Fixing squat- or deadlift-related back injuries with rows

For many people, deadlifting heavy weight is one of the most enjoyable sensations. Especially after the lift is completed. The same is naturally true for the squat. However, these two important exercises involve not just lots of muscle mass, but also lots of joints and ligaments. Therefore, the risk of injury is quite big when doing these exercises. Additionally, the movements allow the trainee to handle lots of weight. Sometimes, the trainees like to handle more weight than they should – the ego is almost always the issue when people get hurt. However, once injured, the trainee is in a bad situation – should he continue training, or stop and let his body rest? Training is often possible, but the movements which caused the injury should not be trained until the body is rested.



The reason why an injury has occurred is often to be found in the trainee's weaker muscles. Basically, when the technique breaks down during a list, the cause is often certain weak muscles. Let's say the trainee's abdominal muscles are weak – what do you think will happen when he tries to deadlift or squat heavy? Naturally, doing the exercises correctly and in an incrementally-loaded fashion over some months will allow the trainee's abs to also become strengthened. But at a certain point, these assistance muscles will no longer be able to keep up with the rapidly increasing strength of the bigger muscles, like the quads.



The result of this phenomenon is injury. But by using this knowledge, it becomes clear how the trainee can prevent more injuries of the same kind. Since the problem is caused by one thing, and one thing only, the trainee just needs to fix this single thing. The trainee must figure out which part of his body that is weak, and fix his weakness.





The muscles of the back keep the spine solid during the deadlift and the squat, and in order to minimize the risk for injury, the back needs to be very strong. However, if the trainee is already injured, then deadlifts are not an option. Other ways to strengthen the back are necessary, but it must be done in a way that ensures that too much stress is not placed on the trainee's back. Some of the exercises that will allow this to happen are different variations of the row. Rows that are down below a horizontal position are especially great, since the strengthen the mid-section of the back, which is where most of the stabilization of the spine is being done. So, in order to fix back problems during the squat or deadlift, horizontal rows are very important.

Training through deadlift pain

For lots of us, training is important. There are many different reasons for this, and they differ between different individuals. However, even though we sometimes get pain while doing a certain lift, it might not be a great idea to stop doing the exercise altogether; instead, in many cases, it is possible to train around the injury and still progress while letting the pain slowly subside.



The deadlift is definitely one of the more important exercises. It is effectively an exercise that hits the whole body – if you have ever tried deadlifting after not having done the exercise for a while, you know this is true! As great as the deadlift is, people often complain about various types of pain after deadlifting heavy. There is a reason for this; first of all, lots of weight is usually involved when people deadlift. Second, it is difficult for many to keep their egoes in check, and this usually results in pain and injuries – especially on the deadlift, where you can handle so much weight! Finally, many joins and muscles are involved in the deadlift, and therefore the risk of injury is quite large.

Ensure you do your deadlifts with proper form to avoid injury

However, even if the trainee has been injured, there are ways to train around the injury. The first of these methods is to refrain from doing the traditional deadlift, but do variations instead. The deadlift can be done with the trap-bar, which can be very effective. The deadlift using a trap-bar is still great at hitting many of the same muscle groups. However, it requires far less mobility in the hips, and besides, it does not allow the beginner to mess up his form too much. Therefore, the trap-bar deadlift is a very versatile choice for training through a deadlift injury.

If the trainee does not like the trap-bar, then it is also possible to do other variations of the deadlift; for example, training with kettlebells makes it possible to handle far smaller loads, but still tax the back a lot. If you want to know more about kettlebells, I recommend the article on Kettlebell Workouts for Men. Kettlebells also have the useful feature that they strengthen your core, which is great for avoiding further injury. Another example of a useful exercise variation is the Romanian Deadlift. This can allow the trainee to train through knee pain, but still get a very effective back workout.



When injured, it can also be a very effective strategy to attempt to limit the range of motion of the movement. The reason is that it might be a certain part of the movement that is causing the pain, and if this certain part can be removed from the exercise, then the trainee can work through the lift and get stronger even though he has his injury. To limit the range of motion, there are a few different options. One of them is to do rack pulls. This means placing the bar in a rack so that it is far off the floor – this serves to limit the range of motion, and allows the trainee to simply do the first part of the lift.




To conclude, it is possible to train even though an injury is present, and all that is needed is experimentation – try, with a low amount of weight, lots of different variations of the exercises, and try to limit the range of motion. Keep going until you find a variation or method that does not cause pain, and stick to it while the injury heals.

Training the squat through a knee injury

Strength training is an important hobby for many of us. And for some, it is not even a hobby – if you compete, for example, then it is far more than just a hobby! For these reasons, some of us have a very difficult time knowing when to stop training. As we all hopefully know by now, more training is not always better. In many, many cases, less is actually more. After all, the time during which you actually get stronger is after training, when your muscles recover. If you train, say, every day, then your muscles will never get this opportunity, and you will never improve.

Now, if a trainee gets injured, then the points above still apply, but they are suddenly even more important. The reason for this is that, while the muscles and tendons are in a weakened state, it is far more likely to get hurt. This is why training while injured is an incredibly dumb idea. However, for many of us, as has been mentioned, training is something important. It is more than a mere hobby; maybe it is the break during our busy day that keeps up going. Therefore, quitting training altogether just because of an injury might not be possible at all. So, what is the trainee to do?

Luckily, there are many different exercises which allow you to train around your injury. This means that you can still go to the gym and get stronger, even though you somehow managed to get injured. Another great thing about the whole situation is that you will be forced to do movements and exercises that you would not traditionally have done; therefore, the chances that you will be hitting some weak spot more in this period is quite big. Chances are, when you come back out of your injury, you will be in a far better position to make gains than ever before.

The squat can be trained effectively even though the trainee has an injury. To do this, use chains as part of the weight. The chains are smart because they have their full weight at the top of the lift, but as the trainee gets lower and lower, more weight is transferred to the floor by the chains. This means that, by adding chains and taking off part of the weight, the trainee can work through knee pain, and let the knee recover even though he might have an injury.

Another option is to simply not go below parallel on the squat. The problem for quite a few people, especially older guys, is that after lots of squatting, the knees are no longer doing as well as they were. Going below parallel means a bigger range of motion, and this is always good – but if going there means pain, then it is a bad idea. It can suck, but a very real option to reduce the pain might have to be going less deep on the squat.