I hurt my back doing deadlifts yesterday.

[ThomasJ]

I was doing some stiff legged deadlifts yesterday and felt a wierd feeling in my lower back. I set the the weight down and could barley stand up. I stopped my workout and went home thinking it was just a spasm or somthing. Its been about 12 hours since and I just woke up and had to kind of "roll" out of bed to get up. I could barley set down at the computer to post this. I was wondering if anybody has had pain brought on by this type of lifting. It is in the lowest portion of my back. It doesnt really feel like a specific muscle or spot. Its spread out across the lower back. I dont even feel anything wrong when im standing but if I try to sit or bend the pain is severe. I hope its not anything major. Any ideas

[Nobody]

You should probably go get it analyzed by a doctor. You could've pulled something. But 12 hours rest isn't shocking to see it not recovered. Recommended is about 24-48 hours of rest.

Take it easy these few days. If it still persists, go to a doctor.

[evolution]

^^What he said. This is precisely why I hate that movement.

[jpfitness]

I always say, there are no bad exercises, only bad strength coaches (heard that somewhere), but in the case of straight legged DLs, I really don't like that exercise under any circumstances. If I want to hit my hammies I do ROMANIAN DLs, which is almost the same except that I do them with a "soft" knee, allowing me to keep my back totally straight. The problem is that you weren't sufficiently flexible to do the movement, and you rounded your back with a load on it, which means that you forced a very weak joint (lower back) to support what should have been a very large group (hammies). Give it a week of rest. Hard to say if you have really done something severe without have a doc look at it.

I would take an anti-inflammatory for the pain and swelling (Alleve is good), and see if your doc will give you a muscle relaxer for the spasms, which is what is giving you pain right now. Sorry to hear about your injury. Hope you get better soon.

[ThomasJ]

Today I am going to go to the gym for the first time since my injury. Im just going to do some very light training and see how it feels. The pain is very minor now, but is still there. It just feels like its really tight and needs to loosen up.

Do you think it is too soon to get back to the gym?

[pasquale]

If you *must* go back so soon... try to limit your activities to things which are supporting your back... eg. stationary/recumbant bike, bench presses with your feet up on the bench, etc. try not to do things like seated lat. rows, weighted lunges, ball excersizes, etc where you back/core is forced to support itself.

Deadlifts can cause serious injuries to the spine and surrounding tissue, i'd strongly suggest getting it looked at by a Dr... but hopefully it's just a soft-tissue strain.

Be carefuL! and goodluck