[quote]factsaboutrats wrote:
I have a recurring back injury, which I think is a SI joint sprain.
I love to Deadlift, My question: What should I fill the DL slot with?
[/quote]
I had some fairly significant SI joint stuff going on a couple of years ago. I have copied links to some exercises that really gave me some relief and get the hips in proper position before lifting.
If you can keep your hips in a good position and are basically ready to start all over on technique, you can (and should) deadlift again!
#1 - stop arching your back (I don’t know if you are doing this or not, but on my end, it’s a safe bet). Think “brace,” so you should still stay tight and lots of tension, but it needs to be with more of an abs focus than a concentric back arch.
#1a - This applies to both squat and deadlift. I’m not saying let your chest dip when you come up on squat, but don’t actively lift it either. This means you’ll need to stay more upright on the way down instead of sitting very far back, but as long as you can keep your heels down, your knees coming a little forward isn’t a bad thing (think front squat). There are plenty of people who can get away with an extreme arch and never get hurt, but you obviously aren’t one of those people, so adjust your form to survive and lift another day. Strength is a lifetime adaptation - I actually squat and deadlift more now than when I arched.
#2 - get lots of volume with lighter weights on deadlift and squat. 3-5 x 10 (think boring but big) can help to build muscle and strengthen lagging glutes and hamstrings to help keep that SI healthy.
#2a - If you have trouble picking what light should be (ego gets in my way sometimes here), limit yourself to what you can do for reps with a double-overhand grip, no straps, no hooking the thumb. You won’t be able to hurt yourself with only what your hands can handle, and you’ll get some crazy grip work from this.
#3 - 3-6 weeks of volume at that grip, and you can go back to a mixed grip for your rep work. Do high volume for another 3-4 weeks, then re-test your 1RM with the new, no-arching, form. After that, the general rule of start “too light” applies to your training max.
#4 - kick some ass! no better way to do that than to find a way to keep deadlifting!!!