Background:
As we all know, I love the deadlift. I love the motion and the strength I feel just simply picking a weight up off the ground. Even now when I pick up lighter dumbbells from the floor, I try to do it with proper deadlift form.
That said, for the past two weeks I've hit big PRs for me. Two weeks ago I did 170 x 1 twice, and the week after I did 175 x 1 twice. I was super excited as you can imagine. If you remember one of my New Year's Resolutions was to hit 175 and then 200 in both the squat and DL this year. So, I was a bit giddy when in the first two weeks in Feb I hit my first milestone on both.
On top of this, the first week I hit PRs on the DL I also did some major hyperextensions which are a typical part of my back routine.
Needless to say, later that day I was sore. The day after was even worse as was the day after that. I'm used to some DOMS, but the type I get in my lower back after DLing is pretty bad. But it had decreased by the following Monday and Tuesday, so come that Thursday -- again I decide to try to go for a PR. I make it....but at a little bit of a cost. I get towards the part of the workout when I do hypers and realize I really can't. My back is just too sore. So I skip that part, and promise myself a lot of rest.
 |
| Ouch. |
That night I was on the heating pad...as well as the next night. I thought to myself. "Ok, maybe trying to hit 1RM two weeks in a row and complete hard workouts after that isn't the best idea." I tell myself that I should take a deload day on back day the following Thursday.
Yesterday:
I arrive at the gym yesterday morning, back pain pretty much gone, but a good lesson learned that I should not push it too hard. I would be "taking it easy" today. I decided after pull-ups my deadlifts would be around 135 or so and maybe 4 sets of 6 for good form and for explosiveness.
I finish my pull-ups and get the weights on the bar. 135. Easy. I pull this for warm-ups on hard days. I get in a good position, take a couple deep breaths, push my legs in and pull....
...nothing. No movement. But a nice twinge in my back out of protest for trying. So, like the stubborn idiot I am sometimes, I rest for a minute or two, get a drink and try again. This time I manage to get the bar off the ground barely. But it feels like 200 lbs and my back is now being not so subtle.
I practically drop it, angry. I strip the bar and decide to focus just on upper back work. I get through my inverted rows and move onto one-arm dumbbell rows, just to realize I pretty much can't pick up a 35 lbs weight off the the bench I put it on.
At this point I'm angry and my body and at myself. Ryan tells me he thinks I shouldn't do anything else in the weight room that day and so I banish myself to the elliptical (which due to its motion and the fact that I can keep my whole upper body still, hurts less than walking at this point).
The rest of the day my back is in intense pain. I take Alieve, lay on the heating pad and get a very gentle massage, but despite all of this, I know I won't be training back very soon.
Today:
On my mind now: what is the best way to heal? And why did this happen in the first place?
The second question is easier for me than the first. The answer is that, even though I try to listen to my body more, I tend to ignore pain. There is a fine line for me as to whether the pain is the productive kind or the harmful kind and I can't easily tell the difference. I've been listening to my body more in terms of food, nutrients and exhaustion, but I still have a big problem when it comes to pain.
What's the best way to heal? Honestly, I don't know. I hear all sorts of things including, rest, stretching, foam rolling, massage, heat, ice, anti-inflammatory meds,etc...
One thing that hard is that I didn't even really know what I did. I felt fine going in, I started to do an easy workout and it simply failed. This is the most frustrating thing to me.
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