I was deadlifting the other day (I’m on a caloric deficit) and my upper back was rounding a bit. I feel like I usually dead with a small degree of rounding, but I felt a sharp pain in my right upper rhomboid so I had to stop (this is also the hand I reverse if that helps). What is your take on rounding, how much is acceptable? Could someone walk me through the proper upper back form.
It is recommended to keep a relatively flat back, shoulders behind the bar and over the hips. Upper back rounding could be a lot of things, is it only when you above 90% or most of the time? It could be a simple matter of bar placement over the feet and keeping your chest up. Post a video if you can.
What is your take on back muscle flexing. Should they be stretched at the bottom or pulled back tight?
Well you want to keep your chest up, so that would force you to retract your scapulas. Just think of the setup you would take for a squat just with different arm placement.
I wouldn’t actually try and perform a queue such as ‘keep your chest up’. I believe a sweet spot needs to be found in regards to hip height, chest angle, foot position and shin distance from bars. This sweet spot is found based upon your physiology. That being said, I have extremely tight hamstrings and very inflexible ankles, so if I try to pull barefoot (a recommended way of pulling by many adepts in the lift) my lower back and upper back rounds terribly and my speed off the floor is almost nonexistent. To fix this I can either stretch my hamstrings non-statically with active warm ups and stuff or I can wear a raised heel to elicit less from the hamstrings and more from the quads and low back helping me drive the weight off the floor faster AND allowing me to maintain form composure.
As for you, I wouldn’t worry about upper back rounding unless it starts to cause pain. You should always be stressing thoracic extension and keeping it strong and well trained. Heavy front squats with a clean grip, bent over rear flies, heavy dumbbell rows and even snatch grip deadlifts.
I’m 6’3" as is, so I know I need to make special accommodations. I can RDL almost the same weight as I dead, and I’m pretty lacking in the quad department. I’m thinking I need an overhaul on my deads. I Dl 315 for reps as is.
[quote]strongmanvinny wrote:
my lower back and upper back rounds terribly and my speed off the floor is almost nonexistent. [/quote]
Interesting. Most of the lifters I’ve seen that lift with a rounded back are very strong off the floor.