Hi all. I have a problem. I have tryed Straight Leg Deadlifts, Straight Leg+Straight Back Deadlifts and Stiff Leg Deadlifts. I do these on my Hamstrings day (after doing some Glute-Ham Raises) The problem is, every time within a few hours my lower back, right glute and right leg all hurt. This last for about a week. I dont do these of a block and dont take the weight any further than just below the knees. Some notes about the pain:
a) The pain in my lower back is slightly to the right side.
b) The pain in my glute is deep, also appears to run upto the top of my hip. Think it maybe my Piraformis muscle?? Had problems with this caused my keeping my wallet in my back pocket. (self diagnosed)
c) The pain in my hamsting is the most sore near the back of my knee.
I do about 10-15 mins of streching my hamstrings.
Sitting down makes it ache more. Standing up, laying down and streching makes it feel better. Normal Deadlifts and Squats dont give any problems (yet).
Is there anything anyone can think of that might be causing me this problem? Any solutions?
I swear I’ve written this post word for word in my mind many many times I have the exact same problem, with the one exception being that the pain is on my left side. My chiropractor has been working on me for a while now, trying to get some structural problems worked out. See, I have one leg a tad bit longer than the other (we all do) and it only seems to cause issues with the exercises you mention. I figured something was out of line a few months ago and thought I’d have it checked out. So far, with regular adjustments, it seems to be getting better, but the pain is still theree to some degree on ham day. It gets so bad sometimes, that my left lower back and left glute freeze up and I can’t walk or even sit down. I have to just wait for the pain to subside and it can take hours. The heavier I go and the more I contract my glutes and lower back during execution, the worse it gets. I think that even a minor misalignment can cause huge problems over the long term and can affect most lifts. I have shoulder problems now too, due to overcompensation issues because of this.
Sorry, but I should also add that the whole overcompensation issue is possibly the key here. You might not necessarily have a structural problem with your frame, you might instead simply have a strength issue here, where one side works like hell to make up for the weaker side and it’s the stronger side that gets hurt. I got carried away with the alignment thing, but I would have that checked out, if I were you. With me, I feel that a structural problem caused one side to work harder than the other and things just went from there.
Porkchop: Thanks for your reply. Regarding the overcompensation idea. You might be on to something. This week i will realy try to concentrate on pulling equally with both sides and see if a notice any imbalances.
Justinx - I had a similar problem, though what you describe sounds real nasty. During squats and deadlifts I would swing slightly to one side (getting the stronger side to take more of the load than the other). And lower back and hip pain would set in soon after. I got great help from seeing an ART specialist, who picked up some muscle adhesion problems, like in the calf, glute,and piraformis. He performed ART on those and other surrounding muscles, and it fixed the problem. He also gave me new stretches to do to prevent the problem coming back. He said my misalignment had a lot to do with guarding of a weak muscle structure by stronger surrounding structures. So, I agree with porkchop’s comments above.
Regarding your plan to "pull more evenly" to check your strength balance, Ian King in the first phase of his Limping series (for legs) has you doing one leg DLs, squats, and SL deadlifts. They will quickly show you if you have a strength imbalance, so you can focus on the side that needs help. They were also part of my recovery. Hope this helps.
To find out how bad the possible imbalance is, try doing things one leg at a time. The limping series from Ian King showed me imbalances I didn’t know I had. From there you could strengthen the weaker side. Good luck, and let us know what happens.
Porkchop - I have determined there is a weekness on my left side. I always find myself concentrating on contracting with my right hand side, thus my lefthand side is just “trailing”. I will focus more on contracting with the left.
Arniem - Regarding your comments on the calf, glute,and piraformis. I think this may also be a contributing factor. I have noticed some real inflexibility in my glutes/hams/calfs. I have been stretching these regularly. Can you tell me what stretches were reccomended to you? I sit in a chair all day and think this has caused my hams to have lost their felxibility.
I will start doing some single leg exercises to help improve the muscle imbalances.
As of my last two Hamstring Workouts the pain has not returned to the same degree. It only occurs in one spot and is not as severe (does not hit the lower back/leg as much). The pain seems to start to the right of my lower back, at the top of my right glute.
This sounds just like sciatic nerve pain. Those with known back trouble know what I’m talking about. This can be cause by a bulged or herniated disk pressing on the nerve, or tight muscles or an adhesion pressing on the nerve where it enters and passes through the glute muscle on its way down the leg.
A good massage therapist will find the latter and unbind the nerve sheath. Sessions are around $40-45. ART therapy is a more focused and pricey soft tissue massage/manipulation therapy that may help you. Good luck.
I have the exact same problem, with the one exception being that the pain is on my left side. My chiropractor has been working on me for a while now, trying to get some structural problems worked out. See, I have one leg a tad bit longer than the other (we all do) and it only seems to cause issues with the exercises you mention. I figured something was out of line a few months ago and thought I’d have it checked out. So far, with regular adjustments, it seems to be getting better, but the pain is still theree to some degree on ham day. It gets so bad sometimes, that my left lower back and left glute freeze up and I can’t walk or even sit down. I have to just wait for the pain to subside and it can take hours. The heavier I go and the more I contract my glutes and lower back during execution, the worse it gets. I think that even a minor misalignment can cause huge problems over the long term and can affect most lifts. I have shoulder problems now too, due to overcompensation issues because of this.