Deadlifts and lower back pain

[jmt24]

i had taken off deadlifting for awhile and i finally started back up again. i started very light today at 135 and had absolutely no problem. i jumped up to 185 and while the weight wasn't heavy for me, when i finished my 10th rep and placed the weight down, i had extreme pain in my lower back on my left side. i spoke with a knowlegdeable person at the gym who thought it could've been a lack of strength in my core. he instructed me to do abwork (which i already do) and more weighted hypers. he said to take next week off deadlifts and then start at lighter weights that don't bother my lower back until i build up the strength. what do you guys think? is he right or is there something fundamentally wrong with my form. sorry for the long post and i appreciate your answers and opinions.

-JMT

 

[Illuminati]

bro,
can you describe the pain a little more? is it around your belt line? do you get a shooting pain that runs down you leg, all the way to your ankle? do you get an intense pain if you bend over and touch your toes?
could be anything from a pulled muscle, to a bulging disk. if you could better describe your pain, i could help you out

i had taken off deadlifting for awhile and i finally started back up again. i started very light today at 135 and had absolutely no problem. i jumped up to 185 and while the weight wasn't heavy for me, when i finished my 10th rep and placed the weight down, i had extreme pain in my lower back on my left side. i spoke with a knowlegdeable person at the gym who thought it could've been a lack of strength in my core. he instructed me to do abwork (which i already do) and more weighted hypers. he said to take next week off deadlifts and then start at lighter weights that don't bother my lower back until i build up the strength. what do you guys think? is he right or is there something fundamentally wrong with my form. sorry for the long post and i appreciate your answers and opinions.

-JMT

 

[Anybody]

does it feel more like pain in the muscles, or in the bones? and does it flare up at other times? also, you might wanna try lying on your back and raising just your left leg. If this hurts like hell you might have inflamed tissue from an injury pressing on a nerve. That's a common complication with injuries from deadlifts/squats.

 

[DieselGunz]

I hurt my back DL and had to get cracked, felt MUCH better after that!

 

[silver_shadow]

BTW, what the guy at your gym said is good advice... just make sure that it's not a bulging disk first, as illuminati said.

 

[blut wump]

"Extreme pain" indicates a need for professional help.

 

[KillahBee]

yeah, explaining it more would help. as blut said, "extreme pain" is not good, unless you are exaggerating. don't f-ck around with back issues.

side note - doing core work is a must and continually seems to be something that, unfortunately, ends up as a reaction to an injury for most athletes, similar to doing RC work. start doing core work now.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

I second most of what Killah said, but I'll elaborate on the core work:

Don't do situps. Flexion movements are bad for the back. There's no reason anyone should do them. For the core, try the following:

Planks/Pillar Bridges/Jack Knifes
Side Bridges/Lateral Holds
Reverse Hypers
Back Bridges/Glute Bridges

All different names for the same exercises. Do all of 'em daily. No weight. Swiss balls are great for jack knives and hypers. Side & back bridges can be done on the floor. You can make them dynamic or isometric movements. Switch it around a bit for fun.

Core endurance is a prerequisite to athleticism & functionality. Strength comes later. Let core movements cover you in regards to strength. Maybe add some light weights to the listed movements above, and at the same time, work on upping the amount of time you can hold them statically, while breathing normal.

 

[jmt24]

the pain is about 6-8 inches above the top of my left glute. the pain isnt intense and kinda hard to explain. i dont get shootin pain down my leg, which my friend has. he has a bulged disk which pusses on his ciatic nerve. its more like a sore feeling/backpump/strain. sorry if thats a lil confusing, its just hard to describe. i dont know if it helps, but it started to hurt after i dropped the weight, not during the exercise. hope that helps.

 

[blut wump]

I reckon a trip to the chiro is probably in order. This would be an adjuct to rather than a replacement for an ongoing program for your core.

 

[wakefib]

the pain is about 6-8 inches above the top of my left glute. the pain isnt intense and kinda hard to explain. i dont get shootin pain down my leg, which my friend has. he has a bulged disk which pusses on his ciatic nerve. its more like a sore feeling/backpump/strain. sorry if thats a lil confusing, its just hard to describe. i dont know if it helps, but it started to hurt after i dropped the weight, not during the exercise. hope that helps.

i think i get the same thing when i hit my low back hard. i have bad back pain from something els, but it doesn't stop me from doing extentions... i don't think its something to worry about, well for me. i don't want to say the same for you just incase i am wrong. but i get a pain in the same region and i don't know how to explain it.

 

[KillahBee]

sounds like some sort of a disc issue, but maybe not a bulge or extrusion, etc. I have an extruding disc and 99% of my issues are in my upper left glute. lots of muscle spasms. feels like a build-up of crap in a certain area. stretching feels good, but manual work by my PT helps the most.

 

[jmt24]

sorry, its actually 3-5 inches above my glute. wed is my off day of lifting so im goin to make a trip next week and get checked out.

 

[Chambewy20]

I second most of what Killah said, but I'll elaborate on the core work:

Don't do situps. Flexion movements are bad for the back. There's no reason anyone should do them. For the core, try the following:

Planks/Pillar Bridges/Jack Knifes
Side Bridges/Lateral Holds
Reverse Hypers
Back Bridges/Glute Bridges

All different names for the same exercises. Do all of 'em daily. No weight. Swiss balls are great for jack knives and hypers. Side & back bridges can be done on the floor. You can make them dynamic or isometric movements. Switch it around a bit for fun.

Core endurance is a prerequisite to athleticism & functionality. Strength comes later. Let core movements cover you in regards to strength. Maybe add some light weights to the listed movements above, and at the same time, work on upping the amount of time you can hold them statically, while breathing normal.

Excellent advice, i have a really young kid who wants to squat 500 yesterday, he does abs every day, banded GM's with high reps (due to lack of maturity in muscles) and does what we do with nothing but a belt.