Do You Have Lower Back Pain After Deadlifting?
These Are the 3 Most Common Reasons Why You’re Feeling Lower Back Pain After Deadlifting
Deadlifting is a fundamental hinge pattern that is a part of any great training program. The deadlift is great for recruitment of low back, gluteal, and hamstring musculature. However, this is also an exercise that causes a lot of clients to feel lower back pain after deadlifting. This type of low back pain typically progressively gets worse over time, or just lingers there for what feels like forever! So, why do some people get back pain from deadlifting?
One of the most common reasons is that people do too much too soon. Their muscles haven’t built the tissue capacity to lift that amount of weight for that many repetitions. As a result, they begin to compensate and overload the joint structures instead of the muscles. That means that our focus needs to be on proper technique throughout the range of motion with an appropriate amount of weight. I like to use a scale called an RPE scale (Rating of Perceived Exertion) to rate the level of difficulty of an exercise. The scale is from 1-10, with 1 being super easy, and 10 being the hardest possible level of intensity. When clients are first starting out, I want that level to hover between a 5-6 until they master the movement pattern. Then we can consider increasing the weight to increase the RPE to a 7-8.
Another most common reason people have low back pain from deadlifting is the technique itself. I’ve seen it all, and I’m going to share what I find that most people do in the gym that causes them to feel low back pain with the deadlift:
Not bending the knees enough: many clients keep their legs stiff to avoid being too “squatty” with the hip hinge. Although we don’t want to perform a squat, we also are not attempting to do a stiff-legged (Romanian) deadlift either. This stiff-legged variation of deadlifting loads the hamstrings more than a conventional deadlift. We typically can’t lift as much weight with that stance compared to a wider base of support with the conventional deadlift. Clients will then begin rounding their back as a result (something we want to try to avoid with the deadlift). Perform a classic hip hinge (as can be seen on the right) to optimize the setup for your conventional deadlift.
Keeping the bar too far away from your shins: many clients let the bar get too far ahead of them. This forces them to round their back and overutilize their back extensors. If they don’t compensate this way, then gravity will pull them forward. So, instead of coming straight up, they come up and back. This overloads the low back muscles and joints, leading to complaints of low back pain. Instead, we want our clients to use their hip muscles a bit more to pull the weight straight up. It is also helpful to “take up the slack of the bar” before you begin lifting to ensure proper lat and shoulder blade engagement. This tensions something called the thoracolumbar fascia, engages the abdominal musculature, and increases spinal stiffness in preparation for the lift.
Proper bar distance is right over your shoe laces, and almost “scraping” your shins.
3. Hyperextending the back: many clients finish the movement of the deadlifting by overarching their back. The movement should be performed by pushing through the entire sole of the foot (aka the tripod of the foot- see below). This ensures that the client stands up nice and tall, and extends from the hips/pelvis instead of the lower back (see below).
Proper Technique at the top of the phase.
Extend the hips, back straight.
Improper Technique at the top of the phase.
Low back hyperextended.
Check out this video comparing the incorrect technique to the correct technique:
If you or somebody you know is having low back pain with deadlifting, please feel free to have them reach out to me. I am an orthopedic, manual physical therapist in Industry City, Brooklyn. My practice is called The Game Plan Physical Therapy. I work with endurance and strength athletes who are having difficulty getting back into the game. Let’s get you back to deadlifting and exercising without pain!
Disclaimer: This is not intended to be formal medical advice. Your individual needs should be met by the appropriate health care practitioners. Please consult with a trusted provider.
Dr. Paul Nasri, PT, DPT, OCS, COMT
Doctor of Physical Therapy
The Game Plan Physical Therapy
