Deadlifts and Back Pain: How to Return to Deadlifting after a Back Injury
If you're an active adult, you have likely experienced back pain ️at some point in your life. In fact, low back pain is the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to missed work.
Given the condition's frequency, one might assume the health care system adheres to the most current guidelines that call to treat back pain conservatively, with solutions like performance physical therapy, but a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests that back pain is often over-treated, with referrals to specialists, orders for expensive imaging, and prescriptions for pain medication. (Deyo, et al, 2009)
We often encounter patients that have been told to stop lifting or stop moving at all after an acute back injury, which is probably the WORST advice you can get. In fact, recovery is often expedited with movement.
Returning to your active life and back to the gym can be scary after a back injury, but we help active adults and athletes return to deadlifting after back injuries all the time and we are here to guide you too!
Our top tips for returning to deadlifting after a back injury are:
Gentle Movement: When the injury is recent or pain levels are high, we start patients off with gentle movement. We want to move through spinal flexion, extension, side bending and rotation. We will usually start off with something like lower trunk rotations, cat/cows, and child’s pose lat stretch (side bend).
Retrain the Brace: Once some movement is achieved, we focus on retraining the brace. We will start with transverse abdominis activations and then progress to bracing methods used for lifting. We also begin to work in Sorenson holds or reverse hypers on a bench, working up to longer holds before progressing on to hinging patterns.
Grease the Groove: After properly learning to brace and working up to increments of 10 second Sorenson holds or reverse hypers, we begin to have our athletes work into hinging patterns. These may include PVC hinges or Kettlebell deadlifts to a box, depending on the irritability of the injury.
Get back to Deadlifting: Once the hinging pattern is relearned with proper form and technique tweaked (if needed), we begin to bring the kettlebell deadlift closer to the floor. This should remain within pain free range and progress until the kettlebell is being deadlifted from the floor. Once deadlifting from the floor with at least 53 pounds, we switch it over to a barbell and begin progressing the barbell deadlift in load – making adjustments to form along the way, if needed.
Deadlifts and back pain go hand in hand - meaning, we get everyone who comes into the clinic with back pain deadlifting as part of their plan of care. We will go over the progressions from injury to deadlifts with videos below.
Gentle Movement:
When the injury is recent or pain levels are high, we start patients off with gentle movement. We want to move through spinal flexion, extension, side bending and rotation. We will usually start off with lower trunk rotations, pelvic tilts, and child’s pose lat stretch (side bend). (Click the video to see the playlist for Gentle Movement for Low Back Pain)
Retrain the Brace:
Once some movement is achieved, we focus on retraining the brace. We will start with transverse abdominis activations in supine and then progress to bracing methods in standing used for lifting. We also begin to work in Sorenson holds or reverse hypers on a bench, working up to longer holds before progressing on to hinging patterns. (Click the video to see the playlist for Retrain Bracing for Lifting)
Grease the Groove:
After properly learning to brace and working up to increments of 10 second Sorenson holds or reverse hypers, we begin to have our athletes work into hinging patterns. This is something that is often overlooked or executed incorrectly, so we spend lots of time learning motor control for the hinge and making sure it is done correctly before moving onto the progression. This may include PVC hinges or Kettlebell deadlifts to a box, depending on the irritability of the injury. (Click the video to see the playlist for Progressions to Deadlifting)
Get Back to Deadlifting:
Once the hinging pattern is relearned with proper form and technique tweaked (if needed), we begin to bring the kettlebell deadlift closer to the floor. This should remain within pain free range and progress until the kettlebell is being deadlifted from the floor. Once deadlifting from the floor with at least 53 pounds, we switch it over to a barbell and begin progressing the barbell deadlift in load – making adjustments to form along the way, if needed. (Click the video to see a Conventional Deadlift Tutorial)
Returning to deadlifting after a back injury can be scary, but it is not impossible. In fact, it is recommended to return to deadlifting to keep your back strong and resilient and decrease the risk of recurring back pain. With the right plan, you can get back to your active lifestyle and continue to workout for the rest of your life.
Want to get help returning to deadlifting after a back injury?
If you’re looking for personalized, one-on-one sessions to address your back pain concerns, we provide performance physical therapy services to active adults and athletes in the Jacksonville Beach area.
If you’re looking for providers who will listen to you and help you get to the root cause of your back pain, we’ve got you. We will never tell you to “just rest” or “stop lifting”. Our individualized process helps you get back to the things you love without pain, injections or surgery.
Get started today by booking a discovery call.
References:
Deyo RA, Mirza SK, Turner JA, Martin BI. Overtreating chronic back pain: time to back off? J Am Board Fam Med. 2009 Jan-Feb;22(1):62-8. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2009.01.080102. PMID: 19124635; PMCID: PMC2729142.
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