Are heavy deadlifts safe in the long term?

I miss heavy deadlifts. Past 375 I get an old herniated disc pain. Makes me sad. But whatever, there are other lifts.
I think the answer to your question would be highly specific pertaining to your individual goals. Even within that scope constant heavy deadlifts week after week wouldn't be recommended. I won't pretend to know or try to figure out how much pressure is actually being exerted onto the posterior chain. There is a exponential factor concerning the weight lifted at certain angles of the deadlift. Particularly when the weight starts to exceed the confines of strict form. Even with perfect form you are exerting incredible amounts of force onto the body. Even at once a week lifts near your 1rm is a lot. If power is the goal then develop a mesocycle with clearly defined periodization. That would be the safest training modality if moving heavy weight (Like I love to do) is the goal. Ascetic goals would Imply at least some backing off from those heavy deads. I would make them generally rare in my own training. Olympic weightlifting..which at first glance turns deads into a efficient artform (even though it's different entirely) does not put any emphasis on heavy max deadlifts.. This is just my opinion though.
 
But I'm afraid for newcomers, someone may watch too much and start repeating. I remember when I was training myself, there was Lorenzo Becker. Many of us watched his videos and started training in the same style. I'm not even talking about ST and his biceps work, it was a real thrill. But at the same time, I do not deny the search for my own and the pluses for myself.
Here I completely agree that the beginner should pay great attention to the basic technique and still pay attention to safety recommendations and not exceptions in the form of top athletes.
 
Yup if you plan on powerlifting you will have to deadlift heavy on the regular. Keep your form good to try to prevent any injuries. Good luck with your meet. When is it?
Very often I include additional procedures for recovery. To avoid injuries. I used to try my hand at bodybuilding. Recently I switched to strength work. I'm thinking of trying my hand at competitions in the fall. Really I'll have to go to competitions.
 
Here I completely agree that the beginner should pay great attention to the basic technique and still pay attention to safety recommendations and not exceptions in the form of top athletes.
Often these guys practice on their own without a coach. They are emotionally charged. Elementarily, they need to look at their technique from the outside. I recently found videos of my first training sessions. God, I can't believe I didn't get hurt...
 
Recently I am getting really engaged with this exercise, as I just surpassed the 200kg barrier and I am now feeling the toughness and adrenaline of this exercise, I like to do it once per week in the back day.

So far the technique feels good even though my posterior chain is going up too much when I start the lift, I am working to correct that. It's like my glutes aren't as solid and packed as I would like.

My question is, is there any scientific evidence that it can hurt your spine in the long term? What about powerlifters when they get old?
Heavy deadlifts are safe in the long term as long as you don't have any preexisting back issues.
 
Often these guys practice on their own without a coach. They are emotionally charged. Elementarily, they need to look at their technique from the outside. I recently found videos of my first training sessions. God, I can't believe I didn't get hurt...
Everyone needs a coach and an outside perspective, as we always evaluate ourselves and our training subjectively. Therefore, the coach can objectively evaluate all the mistakes and say where to move and, most importantly, how, I control all aspects, and the athlete’s task is only to follow the recommendations.
 
My input as somebody who is 55 this year, 80.5 kgs BW / 205kgs deadlift

Most of life with lower back issues ( motorcycle crash in 1983 - split a fibreglass AGV helmet in two ) didn’t start heavy dead’s until mid 40’s because I was always cautious of my bad back.

Heavy deadlifts transformed my life.

Until I started lifting heavy I was constantly plagued with lower back pain. Off and on I would be taking 400 mg of ibuprofen just to get out of bed in the morning. By off and on I mean six months of the year every year for best part of 30 years.

For some very odd reason that I can’t actually explain, I decided to work on deadlifts.

Basically transformed my lower back pain which in turn transformed my life.

I genuinely haven’t suffered with my lower back in the last decade and I am absolutely attribute that to heavy deadlifts.

To be clear when I started my deadlifts was probably less than 100 kg. It’s built up over time and I’m quite comfortable to multiples at 180/ 190.

I now have various weightlifting, Olympic lifting and personal training qualifications always emphasise the benefit of deadlifts anybody I work with who is over 40.

As a compound movement (or indeed any movement) it simply cannot be surpassed for the stress it across the whole body, which in turn builds stronger bodies

No matter what your age you can benefit from deadlifts (which was basically the LPs original question) .

Granted when you’re my age or even older ( I work with guy who 78) the level of intensity is going to be reduced but the benefits still play out.

Anyway just my thoughts.

Lift heavy, love a lot, and have fun

(Apologies for typos/grammatical errors I’m dyslexic)
 
Until I started lifting heavy I was constantly plagued with lower back pain. Off and on I would be taking 400 mg of ibuprofen just to get out of bed in the morning. By off and on I mean six months of the year every year for best part of 30 years.

For some very odd reason that I can’t actually explain, I decided to work on deadlifts.

Basically transformed my lower back pain which in turn transformed my life.

I genuinely haven’t suffered with my lower back in the last decade and I am absolutely attribute that to heavy deadlifts.
In my limited experience, it seems to me that lots of peoples chronic pain is due to muscle imbalance and weakness.

I used to have a lot of hip stiffness and pain that I thought was because of deadlifts, but it turned out that it was caused by immobility and muscle imbalances and weakness. But my issue was because I didn’t do any accessory work and once I started working with a coach, all of that paint went away. Same thing with shoulders and bench.
 
My input as somebody who is 55 this year, 80.5 kgs BW / 205kgs deadlift

Most of life with lower back issues ( motorcycle crash in 1983 - split a fibreglass AGV helmet in two ) didn’t start heavy dead’s until mid 40’s because I was always cautious of my bad back.

Heavy deadlifts transformed my life.

Until I started lifting heavy I was constantly plagued with lower back pain. Off and on I would be taking 400 mg of ibuprofen just to get out of bed in the morning. By off and on I mean six months of the year every year for best part of 30 years.

For some very odd reason that I can’t actually explain, I decided to work on deadlifts.

Basically transformed my lower back pain which in turn transformed my life.

I genuinely haven’t suffered with my lower back in the last decade and I am absolutely attribute that to heavy deadlifts.

To be clear when I started my deadlifts was probably less than 100 kg. It’s built up over time and I’m quite comfortable to multiples at 180/ 190.

I now have various weightlifting, Olympic lifting and personal training qualifications always emphasise the benefit of deadlifts anybody I work with who is over 40.

As a compound movement (or indeed any movement) it simply cannot be surpassed for the stress it across the whole body, which in turn builds stronger bodies

No matter what your age you can benefit from deadlifts (which was basically the LPs original question) .

Granted when you’re my age or even older ( I work with guy who 78) the level of intensity is going to be reduced but the benefits still play out.

Anyway just my thoughts.

Lift heavy, love a lot, and have fun

(Apologies for typos/grammatical errors I’m dyslexic)
Great example, great results and a good example of the benefits of strength training. After the accident, I could not walk and sit normally, but I went to the gym and eventually recovered and returned to a full life. Thank you gym for life.
 
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