I highly doubt this was the result of anything related to your diet. I would attribute this to your head/neck position during the rep or perhaps you took your air in poorly/incorrectly. More often than not, we do not acknowledge poor form because we do not see it or we just do know any better so maybe you unintentionally pulled "out of your groove."On the other hand, these things happen from time to time. It is possible you slept in an awkward position and the strain from the lift aggrevated something. I would just forego the deads for a session or two.Addressing these problems through rest and recovery is safer (and smarter) than trying to force the issue so take your time.

You may be right, I just find it really peculiar that it just happens like this all of a sudden. I've been working out for 4 years, and never had any problems. Two weeks into a new regime, this happens. I will skip deadlift for a couple of weeks, and when I attempt it again I'll make damn sure that my form is virtually exemplary. If the pain comes back, I'll probably contact my GP or a chiropractor.

You may be right, I just find it really peculiar that it just happens like this all of a sudden. I've been working out for 4 years, and never had any problems. Two weeks into a new regime, this happens.

One thing this diet does is dehydrate you quickly, especially on carb nites.  ULC throughout the week has me taking in a TON more water to keep up.  Nothing will cramp your tissue faster, especially under load, than dehydration.  My standard intake is 1oz of water per lb of bodyweight daily.  The RDA of 64oz or 8 glasses of water daily is absolute crap.  Be sure your electrolyte intake is regular to maximize absorption of your fluid intake.  Dehydration can cause tremendous inefficiency in your body's processing of water intake, and you may waste a lot of what you take in if you don't.  I make sure to throw a NUUN tablet into my water after working out, as I dump up to a lb of sweat in every session at the gym.I wrote a blog post about this subject a while back...maybe check it out and see if this might be the culprit.

Thanks for the replies – much appreciated!The dehydration (lack of electrolytes, specifically) sound very likely. I do drink around 120-150 oz of water every day, but I'm using a cheap run-of-the-mill multivitamin. I will make sure to buy some electrolyte-solution with my next supplements, but it'll be a while. Is there any way to remedy this without supplements in the meantime?

"reduced sodium" salt which is almost always cut with potassium

Interesting.

Thanks for the replies - much appreciated!The dehydration (lack of electrolytes, specifically) sound very likely. I do drink around 120-150 oz of water every day, but I'm using a cheap run-of-the-mill multivitamin. I will make sure to buy some electrolyte-solution with my next supplements, but it'll be a while. Is there any way to remedy this without supplements in the meantime?

More sodium and potassium.Either get a "reduced sodium" salt which is almost always cut with potassium or eat more salt and avocados.

I'll see what I can find in my supermarket. Just today I've started popping a potassium-pill prior to my workout.A bit of a bonus question:I'm currently around 7-8 % BF, and I'm having my carb-nite every 6 th day. I lift weights 5 times a week. How do I gauge whether this carb-nite frequency is correct or not?

Do you feel like shit? How much do you eat during the week?

Do you feel like shit? How much do you eat during the week?

Apart from the cramps and headaches, I actually feel quite alright, and moderately energetic during my workouts.I'm around 200 g protein, 150 g fat, and the odd 15-20 g carbs on ULC days. I'm having a hard time getting much more than this to be honest.

What are your stats?I'd bet you could do 2 a week.

@tommydyhrCan't believe I missed this post, I had the same problem during the deadlift. Cramp in my lower back, which I fixed. And cramp in my neck, which I fixed.For the neck part, I concentrated on my breathing, and drank water with a pinch of salt for the sodium content (I haven't added any potassium or magnesium before, but I've read online that it helps). You also don't want to warm up too much. The shockwave protocol has a warm up dead lift and the actual heavier dead lift. The warm up should be light and the weights should be used sparingly. You're basically using that exercise to get your posture ready, and to commit some memory into your muscle before the actual lift. But you want to get weights that you can repeat up to 15 times with a little rest as possible between sets, so you can take your break at rep 3.You can lift less for a few weeks to correct the breathing and use rehydration methods, and then you will be back to your old weights really quick.