Deadlift Technique Update

And stop maxing out or you will stall very soon - it sounds like you are already there. There is no need to go to 100%, it’s not better than something 5 or 10% lighter and it causes more fatigue.

Chris,
What got your bench moving again? Did you ever figure out what was “off”? Did anything you tried help you to “diagnose” what the issue was?

Good luck moving towards 400!

Dead bench and rest pause sets, plus building up my triceps. I would do isometrics but my rack isn’t fixed in place and otherwise I would need a couple of heavy training partners. I tried reducing frequency to twice a week with higher volume per session, it seems like 3x works better for me.

Big Thumbs Up!

Was feeling burnt out today after exams, but I got a couple of videos. First one is a 375lb sumo, the next is a 245 double conventional just to see if my form has progressed at all.

  1. Sumo - Your hips need to open wider and get your ass closer to the bar. Your pulling the weight off your toes. You should feel it in your heels. You’ll know when you get it right when your shins start to bleed.

  2. Conventional - again pulling off your toes. Sit back and LOAD the hamstrings before you break the floor.

  3. Back is too rounded for a weight that light. Indicates weak posterior chain. The cure ? Good mornings, RDL’s. Block deads, stiff legs, GHR, Reverse hyper, etc.

  4. Finally the weight is really too light to evaluate form. get it up to 90% and lets see what you look like.

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What jbackos said

Thanks for the reply! I’m currently incorporating RDLs but ghrs are something I should add in aswell. I have weak hamstrings relative to my quads so that might be why I tend to use my quads more.

When you say my back is rounding is that for sumo, conventional, or both? Thanks!

Don’t forget the link in your posterior chain that squeezes your shoulder blades together. Squeeze the mid-back “together” to keep the entire back “flat.” This has helped me keep the bar close. Also, if the chest is slightly “up” the hips will naturally come down and back, behind the bar a little.

blockquote, div.yahoo_quoted { margin-left: 0 !important; border-left:1px #715FFA solid !important; padding-left:1ex !important; background-color:white !important; } I see rounding in both. This is related to weak tight hamstrings not allowing the pelvis to told posteriorly

idontbrag123
August 10 |

Thanks for the reply! I’m currently incorporating RDLs but ghrs are something I should add in aswell. I have weak hamstrings relative to my quads so that might be why I tend to use my quads more.

When you say my back is rounding is that for sumo, conventional, or both? Thanks!

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In Reply To

jbackos
August 10 |

Sumo - Your hips need to open wider and get your ass closer to the bar. Your pulling the weight off your toes. You should feel it in your heels. You’ll know when you get it right when your shins start to bleed. Conventional - again pulling off your toes. Sit back and LOAD the hamstrings before …
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It’s been awhile since I last updated. I’m choosing to stay with deadlifting conventional for now as opposed to sumo, even though I’m naturally more suited to the latter. I’ve done a lot of mobility work and would say that my hamstrings should be within the average range of flexibility at this point. I’ve learned how to brace myself better, and think about the deadlift as pushing through the ground rather than pulling with my back. I’ve learned to sit back in the deadlift and pull the slack out of the bar while keeping my lats tight. After all of this, my back still somehow rounds as soon as I break the floor, even at submaximal weights. I’m breathing into my abdomen and flexing hard before I pull. Even at weights around 70% of my 1RM my back is rounding considerably.

People have told me that back weakness is a possibility, but I’m bent rowing 235x5 which at 195lbs surely isn’t that weak. I mean, I see guys much smaller and weaker than me keep a straighter back on their deadlifts. It absolutely perplexes me. I tried good mornings for the first time, and even with only 95lbs for 5x5 I felt my back straining pretty hard, so I must be weak. Considering my back doesnt round at 135lbs, but starts rounding at 295lbs for deadlifts, I’ve come to the conclusion that it has to be a strength issue with my back. If its not that then I’m stumped.

One thing I should point out is that all I’ve ever done were high bar squats to just below parallel. Perhaps switching these out with low bar squats would recruit the back and posterior chain more? I feel like I am extremely quad dominant. Anyways, I’ve posted several videos below. I feel like the weight is light, but at the same time I can’t maintain a straight back. Sorry for the tl;dr, but I just don’t get it.

how does my good morning form look?

thanks in advance.

We always do GMs off pins or chains as the bottom position is a bee’s dick from trouble…

The culprit is back and posterior chain weakness.

The cure is Block pulls from low positions 2 - 6" off the floor. Set up with a vertical shin and use only back/hams/glutes like a stiff leg. Cycle them from 6" off the floor down to 2" off the floor. Do them for singles, doubles or triples. If you are training conjugate they are used as a Max Effort movement.

Next train the hell out of the hamstrings and glutes (GM, RDL, SLDL, GHR, Reverse Hyper, etc. and the calves.

People sometimes make the mistake of recommending deficits. In your case you will further build up your quads and your pull will get worse.

Your good morning is not too bad, but I would like to see you pushing with the glute and snapping into lockout. You seem to be using the quads to do the good morning. Try them with slightly straighter legs (if flexibility allows).

Your deadlift looks terrible. Your good morning is OK though. Your back is too weak to stay braced, do what @jbackos said and keep pulling off the floor but nothing that makes your back round. Look at it as technique practice, you don’t want to practice bad technique or you won’t get better. Stop the set if you start to round, consider failure to be your back rounding.

“…do what @jbackos said and keep pulling off the floor…”

Implies I said to pull off the floor which I did not. More clarity please.

“…you don’t want to practice bad technique or you won’t get better. Stop the set if you start to round, consider failure to be your back rounding.”

NO SHIT. Captin obvious strikes again. More rehashed info with no personal insight.

You’re really getting out of control here. This guy is posting videos with severe back rounding and says he can pull light weights without rounding, the obvious solution is not so obvious to everyone.

Blah, blah, blah

Thanks @jbackos I guess my posterior chain is still very weak. Could you please explain why weak glutes and hamstrings would lead to rounding? The weak back leading to rounding is obvious enough but the former is less intuitive.

Yea @strongmangoals I probably should have thought about that

The brain inhibits overstretching a weak muscle to prevent injury. So when you try to set up to pull, the inhibited hamstring pulls the pelvis into a posterior tilt position. Next, the hip flexors are another contributor. If they are weak and inhibited they will pull your lower back into a round position. The psoas attaches to the 5 lumbar vertebrae like the fingers of a hand and when they pull they round the back. Combined with weak erectors you end up humping deadlifts and falling forward in the squat.

The fix:

  1. Block pulls (with a vertical shin, using only back)
  2. Stiff leg off the floor no belt
  3. Heavy arched back good mornings wearing the belt (don’t go too deep at first)
  4. Assorted other: (45 degree back raise, GHR, Rev Hyper, etc.)
  5. HEAVY ab work for sets of five (FLAT sit ups, Spread eagle situps, lleg raises, cable crunches, etc.)
  6. Grip work because you will be pulling the bar too fast for your hands to keep up.
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Thank you very much for the insight! I’ll incorporate these into my routine and post my routine on here in the near future.

My abs are also pretty weak as I often skip any ab work after I’m done the main lifts. When you emphasize flat situps, are you implying that weighted incline situps are less effective?