Are deadlifts bad for the back?

[Getter_done]

A lot of people have this opinion that even with good form its a lot riskier then the bench or squat. I love deadlifting and try to keep as good a form as possible even though on heavy deads it isnt perfect. What do you think? Ive been hearing that certain opinion for a long time.

[bigrig5656]

*no

[Fluster]

*no, neither is picking up a box off the floor assuming you're not a retard.

[Heisman2]

I've really read, and observed with myself/others, nothing to indicate that deadlifts are inherently bad for one's back. I've seen people in gyms deadlift repeatedly with very rounded backs and not have problems (with much lighter weight than most powerlifters, but still decently heavy for them, so presumably it would have some physically stressful effects). I don't see any reason to think from a practical perspective that deadlifts are bad for one's back.

I'm not a biomechanist/kinesiologist, so perhaps from those standpoints there are theoretically bad reasons to deadlift (or perhaps not), but I don't know about that.

[fitlover]

No.

[MISSINGLINK]

In a nutshell yes.

[MadDogMalesh]

Like our mothers always have told us. "Lift with our legs and not our backs." Follow this and you should be fine.

[lhprop1]

Like our mothers always have told us. "Lift with our legs and not our backs." Follow this and you should be fine.

Good luck deadlifting like that.

[endpoint]

If done right, you will end up with the strongest back in the world.

Same with squats, good squats fix knees, not wreck them

[Bum-Life]

YES.

Deads will ruin your back if done properly or not.

Squats will blow out your knees, only do these 1/4 rep

both of these exercises will also make you fat

the only safe things to do is bench and curls (ths is why they are so popular)

I felt I need to tell this guy before all you jerks get him injured and fat for life.



EDIT : its also a little know fact that doing more lower body exercises (deads, squats) then upper body (bench, curls) that it greatly improves your chances of being gay.

now that im squatting 3x a week, I notice myself near the end of the work out eye balling other males in the gym, I usually just do a few sets of curls to balance things out, and I go back to loving vagina.

[ChecksandGiggles]

*only if your form sucks

[Cody_Buchenauer]

What it all comes down to is what you enjoy and what you want.

Everything in life can be proven unsafe or dangerous. You can drown in what, 6 inches of water?

Lifting is a way of life, and if you're going to avoid deadlifting because of future health concerns, you should avoid benching and squatting altogether too.

Don't be scared to live a little and do your powerlifts! haha.

[ChecksandGiggles]

What it all comes down to is what you enjoy and what you want.

Everything in life can be proven unsafe or dangerous. You can drown in what, 6 inches of water?

Lifting is a way of life, and if you're going to avoid deadlifting because of future health concerns, you should avoid benching and squatting altogether too.

Don't be scared to live a little and do your powerlifts! haha.

STRONG first post.

[bigrig5656]

STRONG first post.

I think his avatar is stronger.

[ChecksandGiggles]

I think his avatar is stronger.

He's got pretty good lifts, if he ain't e-stattin'.

[5_02ls1]

YES.

Deads will ruin your back if done properly or not.

Squats will blow out your knees, only do these 1/4 rep

both of these exercises will also make you fat

the only safe things to do is bench and curls (ths is why they are so popular)

I felt I need to tell this guy before all you jerks get him injured and fat for life.



EDIT : its also a little know fact that doing more lower body exercises (deads, squats) then upper body (bench, curls) that it greatly improves your chances of being gay.

now that im squatting 3x a week, I notice myself near the end of the work out eye balling other males in the gym, I usually just do a few sets of curls to balance things out, and I go back to loving vagina.

lol!!!that post is awesome...

i have a herniated l5/s1 pinched nerve etc etc...i dead lift alot...usualy heavy "for me"..benching actualy makes my back hurt worse than anything haha..

[Retardo-pex]

A lot of people have this opinion that even with good form its a lot riskier then the bench or squat. I love deadlifting and try to keep as good a form as possible even though on heavy deads it isnt perfect. What do you think? Ive been hearing that certain opinion for a long time.

Who are a lot of people and why do their opinions matter? Walking up the stairs in n awkward fashion can be bad for you back, so obviously lifting heavy weights will always have the potential to cause injury, its hard to pick out specific exercises and say they are more dangerous then another, but if something uses a lot of a specific part of the body you can assume you would be more likely to injure your back while deadlifting vs while doing leg extensions but that doesn't make deadlifts a more dangerous exercise.

[bigtallox]

What do you think?

Here, I'll answer it with a real story about what happened yesterday...

I have scoliosis. When I was in my early 30's, my lower back started to ache all the time. I was lifting back then, but I bought into the whole squats and deads are bad for you knees/back ( my scoliosis effects my right knee too because my hips aren't square ). Anyway, my back ached for years, doctors never could do anything to about the pain other than say take pain killers ( which I'm not a fan of for everyday use and I don't want to do it ). It wasn't horrible, eventually I kind of learned how to ignore it. That stopped about 2 months after I took a leap of faith and started squatting and deadlifting again ( that was spring 2008 ). It's over 2 years later, and pain I was having for years hasn't come back. Yesterday I was at the chiropractor, and I was asking him about my scoliosis and which way my spine curved, and he said something like "well you've got a built in natural brace" and he ran his fingers maybe an inch on each side of my spine and all the way down my back, and he said something about not worrying too much about my scoliosis. My "natural brace" was built from mostly deadlifting ( and squatting ).

[dbluegoat]

personally I think of the 3 benching could be the most dangerous just because of the complicated nature of the shoulder joint

[DriveMyWhey]

Here, I'll answer it with a real story about what happened yesterday...

