Why Deadlifts Hurt Your Back – BowlFit Tips

One of the most important exercises to incorporate into your training is the dreaded deadlift. I have talked to so many people that avoid deadlifts all together because they claim they have thrown their back out in the past trying to do them. It has been said often in the world of physical therapy that an injury to an area means you should work that area more- not less. The area is typically injured because it isn’t functioning properly. If you are getting hurt from deadlifts it means your deadlift needs work; your hinging pattern needs work.

Common mistakes I see with deadlifts are as follows-
1) Not maintaining a neutral spine and using your lower back to pull the weight up instead of your hips and glutes. To get yourself in neutral spine before your lift perform cat/cows and then find neutral.
2) Squatting instead of deadlifting. A deadlift is NOT a squat, however you see many people perform it that way. That reach down for the bar by squatting with knees coming in front of the ankles. A deadlift is simply a hinge at the hips. Simply start by standing up, push your hips toward the wall behind you (instead of down towards the ground), and then soften your knees up so that they aren’t locked.
3) Not activating lats. But wait, deadlifts are a “leg” exercise right? Well, for one deadlifts are a hip dominant exercise, so if you want to call it leg day, sure. However to keep the spine neutral as mentioned in mistake #1, you have to lock down the upper body by activating your lats that way your shoulders aren’t rounding forward and upper body is solid and stable. This also helps activate your core- you should feel like your bracing like a plank.

If you try these 3 things you are definitely going to improve your deadlift technique and reduce the likelihood of getting injured from them. Deadlifts strengthen hip extension, and people that sit at desk all day are stuck in hip flexion and NEED this exercise, so STOP SKIPPING HIP DAY.

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About Heather –

Heather D’Errico MS, CSCS, CFSC, LMT

Heather began BowlFit in 2013 with the hope to provide awareness to bowlers about how crucial training off the lanes truly is. She has been an avid bowler her entire life competing as a collegiate bowler for Robert Morris University, assistant coaching at the University of Central Missouri, and now head coaches at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY.

She obtained a master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis on exercise science and interned with the head strength coach at UCM. She became a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) through NSCA shortly after graduation and began coaching athletes at Next Level Strength and Conditioning in Fairport, NY.

In October 2015 she received her certified functional strength coach certification and then went back to school in July 2016 for massage therapy. She is now a licensed massage therapist and runs a business called Restorative Bodywork in Rochester, NY that specializes in movement therapy and sports massage.

Heather has also been competing on the PWBA tour the last 3 seasons and continues to use her experiences as a competitive and professional bowler to create programs for bowlers. She enjoys the challenges of making programs specific to each bowler as every person needs to focus on different areas for their performance goals. With that said her training motto is “do no harm” and believes each program should most importantly make a bowler FEEL better and play with minimal injuries/pain.