My opinion on squats has not changed since. Betting on being able to keep perfect form every single time, especially without the assistance of a fellow athlete, is a dangerous proposition. You may have performed the same squat routine 100's of times before but one fateful day, because you happen to be more tired or less concentrated than usual, the same 200 lbs may suddenly be too much to handle and, if no attendant is present, you will have to compensate by using improper form to get back up. This single incident may be enough to inflict a serious injury with catastrophic long-term consequences.
However, after two years of practicing deadlifts with a barbell once a week, I have come to the conclusion that DLs are a completely different animal than squats. For one thing,: if you have overestimated your strength of the day while deadlifting, all you have to do is drop the bar to the ground, no matter what position in the movement you are in. The worst that could happen then is a loud thud on the gym floor and the ensuing disapproving looks from disgruntled onlookers. That's why I would recommend performing deadlifts on an relatively soft floor, which should be no problem at most gyms.
Now for the incredible benefits of deadlifting: in my over 25 years working out at least 4
times a week, I have found that deadlifts are by far the best exercise for the hip extensor muscles. Up until a few years ago, I had neglected this muscle group by concentrating exclusively on my abs. I attribute this mistake to the fact that abs are considered as more aesthetically important whereas you cannot easily see your own hip extensor muscles in a mirror.
Over the last 2 years I have finally realized that this neglect had had very negative consequences on my back, specifically the lumbar region, for a very long time. Working intensively on my abs, which have always been one of my forte, while neglecting the antagonist muscles (hip extensors) had created a durable imbalance in my core region, resulting in recurrent lower back pain episodes since my early 30's.
I used to visit a chiropractor almost every month from the age of 32 through my late forties for "subluxations" in the lumbar region. In other words, one or several of my lower back vertebrae would become jammed, necessitating a manual "unjamming" by a chiropractor.
I had come to consider these lower back pain episodes as the price to pay to continue indulging my passion of fitness into my 40's. I thought that the ageing process (e.g. conjunctive tissues becoming less flexible with age) was to blame for this ailment and consequently that there was little I could do about it.
Then something unexpected happened. I was working out at the gym in Berkeley on a Friday night (I like Friday nights because gyms are usually empty, especially in a University town) when a 60-something body-builder caught my eye. He was doing a deadlift routine with a barbell weighing about 240 lbs.
As they were very few people around, we naturally struck a conversation about the dreaded deadlift exercise. Because of my prejudices, I first insisted that I would never try to emulate him because "the benefits of deadlifts were not worth the risk of injury".
He immediately retorted that he had suffered several herniated disks BEFORE he started performing DLs on a weekly basis. As I had ruptured my L5-S1 disk 10 years before, necessitating intensive medical treatment for several years, I retorted that my physician had specifically advised me NOT to perform any weight-lifting exercise with my back bent forward, the worst possible example of which being deadlifting.
Without flinching he replied that he had had the same experience with the medical establishment until he consulted a pioneering orthopedist at UCSF who debunked this very notion, (no bent-forward exercises post lower back injury) as an outdated myth. He went on to explain that the exact opposite was true, provided you proceeded very gradually, starting with light weights.
I must admit I was skeptical at first, because all that this gentleman was telling me was flying in the face of conventional wisdom and my own prejudices. After all, I had ruptured my disk by doing just that: bending over forward while lifting a very heavy potted plant during a move. It therefore stood to reason that the same kind of movement should produce the same consequences or worse on my now weakened spine.
However, because my curiosity has always gotten the best of me, I decided to give it a try a few weeks after this ominous encounter.
I started with an Olympic barbell and 20 lbs on each side, for a total of 85 lbs. My first surprise was that what I found to be the problem in performing this new movement was not the weight but my lack of flexibility in the hip region. I actually had a hard time bending over far enough forward to grab the bar without flexing my knees too much. So I raised the bar bell off the floor by laying 40 lbs weights under it. Starting from this elevated position I was then able to keep perfect form throughout the movement.
Despite my initial apprehension, my back did not hurt after this very first deadlift session. Neither has it hurt ever since. It has been over two years now. I gradually increased the weight by 10lbs increments and eventually got rid of the 20lbs weights under my barbell as my flexibility improved.
I have now been dead lifting 270 lbs (five pyramidal sets starting at 85 lbs) every week for the last 18 months without the slightest pain. Something I would have considered as pure madness just a few years ago.
But the real benefit of this drastic change of thinking is not as much my sense of accomplishment as the astonishing health benefits this new exercise has brought me. Ever since I picked up dead lifting, I have not gone to my chiropractor a single time.
Moreover, my improved hip extensors strength and flexibility have had a tremendously positive effect on my posture and the way I walk and run (my lower back injury had all but prevented me from running till then).
As far as I am concerned, I have come to consider my weekly deadlifting routine, combined with proper post-workout stretching (1), as a miracle cure for my back. I am all but certain that, had I practiced DLs with proper form as soon as I started working out, I would never have ruptured my disk or visited a chiropractor in my life.
This is my incredible story with deadlifts, a very basic, time-honored exercise that usually does not get the respect it deserves.
However, I understand that my story may be irrelevant to your particular situation, especially if you have been suffering from lower back pain and/or herniated disks.
Moreover, I would discourage any of my readers to pick up deadlifting before having completely recovered from any preexisting back condition.
Additionally I cannot overemphasize the importance of GRADUALLY adding weight over time when performing DLs (typically no more than 10 additional lbs per week).
Finally I must reiterate that proper form is essential, especially when using heavy weights. Because the purpose of this blog is not to go into the minutiae of weight lifting exercises, I shall point you to this page for proper form:
A beginner's guide to deadlifts
Good luck and always take with a big grain of salt what physicians not familiar with weight training may tell you.
(1) I will devote a complete post to post-workout stretching in the next few months
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