Heavy deadlifts are exactly what fixed my back after two decades of herniated disks and ruptured facet joint ligaments. A half dozen doctors told me I shouldn’t lift weights. Three times a year I’d blow it out and spend a day or two in bed. Physios prescribed birddogs and other cute stuff.
Deadlifts fixed it. Completely.
Probably the single greatest impact training has had on my life.
You've mentioned this before, and it still blows my mind. Is there anything else to the story? For example, did you work your way up to the heavy loads over a period of time, using something akin to Bill Starr's hair rehab routine, where you start with an empty bar x 25 x 3, add ten pounds and repeat the next day, etc., while slowly decreasing reps?
100% correct!
The last time I hurt my back was 2016 I think, typical facet joint pop and crippling spasms. Had 185lbs on the bar for a warmup set of deadlifts. Had to be carried out of the gym. Read the Bill Starr article and started with the empty bar about 4-5 days later.
That, focusing on perfect form, and a year of Easy Strength changed everything. At some point I started growing real spinal erectors and stopped having that sixth sense of fear every time I bent over. It took at least a year, maybe two. But it’s like my brain eventually realized “oh, we’re not weak there anymore.”
That said, I still avoid anything that risks excessive flexion like RDLs (shudder) or deficit deadlifts, my “heavy” isn’t other people’s heavy, I walk and do OS resets everyday, and I only pull double overhand. I’d rather my grip fail before my back any day.
But it’s convinced me that a lot of back spasms are just the brain remembering old injuries, being overly protectuve, and that we can override that process by carefully adding slabs of new tissue.
As always, YMMV, but for me now my back only hurts when I STOP deadlifting. It’s funny.
