Decent squat alternative/lower back advice

Can someone recommend a decent alternative to squats? Hurt my lower back a short while back, and standard squats put to much pressure. I'm currently going with hack squats and alternating with leg press. But even going over 200kg on hack squat, I don't feel like I've worked out.

Also, any tips for sorting out my lower back... Hurt the damn thing between deadlift sets moving the actual weights to make space for someone. Was two months ago already. (Not really a fan of doctors,their response is always rest, which I've done.)

In my experience and what i learned and read, i would rather recommend you see a specialist to firstly okay training. Id rather continue to train knowing im fine, then train and cause more damage to the back. There are too many smaller things when it comes to a lower back injury and rather have it double checked before you consider training.

According to research, when you have a lower back injury, you need to avoid sqauts, leg press, deadlifts.
The only alternative would then be leg extension, and maybe horizontal leg press where the strain is not so much on the back..

I picked up a small back injury a few months back (only a little bit of pain sometimes). I just kept on with my shitty workouts thinking it will get better. Anyways I took 2 weeks off and first day back at gym it got sore again. So I started seeing a physio 2 times a week. Maybe rest in your case is not enough.

You recon a Physio is the right expert to go to? It doesn't hurt in the exercises I'm currently doing, but can't go near anything that touches on lower back too much.

I personally feel that chiro is a better option than a physio, he can manipulate you and adjust your spine for you, if its an impingement in the muscle he can also perform accupuncture to hit the trigger points and bring the muscles out of spasm... I personally go once a month for spine adjustments and neck adjustments and if I have any niggles he hits them with accupuncture or massage...

I am 32 and have degenerative disc disease in my L4 L5 S1 discs and all the specialist said was that he cant do anything but operate but 8 months later i am almost pain free and that after taking weeks off work that i could barely walk last year

Why dont you go to a specialist to make sure whats wrong with your back as there can be so many different things wrong. after you know whats wrong exactly you can start working on a plan to fix it

Get the book Lower back Disorders from Dr Stuart Mcgill and read it and do what he says in the book.
I did and 8 months later i can squat my bodyweight easily just by following his advice on core stabilization and stretches as he recommends.

To answer your question as to what exercise to do >> i did bulgarian split squats with ease and it builds extreme power and strength in the legs and glutes so much that i fell in love with it for the sake that it didnt hurt my back at all,even though i couldnt even squat a third of my bodyweight from the pain.
Dummbells or kettlebells held by the sides is much less compression forces on the spine than holding a barbell on your back. Just concentrate on staying as upright as possible

Best of luck with the injury!!

Thanks, I'll look into those. Been putting it off as I've just moved medical aids and don't want them thinking its some undeclared thing.

Been out of the gym for the past three weeks, but heading back tomorrow. Back still sore, but only doing chest tomorrow, and swimming for cardio.