Deadlift Alternative

[TheRealCrazy8]

Today, one of my 5 exercises I need to do is the deadlift. With that said I am wondering what are some good alternatives to the deadlift. I would love to do deadlifts, but there are a couple things that are making that a bit of a challenge. The first is that I do have some back issues. Recently my Dr. said that it sounds like a "muscle" thing and that I should consider trying to work on that (one of many reasons I am at the gym). So I do need to keep that in mind when I workout. Secondly, I have never done a deadlift, (I think I just heard all the forum members gasp at once), yes it's true. So, not only do I need to keep my back in mind, but there is also lack of training. To me, it seems like I should consider some other exercises that will still focus on the (lower) back muscles to develop those and then move up to being able to deadlift.

So my question of course is, what are my options? Maybe not so much "replacements" of deadlifting, but rather other exercises that will still hit the muscles I need to hit and eventually get my back ready to handle dead lifts?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[bootyclaps]

Great idea on preparing for the deadlift rather than just going for it.
Also, Dr. should be more clear on it being a "muscle thing."

Work on hip hinging movements, and doing them without locking your knees or pushing your knees too forward.
Do things like Good mornings, Romanian Deadlifts with dumbbells and even a back extension machine. If you can do reverse hypers, even better.

While you're at it, train your legs for stability and growth.
Lunges, split squats, body weight squats, goblet squats and even leg presses (the ones where you load plates on, not the machine) will help a lot.

I hear a lot of good about the hamstring curl machine, even though i dont use it often.
Also, smith machine is the devil. Don't kid yourself thinking your squats count on there (coming from a strength perspective).

Not too sure your experience level, just throwing my approach out there.

[TheRealCrazy8]

Great idea on preparing for the deadlift rather than just going for it.
Also, Dr. should be more clear on it being a "muscle thing."

Well that was pretty much what she said. She was a student so I gave her a break, but I do plan to find out some more detail when I go back in.

Work on hip hinging movements, and doing them without locking your knees or pushing your knees too forward.
Do things like Good mornings, Romanian Deadlifts with dumbbells and even a back extension machine. If you can do reverse hypers, even better.

While you're at it, train your legs for stability and growth.
Lunges, split squats, body weight squats, goblet squats and even leg presses (the ones where you load plates on, not the machine) will help a lot.

I hear a lot of good about the hamstring curl machine, even though i dont use it often.
Also, smith machine is the devil. Don't kid yourself thinking your squats count on there (coming from a strength perspective).

Not too sure your experience level, just throwing my approach out there.

I will definitely look into all of these. Thank you so much for mentioning them. As far as experience goes, 5-6 years ago, I spent an entire year 5-7 days a week in the gym to bulk up. I didnt get huge or anything, but I definitely am bigger. But I didn't do a lot of free weight stuff. I have already done more free weights since starting again just a week ago. I just did the leg press (270) 2 days ago. I love leg press. I know very little to nothing on those other exercises you mentioned so I will be spending some time studying those. I am very familiar with the back extension (from high school 18 years ago) so Ill get cracking on that one also.

Thanks again booty for all of that.

[abendm]

Great idea on preparing for the deadlift rather than just going for it.
Also, Dr. should be more clear on it being a "muscle thing."

Work on hip hinging movements, and doing them without locking your knees or pushing your knees too forward.
Do things like Good mornings, Romanian Deadlifts with dumbbells and even a back extension machine. If you can do reverse hypers, even better.

While you're at it, train your legs for stability and growth.
Lunges, split squats, body weight squats, goblet squats and even leg presses (the ones where you load plates on, not the machine) will help a lot.

I hear a lot of good about the hamstring curl machine, even though i dont use it often.
Also, smith machine is the devil. Don't kid yourself thinking your squats count on there (coming from a strength perspective).

Not too sure your experience level, just throwing my approach out there.

Sounds like you're a rank noob, so much of the quoted advice is good, but I would keep it a lot simpler. If your gym has a "back extension" or "hyperextension" bench, start with those doing sets of 8-12. Google/Youtube to learn how to do them properly. Done correctly, they're a hamstring/glute exercise that works the back without spinal flexion (unless you're doing that on purpose, I do occasionally). Once you get to twelve reps, start holding a plate on your chest and go back to 8 reps... repeat. I've literally never been to a gym that didn't have some version of this machine.

Stay away from GMs. Ditto to the smith machine. Leg curls are great to build hamstring strength/endurance, but they should be added to deadlifts--they're not a replacement. What you want is hypers, or reverse hypers (unlike regular hyper bench, I've literally never seen one of these at a commercial gym in my life). If your gym has a hyper bench, stay away from RDLs until your back issues subside.

If you couldn't do hypers, then RDLs would be the next best safe alternative. All of this is assuming you aren't medically able to do deadlifts. Once you can do deadlifts, with proper form, they'd be the best way to prevent any further "muscle issues" with your back.

[TheRealCrazy8]

Thanks a ton for the help and clearing some of that up.