Back Pop During Deadlift

3 weeks ago I was getting my 1 rep maxes. 500lbs went up really easy so I decided to go up to 520lbs (no belt or anything, just chalk). I got the weight up about 3 inches off the ground then I heard a pop in my lower back and felt the insides of my legs go numb for about 5 secs.

I took 2 weeks off and during the 2 weeks, unless I was just lying in bed, it would hurt a bit and sneezing/coughing was also a bit painful. Putting on socks was also difficult as the behind of my legs were really tight, it almost felt like I pulled my hammies.

This week I’ve gone back to training. The arc in my bench is fine and I’m almost back up to where I left off with the bench. My first squat session I took it easy and just tested squatting with a little bit of weight then for my second session I was able to do 135lbs for 5 sets of 13-15 and my lower back felt surprisingly good. Good enough that I felt I could do a few reps of 185.

I know lower back injuries are serious but should I keep doing what I’m doing (hitting light weights) or rest even more or should I go get the injury checked out?

But yeh, day by day it’s getting better. I don’t struggle putting my socks on now as I’ve gotten quite a bit of flexibility back and the lower back pain is a lot less while sitting down.

[quote]Grunzi wrote:
3 weeks ago I was getting my 1 rep maxes. 500lbs went up really easy so I decided to go up to 520lbs (no belt or anything, just chalk). I got the weight up about 3 inches off the ground then I heard a pop in my lower back and felt the insides of my legs go numb for about 5 secs.

I took 2 weeks off and during the 2 weeks, unless I was just lying in bed, it would hurt a bit and sneezing/coughing was also a bit painful. Putting on socks was also difficult as the behind of my legs were really tight, it almost felt like I pulled my hammies.

This week I’ve gone back to training. The arc in my bench is fine and I’m almost back up to where I left off with the bench. My first squat session I took it easy and just tested squatting with a little bit of weight then for my second session I was able to do 135lbs for 5 sets of 13-15 and my lower back felt surprisingly good. Good enough that I felt I could do a few reps of 185.

I know lower back injuries are serious but should I keep doing what I’m doing (hitting light weights) or rest even more or should I go get the injury checked out?

But yeh, day by day it’s getting better. I don’t struggle putting my socks on now as I’ve gotten quite a bit of flexibility back and the lower back pain is a lot less while sitting down.[/quote]

As long as it does not hurt you during your workout, you are fine. Also, video of your deadlift technique would be helpful to see if there are any problems that caused this injury.

I did 155lbs squats for 5 sets of 16 reps just yesterday. Back felt good apart from it being tired at the last set.

Here’s the video of my deadlift:

The 500lbs felt easy which is why I went up to 520. The ‘pop’ happened when I got the weight off the ground by a few inches.

I’m not sure how the form is but I think the injury happened due to accumulation of stuff. I was training hardcore for about 3 months (literally just ate, worked, trained and slept) so I had a massive increase in all my lifts of about 50-60lbs. I think it all added up to my back being tired and no belt.

I had this exact same thing happen about 3yrs ago, on a max deadlift, beltless, it felt like I got shot, I had the bar at about knee level, and my arch suddenly snapped, right in the middle of my arch snapped to un-arched, and I swear it made a popping sound. I layed on the floor for a few minutes, as I swore I broke my back, but after a few minute I got up, and shook it off. I was sore for a couple days, and tenative for a few weeks, but nothing ever came of it. It’s been three years like I said, recently I’ve come back to heavy lifting (last 8mths) I’m back knocking on 500 again with no aparent side effects. I had stepped away from heavy lifting for a few years, nothing to do with the blow out, just life, but everything seems fine. It’s imposible to say if our blow outs were the exact same, but it sounds like it. It scared the hell out of me, but I seem fine, never had back problems before this, and haven’t since. Goodluck

I’m gonna be trying the deadlift this week, maybe in a day or two. Gonna see how a plate feels then go from there. Lower back’s still getting annoyingly sore when I sit down for a while or while doing some movements (prolly cause it’s cold) but I’m able to squat all the way down now with hammies touching the calves.

Any criticism on my deadlift form in the video? I know I’ve got a slight hitch going at the top which is a bad habit more than anything that I’ll be focusing on from now on but is there anything wrong when the bar goes up? The vid was my max deadlift which is 500lbs and I’ve only ever tried 465 for 2x5 a week and a half prior to that.

I’m bumping this thread since it’s exactly what happened to me this morning…

My official max is 475 with also getting 500 to my knees before failing. Last week I got 405x15 touch and go. My friend convinced me that I could get 500 for at least one. I was warming up to do so this morning and planned a stop at 415 for 2…I got the first rep no problem, I reset and went for a second rep, got the weight about 2" off the floor, then my back POPPED. I put the weight down and laid down for 3 min. I went to work today and was able to move around, but I was very careful with my movements.

Yesterday I did some work around the house, such as cutting out old steel and led pipes (smaller pipes). I feel like doing This is risky, since you may use the “smaller muscles” doing this kind of work, and then lift heavy the day after and those little muscles are tired and some thing like this happens

I’ve never had any type of injury in my 7 yrs of training, so maybe it was about time?

I’m bumping this thread since it’s exactly what happened to me this morning…

My official max is 475 with also getting 509 to my knees before failing. Last week I got 405x15 touch and go. My friend convinced me that I could get 500 for at least one. I was warming up to do so this morning and planned a stop at 415 for 2…I got the first rep no problem, I reset and went for a second rep, got the weight about 2" off the floor, then my back POPPED. I put the weight down and laid down for 3 min. I went to work today and was able to move around, but I was very careful with my movements.

Yesterday I did some work around the house, such as cutting out old steel and led pipes (smaller pipes). I feel like doing Thai or risky, since you may use the “smaller muscles” doing this kind of work, and then lift heavy the day after and those little muscles are tired and some thing like this happens

I’ve never had any type of injury in my 7 yrs of training, so maybe it was about time?