“Let me loose!” Howls Dr. Layne Norton as he slams a 725-pound barbell to the floor. For the good doctor, it’s much more than just another deadlift.
“Seven years ago, it all started to unravel,” Norton said.
“There was a time when I couldn’t even stand up or get myself to the bathroom,” he continued, describing his long history of injuries that could have put his powerlifting career on ice. They almost did.
Layne Norton’s 725-pound Deadlift
Norton excitedly shared his new 725-pound 1-rep max on social media on Aug. 28, 2024. “This is my best-ever deadlift in the 205-pound [or 93-kilogram] weight class,” Norton said. “At 42 years old.”
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Norton had suffered a string of injuries over a seven-year period leading up to his breakthrough, including:
2 lumbar disc herniations
2 bulging lumbar discs
2 cervical herniations
“Partially torn” hip muscles
“Partially torn” hip adductors
A “partially torn” pectoral
“It was the most stressful period of my life,” Norton said. “Not surprisingly, that’s when I started getting injured — stress increases injury risk and decreases pain tolerance.”
He’s right. A 2021 study from the journal Frontiers in Psychology (1) found a “significant linear effect” between stress and injury rate.
How did Norton overcome these challenges to nab a more-than-thrice-bodyweight deadlift?
Layne Norton on Overcoming Back Injuries
To get back on the deadlift train, Norton relied on “nearly 10 years” of evidence-based pain management. Let’s take a look at some of the aspects he credits his rebound to and the science behind them:
Stress Management: The study above recommended managing stress as a means of deterring injury risk.
Sleep: Studies show that sleep deficiency can worsen both acute and chronic pain perception. (2)
Load Management: Periodized powerlifting programs have much better outcomes and are less risky than non-periodized training plans, which don’t manage load. (3)
Mindset: Some data have shown that folks with injuries can experience no pain at all, depending on their mindset and perspective of their condition. (4)
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“Despite all the pain, I never stopped believing I had more personal records in me,” Norton said on social media.
“Now, I’m six weeks out from worlds.” The IPF World Classic Masters Championships take place between Oct. 5-13 in Sun City, South Africa.
“The world record is not safe,” Norton threatened — it sounds more like a promise.
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References
van Winden D, van Rijn RM, Savelsbergh GJP, Oudejans RRD, Stubbe JH. The Association Between Stress and Injury: A Prospective Cohort Study Among 186 First-Year Contemporary Dance Students. Front Psychol. 2021 Nov 5;12:770494. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.770494. PMID: 34803856; PMCID: PMC8602075.
Haack M, Simpson N, Sethna N, Kaur S, Mullington J. Sleep deficiency and chronic pain: potential underlying mechanisms and clinical implications. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2020 Jan;45(1):205-216. doi: 10.1038/s41386-019-0439-z. Epub 2019 Jun 17. PMID: 31207606; PMCID: PMC6879497.
Williams, Tyler & Tolusso, Danilo & Fedewa, Michael & Esco, Michael. (2017). Comparison of Periodized and Non-Periodized Resistance Training on Maximal Strength: A Meta-Analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.). 47. 10.1007/s40279-017-0734-y.
Brinjikji, W., Luetmer, P. H., Comstock, B., Bresnahan, B. W., Chen, L. E., Deyo, R. A., Halabi, S., Turner, J. A., Avins, A. L., James, K., Wald, J. T., Kallmes, D. F., & Jarvik, J. G. (2015). Systematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations. AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology, 36(4), 811–816.
Featured Image: @biolayne / Instagram
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