Help! Overdid it with deadlifts

mirgss

Hi everyone...
Guess I was a little overzealous last night with my workout...I have a pretty bad muscle cramp on my right side from the deadlifts I did last night. Any suggestions on how to take care of it (besides painkillers). Are we talking ice/warmth/something else? I've never hurt myself working out before so this is kinda freaky...haha.

Thanks!

Dunrick

Well first thing first man heat and Ice are always good. The painkillers are ok but your hurting for a reason and if it is stopping u from living then I suggest taking them. If not then let the pain help to not over exert yourself. I did something similar with 3 days of rock climbing in a row and I awoke in the middle of the night with my forearm muscles locked up. I would just take it easy... if u can also try and lightly.... and I mean lightly... stretch the muscles.

aareeyesee

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/
sports_body_training_performance_repair/feel_better_for_10_bucks

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/
sports_body_training_performance/soft_tissue_work_for_tough_guys

that.

mirgss

Thanks! I'll take a look.

xonophone

. Nothing, and I mean nothing, gives me a wicked case of DOMS like deadlifts! If you're doing deadlifts correctly then you should be feeling it in your hamstrings. Is that where you're feeling your cramp? Or are you feeling it in the side of your trunk, like where your obliques are? If its the first, then you are not using both legs equally and should be sure that next time you are equally bearing weight on both legs. If it's in your trunk, then you are NOT lifting them correctly and are puttting yourself at risk of a back injury if you don't correct your technique.

aareeyesee

I just noticed the part about the pain being in your abdomen. That is pretty much a bad indicator. You may wanna check out something like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpA&feature=related as well as
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-N9hAuxNs&feature=channel

The foam roller will likely not be helping with a hernia. Also, even if u have exemplary form everyone can stand to hear Mark Rippetoe coach someone thru deadlifting form. He sorta knows what hes talking about.

mirgss

The longer I'm awake the more I feel like it's in my mid to lower back near my spine. It doesn't feel horrible, like it's not excruciating, but it definitely feels overworked. And it definitely feels like it is in the muscles, not just soreness from bending over for too long....

xonophone

If you are feeling it in your back, then again, you are not lifting correctly and you WILL injure your back eventually. If you are doing them correctly, then the ONLY place you should feel this exercise is in your hamstrings. You should be bracing your spine with your abdominal muscles to protect your back while doing deadlifts. If you're not sure how, just ask one of the trainers at the gym (are you doing this in a gym?) to demo the correct technique. If you don't have good core strength, then you should really consider adding that to your routine as well. I don't mean by doing situps, I'm talking about using deeper muscles, such as your transverse abdominus which is a very important muscle for lower back strength. Try a pilates class to learn the correct way to incorporate abdominal bracing. There are lots of good lower abdominal exercises out there to help you get good core strength.

If you are interested in learning more, you can send me a messagem I would be happy to give you some pointers. I'm a physical therapist and I treat sports injuries. I'd say about 75% of my patients have back pain, so this is an area I am very familiar with!

Iceprincessk25

FYI.....You NEVER wanna put HEAT on an acute injury. Ice is always your best bet when it's a fresh injury. Ice it, take some anti-inflamms.

Check your form when you are doing deadlifts. You legs should have a slight bend to them and make sure you keep the bar close to you legs when you move. Don't emphasize the full ROM....just go down til you feel a slight stretch on the Hamstrings. Keep a flat back.

MattDustin

I mean, I may be crazy, but if it's soreness/pain in your lower back, isn't that kind of normal? I do deadlifts as part of my back workout, and typically my back is a bit sore for a day or two, the same as any muscle group is if it's worked correctly. If it feels like sore muscles maybe you just had a good workout?

I know the first couple times I did deadlifts, the muscles weren't used to the motion, and I was sore and limping around for a couple days, after a while though the muscle builds up and it shouldn't hurt so much. But with any muscle, if you work it good and hard in the gym you should be pretty sore the next day. That's just my opinion, maybe it is more serious, but if it's just a sore muscle in your lower back I think that might be normal.

Iceprincessk25

There's a difference between pain and muscle achey-ness from working out.

I mostly feel deadlifts in my Hamstrings......never in my back.

aareeyesee

Im gonna have to say I feel deadlifts from my neck to my Achilles. Thats why it is the single best exercise EVAR!! If you only did deadlifts twice a week and nothing else you would still be really freakin strong. The same cannot be said for other exercises except maybe squats and the Olympic movements.

msarro

FYI.....You NEVER wanna put HEAT on an acute injury. Ice is always your best bet when it's a fresh injury. Ice it, take some anti-inflamms.

Check your form when you are doing deadlifts. You legs should have a slight bend to them and make sure you keep the bar close to you legs when you move. Don't emphasize the full ROM....just go down til you feel a slight stretch on the Hamstrings. Keep a flat back.

Listen to the lady, she knows what she's talking about.

If you have a hard time maintaining proper form with your back, try looking up. Its considered 'bad form' by many lifters but it does help a lot of people keep their backs straight.

thumper44

There's a difference between pain and muscle achey-ness from working out.

I mostly feel deadlifts in my Hamstrings......never in my back.

FYI, and I didn't know this until I read about it on the internet.

I had a sore lower back for a while. I think I made it sore after a P90x workout.
A friend told me that if I have tight hamstrings it could cause lower back pain.
Sure enough my hamstrings get tight, I can feel some pain in the lower back, or when I have pain in the lower back now, I stretch out the hamstrings.

I didn't believe him until I read online. Tight hamstrings can cause lower back pain.
Here's 1 site with explanation.
http://chetday.com/backchronicpain.htm

Iceprincessk25

Back in the day EVERYONE said put heat on when you hurt yourself. The problem with putting heat on a new injury is that it causes blood vessels to vasodilate (get bigger) which brings more swelling to an already inflammed area. You want to put ice on a new injury because that causes vasoconstriction (gets smaller) whichs shuts down the amount of swelling to the injured area.

There is a time and place for heat but a new injury is NOT one of them. Heat is fine for things that are chronic and sub-acute. If you've had long term back issues then heat will work better for you.

Hamstrings can cause back issues because they are attached to your pelvis. So if you're hammies are tight then they are going to cause a posterior pelvic tilt which throws your back out of alignment which causes problems.

A lot of people forget that the leg bone is connected to the hip bone the hip bone is connected to the........etc. etc. etc.

People with knee issues don't even think to look at their feet. Everything is connected which is why you just can't focus on one part of the body when you are trying to figure out what is wrong.