Dead lift

[bird72]

Currently I have problems with my lower back. The last time I did dead lift, I hurt my lower back again(about 1 year). In a post I saw a few days ago, I read to do many repetitions could affect good form. I could keep my reps under 5, and simultaneously obtain good results from this exercise? I think one reason why I get hurt, it was for this. The issue of the belt, was also a problem because the belt was bothering me in the stomach when I went down. I use the belt, thinking that would prevent me get hurt.

[rab71]

I use a belt and my reps are no more than 4-6 per set.

[chodan9]

I use a belt and my reps are no more than 4-6 per set.

same here

[bird72]

I use a belt and my reps are no more than 4-6 per set.

And as you do in terms of weight lifted? Progress, gains in weight lifting...

[Inthegrass]

It's all about proper form.
I think the reason people feel heavy reps on deads are bad for your back is because bad form creeps up as you tire.
I do both low and high rep days. For example the last time I did deads I did 5 x 5 sets. Before that I did sets of 2 to 3 for max lift.
This week I have a 10 x 10 set coming up that I do in conjunction with a 10 x 10 set of push-ups on rings and jumping rope for 30 seconds after each set. (Mind you it's a low weight of only 245) This morning I did rack pulls with sets of 2 to 3 again.
It's all about keeping your form and the weight managable for the number of reps your trying to do.
If your having difficulty my guess is your form is bad.

Mind you, my goal is not to lift a house. I just need to get her up to the chandelier.

[bird72]

It's all about proper form.
I think the reason people feel heavy reps on deads are bad for your back is because bad form creeps up as you tire.
I do both low and high rep days. For example the last time I did deads I did 5 x 5 sets. Before that I did sets of 2 to 3 for max lift.
This week I have a 10 x 10 set coming up that I do in conjunction with a 10 x 10 set of push-ups on rings and jumping rope for 30 seconds after each set. (Mind you it's a low weight of only 245) This morning I did rack pulls with sets of 2 to 3 again.
It's all about keeping your form and the weight managable for the number of reps your trying to do.
If your having difficulty my guess is your form is bad.

Mind you, my goal is not to lift a house. I just need to get her up to the chandelier.

Thanks for you input. My form is good. But I think I lost it when I begin reps. over 8 and 10.
If I'm going to do dead's again, the only way is low reps. That's why I was asking.

[socket]

Currently I have problems with my lower back. The last time I did dead lift, I hurt my lower back again(about 1 year). In a post I saw a few days ago, I read to do many repetitions could affect good form. I could keep my reps under 5, and simultaneously obtain good results from this exercise? I think one reason why I get hurt, it was for this. The issue of the belt, was also a problem because the belt was bothering me in the stomach when I went down. I use the belt, thinking that would prevent me get hurt.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I keep my belt just a hair loose, then berfore I pull, I suck in as much air as possible, which pushes my stomach up agains my belt.....I want this to happen.....that's why I wear the belt.

[bird72]

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I keep my belt just a hair loose, then berfore I pull, I suck in as much air as possible, which pushes my stomach up agains my belt.....I want this to happen.....that's why I wear the belt.

When I get down the belt gets in the ribs and it bothers me. Don't know, maybe is the belt width.

[VirtualT]

Currently I have problems with my lower back. The last time I did dead lift, I hurt my lower back again(about 1 year). In a post I saw a few days ago, I read to do many repetitions could affect good form. I could keep my reps under 5, and simultaneously obtain good results from this exercise? I think one reason why I get hurt, it was for this. The issue of the belt, was also a problem because the belt was bothering me in the stomach when I went down. I use the belt, thinking that would prevent me get hurt.

