Are deadlifts bad for your back?

I’m sure many of you have been told: Don’t deadlift, deadlifting is bad for your back, you should never deadlift again after a back injury, etc.

Perhaps you’ve had your own personal experience where you had pain with deadlifting, “threw your back out” with deadlifting, or felt some apprehension with doing the exercise.

However, deadlifts are not inherently dangerous.

Let’s breakdown the deadlift movement to start.

1. A deadlift is a weighted hinge exercise. The hinge pattern is one that we should be using every day, in movements such as bending over to pick something up off the ground, picking up your child/pet, lifting up a heavy grocery bag, etc.

2. When you perform a deadlift, you are using what we call your “posterior chain” muscles. These are the muscles that run along the backside of your body, such as your hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erector muscles.

Just like other exercises, the deadlift can help to build up strength and endurance when a) You're using a technique that works for your body, and b) It is progressed appropriately.

When both principles are done, your back can gradually build up is ability to tolerate these increased forces and stresses.

So then what might contribute to back pain with deadlifting?

• Too much too soon: They increase the amount of weight, or volume of reps and sets too quickly. Their body isn’t ready for this yet.

• Fatigue: As we get tired, our movement patterns can change, and it may become harder to lift the same weight with the same control that we had at the beginning of our workout.

• Poor recovery: With an injury, don’t forget to look at how you’re sleeping, hydration, and nutrition are. High training volume can predispose to injuries if you’re doing too much, too soon, and with not enough recovery between sessions.

• Individualization: Different positions or techniques may feel more or less comfortable based on the persons anatomy (torso length, leg length), their preexisting symptoms before the session, strength, and lifting experience.

Please note that there is no one perfect deadlift technique. There is the “standard” technique, but each person may need to make variations so that it feels best for them.

Rounding your back also doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to be injured.

The Jefferson curl is a movement where you are intentionally rounding your lower back and holding a weight. It is an exercise that individuals build up to over time and paying close attention to how their bodies respond. The idea being that at some point during our day/lives, we will round our backs to do something, and want to best prepare our backs to be able to handle that! With that being said, it is not appropriate for every person or every stage of rehab.

What should I do if deadlifts hurt my back currently?

I always try to modify an exercise before completely giving up on it. If you do deadlifts and they cause you pain, the following modifications can help:

1. Decrease the weight.

2. Decrease the range of motion by using blocks or rack pulls.

3. Try a different variation- Kettlebell vs. Barbell, Trap bar, RDL.

4. Adjust the volume- Decreasing reps, sets, or weekly sessions.

5. Foot/hip stance- Widening or narrowing the stance to find what feels more comfortable for you.

If you’re able to find a modification that works for you, start there and gradually build back up to your goal. If you’re unable to find a modification that works for you, or symptoms persist/worsen, speak to a health care provider/rehab specialist.

Deadlifts aren’t inherently bad for your back. They get a bad rap but are a great exercise for challenging your strength and range of motion, while building load tolerance in the posterior chain. If you’ve experienced pain with them in the past, you may just need to modify how you’re performing them, and gradually build your capacity up.

Having back pain with deadlifts?

If you've been avoiding deadlifts because of back pain, or aren't sure how to get back to lifting, let's chat. I offer free consultations where we can discuss what's going on, your goals, and how I may be able to help you get back to lifting confidently.

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