Does Deadlifting Cause Back Pain?
The deadlift exercise often times gets a bad rap if you go into the doctor’s office for back pain. But should this exercise be feared when it comes to preventing back pain?
In reality, deadlifting (usually dosage or how much volume you are doing) can be considered as a factor for the pain you are experiencing.
We know that back pain is multifactorial – meaning that one variable or thing should not be considered as a cause for your pain.
Factors such as stress, sleep, work life, etc. may contribute to the sensitivity you are having in your back.
What this means is that you can often times improve your pain symptoms by modifying the stress in your life, becoming more active in general, or finding strategies for getting more hours of sleep per night.
All that being said, lowering your dosage of what caused your pain in the short term could be a good idea.
For example, if you hurt your lower back during a deadlifting set, jumping right back into deadlifting the following day is probably a bad idea.
This doesn’t mean you need to stop deadlifting forever!
Lowering your exercise volume and giving yourself an “unloaded” recovery during a short block after your injury is reasonable.
But in order to be able to deadlift again, you will have to progressively load into similar positions again. This allows your body to adapt and get more prepared for that type of stimulus.
- Rack Pulls – Limited ROM Deadlifts
- Deadlifting From a Box
- Deadlifting With Resistance Bands
These are a few ways you can begin loading in these positions again, and use deadlift variations to help improve your recovery during the rehab process!
At Peak Pursuit Performance and Rehab, we offer both in person physical therapy services in Salt Lake City, Utah and online remote consultations for those outside the city. If you are looking for help with your knee pain or running performance, give us a call at (801) 215-9087.
