I’ll start: I tried to move a bookshelf while drunk about 6 years ago and tore a tendon in my shoulder pretty damn good. It still bothers me sometimes if I move it wrong or sleep on it wrong.
I’ll start: I tried to move a bookshelf while drunk about 6 years ago and tore a tendon in my shoulder pretty damn good. It still bothers me sometimes if I move it wrong or sleep on it wrong.
Several back injuries led up to the one to rule them all, from skiing accidents to picking up a ping pong ball. One day a few years back mid-deadlift (right as I was getting in decent shape from a life long affliction of being a fatty) something in my back popped loudly and I passed out.
Hasn’t been a normal day since. Lots of physio and some rehab, just weren’t doing the trick. Now got some futuristic prosthetic discs and we’ll see how it goes. Hopeful again, finally.
I blame the utterly nonsensical popularaization of deadlifts. Whatever you get outta that, is minimal compared to the risk of potential injury. Also, 90% of the time, people AREN’T using the proper form, so it makes it even worse! add in trying to squeeze out extra reps, or going for a new PR, it’s just an injury waiting to happen. Been liftin my whole life, fuck deadlifts.
I think deadlifts done correctly are almost unanimously considered a good lift, but I was ahead of my skis that day on weight and already had a bad back. I’d been form checked by two trainers so I think I was okay there too, but I can’t be sure because the smallest, imperceptible change, especially if you already have a bad back can ruin things quickly. I live with a ton of regret about it. Hindsight blah blah.
What do you do instead?
Since dead lifts are primarily glutes and traps, just break it up into two different exercises. Squats (or leg press) and row. Also, the biggest secret to not getting injured in the weight room that most weightlifters ignore (to their detriment) is yoga. Yoga isn’t for bulking, it’s exclusively for all of the little accessory musculature groups that aren’t typically utilized in standard kinetic motion strength training. These are the muscles that help you keep your good form while you’re doing strength training, and preemptively primes your body to not injure yourself.