Deadlifts *always* hurt my lower back

[postmalone]

@helloitsme I am really late to this thread but I was searching for the same thing OP mentioned. I appreciate your comment, it made so much more sense than others.

 

[bradleyfarm]

@stthomaschristian I get a dull achy minor lower back pain with deadlifts. But I get it with mostly all the floor lifts. I’ll get it if sitting too long or repetitive bendy yard work stuff. An MRI for something else uncovered an L5 bulging disc and partially sacralized hip which may or may not contribute. Anyways, I always thought I had a weird posture when bending over, now age is making me focus on it with mobility work.

One trick may be to raise your starting position by stacking some 25 or 45 plates on ground as needed, until you can address the lower back. Good luck, I’m right there with you.

 

[stthomaschristian]

@bradleyfarm Yes! Actually I have done that before and it really helped. Also, I can do sumo deadlifts without too much trouble

 

[katiejean]

@stthomaschristian not uncommon in my experience with women, especially longer legged ones. we had some who would sumo instead or just be careful with hinging stuff because at the end of the day they were general trainees not competitive WLers/PLers/athletes

in another sub, you are listed at 5'7" 151lbs so kinda on the tall side. whats your max squat or dl or even what can you do for 3/5 reps?

 

[reforming1969]

@stthomaschristian Low back should be working isometrically (i.e. no movement) during deadlifts but no movement doesn’t mean it’s not working hard. Just try holding a 5# plate with a straight arm in front of you and see. If it only gets sore it’s not something to worry about. Just means you’re not used to that volume of deadlifts yet.

That said, there’s a difference between sore and painful. If it does get painful you should see a PT but things you can do in the meanwhile are reduce ROM by using blocks/plates off the floor, use a hex bar which loads the back less or do sumo deadlifts. Painful back is rarely a good reason to completely stop deadlifting - there is usually some variation you can do while keeping pain levels below 3/10.

 

[deerantler]

@stthomaschristian I have this same issue. I have seen little to no progress on my deadlifts at the gym while all my other lifts have improved significantly. It got to the point where I could back squat more than I could deadlift.

I ended up seeing a sports kinesiologist who said I have weak glutes and that my brain basically doesn’t know how to activate them. He programmed clam shells, single leg RDL, hip thrusts, and bird dogs 5x a week and I’ve been doing them for a couple months now.

My pain has mostly gone away but I have not seen improvement in my 1RM yet. I can move weight much easier now though. Now that I feel more confident and I know how to activate my glutes, I’m starting a deadlifts program to improve my 1RM.

 

[izzywray]

@stthomaschristian I’d recommend going to a physical therapist for this one. I’ve had very similar issues and they turned out to be more related to mobility issues than glute activation, as many are suggesting.

At the end of the day, this isn’t something that’s likely to be solved immediately. For my back pain, I’ve had to get into a daily habit of stretching, mobility work, and core work to see progress over the course of a few months. But I know this will be something I’ll need to keep up with long term.

But really, go see a physical therapist to get a more accurate diagnosis. Coaches may not have the expertise to accurately understand the core, underlying issues.

 

[najah7791]

@stthomaschristian I had same issue and I’ve been working really hard this past year to fix the issue: weak and tight glutes/hams, tight hip flexors.

Physical therapy, lots of mobility work/stretching, and personal training has got me back to deadlifting without lower back pain.

I’d start by seeing a PT. If your issue is the same as mine (which I’ve found to be a very common problem), it’s a lot of work to fix but worth it! Good luck!

 

[stthomaschristian]

@najah7791 I have really tight hamstrings and have always had really tight hip flexors, so maybe that’s it. Worth looking into

 

[katshavens]

@stthomaschristian I got herniated discs I’ve had issues with - deadlifts were the hardest for me to get into as they caused admittedly very minor, but minor pain almost every time. I suspect mine is a mix of posture/mobility issue and not strong enough posterior chain.

Do you have access to any really good coaches who know form and can look at someone and help decode potential form issues? (Coaches can be better or worse, but if you can find a good one who watches you they might be able to offer suggestions based on your form.)

 

[abidein]

@stthomaschristian How do you know your form is fine? Have you had someone give you a form check lately? And maybe someone to also give you a second opinion? Not saying this can't happen even with good form. But sometimes people form bad habits while thinking they are doing things right. It's certainly happened to me.

 

[stthomaschristian]

@abidein I had several different coaches watch my form at different times when I’d do deadlifts

 

[dawn16]

@stthomaschristian And, what did these people have to say?

 

[cn17]

@stthomaschristian I had same problem. Just the warmup with an empty bar would hurt my back.

Turns out I wasn’t using my glutes at all to deadlift. Once I figured out how to do that, no more back pain and I’ve gone from dreading to loving deadlifts.

 

[topazio]

@cn17 What was it that helped you use your glutes more?

 

[musicman45]

@stthomaschristian Try deadlifting from 2 25kg plates under your bar

The small height difference might reduce the initial brace and stress on your lower back

I had 1 athlete who always had lower back issues and this small change helped a ton!

 

[danika718]

@stthomaschristian hey! powerlifter here. please post a video of you lifting 70-80% for a few reps. hard to help without seeing.

 

[tigr]

@stthomaschristian Do you reset the lift at the bottom? Tendency at CrossFit to touch and go everything even if you're in the strength position of your session and I think this is where people end up losing a lot of leg drive - they don't really adopt the right starting position after rep one. It's absolutely fine to reset during a set.

 

[hurting2019]

@stthomaschristian Work on back mobility and focus on lighter weigh rdls, ghd hamstring curls, core workouts including rotational ab workouts. Crossfit programming is bad about muscular balancing. Fitness is not a one size fits all and some people need focus on certain muscle groups to fix imbalances. And stay light on dead lifts.