What to do when you can't progress on deadlift?
sunflowerhippi
Posts: 1,099 Member
I am sure this might have been asked before.
Due to car accidents and back injuries I can not progress past a bar and 90lbs on a deadlift. And by that I mean 1 set of 1 without sore back the same day and next day.
Even just using 2 15lb dumbbells I get the same but can do 5 sets of 8 no problem. Stiff leg or standard deadlift.
Is there other lifts I can do to strengthen those muscles besides this? Good Mornings my back is more tolerant of but still have to use very light weights or same end result.
My doctor is useless. He couldn't make suggestions besides the basic if it hurts don't do it response.
Due to car accidents and back injuries I can not progress past a bar and 90lbs on a deadlift. And by that I mean 1 set of 1 without sore back the same day and next day.
Even just using 2 15lb dumbbells I get the same but can do 5 sets of 8 no problem. Stiff leg or standard deadlift.
Is there other lifts I can do to strengthen those muscles besides this? Good Mornings my back is more tolerant of but still have to use very light weights or same end result.
My doctor is useless. He couldn't make suggestions besides the basic if it hurts don't do it response.
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Replies
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I can't say for sure but I recommend checking out Train Untamed on youtube. Alan Thrall has a few videos not long ago about fixing deadlift along with some supplementary lift suggestions depending on where you are struggling with the lift. Is it off the floor where it's difficult at that weight, lockout or just feels heavy in general? Or is it just the back issue afterwards?
Also, are you stacking plates or using something to get the bar up to the right height? Or does your gym have bumper plates that are lighter but bigger? I just ask because it got easier for me at 135 when have the 45's as that puts the bar at the best height. Before then I had to put plates on both side under the smaller plates since mine didn't have the bumper plates to use.2 -
The deadlift videos mentioned above really helped me work out some issues with my deadlifts so I second this recommendation
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I'll watch the videos to double check my form a bit more and see the suggestions.
I am not in the gym at this point due to a newborn. I am using dumbbells at home and even those at a lightweight I have the same issues with my back the next day/later that day.0 -
Maybe there are some videos on dumbbell specific. I've never done them with dumbbells so I'm not sure on the best set up and form for that.0
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i'm sort of nervous of recommending anything to a person with a bona fide history of back injury, but . . .
i think what i might try to do in your situation is: isolate the whatever-it-is you can do without experiencing any pain. abandon everything else for a while, maybe.
and then with that one thing that doesn't harm you, start doing controlled experiments to see what kinds of progressive loading your body will tolerate. if weight increases cause you trouble, try maintaining the weight and adding a couple more reps.
it seems to me like before you can really make any progress, it would be helpful to start by identifying the zone where you CAN make progress without causing pain.0 -
- and also, if your doctor is useless/uninterested, see if s/he will at least refer you to a competent person who actually CAN work with you to identify specific things that will strengthen and help. some kind of physio with a rehab specialization, perhaps.
and if your doctor is totally, totally useless in that respect, then try approaching people who at least share the idea of strength training as an actual thing. i don't think you could ever ask for referrals from a room full of lifters, and not get a whole list of ideas. my gp happened to be helpful and give me a good referral when i asked her for physios. but i've lucked into a gp who wears combat boots and a thong, and does strength work of her own when she isn't at work. so it's partly about looking for a good source.0 -
Definitely ask for a referral to a physio.
The fact that it happens at low weight as well as higher makes me think it is either a form issue or your injury, which I have no qualifications to talk to.0 -
Thanks. I used to use the back extension machine at the gym and after a while on that it helped me out and I would have less pain since I had built up those muscles on other machines instead of weights. Going to see what at home things I can do that will have similar muscle use as that. Didn't think that machine made much of a difference but looking back I guess it did since now at a lower weight I am having issues.
Silly baby should be glad she's so cute, making such a mess of my lifting over the last year. (low blood pressure and sugar while pregnant ment no working out for 10+ months)
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there's a move called the glute-ham raise that most people find really challenging even without injury, so be careful about it i guess. but if extensions were helpful then maybe a gentler variation of that?
there are also planks and their variations. if you have a sense of which zone of your spine needs the help, it should be possible to start doing google research on corrective/supportive work you could try.0 -
canadianlbs wrote: »there's a move called the glute-ham raise that most people find really challenging even without injury, so be careful about it i guess. but if extensions were helpful then maybe a gentler variation of that?
there are also planks and their variations. if you have a sense of which zone of your spine needs the help, it should be possible to start doing google research on corrective/supportive work you could try.
I just looked it up. Looks like some things I have seen the girls at gymnastics doing on the vault. Can probably do a modified version of that and get similar effect of the back extention machine. It is L3/L4 (lower back)0
