Lower Back Pain from Deadlifts? Here's How to Do Them Properly

When done correctly, deadlifts can help avoid back discomfort since they develop the muscles required for many everyday tasks, such as picking up your child off the floor or bending down to retrieve the air fryer from a cupboard.

“The hinge motion of deadlifts is a core component of human movement,” says Chelsea Long, MS, CSCS, exercise physiologist at HSS. This lift should target the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and core. A correct technique frequently leads other muscles to compensate and overwork, according to Long. This can result in a sore back and a few days on the couch.so what to do for lower back pain from deadlifts.

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General Ache VS. Severe Pain

What causes lower back pain from deadlifts? Here’s how to do them properly

First, distinguish between discomfort and pain that could indicate an injury. Because deadlifts place significant stress on the area between your ribs and hips (the lumbar spine), it’s common for your back to be sore after lifting, especially when you first start or raise your weights. You may also have pain in your quads, hamstrings, and glutes, most likely due to delayed-onset muscle soreness or DOMS. DOMS is a transient condition caused by inflammation in the muscle after a strenuous workout.

But recognize that this is not the same as pain. “If you feel any pain while lifting, stop the exercise, re-align, and double-check your technique,” Long advises. She suggests lowering the weights or only using body weight to see if it helps.

If you have acute, intense, or searing pain after your lift, consult a doctor. Sharp pain radiating from a single spot; pain that appears suddenly and does not improve after 72 hours; pain that affects your walking or balance; and pain that wakes you up at night, radiates to your legs or causes weakness, numbness, or tingling are all red flags for pain that should investigate.

An Effective Workout

If you’ve concluded that your soreness is normal, refocus on your exercise preparation. Always begin with a dynamic total-body warm-up, focusing on activating and contracting the areas that will use. Glute bridges and core workouts like planks and side planks can help you turn on your body’s glutes, core, and sides, which will help you with your lifts. (The core is essential for lower body movement; appropriately activating your abdominals aids in stability and energy transfer, according to Long.)

A decent morning, essentially the hip-hinge phase of a deadlift can also stimulate the entire posterior chain (the muscles along the back of the body).

Then, perform a warm-up set of deadlifts with light weights (or even your body weight) to help you focus on form and technique. Long suggests that once you know your muscles are contracting properly, you can progress to something heavier.

The third stage is to ensure that you employ good technique regardless of the action you perform.

How To Perform An Effective Deadlift

Begin with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and your weight equally distributed between the ball and heel of your foot. Your weights (dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbells) should be slightly in front of your feet on the floor.

Constrict Your Core

As your chest and head push forward, hinge your hips back as if to tap a wall behind you with your butt. Follow this action with your eyes to keep your head aligned with your spine. Ensure your ribs are stacked over your hips, and your back is not arched.

When your hamstrings don’t let you hinge any longer, bend your knees and continue lowering your body with your hips back until your hands reach the weights laying on the floor.
Prepare to hoist the weights or bar by inhaling. Grip the weights in both hands while pulling your shoulders together and dropping them down your back (picture a pencil falling between them). Maintain a straight spine.
Exhale and squeeze your glutes to move your hips up and forward while standing with the weights in your hands, pressing the ground away from you.
The front of your hips should be erect at the top of the stance, with your glutes clenched, butt fully tucked under, quads tight, and core engaged. This is undoubtedly critical step in protecting your back.
Hinge your hips backward, reaching forward with your head and chest as you lower the weights to the ground, and repeat.
Your general form should be comparable if you try a Romanian deadlift. The key distinction between these two exercises is that a Romanian deadlift begins with you holding the weight in your hands. Standard deadlifts are easier for persons with limited hamstring flexibility; these work somewhat different muscles.

How To Perform A Correct Romanian Deadlift

Begin with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and your weight equally distributed between the ball and heel of your foot. Hold two dumbbells, a kettlebell, or a barbell in front of your upper thighs in your hands.

Constrict your core (picture someone punching you in the stomach). As your chest and head push forward, hinge your hips backward as if to tap a wall behind you with your buttocks. Follow this action with your eyes to keep your head aligned with your spine. Check that your ribs are stacked over your hips and that your back does not arch.

As you lower the weights, maintain them tight against the front of your legs, keeping your lats engaged and helping stabilize your spine. Squeeze together your shoulder blades.
Pause when you reach the point where your hamstrings prevent you from going any farther. Try not to round your spine to get lower.
Exhale as you pinch your buttocks and press your hips forward, pushing the ground away with your feet. As you return to the beginning posture, your pelvis, hips, and shoulders should all hinge up as one unit.
Long recommends finishing your weightlifting practice with a post-workout stretch to maintain fluid in your hips and surrounding areas.

Here Are Some Good Moves To Try:

Last but not the least lower back pain from deadlifts can occur most frequently. According to Long, the more you work out in all planes of motion, the stronger your deadlifts will be (and the less likely you will be to damage or strain your back). Here are some of the best things you can do so far.