I also have lower back disc issues, my advice for what its worth (it works for me):

Warm up with 10-15 reps of a low weight without a belt, over time this will strengthen your core rather than working with a belt all the time.
Gradually increase your weight over the workout sets, don't go from your warmup straight into your 3-5 rep working set weight.
Keep your reps between 3-5, no of sets is determined by how your back feels, stop straight away if it gets twingey.
Increase weight very slowly, you need to allow your back to strengthen over time, I think deadlifting with a low weight is better than not deadlifting at all.
Learn to lock your core when you lift, go to a good phsyiotherapist ask them to teach you to activate the transverse abdominis and multifidus with the ultrasound machine.

[bird72]

I also have lower back disc issues, my advice for what its worth (it works for me):

Warm up with 10-15 reps of a low weight without a belt, over time this will strengthen your core rather than working with a belt all the time.
Gradually increase your weight over the workout sets, don't go from your warmup straight into your 3-5 rep working set weight.
Keep your reps between 3-5, no of sets is determined by how your back feels, stop straight away if it gets twingey.
Increase weight very slowly, you need to allow your back to strengthen over time, I think deadlifting with a low weight is better than not deadlifting at all.
Learn to lock your core when you lift, go to a good phsyiotherapist ask them to teach you to activate the transverse abdominis and multifidus with the ultrasound machine.

Thanks, for your input.

[BrotherWolf]

Currently I have problems with my lower back. The last time I did dead lift, I hurt my lower back again(about 1 year). In a post I saw a few days ago, I read to do many repetitions could affect good form. I could keep my reps under 5, and simultaneously obtain good results from this exercise? I think one reason why I get hurt, it was for this. The issue of the belt, was also a problem because the belt was bothering me in the stomach when I went down. I use the belt, thinking that would prevent me get hurt.

Bird .. good form is good form at 1 or 10 reps there is not a set cutoff where the form degrades.. assuming you indeed have good form (unlikely) when you get too tired and you are a novice form breaks down even more, could be at rep 3 or 20 ..

How do you know you deadlift with good form ?

[lanolar]

Just start with low weight, work on form and move up very slowly. Post a video if you want some advice on your form.

1) Start without straps at least until the weight gets heavy enough that you have problems. use chalk.

2) A belt is not needed, it helps most people though. I do not use a belt for squats or deads until I am at 80% of my max normally.

3) Consider rack deads if lifting from the floor turns out not to be an option. It can be much easier to keep proper form at the start for many people.

4) Try Sumo and conventional to find out what form lets you keep your back safest by using good form.

[KyleAaron]

It's all about proper form.
I think the reason people feel heavy reps on deads are bad for your back is because bad form creeps up as you tire.

This is exactly it.

I have a scoliosis, while sedentary I'd wake up in the morning with my back seized up, I had to walk around and stretch for 20-30 minutes just to be able to function that day. With regular weight training, including deadlifts, no problems at all. Of course I am not doing huge weights. But I am deadlifting.

I often speak to people in the gym who tell me they can't squat or deadlift because of back issues. I ask, "Has a medical professional told you that? Said you shouldn't squat or deadlift? Because if they have, okay, we should follow that."
They almost always say, "Well, no... he just said not to overdo it, and to be careful, and if anything hurt, stop."
"Okay, let's do some now, and we'll see how you go. If you have any pain, stop immediately and tell me."
And then we go and do it with good form beginning with a squat with no bar, then the bar, then some weights, then we try the deadlift with 40kg, and it's almost always fine.

lanolar makes a good point about sumos being an option, too. Your back's more upright with them, so less chance of its bending and your straining yourself.

[bird72]

Bird .. good form is good form at 1 or 10 reps there is not a set cutoff where the form degrades.. assuming you indeed have good form (unlikely) when you get too tired and you are a novice form breaks down even more, could be at rep 3 or 20 ..

How do you know you deadlift with good form ?

I have a friend of mine who teach me to do dead's. He's a personal trainer. My problem is on my lower back. I was assuming I get hurt when my reps. going high. I'm not an expert on dead's that's why I'm making questions.

Just start with low weight, work on form and move up very slowly. Post a video if you want some advice on your form.

1) Start without straps at least until the weight gets heavy enough that you have problems. use chalk.

