This is part of the Real Talk With Client Series. Click here for the rules. Go here to see other topics.
Should I fear deadlifting?
What would you do if you wanted to get hurt lifting? You’d,
- Focus on the most injury prone area (low back)
- Lift basically as much as your body could
- Lean over through a lot of range of motion
- Make the lift similar to a motion you already do a lot of
- Deadlifting is similar to sitting (knees are into chest; spine leaning forward)
- Repetitive motion is one of the best ways to flare up an area
- Deadlifting is similar to sitting (knees are into chest; spine leaning forward)
- Make the lift technical. Pick one done professionally
- …powerlifters…
Next, options. Is deadlifting dangerous in comparison to an alternative? Virtually any other lift is going to,
- Focus less on the low back
- Not allow as much weight
- Have less range of motion at the spine
- Not be as similar to sitting
- Be less technical
Yes, deadlifting is dangerous. Most shouldn’t, needn’t, do it. You can work all the same muscles with less risk.
That said, running causes more injuries than walking. If you want to run, that’s fine, but don’t get bullshitted with “if you have good form there’s no risk,” nor lies saying it is AT ALL required for ANYTHING other than you want to be good at, or enjoy, deadlifting running.
Posted in: 60 Seconds Or Less, Lower Back Pain
Steven M Horwitz
January 28, 2019
Oh my! Deadlifting is one of the BEST exercises any human being can perform. It is all in the preparation. Everytime you lift something off the floor, pick up something from the ground, you “deadlift.” Don’t blame the exercise for the human failure.
b-reddy
January 29, 2019
No.
Steven M Horwitz
January 29, 2019
Respectfully disagree.
Kiel McDougall
January 30, 2019
Great post, Brian. I’m curious why making a lift more technical also make it more dangerous. Is this due to the strain of repetitive motions? The increased likelihood of making an error? Thanks for great content!
b-reddy
February 1, 2019
You nailed it with increased likelihood of error. As the other commenter, Steven, hit on, many like to blame the human for making the error.
I once took an aerospace course, one of the sections was safety. I can’t remember the exact number, but some inordinate amount of flight accidents can be classified as having root cause of “human error.”
Yet, as the course went into, almost always the solution is not pick better humans. Or give them better trainers. And certainly not just accept there will be so many deaths every year because we’re human. No, it’s something like don’t make that button as close to that button. Or make the computer interface easier to see.
The fact is if an average client says “I want to work the back of my body,” and you have the option of a simple back extension machine or a deadlift, blaming the human for the inherently more difficult qualities of the deadlift is preposterous.
Another way to think about it is (back in the day) you have Microsoft vs Apple. You want to print something. Microsoft makes you go read this manual, read that site, download drivers, blah blah. Hey, you have trouble with it, that’s your problem.
Meanwhile Apple you plug the thing in and it prints.
Which brings up another extremely important point- be careful blaming the customer.