Hurt my lower back doing deadlifts

[sp00001]

So I ****ed up my back doing deadlifts... awesome.

On Monday I bumped the weight from the previous week, and was only able to hit 4 reps (I'm doing the rippetoe routine). So Friday comes along, and I am doing the same weight from Monday. I hit the first rep ok, and then comes the second. I hit that fine and when I deload the weight, BOOM, extreme lower back pains. I don't know what I did with my form, but something happened. My back is twisted right now. I'm going to go to the doctor tomorrow to see what's up. I'm going to explain this to the doctor, and see when he thinks I will be able to lift again, and ****... but I don't want to do this again, so I would like to know how to prevent this. Should I wear a belt? Should I just use lower weight? I dunno. If this has happened to you guys before, what did you do in the situation?

[sp00001]

Oh my plan of attack for the time being is something like this. See what the doctor has to say. More than likely I will take some time off... so during this time, I might as well cut and lose the gut. I'll ask him about incline walking, or some other low impact exercise.

[TravisLehr]

he is just going to tell you how dangerous deadlifts are and that you shouldnt be doing them.

[King_of_Kings]

Yea I'm always afraid that I'm gonna **** up my lower back whenever I do deadlifts. Maybe it's time for me to stop...

[sp00001]

he is just going to tell you how dangerous deadlifts are and that you shouldnt be doing them.

Well ****, I guess the way I am doing them they are dangerous

Seriously though, that's why I am posting here. I want to hear some input from people who have been injured, and then fixed whatever they were doing to continue on WITHOUT injury.

[vin1382]

Well ****, I guess the way I am doing them they are dangerous

Seriously though, that's why I am posting here. I want to hear some input from people who have been injured, and then fixed whatever they were doing to continue on WITHOUT injury.

I hurt it a few months back doing too many reps with high weight. anything over 315 now i wont go over 5 reps. i had a pulled muscle that took about 2 weeks to fully heal.

best bet for correction of your form would be to make a video and post it here for critiques. its very hard to see your forum on heavier weights in a mirror for obvious reasons.

[sp00001]

I hurt it a few months back doing too many reps with high weight. anything over 315 now i wont go over 5 reps. i had a pulled muscle that took about 2 weeks to fully heal.

best bet for correction of your form would be to make a video and post it here for critiques. its very hard to see your forum on heavier weights in a mirror for obvious reasons.

2 weeks isn't too bad I guess. Just sucks when **** like this happens. I wasn't planning on cutting for some time, since I'm relatively new to lifting. Once I heal, I'll have to chalk it up and look like a dork and post my form on here. I hope my workout partner has vid capabilities on his cell phone.

So what's the deal with a belt? I see people using them at my gym. I've read mixed reviews about them however. I'm not big by any means (new, like I said), I was at 285 on deadlifts when I hurt myself. I'm imagining a belt is not necessary at that low of a weight, but figured I'd toss it out there anyways.

[PatrickO]

I am not a medical doctor and my traning experience is limited. Please read this disclaimer closely.


With that out of the way, I would like to share with you my similar experience and the things I have done to recover. Somewhere in the range of 1.5 years ago, I was deadlifting. I was having trouble bumping the weight up and just said "heck with it" and tossed on the extra poundage. After my second rep, something went bad and my back went out. It was a really sharp pain in my lower-right back. For a few days it bothered my and I had to baby it. I started to slowly build up any of my lifts that were dependent on my lower back. I was feeling pretty well recovered until one day in class I made a twisting motion and fell out of my chair as my back locked up.
I repeated the recovery process. A few months later, I was lifting a printer (read: Very light box) and my back gave out, down to the floor I went.

I finally got smart and took some time off. Now I am using a belt a lot more frequently, focusing on alternating between "heavy" deads and "volume" deads, trying to build up that lower back. I still have problems now and then, (2 days ago, as a matter of fact), but it is coming back.

In short, I am trying to stress that you need to take some time off and then even more time off heavy deads. Invest in a belt and use it wisely. Most of all, stretch out periodically and ensure that you use perfect form on everything - if you decide to max out for whatever reason, max out with PERFECT FORM. I also think that once you pull something in your back that maxing out on a deadlift is possibly the worst idea ever.

Anyway, I don't know how helpful that is but maybe my mundane but poingant experiences will demonstrate what *might* happen.

And just to leave you on a more pleasant note: I am doing a relatively high-intensity/very physical academy right now and my back is strong eough that I can excel in the academy and still pull heavy deads now and then - good luck to you!

-Patrick

[dunk]

So what's the deal with a belt? I see people using them at my gym. I've read mixed reviews about them however. I'm not big by any means (new, like I said), I was at 285 on deadlifts when I hurt myself. I'm imagining a belt is not necessary at that low of a weight, but figured I'd toss it out there anyways.

yea def post a video that will way different people will be able to point out different things. also theres no set weight to use a belt, I prefer to not use one while deadlifting, because I can't get down to where I feel comfortable, but other people use them regularly at heavy weights. IF you feel you need to use one, use it on near max effort lifts only. The deadlift is a lower back and core strengthening exercise and using a belt does not allow you to develope these muscles effectively

[sp00001]

I am not a medical doctor and my traning experience is limited. Please read this disclaimer closely.


With that out of the way, I would like to share with you my similar experience and the things I have done to recover. Somewhere in the range of 1.5 years ago, I was deadlifting. I was having trouble bumping the weight up and just said "heck with it" and tossed on the extra poundage. After my second rep, something went bad and my back went out. It was a really sharp pain in my lower-right back. For a few days it bothered my and I had to baby it. I started to slowly build up any of my lifts that were dependent on my lower back. I was feeling pretty well recovered until one day in class I made a twisting motion and fell out of my chair as my back locked up.
I repeated the recovery process. A few months later, I was lifting a printer (read: Very light box) and my back gave out, down to the floor I went.

I finally got smart and took some time off. Now I am using a belt a lot more frequently, focusing on alternating between "heavy" deads and "volume" deads, trying to build up that lower back. I still have problems now and then, (2 days ago, as a matter of fact), but it is coming back.

In short, I am trying to stress that you need to take some time off and then even more time off heavy deads. Invest in a belt and use it wisely. Most of all, stretch out periodically and ensure that you use perfect form on everything - if you decide to max out for whatever reason, max out with PERFECT FORM. I also think that once you pull something in your back that maxing out on a deadlift is possibly the worst idea ever.

Anyway, I don't know how helpful that is but maybe my mundane but poingant experiences will demonstrate what *might* happen.

And just to leave you on a more pleasant note: I am doing a relatively high-intensity/very physical academy right now and my back is strong eough that I can excel in the academy and still pull heavy deads now and then - good luck to you!

-Patrick

That's exactly the type of response I was hoping for man (especially the positive note). I want to learn from peoples mistakes (sorry mistake makers), and be able to have productive future lifts. The deadlift was by far my favorite exercise, and until last Monday I kept moving up every session. From what I've read here and around other areas on the net, everyone is saying to take some time off. I'd rather drop down in all my lifts, but still be able to lift in the future... so that's what I'm going to do. By the way Patrick, it's getting cold here (I'm in Arizona also).

dunk: What's weird, is on Monday I was thinking to myself... maybe I should start using a belt for these final lifts. I should have went with my gut.