Due to my past back issues i wanted to ask if I could change up my Deadlift as main lift for the Trap bar deadlift. Will this work most of the same muscles? (I know it isnt full RoM and more like a reverse squat)
I had a back injury, which i’m almost recovered from. (SI Joint ) I have no problems anymore doing back squats. Changed to high bar and it goes up fine and am almost at previous level.
But still have some kinda nagging pain and joint pops when doing heavier conventional and even sumo pulls.
My idea was to do Trap bar deadlifts as my main lift. And use some more posterior chain work with the assistance. (Hyperextensions, leg curls , single leg stiff leg deadlifts etc…) untill i’m fully healed up, and maybe forever if it keeps being an issue.
what do you want someone to come here and say NO DO CONVENTIONAL, you musttt!
If its painfull and you cant then you cant man, no ones going to beat you up for it…
The low handle TBDL is great and isn’t really a squat motion like the high handle one. The high handle one is really easy and not as useful. It’s better than nothing though if it’s all you’re able to do.
I try to do low handle on good days. If it nags again I switch up to elevated handles. It matters from day to day. On good days I can even do Sumo painfree. But it flares up sometimes. So i guess it’s better to go trap bar untill im fully healed. Just to be sure. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me in my lifting carreer . Got set back a year of progress at least. Ive got elbow, shoulder and triceps injuries in past. But nothing is as fucked up as low back issues.
If you really want to deadlift conventional again, you could play it by ear each training session. Have your planned weights for trap-bar, but start with DL on the lightest sets, then, then trap bar for the heavier sets. maybe even switching to high handles if you need to.
Every month or two you could do one more set with conventional DL and one less set with the trap bar. Over time you’re doing trap bar for your top set and convention for some of supplemental sets. Ultimately your doing conventional for all sets.
If you’re short on time switch bars might not be an option, but this is a way to work back into conventional DL if that’s what you want to do.
Or just stick with convention and set a really low TM. One lift being insanely easy for awhile isn’t the end of the world. You might find that it provides room for your other lifts progress for longer.
The Trap bar used to my main deadlift for abit, less strain on the lower back what is not to like. The only down side is that it’s a bit squattie working the quads more just add some accessories for the posture chain and your good to go, also you are limited to the amount of weight to can put unless you have a rogue trap bar.
If you ever wan to go back to conventional it as some decent carry over.
Greg Nuckols is a fan of the trap bar deadlift and is of the mind that the trap bar deadlift isn’t as similar to a squat as people make it out to be. Check out his article and especially the hinge-squat continuum. Straight bar sumo is closer to a squat than trap bar according to him.
It really depends on whether you’re using the high or low handles. You can’t really use the low handles in much of a squat pattern. You can pretty much be straight upright when using the high handles though.
I deadlifted conventional for years (with great form) and eventually got injured. The length of my limbs simply didn’t allow me to have a neutral back while gripping the bar from the floor. I did all the stretching you can imagine. I basically had to start off the floor with a slightly rounded lower back.
It eventually caused a nagging back injury that went away, until I decided to try conv DL again. Then it came back, I stopped, it went away. Then I tried again, it came back, etc. This repeated itself a good 4-5 times. Eventually I said fuck it and switched to the Trap Deadlift (high handles) and never once got injured despite the big weights (5+ plates). I couple with with Back Extensions and GHR and it pretty much covers everything the regular deadlift would, minus the injury.
A good thing to note is that most athletes trap deadlift (MMA fighters, hockey players, etc). Unless you’re competing in powerlifting there’s zero benefit to a conventional deadlift. If you can trap deadlift 600+, do 20 strict reps on the GHR with a pause at the bottom, I guarantee you your posterior chain won’t be weak.
WoW om happy when I reach 445 still 40 off. Ye I had the same. I reaggravated my injury 5-6 times trying tovpull conventional and/ or Sumo. My conventional record is 445 also. But now when I tried 315 even for 5 as final set last time , I felt a little Pop again at the 3d rep.i immediately dropped it. The problem wasn’t as big afterwards though. Discomfort for 2 days and back to better. But still it wasn’t normal. I noticed strength wise 315 went up like nothing, but the frigging si joint… so just wanna be sure. And Maybe return to regular in the Future. But also considering switching to trap bar permanently. I don’t do powerlifting meets and don’t plan to. Just wanna get strong and look strong. ( Not the mens fisique kind of good looks)
still 40 off. Ye I had the same. I reaggravated my injury 5-6 times trying tovpull conventional and/ or Sumo. My conventional record is 445 also. But now when I tried 315 even for 5 as final set last time , I felt a little Pop again at the 3d rep.i immediately dropped it. The problem wasn’t as big afterwards though. Discomfort for 2 days and back to better. But still it wasn’t normal. I noticed strength wise 315 went up like nothing, but the frigging si joint… so just wanna be sure. And Maybe return to regular in the Future. But also considering switching to trap bar permanently. I don’t do powerlifting meets and don’t plan to. Just wanna get strong and look strong. ( Not the mens fisique kind of good looks)