315-325 DL Form Check, Low Back Pain, Belt Placement

Hi guys,

So I am doing a fully body program atm. Thing is, for the last 3 months, I barely made progress on deads, first because of a slight knee problem, and now because everytime I DL the day after im in pain and its getting worse.

I dont want any medical or injury advice. All I need is some help with technique. I switched to a different set-up, then in the videos below, I first squat down with my weight behind the bar and on the way up try to push with the legs and pull with the back. Another thing is the back pain is worse since I put my belt on higher, but I cant start with a not rounded low back if its on low.

- YouTube - 130 kg
20160111 133134 - YouTube - 140 Kg
20151226 112301 - YouTube - 145 kg

I did 145 kg for almost a triple ysterday, but my back aint feeling good

You say you almost got a triple, does that mean you failed a rep? My back is always more sore the next day when I miss a rep. Even if I hit a shitty rep my back is still almost pain free compare to failing. Same thing for me for squats but is my legs that hurt more after missing a rep. 98% of the time now I stop on the last one I know I’ll get

Hey man yeah I missed the last rep on the 145, It went up to my knees, my hams failed me and my hook grip unhooked and I just let it go. My hams were really sore from RDLs done before that.

Looks to me like 1) you’re not really pushing with your legs, 2) your shoulders are too far over the bar, and 3) your lower back never gets tight as a result of 1&2. Think of squeezing your chest up, setting your lats, and lowering your hips. Heavy core work – rack holds, squat walk-outs – has also done wonders for me; I suggest some.

I agree I could push more with the legs, but heavy conv. dls will be breaken off with be back. I heard the cue bend the bar to engage the lats, and I will make sure to squeeze my chest up. I have a problem that I start hyperextending my neck, I try to work on that. Also lower hips then in video 2 makes no sense, if this hip height was with straight lower back I think id be good to go.

Id be happy to do some rack holds or walk outs, but its too taxing I already squat 3x5 twice a week, deadlift once, OHP twice, Clean and row. Something else for abs maybe?

Update: Just came back from the gym, I cant even back squat to around parallel without back pain, with the bar or with 230 lbs on it. I walked out 230, it hurt, I squatted it 4 times, it hurt even more.

Front squats dont cause a problem, so Ill do these for a little. Cleans, OHP, FS dont cause problems. But back squatting does for now, which sucks. So any more tips to improve deadlift form to avoid this kind of set-back?

Yeah man I agree with some other posters. Your lower back never really gets tight, it starts round on every pull. And while some back soreness is definitely normal after heavy deadlifts, pain that is so bad that it prevents you from squatting afterwards is bad. People make all kinds of crazy techniques work for them, but if it is causing you PAIN, not just routine soreness, you should stop before you hurt yourself.

I would focus on two things. 1) Getting your core stronger, and squeezing your abs before every pull. You don’t want your lower back rounded or arched. You want it as close to neutral as possible, and squeezing the shit out of your abs/bracing properly as you initiate the pull should keep it neutral. and 2) I would work on your hamstring flexibility. It looks to me like you aren’t flexible/mobile enough to get into proper position with your hamstrings tight and your lower back neutral. Your form doesn’t seem to really degrade as the weight increases - your back is rounded with the lighter pulls as well. So I think you need to work on getting into proper positioning, and that might take some time and effort to improve your hamstring flexibility.

At first it was just soreness, but with time it became pain, in the same area. Its slowly going away again, day by day, but I am easily able to push through soreness,discomfort and stuff. I dont have a problem squatting with sore legs, benching with a sore chest, yet as soon as I was near parallel there was a deep pain in the lumbar region. Even unracking the 230 felt weak and painful.

I agree my core is pretty weak. I pull 315 easy with a belt, but whitout 285-295 is super slow and difficult. The Belt def.helps as something to push on, my lower back is strong, but my abs are pretty weak. I was thinking of something weighted for abs? Noneof that sit-up and leg raises nonsense.

Also the ham flexibility, look at hte first video, my back is almost neutral. Back then I was doing alot of stretching on off days, I had to stop recently. I want to get back into it, hoepfully daily ham stretches will help. I was told to avoid the toe touch stuff though with low back pain.