Back Pain after deadlift

Hi Doc,

I got my mom to training about 2 months ago, she is in her fifties. She trained 3 times a week with the deadlift and squat performed twice a week, 3 sets of 5 and the pendlay row once a week 3x5, plus alternating between the bench press and overhead press (twice or once a week). She hurt her back during the deadlift. At the moment of performing the lift she felt something over stretching and hurting a little, DEEP in her back, not the lats, the sensation starts from the lower end of the ribs and it goes all the way up under the scapula. She finished her session anyway, but the next days it started hurting just doing everyday stuff. It’s been 15 days now. It hurts when rotating, and it feels like if something penetrates her back and she feels like if there’s a strange object in there, like a ball stuck in there, however, bending , or doing back extensions lying down or even flexion doesn’t hurt it just feels a little uncomfortable, it hurts only when the movement is done from one side, for example yesterday she tried picking up something from a low table, she bended to the left and picked it up with her left hand and felt the pain in the right side of her back, or sometimes just breathing deeply or sneezing hurts. After the injury, she went twice to the gym, she only did leg press and bench press, it didn’t hurt but she says it feels like it will start hurting if she goes harder … So she finished the last session on the treadmill walking, and now she says she should take time off to let it heal, because she doesn’t feel pain when at rest, only when she moves.
What would be the best thing to do doc?

Thank you so much for your time,
Siham

Sorry to hear about your mom, Sihartist- that’s a tricky situation for sure.

On the one hand, it is highly likely there is absolutely nothing wrong with her back that would require her to avoid any exercise or task in particular outside of perceived threat risk she may have now. The pain is likely a result of inappropriate programming (sounds like novice LP, which we wouldn’t recommend if given the choice). That all being said, without evaluating her personally I cannot diagnose what she has and why- just shooting in the dark here.

If it were my mom- knowing that it would be hard to convince her that it’s okay to train because I’m her offspring- I might try and use resources like Drs. Ray and Miles to counsel her.

If I were talking to your mom and had no reason to believe this wasn’t non-specific low back pain, I’d advise her to squat, deadlift, etc. with some load reduction and programming changes to make it more appropriate for her. If she has to do rack pulls, that’s cool too.

I had the similar experience as your mom 3 weeks ago. Performing a Press I felt a stretch with some pain in the back (right side below the scapula). In next morning, had very similar pain as your mom described: feels like have strange object in there, that hurts when rotating, sometimes when breathing or sneezing. I took some days off to heal. That improved in some extent, but to be honest, the best improvement that I got was after I went back to training. However, I had to reduce the load substantially for the discomfort be manageable is some exercises. Now, I’m pain free during normal activities but still feel a little bit uncomfortable during some exercises.

That injury was very frustrating for me, set me back in training progression and limited my daily activities. But, I’m happy that I did not give up of training and that’s aid my recovery.

Hope the best for your mom.