I have scoliosis. When I was in my early 30's, my lower back started to ache all the time. I was lifting back then, but I bought into the whole squats and deads are bad for you knees/back ( my scoliosis effects my right knee too because my hips aren't square ). Anyway, my back ached for years, doctors never could do anything to about the pain other than say take pain killers ( which I'm not a fan of for everyday use and I don't want to do it ). It wasn't horrible, eventually I kind of learned how to ignore it. That stopped about 2 months after I took a leap of faith and started squatting and deadlifting again ( that was spring 2008 ). It's over 2 years later, and pain I was having for years hasn't come back. Yesterday I was at the chiropractor, and I was asking him about my scoliosis and which way my spine curved, and he said something like "well you've got a built in natural brace" and he ran his fingers maybe an inch on each side of my spine and all the way down my back, and he said something about not worrying too much about my scoliosis. My "natural brace" was built from mostly deadlifting ( and squatting ).

since you mentioned scoliosis i figured out i'll tell some about my scoliosis too.

basically when i was 13 i used to sit around on my ass in front of the computer all day and i developed a scoliosis, a mild one at least. i wasn't really active at that time(although when i was a bit younger i was very very active) and my doctors said that i wouldn't ever be able to play sports and be like all the normal kids. i had to go to physical therapy and all that. about a year and a half later i started lifting weights and for some reason i was lucky enough to find starting strength, half a year later i scanned again and my back was almost completely straight, granted, i also got taller at that time but without squats and deadlifts i wouldn't have developed my posterior chain( and core) to stabilize my spine and align it. for that i'm thankful for Mr. Mark rippetoe, he literally changed my life. i'm now also playing football and might just get a scholarship by the end of this fall.

[DriveMyWhey]

personally I think of the 3 benching could be the most dangerous just because of the complicated nature of the shoulder joint

or because you're moving a lot of weight above your lungs, heart, neck and skull.

[Gongor28]

*starts another DW war about bad form while deadlifting

[Bum-Life]

Here, I'll answer it with a real story about what happened yesterday...

I have scoliosis. When I was in my early 30's, my lower back started to ache all the time. I was lifting back then, but I bought into the whole squats and deads are bad for you knees/back ( my scoliosis effects my right knee too because my hips aren't square ). Anyway, my back ached for years, doctors never could do anything to about the pain other than say take pain killers ( which I'm not a fan of for everyday use and I don't want to do it ). It wasn't horrible, eventually I kind of learned how to ignore it. That stopped about 2 months after I took a leap of faith and started squatting and deadlifting again ( that was spring 2008 ). It's over 2 years later, and pain I was having for years hasn't come back. Yesterday I was at the chiropractor, and I was asking him about my scoliosis and which way my spine curved, and he said something like "well you've got a built in natural brace" and he ran his fingers maybe an inch on each side of my spine and all the way down my back, and he said something about not worrying too much about my scoliosis. My "natural brace" was built from mostly deadlifting ( and squatting ).

since you mentioned scoliosis i figured out i'll tell some about my scoliosis too.

basically when i was 13 i used to sit around on my ass in front of the computer all day and i developed a scoliosis, a mild one at least. i wasn't really active at that time(although when i was a bit younger i was very very active) and my doctors said that i wouldn't ever be able to play sports and be like all the normal kids. i had to go to physical therapy and all that. about a year and a half later i started lifting weights and for some reason i was lucky enough to find starting strength, half a year later i scanned again and my back was almost completely straight, granted, i also got taller at that time but without squats and deadlifts i wouldn't have developed my posterior chain( and core) to stabilize my spine and align it. for that i'm thankful for Mr. Mark rippetoe, he literally changed my life. i'm now also playing football and might just get a scholarship by the end of this fall.

serious note.

thanks for the storys guys. Have a friend that has the same problems and this might motivate him to squat / dead.

[ohltown]

60% of the time, they work every time.

[bigtallox]

serious note.

thanks for the storys guys. Have a friend that has the same problems and this might motivate him to squat / dead.

You're welcome. I hope it helps somebody somehow. I certainly wish I had started deadlifting sooner.

But I should add, when I started deadlifting I had a very knowledgable person ( well a couple actually ) help me with technique. It only took a couple sessions to get the basics down good enough to avoid injury with beginner weights though ( technique develops over time anyway ).

[dbluegoat]

or because you're moving a lot of weight above your lungs, heart, neck and skull.

that too

[clorox_me]

You know what your problem is? Your problem is that you're focusing on the things in life that don't really matter. When I was a kid I had hopes and dreams. We all did. But over time, the daily grind gets in the way and you miss the things that really matter, even though they are right in front of you, staring you in the face. I think the next time you should ask yourself "Am I on the right track here?". I don't mean to be rude but people like you I really pity. So maybe you could use the few brain cells you have and take advantage of the knowledge I have given you now. Good luck...

[koyongi]

Like our mothers always have told us. "Lift with our legs and not our backs." Follow this and you should be fine.

Funny, my mom never told me that. It was usually more like "You walk like a lumberjack" and "If you keep lifting like that you're going to look like a man."

Maybe if she had, my deadlift would be better.

[bigrig5656]

Funny, my mom never told me that. It was usually more like "You walk like a lumberjack" and "If you keep lifting like that you're going to look like a man."

Maybe if she had, my deadlift would be better.

I would have said "well, lumberjacks are ****ing awesome"

It's true because they are.

[dbluegoat]

"If you keep lifting like that you're going to look like a man."

.

she was certainly wrong about that one, lol