Haven't Been Able to Squat or Deadlift in a Year

Training Injuries
1

At the time my max squat was 405 and my max deadlift was 425. I was squatting 370 when I hurt my lower back. I simply felt weak that day, and failed on the second or third rep when I had expected to get more. I simply got stuck at the bottom and left the bar at the pins. At the time I didnt even realize that I had injured myself, I felt very little pain. I also felt no pain walking around or laying down in every day life.

I didn’t really realize that I had hurt my lower back until later that week when I was unable to deadlift 225 off the floor. I took a few weeks off from squatting and deadlifting and returned about a month later using weights that were in a similar range of where I left off (~350lbs). It was shortly after I returned to lifting heavy that I injured the same exact area again while deadlifting. I heard a small pop. It is to the right side of my L5.

At this point I took 2 months completely off from squatting and deadlifting. When I started back up again I started very light with 135 and slowly worked my way back up adding 10 pounds each workout. Everything was feeling good until I got to 305 for 5 on deadlifts. On that workout I felt the same small pop and knew I injured my back again.

Afterwards my back was very tight and I couldn’t even touch my toes. At this point I was very frustrated and went to a chiropractor for a few visits. I never experienced any pain in just everyday life, and the chiropractor couldn’t really tell me anything other than “dont squat or deadlift heavy for the rest of your life.” After taking another month completely off from lower body training, I decided to return by doing front squats, but still no deadlifts.

I had never done front squats before but after two months I worked my way up to 245x5. I supplemented these with glute ham raises. My lower back felt totally fine during this training period. I decided to jump back into squatting and deadlifting yesterday, thinking that I had finally been healed. I started off with 225 on squats, which is very light for me, and did it for sets of 10.

After the squats, I felt a lot of tightness to the right of my 5th lumbar, the area that keeps getting injured. I didnt injure it yesterday, and there was no “pop”, but it felt like an injury waiting to happen.

At this point I am totally distraught and dont know what to do. I hear about other people hurting their lower backs and the problem seems to go away in two weeks. I have taken months off and built back up slowly but the area does not seem to have healed. Throughout this entire time I have been stretching my hips etc. I am only 19 but dream to compete in powerlifting. This is my passion and I am eager to get over this bump in the road. If anyone could offer and opinions I would greatly appreciate it. I will link videos of my squat and DL so you can see my form.

2

^^^

Did you get the “pop” correctly diagnosed?

Why are you not using a belt?

What program did you follow prior to the injury and what did you follow after?

3

I’m not trying to be an ass, but messing up your spine isn’t a bump in the road. You should seek a medical opinion based on testing, not anecdotes on the internet.

4

I had a similar experience. Though I never had any pops. I was running 5/3/1 and after a heavy set of squats something was really wrong. So I waited and tried again several days later, the problem came right back. I felt debilitated and weak. The best way I could describe it was a deep inflammation on the back part of my hips and lower back. I also went to a chiropractor and I feel it did no good. I took about a month off powerlifting and just did German Volume Training. Eventually I gave light deadlifts and squats a try. I think for me one of the greatest problems was not warming up properly.

Also, I have learned doing a little stretching in between sets helps greatly. I used to do conventional deadlifts and back squats. Now I do sumo DLs and front squats. The difference is tremendous for me. I’m pain free and getting strong again. I should note however, that I more or less had to start from the bottom. I am literally benching as much as I am deadlifting. My point is that you may have to do some serious reevaluation of your abilities now that you have injured yourself. It might really suck having to do a drastic reset, but in my opinion it is better than injuring yourself (which is the most counter-productive thing you could do).

5

[quote]McLovinGator wrote:
I’m not trying to be an ass, but messing up your spine isn’t a bump in the road. You should seek a medical opinion based on testing, not anecdotes on the internet. [/quote]

I agree regarding the testing. Without knowing exactly what he’s dealing with, the OP can easily squander more time and possibly re-injure himself. This is why I asked him if he had it properly diagnosed; based on his first post, it doesn’t sound like it. He also made a comment that’s somewhat frightening:

[quote]Brian14 wrote:
I hear about other people hurting their lower backs and the problem seems to go away in two weeks.
[/quote]

There’s no shortage of posters in this forum who come here seeking validation - all the while tuning out anything they find inconveniently tiresome. In other words, many of the people here will only listen to things they WANT to and ignore things they NEED to.

At the same time - most in the medical profession know next to nothing when it comes to correct S/C programming. I’ve met enough of them to see this first hand. Generally, they can’t even understand why someone would do the things we lifters subject ourselves to on a regular basis.

