Sore Lower back

so every time i do deads i get a lot of lasting lower back pain not doms more of an ache..... my form is pretty good and i wear a belt while completing these. any thoughts.... ive nailed it to be from deads as ive rotated other back excersises out of the routine too find deads are the ones that give me the aches??? interested to hear of any advice others who may have suffered a similar experience?

SLDL's
but with a twist.
Stand with your legs stiff, straight as possible, bend over and extend and flex the spine, holding in the flexed (or contracted) position for 2 seconds, slowly lower for 4 and extend for 2
12 rep's max, as with all exercises, add 2.5kg to the bar when you can easily do 12.

Start off with 10kg each side of the bar to test, if you can do 12 easily, then add 2.5kg.

Do this once a week

You might want to do 3 sets of 10 without the bar to become competent at the movement

Be careful, move slowly, close your eyes and picture the erectors doing the work only.
Don't overly extend the spine, it's only going to be a small ROM

Don't move at the hip, the spine (lumbar) is the only thing that's moving

How long have you been doing them and how heavy are you going?

When I was new to lifting I got the same thing, but I think this was just due to having under developed back muscles. Over time my back strengthened and the aching went away.

2 things definitely helped though.
1. Smaller diametre plates on the bar. Meaning you're starting from a lower position. This seems to help with posture and activated the legs a bit more.
2. Stiff legged dead lifts. Do these on leg day so you're working your lower back multiple times a week.

Could it be that you're going too heavy, meaning your legs aren't able to push the weight off the floor and your body is recruiting the lower back to assist and compensate in lifting the weight rather than just holding isometric position?

Or, are you sufficiently warmed up physically and mentally so that your CNS is able to fire the muscles up to rip into your working sets?

my lower back is always tight after deads, actuallly sore if i havent done them for a while.

DukeZ said:

so every time i do deads i get a lot of lasting lower back pain not doms more of an ache ...

Click to expand...

Me too.

The amount I can deadlift is far less than the maximum I squat - probably due in part to fear of doing my back &/or pain like you describe.

Thanks for starting this thread - I look forward to the wisdom of the elders ...

Try strengthening you back with a lot of back raises.

Jungman said:

Could it be that you're going too heavy, meaning your legs aren't able to push the weight off the floor and your body is recruiting the lower back to assist and compensate in lifting the weight rather than just holding isometric position?

Or, are you sufficiently warmed up physically and mentally so that your CNS is able to fire the muscles up to rip into your working sets?

Click to expand...

Once the erectors fatigue you start getting movement in the spine, more often than not its muscular soreness...if the sourness is local.
and yes, if the weight is too heavy for you especially at the beginning, you're going to get spinal movement, which not what you want.

visualising the functions of the muscles while doing the exercises is important, it helps recruit the right ones.

like an old saying;

the first rep is always the most gangrenous and the last, when you simply aren't strong enough to hurt yourself is always the safest




Practice makes perfect; as long as you practice perfectly. Practicing mistakes makes for perfect mistakes.

The ache could be any number of things and getting a diagnosis on what the problem actually is can be a pain. If it persists I would highly recommend going to a GP and getting referred to a specialist. The specialist will be expensive and he/she will refer you for an MRI, which is probably the best way of having a look at what's going on. You'd want to be exhibiting symptome (ie your back is sore) when you have any scan done, so hopefully the cause is visible.

What you don't want to see in an MRI is damage to the discs. I've been powerlifting for around 15 years. I was a soldier for ten, which didn't help much.

I started to get that ache you describe a few years ago. Not after every workout but over time it became more frequent, and more acute. Eventually the Army doctor referred me for an MRI but the specialist who looked at the MRI wasn't up to speed with the latest knowledge on backs so he misdiagnosed me and I just kept on deadlifting and squatting. Now I have degenerative disc disease and I am stuck using the leg press, ham curl and leg extension machines. Every few months I go to a GP and get referred to a radiologist to get a epidural injection of cortisone so I can function.

I guess my point is... get this sorted early and you may avoid some serious issues later on. It'll probably end up costing you $1000-1500 but it's a sound investment.

Anyone who had disc issues should keep an eye on the Yuhan Corp, who are currently running trials on a peptide called Peniel 2000 (P2K or peniel 2k). If the hype is to believed, it repairs damaged disc tissue.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23124260

Best of luck with it.