Nothing wrong with dropping deads. You can absolutely be strong and athletic without them.
You can sub in:
-Kettlebell swings for mass, power and conditioning (yes they build mass. do intervals, KB 30% of your bodyweight, your glutes/hams blow up. you also become a jackhammer in bed)
-Natural leg curls / glute ham raises. You can get beastly posterior chain strength from doing these.
-lower back extensions
-single leg work like pistols.
-Rows and pullups for mid and upper back.
All this will leave you "strong", far stronger than the average dude. You might not be "Powerlifting" strong, but really that level of strength is beyond what you need to be fit and strong and athletic over the several decades more that you'll (hopefully) be around for. The "you gotta lift bro" and the idea that unless you're doing heavy barbell lifts you're weak is macho BS and wrong.
That said. Healthy bodies should be able to deadlift.
The deadlift is a natural movement and if you have an injury that flares up when you do it, you should address that.
So if you *cant* do it because of injury (and you're using proper form), something is really amiss.
Check out soft-tissue massage and trigger point therapy - what feels like lower back joint/disc damage is often actually soft-tissue injuries in the Glutes or Quad Lumborum muscles (weird right?).
I'll say that again: what feels like joint/disc pain is often not, and may be due to tears/knots in your ass and back muscles. You can fix them with massage.
Can often be addressed with targetted use of a lacrosse ball, or seeing a soft-tissue practitioner.
You can sub in:
-Kettlebell swings for mass, power and conditioning (yes they build mass. do intervals, KB 30% of your bodyweight, your glutes/hams blow up. you also become a jackhammer in bed)
-Natural leg curls / glute ham raises. You can get beastly posterior chain strength from doing these.
-lower back extensions
-single leg work like pistols.
-Rows and pullups for mid and upper back.
All this will leave you "strong", far stronger than the average dude. You might not be "Powerlifting" strong, but really that level of strength is beyond what you need to be fit and strong and athletic over the several decades more that you'll (hopefully) be around for. The "you gotta lift bro" and the idea that unless you're doing heavy barbell lifts you're weak is macho BS and wrong.
That said. Healthy bodies should be able to deadlift.
The deadlift is a natural movement and if you have an injury that flares up when you do it, you should address that.
So if you *cant* do it because of injury (and you're using proper form), something is really amiss.
Check out soft-tissue massage and trigger point therapy - what feels like lower back joint/disc damage is often actually soft-tissue injuries in the Glutes or Quad Lumborum muscles (weird right?).
I'll say that again: what feels like joint/disc pain is often not, and may be due to tears/knots in your ass and back muscles. You can fix them with massage.
Can often be addressed with targetted use of a lacrosse ball, or seeing a soft-tissue practitioner.