Always getting injured by deadlifting

[Michael Haning]

Originally Posted by Aaron Gainer

Start zercher squatting and front squatting more. Build your leg strength up, and deadlifts are no problem. I always do variations of the normal deadlifts(Romanian either snatch or clean geip) and found no need for traditional deadliftimg training as my deadliftimg shot up without stressing over it.

The key is to use a load that is moderate in intensity and to perform it daily for a couple sets(no more than 10-15 total work reps). Not only will your strength increase, but your confidence will. Case in point, I pressed everyday overhead using no more than 130lbs and Benched 225 for 10 reps after not benching for over 2 month a (my best PR was 7-8).

Thanks Aaron. Just to clarify - you are saying to deadlift in some form everyday (7 days a week) for 10 - 12 reps?

[Michael Haning]

Originally Posted by David Meverden

If you can't find a really good physio then self education may be helpful. A powerlifter I know speaks very highly of Dr. Steward McGill's work. He has worked with a variety of strength athletes and helped them get back to maximal lifting after serious back problems.

His book Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance (5th Edition-2014) would probably be what you'd want.

Here's his website http://www.backfitpro.com/ (WFS).

Though I don't have any serious back problems I bought his book Back Mechanic: The Step-by-step McGill Method to fix back pain and it's some good stuff, though less aimed at athletes than the other one I mentioned above. Changed how I thought about some aspects of the back and core training.

Thanks David. I just ordered the book. Really appreciate the recommendation.

[David Meverden]

Originally Posted by Michael Haning

Thanks David. I just ordered the book. Really appreciate the recommendation.

Please come back down the road and give us a review of the material. I'd love to hear your experiences and whether or not it helped you get back to deadlifting confidently.

[Jordan Derksen]

Just to throw in another angle... why deadlift?



I know I know. Deadlifts are king.. blah blah. To be honest, in all my years training I've started to just not care about deadlifting. I've done 455x5 and 500 as a single. I'm pretty decent at deadlifting myself. I just see time and time again if people get injured out of all the barbell movements it's usually deadlifts. Not only is it the potential for injury (the story often goes: this one time I was working out and pop! No warning whatsoever) but once you get over 400ish pounds a heavy CNS fog descends on you for a few days to a week. I just don't care anymore. I'm not a powerlifter and really they don't actually make you better at much else. The only thing they improve is... deadlifts. But you can improve your deadlift easily with squats, good mornings, rdls, olympic pulls and full lifts.

If you like deadlifting then absolutely keep on keeping on. I just recently decided for myself I won't bother anymore with heavy deads because... why?

Just giving you something to think about. Movements are just that, movements. We're not married to them. So if they're an issue there's definitely alternate options.

[Michael Hollister]

Michael,

How is your back pain these days? Have you had any luck with physios or self-treatment from some of the books recommended earlier in the thread?

The reason I ask is I found relief from shoulder pain, neck pain, lower back pain, and muscle spasms by focusing on postural realignment therapy. It's a routine of exercises you can do at home.

It counteracts the negative effects of our sedentary lifestyles, which has caused most of us to fall out of "functional alignment." This causes tight/short or loose/long muscles and compensating patterns that eventually lead to injury.

Recurring pain/injury used to stall my CF progress. Now by realigning myself with targeted exercises I don't have to go around the circle of getting massages and seeing the chiropractor all the time to get readjusted.

Do you think this might apply in your case? Let me know and I can get you some more info.

[Paul Peterson]

I struggle with this myself, I am taller and 39 with a history of lower back herniations ( pre crossfit).

I have actually felt much stronger doing light weight deadlifts and staying away from heavy loads. My 1rm is 380, so reps of 5-10 at 225 are good, but I lower the weight on other rep schemes. I didn't even do the DL open workout because my back was wonky that week and 55 reps of anything was not warranted.

I have also found that strongman stuff has helped a lot, specifically the d-ball. The 100# ball is a good size and ground-over the shoulder work has really helped me.

Cheers

Paul