Threw My Back Out

[Old School 3319]

With age comes pain. Thats why old men are so cranky we learn to swallow the pain and take the aggression out on young people. Drink my friend it always gets better with bourbon

 

[bnichols23]

Owwwww, my sympathies. Back trouble ain't no fun.

 

[canucklehead]

My deadlift is up to 575lbs and back pain is a constant maintenance issue every lifter deals with (I'm procrastinating on doing another set of stretches right now).
This is not some mysterious etherial thing, if your back hurts you need to do stretches, at intervals regular enough that it never gets stiff, that could mean eight times a day and twice in the middle of the night for a week, but that's how you heal your back.
Recovery from joint and connective tissue injuries is all about forcing blood flow into the affected area, often just stretches, sometimes lots of light weight repetitions if its a joint that is highly mobile (e.g. you can solve elbow pain by doing high volume low resistance band work).

In terms of how to avoid hurting your back while lifting, see a Physiotherapist (ideally someone with a history in strength sports, not all advice is equal), to actually show you which muscles to activate, most people lift like a crane with a team of squirrels at the controls, I know I did starting out three years ago.
If you don't have access to a professional, you can study the lifting movement online (TONS of videos on Youtube, I suggest starting with Jeff at Athlean-X, Alan Thrall was also a good guide for beginners) and record video of yourself doing lifts to see what you're doing wrong.

Alan Thrall is a good dude. Some of his recent vids have made me laugh a lot. This one is my favourite:

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Wow, that is an impressive deadlift, and especially if you've only been lifting for three years. Nice job!

You are right that many people instinctually lift with rounded back and would benefit greatly from proper technique. But unfortunately perfect form doesn't completely eliminate risk of injury, it lowers it a lot of course, but it's still there. I have gotten compliments from experienced lifters on my lifting form and still blew out my back a few years ago, and other minor aches. I think there is always a risk involved in lifting heavy weights, never heard of anyone who has been lifting for years and never been injured. Many lifters seem to have some sort of injury that they need to work around (some can't do bench without adjusting for closer grip due to shoulder issues etc.)

That's the crazy thing, most of these guys have been through injuries the average person would consider permanently debilitating.
"Injury" is relative to your ability to recover. The strongest men specialize in recovery even more than lifting.
Prevention is always best, but injuries are practically inevitable.

I stopped doing deadlifts completely because my back kept getting injured, perhaps there was some underlying weakness that manifested itself or something. Or perhaps I did some damage early on when learning the lifts. Never seen a doctor because of it though.

Back in 2018 I quit deadlifting after the first four months of doing everything wrong, in my mind I was done with that lift and put a year into just doing Squats (still pulled something in my hip a few times, a different problem from back pain but probably still relevant to the Deadlift) then in late 2019 I tried deadlift again and found out it didn't kill me.

My best advice on the subject:

#1 Mistake is probably recovery time.
Deadlifting is abusive, it will hurt you every time, you need 10 days to fully recover even if everything went perfectly.
Most of the work in a good deadlift routine is not deadlifting.
Leading to...
#2 Mistake is thinking your body will naturally build stability at the same time as strength.
If you want to see a master example in hip movements go watch Martins Licis (2019 Worlds Strongest Man).
It's possible that some people actually use the compound lifts for primary strength building, but not many, you need to build each side of your body individually or you will become imbalanced and just topple over under weight.
(Ensuring balanced strength also applies to Bench.)
If I'm right about my current program then these two factors are probably why 99.999% of lifters quit.

 

[elnoblecigarro]

That's the crazy thing, most of these guys have been through injuries the average person would consider permanently debilitating.
"Injury" is relative to your ability to recover. The strongest men specialize in recovery even more than lifting.
Prevention is always best, but injuries are practically inevitable.



Back in 2018 I quit deadlifting after the first four months of doing everything wrong, in my mind I was done with that lift and put a year into just doing Squats (still pulled something in my hip a few times, a different problem from back pain but probably still relevant to the Deadlift) then in late 2019 I tried deadlift again and found out it didn't kill me.

My best advice on the subject:

#1 Mistake is probably recovery time.
Deadlifting is abusive, it will hurt you every time, you need 10 days to fully recover even if everything went perfectly.
Most of the work in a good deadlift routine is not deadlifting.
Leading to...
#2 Mistake is thinking your body will naturally build stability at the same time as strength.
If you want to see a master example in hip movements go watch Martins Licis (2019 Worlds Strongest Man).
It's possible that some people actually use the compound lifts for primary strength building, but not many, you need to build each side of your body individually or you will become imbalanced and just topple over under weight.
(Ensuring balanced strength also applies to Bench.)
If I'm right about my current program then these two factors are probably why 99.999% of lifters quit.

