DL Hell

[Jimbo]

If you saw my log you know that - Yes, I am in DL hell again.

I wrenched my lower back during friday evening's workout doing DL's. Mind you, this is not the first..but the second time I have entered the bowels of this place of torment in the last year. Despite concentration to keep perfect form..my form must have faultered a bit. I'm not sure. Because of the past injury, I use DB's instead of a BB. I am able to keep the weight more centered and, in my mind, avoid doing what I did friday. I was pulling 90# DB's.

I intend for it to be my last visit here and am looking for 2 things.

First - What exercises will strengthen my low back muscles. I'm thinking they must be a bit weak. duh

Second - What stretches/warm up exercises do you recommend before intense DL's to help avoid back strains.

Once I heal, I will again, slowly, incorporate some DL's back into my program. But I will most likely stay light on the weights and just add reps. I dunno..I'm open to criticism/ass kickings/sympathy...whatever.

I can honestly say that in 2006 I reached a personal best...or worst...

Worse pain I have ever had in my life - trying to get out of bed friday night.

Oh..ps..my wife had back surgery tuesday...so I'm a huge help to her now.

Jimbo kicks himself repeatedy and hobbles away...

[gobbla]

maybe you ought to lay off the DL's bud. if they keep being mean to you, it might not be worth it! do you do any direct core work?

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by gobbla

maybe you ought to lay off the DL's bud. if they keep being mean to you, it might not be worth it! do you do any direct core work?

I've been doing some reverse hypers for ab training. I do squats...

But I guess that's what I'm looking for here. Suggestions for core work that might help me avoid future injury. I obviously have a weakness back there.

[I. Kay]

Strengthening: Planks (side and front) and Bird-Dogs

Magnificent Mobility has great lower back/hips warmups.

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by Ian Kay

Strengthening: Planks (side and front) and Bird-Dogs

Magnificent Mobility has great lower back/hips warmups.

Thanks Ian. I hate that I missed the last JP fitness summit. I bet I would know this stuff.

Planks. OK. Any recommendations on how long to perform them..set rep/time scheme?

Curious.. I've never understood how static holds develop strength. I see so much discussion about range of motion related to performing exercises. There's like..no range of motion there. How's that work I wonder? Hope that's not a dumb question.

[OldGuy]

I think it's more endurance than strength. How long do your abs have to hold during a set of squats or DL's?

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Thanks Ian. I hate that I missed the last JP fitness summit. I bet I would know this stuff.

Planks. OK. Any recommendations on how long to perform them..set rep/time scheme?

Curious.. I've never understood how static holds develop strength. I see so much discussion about range of motion related to performing exercises. There's like..no range of motion there. How's that work I wonder? Hope that's not a dumb question.

Jimbo,

You want a lot of mobility (so big ROM) in your hips but you want no motion in your lumbar spine (so core stability). Working planks and other core stability movements teaches you to brace under pressure for the length of a set. To improve your deadlift you will need to improve the ability of your core to stabilize your spine and improve your hip mobility and probably your glute strength as well.

Try planks 3 x 60 seconds and side planks 3 x 30-45 seconds. If that's doable, then next time add other core stability work like T-push-ups, elbow touches, and renegade rows. Then check into some hip mobility work. The Magnificent Mobility DVD is what you need. Work on single-leg hip dominant movements, setting regular deadlifting aside for a while.

[Phaedrus49er]

Not sure if you saw this PDF (http://www.crossfit.com/journal/libr...ofDeadlift.pdf) over on the CF site last month, but it was good reading for me as, like you, I'll tweak my back every so often doing DLs or power cleans or something with a similar motion.

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

Jimbo,

You want a lot of mobility (so big ROM) in your hips but you want no motion in your lumbar spine (so core stability). Working planks and other core stability movements teaches you to brace under pressure for the length of a set. To improve your deadlift you will need to improve the ability of your core to stabilize your spine and improve your hip mobility and probably your glute strength as well.

Try planks 3 x 60 seconds and side planks 3 x 30-45 seconds. If that's doable, then next time add other core stability work like T-push-ups, elbow touches, and renegade rows. Then check into some hip mobility work. The Magnificent Mobility DVD is what you need. Work on single-leg hip dominant movements, setting regular deadlifting aside for a while.