2) A belt is not needed, it helps most people though. I do not use a belt for squats or deads until I am at 80% of my max normally.

3) Consider rack deads if lifting from the floor turns out not to be an option. It can be much easier to keep proper form at the start for many people.

4) Try Sumo and conventional to find out what form lets you keep your back safest by using good form.

When I was not using the belt I feel good, but when I beging to add more weight, I begin using it in fear of hurting my back. Thanks for your advise.

This is exactly it.

I have a scoliosis, while sedentary I'd wake up in the morning with my back seized up, I had to walk around and stretch for 20-30 minutes just to be able to function that day. With regular weight training, including deadlifts, no problems at all. Of course I am not doing huge weights. But I am deadlifting.

I often speak to people in the gym who tell me they can't squat or deadlift because of back issues. I ask, "Has a medical professional told you that? Said you shouldn't squat or deadlift? Because if they have, okay, we should follow that."
They almost always say, "Well, no... he just said not to overdo it, and to be careful, and if anything hurt, stop."
"Okay, let's do some now, and we'll see how you go. If you have any pain, stop immediately and tell me."
And then we go and do it with good form beginning with a squat with no bar, then the bar, then some weights, then we try the deadlift with 40kg, and it's almost always fine.

lanolar makes a good point about sumos being an option, too. Your back's more upright with them, so less chance of its bending and your straining yourself.

That's my point, even my lower back is a mess, I want to do dead's. Thanks for your input and advise.

[KyleAaron]

That's my point, even my lower back is a mess, I want to do dead's. Thanks for your input and advise.

I cannot emphasise enough: seek and then follow medical advice.

However, most people who say "my knee... my back..." etc have not sought medical advice. They should do so.

If it's not serious enough to seek medical advice, it's not serious enough to stop the workout.
If it's serious enough to stop the workout, it's serious enough to seek medical advice.

Get to the doctor's, or under the bar. Don't mess about indecisively.

[tenny]

deadlifts MAY NOT be an excerise for YOU

try rackpulls

[rob440]

I would ask what is the reason for doing the deadlifts in the first place? If you have a goal of competing as a power lifter then there is no question that they are a must do exercise. If you are bodybuilding either with a goal to compete or just to obtain a certain look then they are not a requirement. There are many bodybuilders who dont do them at all.

Si no puedes entender mi respuesta escriba mi por privada y yo puedo tratar a explicar lo pero Tal vez usted peudes enetender el engles mejor que yo puedo escribir el espanol.

[bird72]

I cannot emphasise enough: seek and then follow medical advice.

However, most people who say "my knee... my back..." etc have not sought medical advice. They should do so.

If it's not serious enough to seek medical advice, it's not serious enough to stop the workout.
If it's serious enough to stop the workout, it's serious enough to seek medical advice.

Get to the doctor's, or under the bar. Don't mess about indecisively.

My lower back is a mess, but is under control, I was diagnose with a bulge disk. But I trying to not get hurt again.

deadlifts MAY NOT be an excerise for YOU

try rackpulls

Thanks for your input, I'm going to see it.

I would ask what is the reason for doing the deadlifts in the first place? If you have a goal of competing as a power lifter then there is no question that they are a must do exercise. If you are bodybuilding either with a goal to compete or just to obtain a certain look then they are not a requirement. There are many bodybuilders who dont do them at all.

Si no puedes entender mi respuesta escriba mi por privada y yo puedo tratar a explicar lo pero Tal vez usted peudes enetender el engles mejor que yo puedo escribir el espanol.

My goal is get old with excellent physical condition, but I'm 38 only, so, I was trying to put some mass weight on me. My goal always is 200#. Dead's are the most anabolic exercise a natural bodybuilder can do, so, that, and searching for thickness and some strength is my first reason, and I'm also a knucklehead.... Any advise will be welcome.

[rob440]

My lower back is a mess, but is under control, I was diagnose with a bulge disk. But I trying to not get hurt again.




