Deadlift variants with a low back injury.

I’ve done something to my back to where it is an RPE 10 to put my own socks on in the morning. I have been to family practice and my X-ray came back normal. I tried to go to the gym last night and my bench and to a lesser extent my high bar squat went fine. My deadlift however was a different story. The pain is right at the base of my spine just above my tailbone when I bend. I uncomfortably worked up to a single at 8 which turned out to be 315. My tested max is 405. It went down hill from there. I did my second set of 5 @ 9 but it was only at 245. Then I couldn’t budge 135 off the ground for the other sets. I did a few sets of light hex bar that felt okay. I’m on the second week of my third run at the legacy 12 week press. Any thoughts on what I should do? Of course the Dr said no training but that’s not going to happen. Like I said, all the other movements except the deadlift and its variants are okay but my deadlift is the lift I wanted to increase the most. Any way to preserve any gains in deadlift numbers with other movements? Possibly hex bar? Should I pivot to a hypertrophy bro split until I can deadlift again? Very frustrating.

I had had the same experience, but it was somewhere at my I think “groin muscles” and I could barely squat, but I tried to add weight each session, cause the TM you know, haha.
Did you see Austin’s or Michael’s post on Instagram in terms of rehabbing?

No I didn’t. I was hoping since the cray came in okay I could just put my big boy panties on and deal but I cant even pull 225 for a rack pull where last time was 315 for 6 at rpe 7

X ray* I meant

Maybe you could get away with really high rack pull or lightish variation.

Hey @dherko sorry to hear about the recent onset of low back symptoms. How familiar are you with our content on pain and training?

Our typical recommendations can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdwj5ORPmX0

I understand how this is a frustrating experience but highly likely you can work through this and get back to normative training within the near future. I don’t recommend trying to hit top single sets in these situations but rather find tolerable loading with a provocative movement (in your case the deadlift). You can increase reps and decrease RPE to help with the process. Patience and an embracing the process mindset to return to baseline, rather than chasing any number goals right now, will go a long ways. Here’s an article on that topic: Recovering From an Injury: Embrace the Process | Barbell Medicine