Hey, quick question. For the past two weeks or so, it’s kind of like I feel a pain in my lower back when deadlifting 315+. For example, even before I pull it, I can feel it in my lower back. It’s not anything crippling, though and my back doesn’t hurt after the set, but even with proper form, when coming up I may feel a pain, like my back tweak.
To add on to it, I was squatting last week (Light weight) and a pain rippled through my back and when I moved from side to side it hurt.
Yesterday I deadlifted 405x1 and gave out, but my max is around 470. Even weirder is the fact that 3 weeks ago I deadlifted 365x8 no problem.
Is this a back problem or a form problem? I was thinking of doing back stretches every day, but I don’t want to jeopardize my back. My insurance kicks in next month, so I’ll get it checked out. Just wanted an opinion here, first. Below is a video of me deadlifting.
You set up with a rounded back before you even pull, and you lower back stays rounded through most of the pull, I would fix that. Over time it will lead to bulging or herniated disc.
Not the best angle to observe your form but it looks like too much rounding in the lumbar spine to start with and some movement in the lumbar spine during the lift, also a bit of a lumbar sag during your final reps. Over time this will probably result in damage to your intervertebral discs.
Right now your symptoms can be a lot of things, facet joints, ligaments, discs, etc. So be careful and have it evaluated by a physical therapist (or someone like that) if things get worse.
Hard to say anything about “kind of like a pain”. Where do you feel it, what exactly do you feel, when do you feel it, is it related to specific movements, any irradiation, how long has this been going on, how does your back feel in the morning, etc.
Difficult to say anything sensible without a physical but for now it doesn’t sound like anything serious (yet!) or anything that would be difficult to get rid of (for now). Whatever the structures involved you’re probably talking about some form of connective tissue that is affected (while not displaced yet as with a “slipped” disc) so cutting back on the throttle a bit and, in my opinion, re-evaluating your form is probably the best way to go for now.
Maybe just deload for a few weeks while adding some assistance exercises for your lower back. Also work on setting up your lower back before the lift and keeping your lower back firm and stabilized during. Also safer to reset in between reps and using something like Romanian deadlifts for repping out.
The nice thing about deadlifting is that you can program it in your routine for 2-3 months and then not do it for a while while focusing on other things…
If you still want to deadlift I’d recommend cutting the weight in half and really work on keeping a neutral spine, in the video your spine is very rounded. It starts out in the wrong position and only deteriorates as the set goes on.
Don’t let ego get the best of you, cut the weight in half and really focus on that neutral spine.