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Deadlift and back pain [Article]

Posted by Pascal Landshoeft

Oct 30, 2018 9:30:00 AM

Deadlift and back pain

Deadlift and back pain

 

The deadlift will cause you back pain to some degree. If you don’t treat it with respect it might even do considerable harm. Scaling back on your program and rotating sumo and trap bar deadlifts in can help. If the pain is sharp and/or persisting consult a doctor.

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What are your goals

 

Why do you research deadlift and back pain? Are you currently in pain from deadlifting? Are you afraid of the anecdotes and material which you find on the Internet? Whatever it is, it is important that you know why you go to the gym. What drives you ultimately? I see three main areas of interest in fitness 

 

  • Looks 
  • Performance 
  • Health 

 

If you are mainly about looks you model your ambitions after the ideals in the media. We all do it. The closer you get to this ideal the more public acceptance you gain. The more acceptance you gain the easier it will be to influence others. The easier it is to influence others the more likely you will get what you want. It is not vain to try to get the look. It helps to lead a better life. If you want to be like the people in the television and your cereals box be prepared for major sacrifices. White teeth need some bleaching to look that meticulous. Bellys need a lot less fat to make these abs pop. Your biceps will yearn for some more testosterone than you can produce to grow as big as a football. Not all the choices on this path are healthy or help performance in a particular sport. 

 

If you are all about performance your main interest will be exercise. Exercises and training which are relevant to competition. Things that will give you the edge. This might be more strength, endurance or explosiveness based on your sports needs. Diet will become the fuel of your ambition but not the main decision factor. Intense play and workouts will. If you are not sweating and in pain, on a regular basis you are not pushing yourself hard enough. You will be aware of the risks of injury. An injury will occur and you will train around it. Looks are just a byproduct for you. Health is the currency you bring to the altar of success. 

 

If your main interest is health you are all about balance. The extremes are your declared enemies. Anything that could hurt you will be avoided. You will be willing to experiment as long as it is safe. Yoga, different diet regimes and sustainability are your friends. You will not win trophies or have the biggest Instagram following. You won’t care either. 

 

The barbell deadlift

 

When people think of the deadlift they mostly think of the conventional barbell deadlift. The deadlift is one of the most iconic barbell movements you can do in the gym. Variations are the sumo and trap bar deadlift. 

 

The deadlift starts with the barbell on the floor. You place your midfoot under the bar. Lower yourself down and grip the bar with both hands. Get tight and build tension. The pull is initiated by pushing your feet hard into the ground. Hold onto the bar and keep your arms straight. The bar should go up and into you at the same time. Once you your hips and legs are fully extended you have completed the lift. If you want more details on the deadlift to follow this blog or read the material at the end of the post. 

 

The biggest advantages of the deadlift are its comprehensiveness and manliness. There are only little movements under heavy load which address the body as completely as the deadlift. There is also something very primal and satisfying about the deadlift. To me, it is just simple and beautiful. 

 

The biggest disadvantages of the deadlift are its risk of injury and lack of explosiveness. A deadlift gone wrong can have a big impact on your spine. It also is not the best exercise to develop explosiveness. The Olympic lifts or box jumps provide a better yield in these areas. 

 

Causes of back pain

 

The causes of back pain can be many. If pain persists or is very sharp always consult a doctor. In layman terms, There are two main areas of back pain caused by

 

  • Muscle tissue 
  • Skeletal structures 

 

Or a combination of the two. Muscle pain is usually caused by the knots in your back which can be massaged. More severe cases can be ripped muscles or bleeding. Apart from knots, you will usually not have a lot of issues with muscle pain from the deadlift. That is more common for the squat. These scenarios only happen if you overload considerable and the weight comes from an elevated point. That is why squats and the bench press are more often the cause of severe muscle injuries. One of the more common muscle injuries for the deadlift is a ripped biceps from the mixed grip. 

 

The more common and lingering pain from the deadlift is a skeletal back pain. A poorly performed deadlift can squeeze the liquid out of your spinal disk. This makes your spine go bone on bone. This can lead to serious back pain which has to be treated by surgery. The more straight you can keep your back during a deadlift the less likely this is to occur. 

 

How to lower back pain from the deadlift

 

If you still want to train even though you are in pain the responsibility is fully with you. I take no responsibility and you have been warned.

 

For me back pain from training is constant. Other lifters will also report that they have their continuous ailments. What helps me to minimise back pain from deadlifts is

 

  • Deadlifting less
  • Taking a deload 
  • Use the sumo deadlift
  • Use the trap bar deadlift 

 

The first one is obvious. Deadlift less to give your back a rest. This can be done by not deadlifting, scaling back the current intensity or volume of the deadlift. This will make you progress slower. 

 

More advanced athletes who are willing to accept pain might rotate the conventional, sumo and trap bar deadlift. This way you can get stronger overall and keep the volume. Your lower back will get a rest. The downside of this approach is that it gets a lot harder to measure progress when your efforts distribute over different exercises. 

 

Further reading

 

 

 

Topics: Lift stronger, Deadlift, Fitness, Strength