Deadlifting With A Herniated Disk

Recently, a client told me that her doctor recommended she never deadlift again because of a herniated disc… 

​Advice like this can be so harmful for multiple reasons! Lets break it down...

1. This client is an active woman in her 30’s with two young children. Translation – she is constantly bending down to pick things up from the ground and lifting her kids, car seats, strollers, laundry, groceries, a large purse stuffed to the brim, etc! She can’t stop doing those activities… 

 
Deadlifting is a great way that we train for these daily activities. We strengthen and prepare our bodies so that when we encounter these everyday movements, we are ready!! By recommending this client not train for her daily activities, she is at a higher risk for pain and injury when she performs them.

1. Advice like this can also cause someone to alter their movement patterns. The advice and associated fear becomes ingrained, so now whenever they bend over, they awkwardly avoid any bend in their spine. Or whenever they lift something, they stiffen every muscle in their body. These alterations can, over time, lead to new problems and pain. Our bodies are meant to move fluidly and with variability! When this is restricted, muscles that aren’t usually meant to perform a movement become relied upon and overused… overuse injuries are a thing.

 

1. Advising a patient or client to never do something again, implies that their current situation is permanent. Now we know that mindset plays a huge role in pain, so does this message of being permanently “broken” sound like it’s setting her up for success…not so much. Am I saying that deadlifts will heal her herniated disc..no. But I am saying that it is absolutely possible for her to continue living an active life without pain! When we provide hope and find ways to keep our clients exercising, we are tipping the scales in the right direction. 

 
 
To be clear, I am not recommending this client head straight for the gym and start heavy deadlifts! But I am recommending she work with a trusted physical therapist ;) starting with the basics and slowly working her way back up to deadlifting! Lets train our bodies to be strong and resilient rather than coddle them into becoming fragile!