The Made 2 Move Podcast · Hannah Breal - Physical Therapist

How to Return to Lifting Safely After Back Injuries

July 28, 2025·39 min·2 clips

The limit does not exist, and back-pain recovery has no universal cap.

Back pain can make lifting feel like a threat. The show pushes back on the idea that a back injury, especially a disc herniation, has to turn into a permanent story about what the body can do. That is the core argument. Instead of treating pain as a verdict, it frames recovery as a way to rebuild confidence and capacity over time. The hosts keep the discussion practical. They talk about deadlifts as a basic hinge pattern that shows up in daily life when you pick up kids, dogs, groceries, houseplants, or anything else that gets heavy. That everyday framing matters. It pulls the movement out of gym mythology and puts it back into ordinary life, where the real goal is to move without organizing everything around pain. Tam's story gives the episode its clearest proof. She had dealt with back pain for years, had tried a lot, and had reached the point where even looking at a workout could turn into a list of things she could not do. Her world had gotten smaller. The show uses her progression to show what can happen when movement is expanded instead of avoided. Now she deadlifts. She also runs, pushes sleds, back squats, and plays pickleball often, which makes the recovery message feel concrete rather than abstract. The method is gradual. The hosts describe starting with more ways to move, even if some discomfort is still present, and then slowly building capacity from there. That approach keeps the episode from pretending that healing is instant. It also keeps it from turning into a fear-based warning. The show is careful to say that this work is highly individualized and that a podcast cannot treat anyone directly. That keeps the advice grounded. What comes through instead is a steady challenge to the idea that pain means a lifetime sentence. The episode stays focused on helping people return to lifting and moving with more trust.

As heard by us

A steady, practical reset for people who have started treating back pain like a permanent identity.

The episode treats back pain as a real limitation without letting it become the whole story. It stays on the idea that movement can still be part of recovery, especially when the path back to deadlifting feels cautious and earned.

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Why you'd press play

Back pain can make deadlifts feel off-limits for good.

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