Older Guy, Dead Lift and Back Pain

[HarryWhisman]

Mr Rippetoe,

After a short 35 year break in my weight training I have begun anew with your SS program, hoping of course to find the fountain of youth before I completely melt away. I'm two months in and progressing nicely.

In the beginning I experienced a good deal of back pain from the squats and dead lifts. Close attention to form adjustment has resulted in pain free squats but the dead lift still results in increased lower back pain. Today's weights were 170 for the squat and 185 for the dead lift. I'm sure I could do 200 or more for the dead lift. Right now there is a new dull numb pain in my lower back that began during the dead lift exercise. If the pattern stays the same, it will begin to fade later today and I'll be back to normal by tomorrow evening.

I'm 6'6" 250lb and back pain has long been a way of life for me. If I stand in place for more than a few minutes my back hurts. If I kneel over my back hurts. If I sit and lean over my back hurts. After 7 hours in bed my back hurts. Four or five times in the past 30 years I've managed to throw my back out by doing nothing in particular, and I'm disabled for six weeks or so.

To tell you the truth I'm hoping this weight training will take this burden from me.

Yesterday I went in for my physical and spoke with the doctor about all this and he really didn't have much to say except that he was pleased I was lifting weights. He showed me a picture, pointing to where the strain was during the exercises, but really had nothing else to say except that when he was doing it, he went with 20 reps instead of 5.

What would you suggest?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Well, I sure as hell wouldn't do a set that is so long that it almost guarantees that fatigue will compromise your form, at any weight. Doctors are not, as is so goddamn obvious, trained in even the rudiments of exercise science.

I think you're doing fine, and I think you should try to add some back extensions and some reverse hypers to the program for direct lower back work. This will help your particular situation so much that if you don't have this equipment I'd advise to to do what is necessary to obtain it.

The bottom line is that for many years inactivity didn't seem to help, so let's try something else. You'll be fine, much better very soon.

[HarryWhisman]

I'm on it. I'll check back in a month.

Thank You