Lower Back Injury from deadlift

[iddc]

height: 5'8"
Weight: 165 lbs

I recently injured my lower back from doing conventional DLs
i fell out of form when i pulled a 405, and my back rounded

stopped after 2 reps.
after a week i tried DL again, at only 360lbs my lower back started to hurt after 2 reps stopped immediately.

i squat on fridays and DL falls on mondays, and i'm always still affected by DOMs (esp in my hams).

what steps should i take to help me recover?
should i be taking cissus or some sort of supplement to help?
how long before i should start deadlifting again?

i have long limbs, would doing sumo DLs be more beneficial to me?
1RM 470lbs conventional.

 

[KrisL]

Your 470's not going anywhere. Take a month or three off from dl's. If you keep re-injuring yourself, you're gonna have a bad time.
Eat food and sleep lots.

 

[iddc]

3? weeks or months?

so no DL at all? not even other forms of DLs?
how about squats?

 

[Driven2lift]

Nothing that puts stress on your lower back, stick to pullups/chinups and supported rows

 

[Gutterpump]

You might be able to do BSS's (split squats with DB's) while waiting to heal, as this won't put much strain on your lower back at all. Great for quads and glutes. It really depends on the extent of the injury.

 

[iddc]

Well, the first injury happened last Monday, I was able to do 405x2 squat last Friday without any lower back pain. Back actually felt good today, but when the weight hit 360 lbs it started to hurt.

Damn no squats and deads for a month! Well whatever it takes for the injury to heal and not get worse.

 

[PaulBlack]

Damn no squats and deads for a month! Well whatever it takes for the injury to heal and not get worse.

Well, to add, after you feel better, you might want to add a vid, to get some more experienced lifters here to check if you are using the proper set up and form, staying tight constantly and using the proper leverages that benefit you perhaps!?
Also taking time to strengthen and or cement that form, so you do not keep pulling if your back is rounding or form is crashing.
DL and squat especially, should have one leaving the ego at the door. Don't rush the loads. Allow your body to take time to adapt to it.

As far as sumo!? That can depend on your build ie: waist length in comparison to legs whether or not it might be more beneficial or say better leverages. And that said, one can do both for training, but you have to use the proper form for both and stay tight no matter what. It is not necessarily the conventional DL that hurt you per se, but more your form crashing, or the way you were doing it that caused your pain most likely.

 

[KrisL]

3? weeks or months?

MONTHS. Unless you're Wolverine.

so no DL at all? not even other forms of DLs?

No deadlifts. No sumo, no romanian, no crossfit, no axle, no hex bar, not on a train, not on a plane.

how about squats?

Everyone else is probably going to tell you no, but I PR'd on squat after I herniated my low back, so only do it if it's 100% pain free.

 

[iddc]

thanks,

i'll layoff from both for now, just to be safe.
i can now focus more on my bench number, as it is my weakest of the 3.

what could i do to aid recovery? any muscles i should strengthen?

 

[KrisL]

Abs, lats

 

[mikespe]

I know all the diehards will disagree with me on this but I have been battling a herniated disc for many years & had to stop free weight squats. However, squatting on the Smith Machine doesn't bother it. I might take some getting used to but maybe until your back is healed it will make a good stand in?

 

[Strongman Ian]

I'm not gonna say any of the advice given here is wrong. To each their own and whatever works. I'll give my own personal experience, as I injured my lower back on farmers walk (a very similar movement to deadlift on the pick) about 4 months ago. I actually did nothing but lightweight deadlift movements, e.g. RDL, SLDL, good mornings, etc., for the following week. I take 30g of creatine daily, 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight, and always get 8 hours of sleep. I personally feel all of the other hyped up supplements are for bodybuilders, not strength athletes. They don't do anything anyway. When someone goes to physical therapy, they don't ignore the injured area, they attack it! Lightweight and easy at first, but it will strengthen and heal that much quicker if you do. Again, just my opinion and personal experience. Gotta go with what works for you brotha. Hope you recover soon.

 

[KrisL]

http://www.lift-run-bang.com/2014/01/prehab-and-rehab-excerpt-from-strength.html

I agree with rehabbing an area with the movement that injured it - once it's done being inflamed and horribly sore. A month off deadlifting won't cause anyone's numbers to drop - he's only missing 3-4 sessions a month anyway.

It's awesome if you're smart. OP went straight to a 90% lift a week after catastrophic injury. No bueno. For example, once it's good and feeling healed, keep it under 250lbs for a couple months, work out form and building tension, reps.

[video=youtube;olS555iext8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olS555iext8&list=UUFNW3_s5KJLIR6IsMYb4-2Q[/video]

 

[iddc]

thanks for the help guys,

since the injury doesn't feel too bad (lower back is already pain free) i will start off very light, just the bar. try to rehab the area for a full 6 week cycle (5/3/1) and also include the deload week, slowly adding weight week after week.
then on the next cycle i'll reset my TM and try to get back my prev. 1RM after 2 cycles (14 weeks)
i'll see how this goes, but ill make sure not to rush things.

as for squats,
i've always felt that my back was alot more stressed when i did Smith machine squats (pre powerlifting days) or maybe my form was off.
i was able to get a PR on squats even after i injured my back, and i didn't feel any pain in my lower back at all.
maybe i'll stay away from squats for now and try to start doing them again after 3 weeks of rehab.

i'll play it safe, no more Joker sets until i'm back 100%

again thanks!

maybe i should start a log again

 

[kjetil1234]

First off. An almost unknown problem is flexion between l5/s1. It's very hard to see unless you have knowledge of anatomy, because the back looks completely straight! A common co-symptom is that the client rarely is sore in the glutes.

Assess and relearn your hip hinge, as it's likely inadequate for your movement patterns.

Resting won't help. The only help will be adequate hip hinge and ability to create interabdominal pressure.