Deadlift woes

So on Tuesday, I was deadlifting, seven rounds of singles. I did a few warmup reps at 315, and then started in with the work set. The first few rounds, I pulled 385. I moved up to 395, within 10 pounds of my PR. It went, and actually went pretty well, so I figured, "Ooooh! Let's see if we can hit that PR again!"

I loaded on the extra 10 pounds. I gripped the bar, and gave a mighty pull. The bar came off the ground, then an inch, then two, then three... and that was it. I couldn't pull it. I set the bar down.

Bummed, I pulled off the two dinky little 5 pound plates. I then regripped, and pulled again, and the weight started to rise.

This time, however, something happened - I felt something shift in my back, and suddenly my back hurt like hell. I stopped immediately, and put the weight down. I knew I was definitely done for the day, so I started pulling the plates off. As I was doing this, I figured out what I'd done.

After failure at 405, I pulled off a measly 10 pounds, didn't give myself any time to recover, and pulled, hard, again. Fatigue in my lower back caused me to round it, and then there was a large shear force on my spine. I suspect that what happened was a herniated disc. The "shift" I felt was the disc giving way.

As of today, I can move around OK, but I suspect it'll be a while before I deadlift any serious weight again. Thank god for Advil and ice!

Lessons learned:

1. When dealing with large loads, allow for recovery time between rounds, even if the previous round didn't go.

2. I need to work on my deadlift form - must maintain a straight lower back. It was an absolutely sickening feeling having my back do what it did.