Deadlifts..... should I, shouldnt I

[curgeo]

Right tweakle.....When I was a bodybuilder I always seemed to injure my lower back.....Now that I switched to PL, I have yet to hurt it. All the injuries were due to my lower back weakness. The stronger you make it, the less chance of hurting it you have.


I'm with you on the GM's Nate. Have you ever tried doing 45 degree hypers with a bar behind your neck? We do these on ME day sometimes to work the back a bit more. Adding weight until you can do only 3 reps is pretty taxing.......We will also tie a band around the base of the hyperextension. There is no slack, tension is high at the bottom. Talk about getting a lower back pump!

 

[Allon]

Hehe... yuh. Work into slowly by building up lower back strength over a long time before going heavy as curgeo is talking about... if ever. Really there is no need as long as you strengthen the lower back why push it so far... it is not selling yourself short.
Don't expect people who have not has injury or even (sometimes) people who have overcome there injury to understand the dangers.

 

[curgeo]

Dangers of what allon? Strengthening your lower bacK? In my last post I was talking to Nate about the stuff I do.....NOT the things I am suggesting to bigyin.

I suggest to anybody to work their lower back......I also advise progressive overload which is what you were talking about before, but the advise that you shouldn't push your lower back to make it stronger is absurd, unless of course a Doctor has given you opinions or orders otherwise.

I would still like to know what dangers you are talking about.

 

[bigyin1314]

rightio, its def, will start deads on my next back workout (sunday). I dont train in a gym, have my own equipment in the house, problem is I dont have the ability to do pull ups/pull downs/chins etc. I'm already doing stiff leg deads for my hammies, an was alternating with Good Mornings, but found they really blew out my back, so switched back to stiff legs.

With regards to form on deads, have looked at the link (cheers long), is that the best method?? or am i better with a wider stance (sumo's).

Oh, and one more question if you dont mind...... obviously reading up a lot on deads, etc... they all comment on 'rounding your back'..... not quite sure what this means..... any enlightenment would be appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Allon]

Ok, I thought it was clear but I am talking about dangers of making the injury worse or having a disk erupt.
I am not saying not to make it stronger, I am saying that while doing so it is wise to take care and not push it too far. I am also saying that in order to strengthen the lower back you can do sets that are nowhere near your limits and still make gains and that is great so why push it with higher weights and more complex exersizes...
Thats all. I have met like two people in my life who train and that have not been injured and yet understand this. No-one else sees it. Thats ok, and I am just letting you know that if you have not been injured b4 I do not expect you to understand this concept.

 

[curgeo]

Goodmornings and deads are about the most basic of exercises there are. Like I said, the only back problems that I ever chronically had were due to the lack of strength in my lower back. I had disk problems, disk problems and like.....but they all got a million times better when I started to strengthen it. Do you realize that all day your lower back is held in a static contraction state? If your legs can squat 200lbs and your shoulders can hold 200lbs, but your back can only hold 100lbs.....what do you think is going to be the part where you get injured chronically?


bigyin, regular deads will hit the whole body pretty good. It will build a strong lower back and quads.............sumos will ht the hips and groin area hard as well as the lower back. Do whatever you feel comfortable with.

When the speak of rounding their back....it is not in the terms of which you might think. The LOWER back needs to keep an arch to it as much as possible. This will protect it and keep it from getting injured.

When powerlifters talk about rounding their back they speak of their UPPER back. It is a technique that is used to shorten the stroke to lift more weight on your dead. You arch your lower back, but roll you shoulders forward to drop your arms slightly so you don't have to lift as far. It helps if you have long arms and short legs.

Like allon said, start light. Have somebody show you proper techinque that you trust. Just make sure to keep that lower back arched HARD.

If you need more, email me at [email protected]

 

[Allon]

I agree with you Curgeo, my whole point was just to go slow, not to not strengthen the lower back, but to do it not greedily...

 

[bigyin1314]

Cheers lads.... I'll start with regular deads for a few weeks, then sumo's for a few weeks and try to determine which is better. I'll start light aswell, as you recommend, and hopefully my lower back strength will increase at a reasonable pace. Curgeo, ur right about the lower back being the weak point (well with me anyway).... when I squat heavy, its my lower back that gives out first, hopefully with a bit of work, my overall strength will increase.

Again, I appreciate the advice, nice to know people are willing to share knowlege. Last forum I was part of, everytime I asked a question, I was ridiculed for not knowing, an being new to this game (only been lifting consistently for 9 months now), that didnt help the old confidence levels. Luckily I found this site, and dont feel such a fool when asking now..... stay cool.

 

[bignate73]

ive never done the hypers with a bar across my back, but I have a GHR at home. if i ever get strong at those, I'll add some weight. LOL. i like seated GM's though.

 

[curgeo]

Oh man....They just got us a g/h raise at our gym........it took me years in order to do them off the floor when we didn't have one.

I finally can do them with some added weight....and I have to say they are the most humbling exercise I have ever done.

Seated gm's are a great exercise.....have you ever tried them with a wide stance? It wil really bring the hips into play. I have to make sure I do them this way.....my hips are a weak part of mine that needs to come up.