Why Is My Lower Back Sore After Deadlifts?

Mistake 1: Your Lower Back Rounds

When deadlifting your lower back gets rounded as a result of your form and this rounding of the lower back causes pain. Inter-vertebral discs of the spine get compressed when the lower back gets rounded and this is the main cause of soreness in the lower back. Apart from causing lower back sore after deadlifts, rounding of the lower back can also cause a condition like herniated discs.

Mistake 2: Your Lower Back Hyperextends

Hyperextension of the lower back is also a common result of poor form during deadlifts. Arching your lower back leads to hyperextension and this causes the inter-vertebral discs to be compressed again. While lower back rounding results in pressure on the frontal region of the discs, arching results in pressure on the posterior portion of the discs. Hyperextension of lower back also increases chances of an injury like herniated discs.

Mistake 3: Your Hips Are too Low or too High 

If your legs aren’t doing much work during deadlift then you are doing it wrong. Deadlifts don’t mean dead-legged lifts. The most common mistake in such cases is that people keep their hips too high and keep their legs straight. As a result, when it comes to lifting the weight, there is no room for the knees to work with as the legs are already straight. This means that your lower back and spine go into overdrive in order to lift the weight. Such a situation often leads to rounding or arching of the lower back.

Mistake 4: The Bar Isn’t Against Your Legs During Deadlifts

Science dictates that the closer the weight is to your body, the more easily you can lift it. It’s difficult to raise a weight when your arm is totally extended as compared to raising a weight when the arm is close to your body. The same applies with deadlifting. The further the weight will be from your legs, the heavier it would seem and the more work your body will have to do in order to lift it. So, always stand close to the bar and then drag it over both your shins, your knees and then your thighs before taking it all the way up.

Mistake 5: You Lower the Bar Wrong

The technique of lowering the bar is also responsible for causing lower back sore after deadlifts. If you will move your knees at the start when bringing the bar down, it would not go down straight but would start to go away from you and would thus, put more pressure on your back. The case can worsen if you end up rounding your back during the process.

Mistake 6: You Stretch Your Lower Back Right after Deadlifts

You may feel great when you finish your deadlift by stretching your back and touching the toes with your fingers. However, this would worsen your case if you would have already injured your back because of deadlifting with poor form. The bulging of discs would increase with such a stretch. And you won’t want this to happen if you want to quickly return to deadlifting.

Rest

As already mentioned, if you don’t want to stay out of the gym for too long, you must rest your body and give it time to heal from lower back sore after deadlift. A few days rest can provide the body the respite it needs before you can start bending and stretching again.

Ice Pack

Ice packs can numb the area and provide great pain relief. Ice also has great anti-inflammation properties and thus, works very well against sores. So, whenever you start to feel even the slightest pain in your back put an ice pack over the region.

Cupping

Cupping is an age old technique which increases the supply of fresh blood to the lumbar area and removes spasm too. Cupping ensures that the waste products from the lumbar area are removed quickly too.

Foam Roller

A foam roller is a great option for you if you can’t get access to any therapist at all. A foam roller can provide great comfort to your back if you roll over the regions where there is discomfort in a back and forth manner.

Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Most of the body’s fighting mechanism actually looks to put out the inflammation in most regions of the body. To make sure that the body’s energy is not wasted in this and is utilized to focus on the lower back sore after deadlifts, you should start adhering to an anti-inflammatory diet which delivers the right amount of fish oil and keeps the grains to a minimum.

See a Therapist

Therapists who are specialists in the lumbar region can give great advice and also help you chart a routine which will ensure that such lower back sores don’t come back to haunt you again.