Should I avoid deadlifts ?
I started gym (group fitness) recently. Last week when I did deadlifts (35 lbs plate on each side), I got some pain in the trapezius around my neck. It went away after a day. 2 days ago, I did it again (25 lbs plate on each side), and this time I got some pain in the center back at spine and now passed to the shoulders. Should one not do deadlifts when they are starting a workout after a hiatus or is it better avoided when considering risk reward? I had a trainer for 3 months last year at Google, he didn't let me do deadlifts until after a month, and then when I did under his supervision, I didn't face any issues. I am now doing deadlifts in a group fitness class. I thought I was bending my back properly but looks like something is off. Age 30M
Your form is probably bad. Get help on that from others in person before you try again. YT video would work. Record urself and assess
I thought I was bending my back properly.
You're not supposed to bend your back. Flat back, knee bend to reach the bar, straighten the legs, then pull the back up while maintaining it flat. Deadlifts are an amazing exercise, don't let anyone say otherwise, but you need to work your way up slowly, train auxiliary muscles since it's a compound movement, and maintain proper form no matter what
You’re doing something very wrong if you’re getting pain with a 95lb deadlift. Ask someone who looks like they know what they’re doing for a form check in the gym or record yourself and have on the lifting subs on Reddit do a form check.
Deadlifts use your entire body. If you've neglected a muscle group like your core, lower back, traps, etc then they aren't going to keep up in a deadlift and something is going to overcompensate and eventually break. Even with good form. Your legs can be ready for 300 lbs. That doesn't mean your lower back is too. I injured myself doing 135 lb deadlift after getting a form check. I worked out a lot but neglected my core. And it caused an injury. OP needs to listen to his body. Something has been being neglected that he needs to work on before adding weight. And it sounds like his traps.
You should get a trainer to teach you the proper form. These don’t sound like weights that should be causing much injury or discomfort to what I’m guessing is an adult man.
I had a trainer once at Google, he didn't let me do deadlifts until after a month, and then when I did under his supervision, I didn't face any issues.
Get your own private trainer and train 2-3 times a week. You probably need to do this for months or years to build up a foundation while avoiding injury.
If you are feeling neck pain from deadlifts then your technique is way off. You should feel it in your hamstrings, abs, and lower back (to a very small degree). You're probably best avoiding deadlifts until you can nail the form down. Ask a trainer, ask a jacked guy at the gym, or go to a CrossFit gym.
Don’t do anything that causes potential injury
Get a personal trainer. Don’t try videos or anything else. Learn the right form and if you have any back issues then mention it, if nothings wrong with your spine then it’s probably the form. Fix it.
I really hope you’re using bumper plates that are all the same size and not the metal gym plates where 35 and 25 are smaller. Pulling from lower will mess your form up
You can do deadlifts, even after a hiatus, but you need to be careful about how much weight you load. Is 115 lbs (35 lbs each side) your max weight? Always warm up properly with no weight (just lifting the bar) and then a couple sets of increasing weight ti you hit the weight for your "work" sets (your actual workout). With deadlifts its also important to maintain proper form
There’s nothing wrong with the exercise. In fact for the regular person just looking to stay healthy, the risk is quite low because of low weights and reward is high because it uses your entire body. But it does require you to keep your body extremely tight - which might be difficult if you’re just starting out at the gym. I would suggest working out for about 6 months to build some mind muscle connection. Then watch squat university deadlift tutorial and give it a shot.
Is it the good pain (DOMS) or bad pain?
Bad pain
You might simply be wrong here. After deadlift hiatus I have what feels like bad pain. But it’s likely just doms, goes away and never repeats. Just do the deadlifts.