Deadlift Help

I just took a video of my Deadlift…

Is it all the way wrong, or just most of the way wrong?

http://ifsc.ualr.edu/temp/dl.wmv

I was, believe it or not, trying not to round my back. Any Suggestions?

Ohhh Shit. I watched that twice and I’m still cringing. Please don’t lift like that again.

You probably haven’t had as many responses to this as you would have liked due to the amount of time it took for that website to open up.

Mike Robertson is the one to give you the help you need. Maybe drop him a line in Prime Time.

Shit. It’s still making me cringe.

I’m looking over Deadlift Diagnosis
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=586815

and

Precision Pulling
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459964

Right now.

Since we are talking about deadlift, I was wondering do you lower the weight until it touch the floor?

Thanks!
GB

Also does any one have a link to any Videos of propper Deadlift form that they could PM me?

I’ve been looking at alot of pictures, but I think I’m still missing something.

Thanks

I’m no expert, but from looking at the video, you’re wanting to pull using your lower back too much. Your setup looks so-so, but your chest needs to be up an out. On the first rep, you lost slack in your body (like in your upper back). Your knees extended but you just let your shoulders droop, so that just made your lower back round out. Drive through the heels as you lift off the ground.

I would work on some upper back strength with seated rope cable rows to neck and scapular retraction barbell rows as explained in:

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459477

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459280

I would also consider “going back to the drawing board” so to speak, and use light weights with stiff-leg deadlifts and flat-back good mornings. Concentrate on keeping your chest up and out and keeping your back really tight throughout the entire movement.

A few pointers:

  • Good call on no shoes
  • Lose the gloves (unless you have blisters)
  • Try not to squat down but away from the weights. Pavel Tsatsouline says to picture a stool far behind you and you want to get your butt into it. You should feel your hamstrings get “loaded” and your shins should be close to perpendicular to the ground.
  • I don’t have any video links but I do recommend Power to the People by Pavel. He goes into great detail regarding the DL and it is a fun read.

Good luck

Ouch!

It looks like a back injury just waiting to happen.

Those are two good articles that you are reading. Use the form they suggeest on some light weights until you get the feel for it. Also, if you have anyone who knows what they are doing and can help you out, have someone there so they can correct mistakes that you cannot see yourself.

JF

That was extremely painful to watch.

You just need to stick out your ass and chest more, arch your back, even if you your legs have to do a lot more work that way.

http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/videos/video_index.htm

I got this from a post in the strength forum - it’s an awesome site with tons of videos of lifts.

try these sites for videos:

http://www.bsu.edu/webapps/strengthlab/home.htm

[quote]Jillybop wrote:
http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/videos/video_index.htm

I got this from a post in the strength forum - it’s an awesome site with tons of videos of lifts.

[/quote]

Amazing site Jill!

Guilo,

Take another deadlift video in a few days, after you’ve read up on those articles and checked out those vids, then post it on this thread. Your lower back must be quite strong to withstand the punishment you put it through in movie, with proper form I’m sure you’ll be able to lift much more.

[quote]JuliusA wrote:

  • Lose the gloves (unless you have blisters)
  • Try not to squat down but away from the weights. Pavel Tsatsouline says to picture a stool far behind you and you want to get your butt into it. You should feel your hamstrings get “loaded” and your shins should be close to perpendicular to the ground.
    [/quote]

The gloves are for blisters actually.
That stool idea is good mental imagery, I’ll try that out, thanks.

Jilly thanks for that link, thats a very good resource.

I’ll proabably have to lower the weight and practice for a bit longer like you guys suggest.

[quote]Guilo wrote:
I just took a video of my Deadlift…

Is it all the way wrong, or just most of the way wrong?
[/quote]

“All the way wrong.” First, forget the gloves.

You start your setup okay, but then you seem lose all tension and round like crazy. “UP” is only half the lift there and you were rounded through the whole thing. You have to keep your mind in the lift the whole time, focus on keeping your back in line. Protect that back first-and-foremost.

Lighten up the weight and work on the form you read about in the articles for a long while. The way you are going could lead to some serious problems in an instant or create problems down the road.

I commend you for finding, reading the articles, and certainly for picking an excellent exercise when done properly.

Matthew

Youch, I have never seen a video of my back, but I’m worried about it just watching yours.

Drop the weight a bit until you are SURE you are using good form. As you can see, you get into position, but when you start extending your legs, the bar isn’t moving.

So, your ass goes up, the bar stays still, your back rounds, and we all cringe.

I’m no expert, but perhaps if you drop your ass lower (assuming flexibility) you will be able to have more ability to maintain your back posture and actually lift the weight when your legs start to extend?

Did I mention that I’m no expert?

Ok, so I had to help you out here bro. Everyone else is right: Force your chest up, arch the lower back, and think about driving your heels through the floor.

It also looks to me like your glutes might be tight; this is because even when you are setting up your low back is balled up like a caterpillar. Try stretching them out, and if that doesn’t work, you need to work over time to get your low back with the program. Good luck!

Stay strong
MR

Hire a personal trainer. OK, I’m semi-kidding. That was horrific.

You’ve received plenty of advice already and been pointed to the necessary links for researching. Get your feet further under the bar, drop your ass and straighten your back before you lift, pull through the shoulders, and tilt your head back.

This site doesn’t have the basic dead lift (not sure why), but it has a lot of great video examples.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

After you “think” you’ve corrected your form, post again to let us see how you’re doing. I’d like to commend you on doing the video though. I imagine a lot of people could benefit from seeing a video of themselves. I know that it’s helped me correct some form issues when I’ve had pics or video.

Thanks for all of the help guys. I’ll work on form and post my progress in a week or two.

Hopefully I’ll make enough progress that my video dosent enducie vomit.

Pretend like your taking a dump in the woods, keep an arch in your low back and don’t look down.

WOW! I’m new to this sight (1 week) but let me say, After reading this thread I can’t wait till I have a problem I need answers to. Great responses! Great info! Man, with support like this I think I’ll actually learn how move iron against gravity!

To the fella that posted the vid initially: Yeah, that looks painful and I’m surprised it hadn’t resulted in injury yet (more than 200 lbs. probably would have)

But KUDOS to everyone for the responses
-HC3