Therefore, reading others’ experiences may prove useful - as long as the OP doesn’t lose perspective. Empirical knowledge can help - just don’t forget that it has its limitations.

Hopefully the OP ascertains exactly what he’s dealing with. Then, hopefully, he’s smart enough to collect as much information as possible and take an objective approach to his recovery.

6

-Nothing was really diagnosed by the chiropracter. The only useful thing he said was that the pain was to the right of the 5th lumbar, which ruled out an SI joint sprain.

-I had always done all my training beltless and never had a problem. Two weeks prior to my injury I purchased a belt and began wearing it. The time that I hurt myself I was wearing a belt. I was also wearing a belt when I reinjured myself. The two videos are of me training beltless before I got injured.

-I was running 5/3/1 when I got injured. After I got injured I took months off of lower body training. When I returned to it, I started with 135 for both squats in deadlift and used a linear progression adding 10 lbs each workout. At this point I was squatting 3 times a week and deadlifting once. This is when I reinjured my back while deadlifting only 305.

7

[quote]Brian14 wrote:
-Nothing was really diagnosed by the chiropracter. The only useful thing he said was that the pain was to the right of the 5th lumbar, which ruled out an SI joint sprain.
[/quote]

Then he wasn’t much use. It can be a compromised disc, strain, or something else. A strain is the best-case scenario but we don’t know if that’s the case.

[quote]Brian14 wrote:
-I had always done all my training beltless and never had a problem. Two weeks prior to my injury I purchased a belt and began wearing it. The time that I hurt myself I was wearing a belt. I was also wearing a belt when I reinjured myself. The two videos are of me training beltless before I got injured.
[/quote]

Correlation does not always equal causation.

You said in your OP that you want to compete in powerlifting. Okay, let’s look at the best in that sport.

Study film on the best deadlifters and squatters in the world. Regardless of the weight class they compete in, you’ll see that they belt up when attempting weights that are at or near their respective max.

Sure, there are lifters who train beltless on submax weights and there are those who can lift close to their max beltless; however, the proper use of a belt is something all lifters should learn.

Are you properly engaging the core when using the belt or did you sort of get lazy in staying tight BECAUSE you had the belt on? Are you engaging the diaphragm by getting the belly full of air? This is why experienced lifters cue each other with the phrase “Big air, big air.” And once the diaphragm is engaged, are you then bracing down with the rest of the muscles of the core? When you perform both steps, you’re properly utilizing the belt.

There are other theories I have as to why you injured yourself around the same time you began to use a belt but I won’t go into it now.

[quote]Brian14 wrote:
-I was running 5/3/1 when I got injured. After I got injured I took months off of lower body training. When I returned to it, I started with 135 for both squats in deadlift and used a linear progression adding 10 lbs each workout. At this point I was squatting 3 times a week and deadlifting once. This is when I reinjured my back while deadlifting only 305.
[/quote]

By squatting 3xweek and deadlifting 1xweek, you’ve exposed your L-spine to challenging loads 4xweek. This much volume may not be a good idea for someone in your situation.

Furthermore, it sounds like you’re a barbell junkie who doesn’t perform enough of the non-glamorous movements. You know, those exercises with thin bands, light dumbbells, foam rollers, etc. that no one looks forward to doing.

Inclusion of some uni-lateral movements will also help you, in my opinion. I’m not telling you to turn into one of those unilateral all-day everyday guys. I am telling you that it’s in your best interest to discover and address any imbalances you have.

And if you’re going to tell me that you don’t have any imbalances, then how is it that you injured yourself on just one side of the L-spine?

I said this before in other threads: Just because the barbell is moving in a perfect line is no guarantee that your body is working in ideal harmony.

I suspect that faulty programming and technique are some of the reasons why you re-injured yourself. As stated before, it’s in your best interest to determine exactly what the nature of your injury is first, then proceed from there as objectively as possible.

8

So just an idea from someone with no credentials… Are you sure your form is 100% perfect? While squating, I’m not sure, but I think you back is slightly in extension - are you keeping your abs tight? Also, it’s hard to see, but maybe your hips are rotating a bit nearer the bottom. In the dead lifts it seems to me you have a bit of a round back going on. Might be a good idea to find an experienced PL coach. Also, if you have low back problems. I’d definitely switch to sumo and avoid high bar squats. That switch helped my back problem a lot.

Edit: typo fixed