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Barbell Tips to avoid deadlift injuries

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Abdul-Rasheed

Abdul-Rasheed

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The intent of this thread is to collect all the ideas you may have to stay injury-free doing regular barbell deadlifts as we go up in weight. I think this is useful for many including me.

As for my deadlift background, I am recently introduced to it (courtesy @Steve Freides; seventh week into it; see my training log for more information). Currently I am lifting 225lbs comfortably. 245lbs today didn't feel so smooth. I am trained, and continue to get trained by an SFG, but still. I don't want to get injured again. Thank you.
 
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I will contribute the tip I think is most important - stay tight. When you learn how to pressurize your midsection, you protect your back. At my last meet, about a year ago, my final pull was just awful in form - ugly, ugly, ugly, and there are no words to describe it other than ugly. But I didn't get hurt because I stayed tight.

-S-
 
- the first rep is the set up
- Treat a light bar as it was a heavy bar
- avoiding distractions: mirror, phone, chatting with Buddys, negative chatting with oneself
- A very great amount of the reps in the 70%-80% of 1RM max
- Increase your 80% to increase your max
- Waving load and volume
- Form check through video analysis by oneself and/or a stern eye
- listen to ones body, when it sends signals to call it a day
-....
300 Seconds: A Guide to Maximizing Your Rest Intervals - StrongFirst
 
Everyone should subscribe to the blog here if you don't already - you'll get the whole blog in your email as well as link to view it online.

If someone wants to post the sign-up link, that would be great.

-S-
 
Having had recurrent low back issues myself, some of the most helpful advice I've come across, besides instruction on proper form and not overdoing it, has to do with what you do before workouts, in between sets, and after workouts. McKenzie's book, 7 Steps to a Pain Free Life, and McGills book, Back Mechanic, both talk about not underestimating poor spine mechanics in day to day life. For people with disc issues, for instance, putting your lumbar spine in flexion, particularly before, in between, or after loading it, can be a nail in the coffin. McGill specifically mentions how common it is for people to mention "the event" that hurt their back, when in his experience "the event" is just the final straw to back injury, a result of repeated risky movement patterns. Some of the recommendations I've followed that have helped include a 24 hour attention to not sitting for long periods, and when I do sit to sit with a neutral spine; performing some easy Mckenzie type extension movements before my workout; not sitting in between sets; and hanging from a pull up bar and reading while lying on my stomach after a workout. Maintaining pristine squatting/lunging/hinging movement patterns (the book Back Mechanic has good advice on this) when handling light loads is important (here's a video of McGill talking to a power lifter with back issues regarding this for those interested: ). Of course, my issues are worsened by lumbar flexion and loaded posterior pelvic tilt, so these recommendations may be less relevant for you if you have different issues.
 
The McKenzie book is a must-read for everyone, IMHO, involved in training themselves or others. My orthopedist kept copies in his office and handed them out for free - that's how important he thought it was.

-S-
 
Steve Freides said:
The McKenzie book is a must-read for everyone, IMHO, involved in training themselves or others. My orthopedist kept copies in his office and handed them out for free - that's how important he thought it was.

-S-
Click to expand...
Even the StrongFirst forum has a WTH effect! Didn't come to this thread for general back pain help (mainly for my wife), but found it through this awesome community. Thanks, @Steve Freides and @Bryant W!
 
Thank you for that enlightening post @Bryant W . My take away from it was to be watchful of my back *outside* the dead lift as well, not just while you are *in* doing it.

Are we saying, dead lifters in particular, need to be careful about their back, their spine flexion, right after a set, since..they just lifted heavy weight ...?
 
I am certainly no expert here, and would appreciate and welcome any corrections by the experts on this forum. But as I understand it, I don't think "spine hygiene" should be limited to deadlifters. Anyone who lifts, squats, exercises or just sits for a long time would probably benefit from reading those books above. There's a nice section in the beginning of McKenzie describing how athlete's will get warmed up and quite loose during any general sport activity, then afterwards go lounge on the couch or plush chair with their lumbar back in flexion, then start to ache and blame it on the event/sport/lift, when really it was more likely their poor posture afterwards when all the spine ligaments are loose, allowing the spine to move more towards end range, stretching the spinal ligaments and pushing the disc posteriorly...hence pain. Same things can happen before exercise...spend time in exaggerated lumbar flexion, the disc is distorted posteriorly, apply load and injury ensues. McGill's book talks about repeated flexion and extension, particularly to end range or under load, causing a breakdown in the cartilage rings of the spinal disc, eventually allowing the nucleus to bulge or herniate. Apparently, there is sound evidence that you only have so many flexions in the spine disc before injury results.

Again, I'm standing on the shoulders of giants here, and highly recommend you read their books if interested in the topic.

Incidentally,in one of McGill's books (it may have been BackFit Pro), he states that a certain kettlebell instructor from Russia had the strongest pound for pound core he's ever measured. As McGill put it, "His techniques work!" Just further evidence of what a great resource we have here in StrongFirst.
 
Maintain flexibility in the hamstrings, hips, traps, and thoracic spine. As you train the deadlift with more intensity, you may tighten up because of the muscle damage. You must maintain a decent level of flexibility during periods of heavy training to be able to hit the correct positions of the deadlift, and increase stability.

As some have said intra-abdominal pressure, and tension are the most important aspects of safely training the deadlift.
 
@Abdul Rasheed Use SMR, massage, chiropractic, yoga, static/dynamic stretching, hot/cold therapy, or what ever works for you. I stretch when ROM is affected, in the morning, pre workout, and post workout. I do not follow any program, or specific type of flexibility work, I do what works for me through experience. I also go to yoga a few times a week, which helps recover, and increase flexibility.

I am not particularly, or naturally flexible. I am flexible enough to lift weights safely, and effectively, but it has always been a lot of work for me.

P.S. I do not like the work "mobility". It's a modern, meaningless word to me.
 
The two things that I think of when I deadlift

1. Keep the bar as close to your body as you can without scraping your shins. Some people have scars on their shins.... I keep the bar close by leaning back a little bit.

2. I shove my traps straight up. Ed Coan instructs lifters to do this during the back squat but it cured my lower back pain during the deadlift. I also noticed that I tend to scrape my shins when I forget to shove my traps straight up.
 
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