Lower back pain after deadlifts
A stiff, sore lower back in the day or two after heavy pulling. Extremely common, usually far less serious than it feels, and rarely a reason to stop lifting entirely.
This is general training information, not medical advice, and nothing here is a diagnosis. The same pain can have very different causes, and only a qualified professional who can assess you in person can tell which one is yours. If pain is severe, getting worse, or not settling, get it looked at.
- · Broad stiffness across the lower back rather than a single point.
- · Worst getting out of bed or standing up from a chair, easing as you move.
- · Sore bending forward, better lying down.
- · Muscles feel guarded and tight rather than sharply painful.
- · A jump in pulling volume or intensity: a new cycle, a test day, a heavy Deadly Dozen-style session.
- · Position lost under fatigue in the last reps of a set.
- · Deadlifts, farmers carries and sandbag work all landing in the same 48 hours.
- · Poor sleep and a compressed recovery week, which lower the threshold for all of it.
- · Deadlifts, especially high-rep or touch-and-go sets.
- · Farmers carries over distance.
- · Sandbag lunges and any loaded carry across the back.
- · Rowing at high stroke rates with a rounded finish.
- · Movement in general: walking, easy cycling and gentle range work almost always beat bed rest.
- · Upper-body training that doesn't load the spine.
- · Squatting and pulling at a load that stays comfortable, rather than stopping altogether.
- · The engine work that keeps you fit while the back settles.
Like-for-like substitutions that keep the training stimulus while the niggle settles. A swap, not a rest day.
- · Returning to hinging early at a load that feels manageable, then building: avoidance tends to make backs more sensitive, not less.
- · Trunk endurance work, so position holds when the set gets long.
- · Volume built in steps rather than jumps, particularly on high-rep pulling.
- · Sleep and overall recovery, which change back sensitivity more than most people expect.
None of the advice above applies if any of these are true. These are the signs that this is not an ordinary training niggle. Stop managing it yourself and get assessed.
- · Numbness or weakness in a leg or foot, particularly a foot that drags.
- · Any change in bladder or bowel control, or numbness around the saddle area. This is an emergency, go to hospital.
- · Severe pain following a fall or a specific traumatic moment.
- · Unexplained weight loss, fever, or pain that is constant and worst at night.
Sweatlas is not a medical provider. Everything in the niggle index is general information about training, written for healthy adults, and it is not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Do not use it to self-diagnose or to delay getting care. If you have pain that is severe, worsening, or not settling, or you have any of the warning signs listed on the page, see a doctor or a qualified physiotherapist.