of movement, excess weight, to the wrong weight lifting. However, back pain can also affect the buttocks muscles.

Small, weak, and not optimally functioning buttocks are usually caused by too much sitting and lack of exercise. Los Angeles physical therapist Chad Waterbury, DPT, says he often finds this condition in healthy, fit, and active clients, including some professional athletes.

Chad said that when doing sports such as squats and lunges, other muscles usually take over the role of the buttocks or glutes. If the buttocks are not strong, this will force the back to bear more weight, so that pain and other injuries can occur.

"When we do squats, deadlifts, or lunges, it's very easy for other muscles to take over the role that the glutes should do," said Chad, quoted from WebMD, Wednesday, December 17, 2025.

"And if the glutes fail to carry out their role of stability during exercise, you can experience chronic knee pain, or even an ACL injury," he added.

With this condition, it can occur in people who are less mobile or active, so it is not difficult to find out if the muscles are still working well or not. Therefore, to find out, it is recommended to do a self-test, namely the one-legged glute bridge.

How to do it: lie on your back with one leg raised straight, and the other leg bent at a 45-degree angle with the soles of the feet flat on the floor. The thighs should be parallel.

Then, lift your buttocks so that your thighs and upper body form a straight line. Hold the position for 20 seconds, while paying attention to which muscles work the hardest.

Then lower your hips and repeat with the other leg. If you feel the strongest contractions in the hamstrings or lower back, and not in the glutes, then you need to increase the activity of the glutes or buttocks, which will later help you avoid back pain and other injuries.