Thanks for your input, I'm going to see it.




My goal is get old with excellent physical condition, but I'm 38 only, so, I was trying to put some mass weight on me. My goal always is 200#. Dead's are the most anabolic exercise a natural bodybuilder can do, so, that, and searching for thickness and some strength is my first reason, and I'm also a knucklehead.... Any advise will be welcome.

If your form is good and you are still getting hurt ditch the exercise! I did deadlifts until I reached a body weight of about 185 then I stopped doing them because I was using a lot of weight and they were just not that valuable to me. Since eliminating them I managed to put on approximately 50 pounds of muscle so they are definitely not indispensable.Look at it this way if you end up doing more damage to your back and have to give up other exercises and weights to compensate how valuable are they then? You must train intelligently and curb the male ego if you want top have longevity in weight training.

[bird72]

If your form is good and you are still getting hurt ditch the exercise! I did deadlifts until I reached a body weight of about 185 then I stopped doing them because I was using a lot of weight and they were just not that valuable to me. Since eliminating them I managed to put on approximately 50 pounds of muscle so they are definitely not indispensable.Look at it this way if you end up doing more damage to your back and have to give up other exercises and weights to compensate how valuable are they then? You must train intelligently and curb the male ego if you want top have longevity in weight training.

Thanks.............father...............way wut.............just joking, thanks for your advise. Can you suggest me a routine, with lower reps doing dead's? I see the rack pulls that other poster advise to me, and looks good also. Something I can tell is that my lower back doesn't bother me doing squats(my favorite exercise), so, not all are lost...

[christos_swc]

A few tips from own limited experience:
1)take the amount of weight you work with into account to sort out the frequency you should deadlift.
Like to go real heavy then do it every other week, especially if you squat every week which you probably should.
However, being inexperienced with the lift you probably have no business working out like that, might be better off doing it regularly with less weight and more reps (slow at the bottom always) till you figure out the mechanics completely.
More reps won't hurt you, other things will, see below, especially point 4.

2)always keep good form.
That is essential down to the first warm up rep of the deads work out.
If you botch just one warm up rep you won't get hurt there and then but it means you haven't got form sorted out and need to do that before going heavier so work with lighter weights and think about what you're doing till it becomes second nature.

3)Wear a belt during heavier sets and you'll probably never hear that popping sound no matter what.

4)Spare your lower back.
You wanna deadlift heavy forget about bent over rows and the like during the same week.
Can't have it all, don't need it all.
People always blame form but it's not just a question of form.

5)Adjust your feet position to suit your own needs.
There's no Sumo and conventional, there's just one exercise, it's the deadlift.
Arms are vertical to the floor or almost and then the legs can assume any position from toes touching each other to balls resting on the floor.
As feet placement becomes wider at some point the legs will have to move outside the arms, that is no event of biblical proportions , just the result of arms always staying put while feet can be placed wherever is best for your body type, strengths and weaknesses, back/leg strength ratio, flexibility etc.
Keep a wider stance if required to achieve a more upright torso.
This will take some stress of the lower back and place it on your legs, if you lower back is what's troubling you then consider that a good thing.

6) watch the signs.
if you're into your deadlift warm up and gradually adding weight and during all that you're getting signals of discomfort from your lower back then guess what:
It's fatigued.
Nothing to do with form, it just hasn't healed quite yet and doesn't want to have any of it.
Needs a couple more days rest, give it what it needs.

7) don't drink and drive.

[bird72]

A few tips from own limited experience:
1)take the amount of weight you work with into account to sort out the frequency you should deadlift.
Like to go real heavy then do it every other week, especially if you squat every week which you probably should.
However, being inexperienced with the lift you probably have no business working out like that, might be better off doing it regularly with less weight and more reps (slow at the bottom always) till you figure out the mechanics completely.
More reps won't hurt you, other things will, see below, especially point 4.

