Deadlift with herniated disc?

[LCN]

I have a friend who goes to the gym regularly but does a random bodypart split kind of workout, with very low weights.

I have been trying to nudge him toward SS and have gotten him to incorporate squats and chins/pull-ups.

I'm trying to get him to add deadlifts next but he has a pretty serious back old back injury, and I'm wondering if he should not do deadlifts.

The injury is a herniated disc on his lower back which was never treated. It happened 15 years ago in a skiing accident and was misdiagnosed as a muscle ache at the time, which left him semi-bedridden for a few months.

The injury stabilized because "the gel from the disc escaped into one side, which happened to have a larger gap, and hardened and stayed there".

He doesn't really experience pain from it but he tends to get back aches.

That's mostly verbatim from him, I don't really know what it means.

Does that sound like the kind of injury that could be aggravated by deadlifts?

[Mark Rippetoe]

It sounds like the kind of injury that is helped with deadlifts. Several recent comments to this effect that I'm sure you can locate.

[lukeBW]

I didn't want to rehash this post or subject but I have a sort of opinion/question


Wouldn't it be true that pretty much any back injury (with some exception) will actually benefit form stronger muscles supporting the injured part?

I mean.. compression or friction is what may cause pain in herniated disk
but it is the muscle that does the job of pulling your back straight
so I assume a stronger muscle=a healthy back, that is less likely to experience or aggravate an injury..

I believe if one is using common sense..
(keep the weight light enough to avoid stress and heavy enough to engage the muscle) there should be no problem deadlifiting with either herniated disk or scoliosis, which I hear often being mentioned as one reason for not squatting or deadlifiting..

Am I correct to assume that ??

I don't have a phaser (wallmart only carries light sabers) but I have plenty of opinions

[Mark Rippetoe]

A correct assumption. And Luke, nobody really has a phaser.

[lukeBW]

A correct assumption. And Luke, nobody really has a phaser.

This is pretty sweet
http://www.amazon.com/Star-Original-...pd_sim_dbs_t_5