Knee raises back pain (without arching)#1682

Hello!
I’m at progression 1 of leg raises, to be specific I do the harder version of progression 1 and then switch to bent knee raises for the remaining reps of the same set.
I’m sure I keep my lower back pressed into the ground but nevertheless I feel my mid back muscles working, and some mild pain that does not prevent me from performing other sets.
I asked ai and it told me that could be related to the hip flexors muscles, specifically the psoas major, compressing and pulling on the lower back.
But since I don’t trust ai fully, I’m asking you if this could be the case.
Thank you in advance!

Hey. This is Chrys, one of the trainers at Hybrid.

Yeah, that AI wasn’t wrong actually. They were pretty dumb in 23 but they are roughly PhD lvl these days and improving. Btw what you’re feeling is your hip flexors starting to take over once your abs fatigue. When that happens, they pull on the lower spine and you feel it in your mid or low back even if your back is pressed into the floor. It doesn’t mean your form is bad, but it does mean the set has gone past the point where your abs are the main worker. When you feel the effort shift into your back, stop the set, shorten the range a bit, slow the reps, and keep the work in your core. Over time that back involvement will fade as your abs get stronger. Hmu here if you need more assistance on the matter

Ok great! Yeah the reason I didn’t trust Ai fully was because when I asked for sources it didn’t provide any specific article and said that his opinion was based on general knowledge on the body’s biomechanics…which sounded a bit like a more sophisticated “trust me bro” lol.
Thank you for your answer!
One last thing, so do you think the drop set I was doing is currently a bit too much given this problem?

Yeah, that was definitely a “trust me bro” moment from AI. And to your question, yeah, for now the drop set is probably a bit much. If it’s pushing you into your mid-back instead of keeping the work in your abs, it’s doing more harm than good. Cut the set right when your abs give out, don’t chase extra reps by switching variations yet. Once your core gets stronger and that back involvement fades, you can bring drop sets back in safely.

Got it, thank you!

Of course!