Thanks for that Lisa. Makes sense, very detailed and useful info! I'm going to be laying hands on MM after the new year. Santa stole all my $$

I'm still a bit stiff and sore now..so I will wait till next week before I try anything. This scared me. Hurt really really bad. I want NO repeats.

I was doing fine with DL's until I hit the 90# DB's. Fact is, two days prior, I had done 85# DB's and thought it wasn't bad at all. I never felt it in my low back at all. Upped it 5# two days later and friggin tore myself up. Sheesh. No warning.

I'll be replacing the DL's and probably the Squats for a few weeks.

One step forward...two steps back.

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus49er

Not sure if you saw this PDF (http://www.crossfit.com/journal/libr...ofDeadlift.pdf) over on the CF site last month, but it was good reading for me as, like you, I'll tweak my back every so often doing DLs or power cleans or something with a similar motion.

That looks interesting. I'll have time to thouroughly read that tomorrow. Thanks

So how's your Deads? You still doing them and avoiding injury?

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

Work on single-leg hip dominant movements, setting regular deadlifting aside for a while.

What are some single leg dominant movements that you would recommend? Are you talking lunges?

[Phaedrus49er]

Originally Posted by Jimbo

That looks interesting. I'll have time to thouroughly read that tomorrow. Thanks

So how's your Deads? You still doing them and avoiding injury?

My DLs now are better form-wise, especially after having read that PDF I sent you. I last had a really bad pull several months ago (mid-summer?), and once I worked that out (stretches, lots of foam roller stuff, beer ), I concentrated on running until a month or so ago while doing minimal strength work. I never have put up big numbers on DLs as I usually focus more on overall athleticism than pure strength or size, but I'm right back up where my ceiling has been for a year or so. It took me a few workouts to lock in my form and shake the willies I had for DLing, but I feel confident that I can go heavier before too much longer. However, I'm still apprehensive about Olympic lifts and will only do reps with much-lighter-than-I-could-be-doing weight for awhile since that's how I've had my worst pulls. I want to strengthen my core some more as well, meaning lots of wood choppers, Swiss ball work, and the like.

[jax]

I have the same problem from time to time so I feel your pain (literally). I'm thinking of just curling in the squat rack for a while :-).

[jax]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

Jimbo,

Try planks 3 x 60 seconds and side planks 3 x 30-45 seconds. If that's doable, then next time add other core stability work like T-push-ups, elbow touches, and renegade rows. Then check into some hip mobility work. The Magnificent Mobility DVD is what you need. Work on single-leg hip dominant movements, setting regular deadlifting aside for a while.

Any recommendations on how often?

[Irishdazza]

Uh...I know better than this...all the above stuff is obviously correct and from way smarter people than me......but....

...what else do you do? How do you spend your day? How do you move throughout the day? There is a gap there..one option...

Take up one of the boring martial arts. One of the ones that aren't cool and you're not meant to do. Say...Traditional Karate. Roundhouse kicks. Or as they say Mawashageri. Teaches you an awareness of your core you would never have had before, in a gradual and safe way. Your core will develop exponentially, but more importantly you will be aware of it step by step.

No matter what you do in life physically...you will benefit from this.

I'm not recommending this for self defence - but your back will feel better - and you'll be a damn site better at deadlifts because you are more aware of your body.

An opinion based on personal experience, author accepts no responsiblility for daftness or lack of education of post...real world experience and goodwill are the only recommendations herein.

[I. Kay]

Single-Leg dominant movements:

To begin, I'd say start with Split Squats (also known as static lunges) or Bulgarian Split Squats. Step-ups too. I would say don't do regular lunges until your back is 100% again. Very often there is a lot of upper-body movement in the move back to the standing position. Some people really get a lower back jolt from those.

But the SS, BSS and Step-ups should be good for ya, along with the bird-dogs and planks.

[karkid]

When I tweaked my back real bad doing deadlifts I went to the chiropractor 3 times in 2 weeks, and stretched. The chiropractor would give me a 1 hour massage then adjust my back. After those 2 weeks I went back to lift and my dl was up 30 pounds! Get some good help if you can and lay off the exercise til it feels right.

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus49er

Not sure if you saw this PDF (http://www.crossfit.com/journal/libr...ofDeadlift.pdf) over on the CF site last month, but it was good reading for me as, like you, I'll tweak my back every so often doing DLs or power cleans or something with a similar motion.

Excellent, excellent article. Thanks for posting that! I'm still learning to and this was very instructive.