Hi all, I have been wandering these forums for some time now but never posted, but now that I don’t swim competitively any more, I am amping up my weight training. So my problem is that now I am starting to do deadlifts, and I know that I should keep my back arched, and whatnot, but I am having trouble doing so. Is this because by lower back is not strong enough yet, or are there some tips for keeping your back arched? I don’t think that the weight is too heavy, but it might be that since I am just starting deadlifts it is, I am only lifting 135lbs. Yes, I know I am weak, but I was a swimmer.
Thanks,
Zach
Oh, just to note that the 135lbs was for 3 sets of 10. Just so I don’t feel super pathetic.
Sounds like you need to lower your hips more, and use more lower body in bringing the weight up. T-Nation authors Mike Robertson, Eric Cressey, and Dave F. Tate have some good deadlift articles. Give them a read.
We all had to start somewhere. Read those articles. I would suggest not going to failure as you try to learn the lift. Only go until technical failure, or at most save maybe 2-3 reps. Fatigue makes it harder to learn technique.
On another note, stretch your hamstrings every day when you wake up and after you workout or before bed. A lot of times rounding the back is exacerbated by tight hammies, so loosening them up may be a good idea.