Hello,
Just had a weird experience in the gym and thought I’d ask the experts on what happened, and whether technique is to blame.
I was just doing 2" deficit deadlifts at 325 lbs when I felt a rumble in my low back, around my glutes. The feeling (and sound) was not unlike what you’d expect if you were lying on your stomach and you had a buddy step on your lower back. It was as though some vertebrae were cracking, like knuckles. I dropped the weight, and stood up to walk it off. The pain wasn’t that bad, but there was some tingling in my thighs. I did a couple reps at 135, which didn’t really hurt, but definitely felt…different. Sitting down increased the discomfort, so I’ve just been standing and walking around doing air squats.
Question: Is this the result of bad technique? Specifically, did I inadvertently jerk the weight off the floor, and that’s what caused this? 325 is, at this point, a heavy weight for me for this particular exercise. I was doing a set of 5 and this happened on either the fourth or fifth rep.
Follow-up question: How much should I back off from the weight when I do deadlifts again? 10%? Less?
Before we take this discussion further, have you read and digested this article?
Specifically, did I inadvertently jerk the weight off the floor, and that’s what caused this?
I’m not sure how we are supposed to answer this, or how realistic it is to expect that anyone can pin down a specific explanation of what exactly happened. I wouldn’t try to over-interpret the nature of the symptoms you experienced at the time, though. I agree with what you did afterwards by continuing to move, doing air squats, etc.
325 is, at this point, a heavy weight for me for this particular exercise. I was doing a set of 5 and this happened on either the fourth or fifth rep.
This introduces another extremely important variable to consider - the combination of loading and fatigue you were under at the moment.
Thanks for the fast response. I was not aware of that article, and it generally answers my questions and provides a path forward. I’ll try it out, and do my best not to overshoot…