Deadlift assistance exercises and lower back
 

Every time I add Romanian deadlifts or good mornings to my workouts my lower back seems to pay the price. Not sure if it's worth keep these movements in anymore.

Thoughts?

Have you filmed yourself to check you're doing them right?

Try going lighter and with higher reps, no pushing near failure or mechanical failure. Works well for me with the lower-back unfriendly lifts =)

It could be the area hurts so much because it is to weak to support the amount of work you're putting into it. Slow down, back off a little with the weight and work on form and strengthen it slowly with less weight and higher reps. Remember these are assistance exercises and are supposed to be used to raise the main lifts.

How much are you deadlifting now, TitanWIP? I think people get to worried about assistance work. Personally, when it comes to pushing my lift numbers up I put almost all of my work into the actual lift. I believe that you have to become quite advanced before you really need any signifigant assistance work, but I'm not sure if everyone would agree with me there.

Have you try "hip thrust" ...looks silly but really works. Have a barbell with a weight that you can handle for at least 8-10 and you are set.

you may have to check your form and making sure you are recruiting the right muscles. I remember Dan John once said, "Deadlifts don't hurt your back, the way you deadlift hurts your back." I would say the same thing goes for the RDL, but you also may want to go lighter as well.

I agree with this. Hip thrust or BB glute bridge. You need to make sure your ass and hamstrings are strong. Also if your core is weak your lower back compensates. Work your core, ass, and hamstrings.

Yeah, sounds like you're hinging at the lumbar spine (bad) when you should be hinging at the hips (good).

Don't try to get too deep at first...keep your back locked and once you feel the stretch go back up.
Don't worry if they are shallow, the ROM will improve over time.

Somehow, I picked the weakest video, but it gives you a decent visual (the guy's a little stiff if you ask me but his back position is safe).