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My lower back has been sore for a few weeks. I think I hurt it bringing the weight too low on the incline leg press (with a little too much weight on it), but I'm not 100% sure.

I was wondering if it would help in the long run if I started doing lower back exercises - such as this lower back extension machine:

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/lower-back-machine-extension.html

it should help but if you've had pain this long, you should check with a trainer or a doctor before starting anything that concentrates on that region.

The leg press can aggravate back pain, although I wonder what else you are doing. Having recovered from a broken L5 vertebra I have a bit of experience with low back pain. For me the answer was not doing the low back stuff particularly. I focused on standing exercises that worked core and low back muscles indirectly. By doing this for a few months and avoiding isolating those muscles at first I was able to gain the necessary strength to work those areas specifically. If you choose to target these areas specifically at first I would recommend that you learn some bodyweight/yoga strenghtening exercises and start with those and only move to the weighted stuff when you are able to do those without aggravating your back, and once the back pain has initially resolved.

Be really, really careful about continuing without being evaluated by a doctor. For example, a common cause of lifting related back pain can be a bulging disk. Often times with rest these resolve in a matter of weeks without further trouble. However, continually aggravated and not given rest they can develop into a ruptured disk in which case you might well be headed for spine surgery. Let's see rest versus surgery...hmmm thats not a difficult choice in my book. So do consider taking it easy for awhile and seeking out medical advice from a competent physician.

On top of all of the above good advice, I would advise seeing a chiropractor. The back is one of their specialties.

okay, i just got scared, ive been having lower back pain everytime i bend over past a certain angle, and im wondering if its because i dont focus enough on lifting with my legs instead of my back. Bulged disk? -I hope not. Can I run? Can i still do weights? Can i do back exericises? HELP!!!

Thanks to YngHungSFSD and everyone else for the advice!

I think it's safe to say your lower back pain is NOT because of weak abs. Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!

A lot of back pain is due to hip disfunction; pelvic imbalance, piriformis, and psoas muscles.

In other words, your back hurts because your hip flexors, lower abs, glutes, groin, etc. are putting too much pressure on your lower back.

I find many men with lower back problems also have a leg length discrepancy. If you do sit-ups, you probably have a tight psoas muscle on one side pulling up the hip. The psoas starts on your mid back spine; comes from the back to the front of your body and hooks onto your hip.

go see a good massage therapist!

OK, so I decided to just avoid leg press exercises for the last two weeks - and NOT to keep using the lower back extension machine - and my back is starting to feel better. Thanks again for the advice...

Pain when bending at certain angles can definitely be indicative of disc problems. Think of the disc as a fluid filled cushion like a water bed. When you apply pressure to one side by bending, you force fluid to the other side, just like if you sit on one side of a water bed the other side gets more water.

It can also be indicative of spinal ligament problems resulting in some degree of spinal instability. Now in all fairness it can also be just a pissed off muscle.

I would suggest that you see a doctor and have a flexion/extension study done to make sure you are having excessive movement of the vertebra and or disc issues. The flexion/extension study is a series of x rays taken while you are bending at certain angles. It's cheaper then a MRI, can detect structural issues that occur from bending and can be a good indicator of whether or not an MRI is necessary. The doctor may see a narrowed disc space which can indicate the need to look further. Or they may see that everything looks really good and can save the expense of an MRI, in which case you simply need rest.

Keep in mind that most disc problems can resolve on their own with a lengthy period of rest, and a carefully designed program when you start to train again.

None of this is meant to scare you, but the back is a dangerous thing to leave unchecked as it is fundamental to every movement and position of the entire body.

If this hasn't resolved in ten days I would definitely have things checked out.