4 Tips to Avoid Back Pain When Swinging a Mace | Macebell

How to avoid back pain when swinging a mace?

I get this question a lot, and it’s a good question. I made a YouTube video recently on this and I will explain here what 4 points I talked about.

I have had some back pain in the past when swinging a mace, and I know I’m not the only one who experienced it. This is especially true if you like to go up in weight. When I bought my 8kg mace after my first 4kg mace I got pain in my back after a lot of swings. This is very common especially when you’re not familiar with the heavier weight yet. There are a few points I’d like to discuss in order to prevent back pain from occurring when training with a mace.

Weight & Technique. It’s really important that you choose wisely when buying your first mace or when buying a heavier mace. Without proper technique, people tend to compress their back muscles as a reflex to protect themselves. It is Improper technique leads to a heavy drop when you swing the mace behind you. Especially if the mace is too heavy for you.
Mobility. Mobility is very important with a mace. Mobility refers to the ability to move and load in a certain range of motion of the joint. If you’re unable to reach behind your body, you will use other parts of your body to compensate for the lack of mobility in your shoulders and lats. Training with a mace will eventually benefit your shoulder mobility, but your technique should be on point for that to work, otherwise, you can injure your shoulder and have a common complain of back pain. The hip position will be very important for this (see the last tip).
Back tightness. If your back is already tight, swinging a mace might possibly overload the back muscles. It is therefore necessary to make sure your back is supple and mobile before you start your training. A warm-up with mobility exercises is great to achieve this. In the YouTube video placed underneath this blog, I perform a few exercises you can do to loosen up the back.
Position of the back and hips. The position especially the low back does matter. It is necessary to tuck the hips to a certain extent in order to prevent the low back muscles from firing directly. A lot of people have an overly arched low back and for them, it’s important to take into account the tucking of the hips. It will help you to reduce back pain.

The middle position would be ideal for protecting the back during a swing

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope this will help with protecting your back during a swing. If you want to learn more, you can see the video underneath.