Lower Back Pain from Deadlift: Recovery and Prevention – Greatist
“Put your back into it” is up there for the worst advice you could ever get at the gym.
If you’re dealing with lower back pain after deadlifting, the most likely culprit is your technique. But the price of deadlifting doesn’t have to be a sore lower back. In fact, some doctors actually recommend deadlifting as a remedy for lower back pain.
Here’s how to feel better ASAP and how to make sure you’ve got your deadlifting form dead straight for next time.
Deadlifting…….
“Put your back into it” is up there for the worst advice you could ever get at the gym.
If you’re dealing with lower back pain after deadlifting, the most likely culprit is your technique. But the price of deadlifting doesn’t have to be a sore lower back. In fact, some doctors actually recommend deadlifting as a remedy for lower back pain.
Here’s how to feel better ASAP and how to make sure you’ve got your deadlifting form dead straight for next time.
Deadlifting places significant mechanical stress on your lumbar spine. That’s the part of your spine that’s situated below your ribs and above your hips. If you’re a beginner, you might notice you have some soreness in this area after a deadlifting sesh.
But even experienced dead lifters can get lower back pain if they’re not extra careful about form on every rep. Bad form puts excessive stress on your spinal extensor muscles (aka lumbar paraspinals). These help stabilize your body during a deadlift — they’re not designed to do all the work. Your bigger muscles like glutes and hamstrings should be taking a majority of the workload.
How can you prevent this extra strain? Avoid “rounding” your back when deadlifting. It’s a common mistake that can cause lower back pain. Make sure to keep your spine in a neutral position throughout the whole exercise.
If you feel pain mostly on one side of your back, you might be favoring one side of your body over the other when you deadlift. Just like your left or right hand can be dominant, most people have a dominant side when it comes to musculature and strength, too.
It’s pretty common to try to compensate for any weakness by overdoing it with your stronger side. Make sure that if your form is suffering, you train with a lower weight that your whole body can handle. Over time, you can work back up to higher, more challenging weights.
Many people assume that experiencing lower back pain after deadlifting is just the price you pay for doing this exercise. That’s dead wrong.
Maintaining good form throughout the deadlift motion is the best way to avoid lower back pain while exercising:
- Don’t look up. Keep your head in a neutral position, looking down at the floor with your chin tucked as you set up to begin a deadlift. The back of your head should be aligned with your flat, straight back and spine.
- As you reach down for the barbell, make sure your knees are aligned …….
Source: https://greatist.com/fitness/lower-back-pain-from-deadlift
