Deadlift injury/back pain

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1

Hey guys,

Got a deadlift injury for the first time and I’m confused as to what to learn from it. See link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54KXgmOAUUA

Been lifting for about 2 years now, dead lifting at least once a week on average for those 2 years. I recently finished the Bridge and was hovering around these numbers for my 1 reps as of last week:

Squat: 290-305 depending on mood/psych/cheeseburger intake
Deadlift:385-405
Bench:215
OHP:115
6ft, 180 lbs

I had just finished the bridge and was rerunning it with altered reps for a second time. On week 1, day one I got the injury. On the 4th rep of 1 count paused dead lifts I felt some sort of discomfort asides from muscle burn, I finished the 5th then felt a quick tightening in the right lower back. No pops, no numbness/tingling, I only felt pain if I bent over with a round back to touch my toes. From what I can tell I’m thinking its some sort of strain or sprain. I was able to do some basketball that afternoon and run/jump/shoot without any loss of ability. Finished the afternoon on 1.5 g ibuprophen and ice. I’m not hindered in function as of today (day one post injury), was able to do 3 sets of 15 reps for 135 deadlifts this morning to try to keep it loose. No pain or range of motion problems once warmed up. But I still feel a dull ache and I’m concerned. The pain is about a hand’s width above my butt cheeks on the right side of the spine.

I’m confused about what to take away from the situation. I had decided to be honest with myself and try true rpe 7-8s thru out my second run through. And the weight at 265 was a back off from what I had done in the previous cycle of the bridge.

I’ve done some dumb stuff with deadlifts, RPE 11.5 sets with a mentality that if I don’t complete them I’ll never get better. And I do think that I’ve managed to keep quite good form throughout this. It kind of pisses me off that the second I try to hold back and keep some in the tank I get a strain/sprain.

Looking at my video it looks like to me like on the 4th rep I pause, then drop about a half inch then pull. This too me looks like the culprit of the strain.

Any thoughts on form? Any ideas on how conservative/ aggressive to be with getting back to it?

Thanks in advance for any reply’s,

Austin

2

This is a good starting point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riq-DfDDimc

1 Like
3

So along with what teddy linked, as far as your form goes I don’t think it’s bad, it’s actually pretty good. Only thing I would cue you on is to look forward like you’re doing on the third rep. That being said I think this is a load management issue. So you can reduce the RPE of your deadlift and deadlift variations for a while and see how that works. Meaning, that instead of 1@8 I think you can start off with a 1@6, 4@6-7 and so on.

4

Just building on Dhruv and teddyd’s responses.
Form does not cause injuries. Coaches try to convince you of this so you become dependent on their services. You didn’t do something wrong!
As Dhruv said - do have a think about whether your weightlifting load, plus any other exercise you do, plus life stress has been higher than usual.

As you watch and read about the BBM approach to getting back to it. It’s very aggressive in comparison to what you see elsewhere and it has worked for me and many others.

The thing to learn from this is how to deal with it once it happens in a way that gets you back to training the way you were before as quickly as possible. These injuries will occur but are not a big deal.

5

Hey guys,

Thanks for the reply’s. I’m in no way as bad off as I was Monday morning and I’m going to follow the video link from TeddyD, and Dhruv4’s and ozneils recommendations. ill post back in a week or so with what shakes out.

Thanks again,
Austin

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6

I’m going through this right now. the pain is the pain issue here. so take that into consideration for the RPE when you go back to lift. also I don’t recommend remaining sedentary until you recover. move around a lot. I’ve noticed for my lower back pain I do better when I don’t sit or lay down.of course that’s not entirely possible but I try to limit it to the best of my ability. for example, when I’m in the gym I just walk around after I’ve completed my set until I’m ready for the following one. you’ll be surprised how quickly you can get back to lifting real weight just stay motivated and optimistic and you’ll be fine.