lower back compression injury

hello to all - i'm new here, so be nice :)

i'm a strength athlete, have been training for 2 years or so, did mostly S&C work beforehand (with an emphasis on deadlifting), and am now moving to oly lifting.

the other day i was doing jerks from the rack, and when catching the bar on my delts after a jerk, i was a little off balance towards the rear, causing either a compression or an extension in my lower back (probably both). i kept training on it, keeping it light. i've made that mistake before, and it was fine.

except now my lower back hurts a lot lol, specifically on the right hand side. in neutral spine position its fine, but when arching the back hard (eg in a start of a clean) it can feel a bit iffy. not painful, just not fine.

i think it also has something to with pelvic tilt - the right side of my pelvis is higher. even before this "incident" the right side of the lumbar region felt much tighter.

Interesting that i type this now actually, since t-nation puts up an article containing this:

Q: I've got an imbalance in my hips, which according to my physical therapist is causing shoulder problems.

My right hip sits slightly higher than my left and is rotated out slightly. I feel as if my lower back is tighter on the right side. I also occasionally get pain at the top of the right hamstring when doing Romanian deadlifts, good mornings, etc.

I've been doing lots of drills from Magnificent Mobility and Inside-Out, particularly glute activation. It's helped, but hasn't fixed the problem. Any idea what could be causing it, and what specifically I should work on?

A: I'd bet money that you have a tight hip flexor (tensor fascia latae, psoas, iliacus and/or rectus femoris) on the right side. Several (of these muscles) are also lateral rotators, and if they are shutting your glutes off, then your piriformis could be working overtime to externally rotate the hip.

This would increase your lordotic curve (e.g. increase back pain) and put your hamstring in a constant stretch.

Increasing your lordotic curve can be painful

I'd start all your workouts off with static stretching of the right hip flexors and piriformis, followed immediately by glute briding, X-band walks, and other similar exercises that recruit the gluteus. Then, take this into your workout by forcing the glutes to do their share of the work on lunges, pull-throughs, Romanian deadlifts, etc.

thanks in advance for any help/tips