Hey everyone, first post… I’m 47 and have been working out since I was 10. I know this sounds weird but I just started deadlifting (conventional) about a year or so ago. Last time I was deadlifting I pulled my hamstring, not bad, just enough for me to put the weight down and take a couple of weeks off from deadlifting. I started back up and was getting the feeling that it was going to happen again, so I’m trying to figure out if it’s form related (I know thats hard to diagnose without seeing but wasn’t sure if this was a common injury with deadlifting) or if I need to do more stretching, or more RDL’s and more hamstring concentrating exercises. Thanks for any help!
I think you need to ease into the weights tbh. Ive seen deadlifts land someone in the hospital due to going too heavy too quick (seriously).
Stretching isn’t bad (not all that good pre-training either), but warming up is better. Going lightweight RDLs should allow you to engage more top-end hamstring movement while also minimizing risk. When you start gaining confidence in your hamstrings again, then increasing the weight seems quite reasonable.
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Yeah, warm up pre- deadlift.
Maybe some hamstring curls to build up Mind Muscle Connection with your hams and pump some blood in there to fix your minor injury.
Then some light “hinging” or “bending over” to learn your to control your body while your hamstrings lengthen, RDLS or 45 degree back raises or glute/hams or something. If you’re a total beginner to bending over you may want to start with something easy-easy, like alternating toe touches, or some hinging move with a slow eccentric.
If you need some more info, check out these vids from my hero, Matt Wenning.
General hamstring moves
Put that stuff into a specific lower body workout
How to use those movements to build the deadlift
General tips about deadlift technique
More deadlift stuff
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great videos! I think I watched one of his video’s for wrapping knees for squats. The reason I asked about form was that I was DLing over 500 with the hex bar (thats how I got introduced to deadlifting). I know thats a different type of movement, but just wanted to be sure
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Generally speaking, a guy who’s deadlifting 500+ with a trap bar will probably have better straight bar technique than the majority of the lifting population.
I 100% agree with @Andrewgen_Receptors and @FlatsFarmer, build up those hamstrings and build up your DL volume over time and you’ll be golden
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thanks everyone!! You’re never too old to learn some new tricks!
My computer stalked me and this old trap bar video showed up.
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