Deadlift Technique Update

It would be better to sort out your hip and keep squatting. You could do front squats too, but if you want to get anywhere in powerlifting you need to squat with a bar on your back.

What exactly is wrong with your hip?

Ive been feeling some soreness near the hip socket region, like some ligament is strained. When I warm up it goes away but I can definitely feel it during the lighter warmup sets. I’ll definitely be returning to back squatting in the future, but I’d like to see the effects of a month or two of front squatting. Also, since I’d be using much lighter weight front squatting my hip is unlikely to be bothered.

Aches and pains are a common occurrence when you lift weights regularly, it could just be a tight muscle in that area. I don’t know what would make you assume it was a ligament, and if it goes away once you warm up then it can’t be anything too serious. My left TFL (tensor fascia latae) gets tight any achy sometimes and I have had pains in my glutes before, the solution is myofascial release with a lacrosse ball or baseball or something similar. Lay down on the ground and put the ball between your hip and the floor, roll around and look for spots that hurt. Once you find a spot, just stay there for a minute or two. Sometimes the muscle will twitch and you will feel it release, other times the pain slowly fades away a bit and things feel normal later. It’s not fun, but unless you have a professional therapist of some sort you will have to work things out yourself.

A major decrease in your back squat, maybe leg atrophy as well if you only squat once a week and the weight is light.

would sumo pulls mitigate some of this atrophy? My glutes are more sore today than theyve ever been back squatting. I can see the leg atrophy happening though.

Not really.

well ill get a feel for it and see how well it works, if at all. I’ve finally got some footage of my bent row. This is about the maximum amount of body english I would typically be using in my last set. Is this an acceptable amount of body english? Vid below:

I’ve seen guys who don’t move an inch and guys who almost deadlift their rows and everything in between. This is really something you can only answer for yourself through execution and observation.

That said, it looks like your upper back rounds when you begin to row… don’t do that.

Too much Trap Shrug Body English to start the move, and not enough mid-back Row Body English.

I see it too, but I’m not sure if it really wrong. In one of the Supertraining videos with Ed Coan he shows how he does barbell rows and he lets his shoulders roll forward at the bottom of the movement. I tried doing it that way for a while, it’s harder and I don’t see any advantage over keeping your shoulders back but it’s not necessarily bad either.

It’s my Personal (Non World Class Powerlifter, Non-Elite Coach) Opinion that a huge factor in the rounding is the “wrong” back muscles generating the tension.

Or that the Shrugging action is loading the traps, taking tension off the mid-back and causing the rounding.

Simply; start rounded, raise shoulders, get pulled forward, round over more.

Ripping the bar off the ground in the deadlift. Shrugging to start the lift in the row. Never controlling the negative or down portion of lifts. Slack mid back. Round back. It’s all related!

Again. Opinion.

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So are you saying I should lower the weight eccentrically to engage the mid back more and stop shrugging it? So essentially lower the weight?

Again, just opnion.

Short answer: Yes, lower the weight.

Long Answer: Right now, for this one specific issue, we don’t want the heaviest row. We want to target that 1 area of your back, and focus on a flat back. So we need to execute the row more strictly, flat backed, more tension on that middle part of your back. The movement will be changed, so the weight will be different. Chest out, elbows back. No shrug!

I would do some work more like that. Or maybe some chest supported rows. Not lighter just to be lighter. Lighter to be stricter.

It doesn’t have to be like that, every time, forever, always, like that’s the best way. But that’s what I would do to try to teach my body to not round over. Practice not rounding over, and get stronger in the not rounded position.

I see. Thanks I’ll definitely give that a try tomorrow.

It fit his training style and his leverages though. I agree with you, and row like this myself a lot, but I wouldn’t recommend someone who is deadlifting ~315 to do it this way. The row takes a lot of finding out where to hit it best and once you do, it’s amazing, but until you do, it can hinder progress because you’re strengthening the things that are holding you back (his rounded back and lack of hamstring/glute involvement). I wouldn’t even say to do bent rows as much and instead do dumbbell rows single or double arm.

Just tried front squats for the first time. Did a few working sets with 115lbs and could really feel it in the mid/upper erectors. Guess we found the problem…

I’m going to be doing these twice a week with the goal of increasing my working sets by 5lbs per workout in the short term.

Like we talked about last month;

The goal should be to “efficiently hammer an obvious weak spot.” (in your own words)

And your squat is how much?

I’ve high bar 315x5 before my hip started feeling sore. I’m not sure what typical ratios are for front squat:high bar squat but needless to say my front squat is weak. I definitely could have gone heavier but I really wanted to dial in form and focus on keeping myself upright and engaging the erectors. No pitching forward in the hole or anything.

My point is that switching to front squats won’t work because the weight is way too light. If you could front squat maybe 80% of your back squat then it might not be too bad, but your legs are getting 35% of the volume they would otherwise. And I don’t see how front squats will stop your hip from hurting, better to directly address that issue. Otherwise you might as well just squat real light. If you stop training a lift every time something hurts then you won’t get very far.

I see what you’re saying but isn’t that the purpose of incorporating front squats? The fact that I can feel my back straining at such a light weight is sending smoke signals in the air. I absolutely intend to get back to back squatting as I’m never going to get far without that. I just figure that while I’m recovering I can learn a new lift which directly hits a weakness of mine and get stronger at it. I don’t think I’ll work up to a weight heavy enough to aggravate my hip before it recovers. Once the hip gets better I’ll probably move it to an assistance lift.