2)always keep good form.
That is essential down to the first warm up rep of the deads work out.
If you botch just one warm up rep you won't get hurt there and then but it means you haven't got form sorted out and need to do that before going heavier so work with lighter weights and think about what you're doing till it becomes second nature.

3)Wear a belt during heavier sets and you'll probably never hear that popping sound no matter what.

4)Spare your lower back.
You wanna deadlift heavy forget about bent over rows and the like during the same week.
Can't have it all, don't need it all.
People always blame form but it's not just a question of form.

5)Adjust your feet position to suit your own needs.
There's no Sumo and conventional, there's just one exercise, it's the deadlift.
Arms are vertical to the floor or almost and then the legs can assume any position from toes touching each other to balls resting on the floor.
As feet placement becomes wider at some point the legs will have to move outside the arms, that is no event of biblical proportions , just the result of arms always staying put while feet can be placed wherever is best for your body type, strengths and weaknesses, back/leg strength ratio, flexibility etc.
Keep a wider stance if required to achieve a more upright torso.
This will take some stress of the lower back and place it on your legs, if you lower back is what's troubling you then consider that a good thing.

6) watch the signs.
if you're into your deadlift warm up and gradually adding weight and during all that you're getting signals of discomfort from your lower back then guess what:
It's fatigued.
Nothing to do with form, it just hasn't healed quite yet and doesn't want to have any of it.
Needs a couple more days rest, give it what it needs.

7) don't drink and drive.

Thanks, very instructional post....

[actsinc]

I also have lower back disc issues, my advice for what its worth (it works for me):

Warm up with 10-15 reps of a low weight without a belt, over time this will strengthen your core rather than working with a belt all the time.
Gradually increase your weight over the workout sets, don't go from your warmup straight into your 3-5 rep working set weight.
Keep your reps between 3-5, no of sets is determined by how your back feels, stop straight away if it gets twingey.
Increase weight very slowly, you need to allow your back to strengthen over time, I think deadlifting with a low weight is better than not deadlifting at all.
Learn to lock your core when you lift, go to a good phsyiotherapist ask them to teach you to activate the transverse abdominis and multifidus with the ultrasound machine.

The above post is excellent. Do that and it will help for sure. I follow a similar protocol and it has allowed me to strengthen my back after a L4/L5 herniated disk.

[jellodirt]

I don't wear a belt and the only time I have hurt my back is when I've used poor form. Concentrate on perfect form not the amount of weight you lift.

[styken]

I have been working on my form as once the weight gets heavy the body reacts badly if the form is incorrect.

If you find your form falling apart because of weight, drop the weight down until you can do your reps with proper form and slowly work your way back up.

Proper form at a lower weight is more effective than sh-tty form at a higher weight.

EDIT: Actually, just read the Christos post, looks excellent.

[Mayor_West]

If your gym has one, try doing your deads on a trap bar. I've been working with one for the past couple of months and the results have been great. The main advantage it offers is that in the start position, your arms and shoulders are in a neutral position, so the shoulders don't round, which makes it easier to keep your back straight.

That being said, like everyone else has already hammered into the ground, your issues with back pain will not go away without working on your form.

The belt should help, although I admit that I've never used one, even for my heavy lifts.

One other piece of advice- just like a chain, you're only going to be a strong as your weakest link. In this case, your lower back needs to get stronger, so I'd advise working in some lower back work, such as back extensions, to help make your weakness a strength.

[orvieto]

i had to go through the long embarrassing climb out of the Fisher Price weight section on deads. Started with 115 1RM, worked on form and reps until I could feel my core tightening. I went gradual from there up to a 1rm of 315 in 4 months. I dont use a belt gives a false sense of support and tricks you into changing form. (with exception to the big tonnage guys).

I noticed if I keep the tension on during 5-7 reps my form stays the same.

I love deadlift, my favorite results oriented lift.

Beware of those two butt slapper *notsureifserious guys. They may do well for themselves but have terrible advice.

[orvieto]

I think it is cool Christos_swc took the time to send that reply....good stuff.