Low Back Pain with Deadlifting
Often when deadlifting, people discuss the importance of protecting your low back. There are instances when low back pain during deadlifts occurs, but I’m hear to break to negative stigma surrounding deadlifts and low back health! Let’s dive in
Let us begin by discussing how the deadlift is an extremely functional movement. We pick things up and put them down on the ground all the time through our daily lives. Laundry basket, children, dogs/cats, bags of mulch or other lawn tasks. It happens all the time! Those motions aren’t much different if at all compared to the deadlift. So why do we become fearful of the deadlift in the gym? Because people have commonly talked it up as being a potential back destroyer! It’s time to flip this script. If done at appropriate loading principles, the deadlift is one of the BEST exercises you can do for overall back strength and health!
When performing a conventional deadlift, our hips and trunk rise at a similar rate while simultaneously lifting the weight and pushing your feet hard into the ground. Yes, the deadlift could be considered just as much a push as it is a pull, but that is a conversation for another time :). As we lift that weight off the ground, we brace through our abdominal muscles and squeeze our glutes, low back muscles and quadriceps to end in a position of being straight up. Now don’t worry, most of those items I just mentioned actually happen without you knowing it! Though we can always create a stronger contraction of muscle by actively trying to squeeze, those things happen subconsciously to become successful in this movement. It’s when we EXCEED our capacity of these muscle groups to perform the task that typically injury occurs. It’s not deadlifts that are bad because of the motion and the force required to do the task, it's the means in which you perform it.
This is also why I choose to very often program deadlifting for low back pain! It may not occur right away after an acute bout of pain or injury, but even if your goals are not to get back to deadlifting, the mechanics of the movement are used every day. If you do this movement every day, as I know you do because everyone has to pick things up from the ground, then it certainly needs to be practiced. The more the body practices it after pain has been calmed down with other movements or modalities, the better it responds and remembers that the overall motion is safe. The brain is a wonderful organ, and part of practicing this motion even though it may have been the motion that pain happened in the first place, is that exposure in moderation ends up being a healing mechanism! Now conversely, if returning to deadlifting after low back pain is your goal, then you sure as hell know we will be deadlifting as part of your rehab to build back up your resiliency in the movement itself! Brick by brick, it will get there. But please remember, deadlifting is NOT back for your back. Science has never supported this, and research has actually continued to show only its benefits.
Need assistance on eliminating low back pain or having guidance on a proper rehab program to focus on what may be your specific limitations? Let’s chat! I would be happy to discuss further how Loon State Physical Therapy can be a teammate in getting you back to moving and feeling your best! Our physical therapy locations are conveniently located in Minneapolis in the Linden Hills neighborhood and Northeast Minneapolis to best help you get out of pain. Call us at (612) 405-8503 or book with us online at www.loonstatephysicaltherapy.com for an in-person or virtual appointment.
Until next time!
Andrew Eccles
Owner and Physical Therapist at Loon State Physical Therapy