Yep, injuries are part of every sport. Strength training in itself is preventative as it keeps muscle strength at level where day to day life should be easier on the body.

I should stretch though, somehow I always find something better to do when I should be stretching or foam rolling...

I haven't been deadlifting for about three years now. I don't miss it to be honest. Same muscles can be trained with other movements. I dislike that movement purely because of the risk and benefit ratio. Stopping deadlifts didn't affect strength in any other movements for me.

I don't chase numbers so I don't see the point in focusing on a movement that keeps hurting me. I do other compound movements though. I just aim to maintain really and making little progress in some areas when it comes.

 

[FurCoat]

That bites man, I've been there. Hope you recover soon. Ibuprofen and a heat pad might help to take the edge off.

 

[Pallidan]

That bites man, I've been there. Hope you recover soon. Ibuprofen and a heat pad might help to take the edge off.

Thank you

 

[weezell]

Back pain is my life 24/7. Would not want anyone to go through it...

 

[biz]

Hopefully muscular only. Once you herniate, your done. Be careful. Prayers.

 

[captainsousie]

Oy OP, that's not fun. I took mine out with lifting PA speakers a few years ago. It's not quite back to normal but is getting closer by the month. A lot of proper stretches, walking/hiking, and general attention to health continues to help but it's a long road.

 

[lochinvar]

Sorry buddy, hope it works itself out. I'm on year 14 of back and leg pain caused by......no clue. Not as bad as the first year (of course, I also had a blood clot with that), but everyday starts out with bagel, orange juice, baby aspirin and a tramadol.

 

[Jaylotw]

Ouch. Hope ya feel better, and soon. Those kinds of injuries can come out of nowhere but lots of times they can be remediated with stretches etc. and I hope that’s the case for you.

A friend of mine threw his back out throwing out a shopping bag of trash. I asked him what was in the bag. Through gritted teeth he said, “Paper. Just some paper. Getting old sucks.”

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Hopefully muscular only. Once you herniate, your done. Be careful. Prayers.

Plenty of professional lifters have herniated discs and keep competing (e.g. Eddie Hall after lifting 500Kg screwed up tons of things in his back, he went on to win World's Strongest Man the following year).
Rehabilitation is still on a scale, your lifetime best potential might be reduced by an injury but you can always build back up past your previous 100%, no guarantee of the timeframe or amount of effort required though, eventually it just takes so long that you die of old age before surpassing your previous best.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

I there my back out a few days ago, don't feel much like smoking. I'm in a lot of pain. I lifted a 5 gallon bottle of water and out it went.

Been there brother! I once through my back out sneezing. What a pain in the backside! Here’s to easier days for you and your back.?️

 

[ahinesdesign]

Hope you feel better soon!

I've dealt with back issues off and on since I herniated a disk in my early 20's. As I continue to age, it takes less and less to aggravate my back muscles and/or sciatic nerves. In fact, I go see the neurosurgeon again tomorrow afternoon to sort out a recent episode. A nice smoke and large glass of bourbon does help, even if it doesn't lessen the pain...

 

[Infantry23]

Man, I'm sorry to hear that! I think between h.s. / college sports and jumping out of aircraft some of my disks are on their last legs. I throw my back out in strange ways sometimes now.

I didn't read the whole thread but some things that help me are
-Aleve for inflammation
-ice to help numb
-heating pads to help with stiffness
-stretching my hips, glutes, and hamstrings
-using a large exercise / yoga ball to stretch out (on stomach and on my back)

I also identified triggers for me:
#1 *-lack of sleep and hydration *
-being on my feet too long
-standing upright too quickly
-stress

Back pain sucks. I hope you get some relief soon!

 

[ahinesdesign]

Forgot to add: The last time I inflamed my back/sciatic nerves in December, I was prescribed Prednisone to help relieve inflammation. Worked like a treat, unfortunately Prednisone turns me into Jekyll and Hyde, so I can only stand it for 2 or 3 days before I lose control of my emotions and stop taking it... but that's generally enough to get me back on the right path, coupled with rest and avoidance of activity that would further inflame things.

 

[wyfbane]

I wish you a speedy recovery. I have a lot of back pain myself. Working through it usually does the trick, but it can take a lot longer than you want it to.

 

[STP]

Yep, back pain sucks, and it can be debilitating. It’s hard to enjoy pipe smoking, or anything, when you’re in pain. Hope you recover soon ?

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

Been there brother! I once through my back out sneezing. What a pain in the backside! Here’s to easier days for you and your back.?️

Me too! That was embarrassing to say the least...