I’m 6’2", 200lbs, not all that strong. I have real long arms and legs, so I’ve always puled Sumo. I pulled 405 for 5 about a year ago, but because my focus is mostly BB’ing I stopped DL’ing for a while, instead doing rack pulls and things of that nature. Now I’m trying to learn to pull Conventional.
Last week I pulled 315 from a honest mid-shin rack pull for 6, so I thought I’d at least be able to do that from the floor. Well today, I videoed myself with 275 for 6, and I could tell my form was shit. Could ya’ll maybe help me with some cues to help fix my form?
Ohh and this set isn’t taken to failure, it’s just High Frequency work. Not sure if that matters or not, just trying to give as much info as possible to help with critiques. Thanks for any help provided!
If you want a true critique, a more maximal effort would be required since that’s when form really breaks down.
That being said you’ve got some major issues even with this weight.
Straps, lose them.
Arch your back hard, get a stronger set of extensors, stop ROUNDING
Set up closer to the bar. It’s one thing to roll the bar back to you and drive through your heels, you’re just setting up so far away where you are immediately pulled into your toes and driving through those.
Get your eyes up.
Stop hyperextending at the top.
All and all you need a lot of work or you’re going to destroy your spine in the near future.
Ok… well, let’s start with some obvious things. There is nothing in the form of a set-up for that first rep. The bar is way too far in front of you, you are not tight before you initiate the pull, and it almost looks like you are guessing at hip depth. Next thing that is going to get you hammered is that you say that is not max effort work, but you are wearing straps???
My best advice; start from square one. Do not worry about heavy rack pulls, or other fancy variations. Learn how to pull correctly. Then after you are confident in your pulling mechanics and your progess is stalling, then add in those other things. More specific advice is to follow I am sure. Good luck.
Ok thanks guys. This is my first Conventional DL from the floor in probably a year, and even then I really didn’t do them all that often, so that’s probably why it’s so bad. The reason for the straps is the HFS program has me Squatting, Benching, and Deadlifting 4x a week, so it’s suggested you use straps. I watched the EliteFts Video on Deadlifting but it didn’t seem to help as much as SYTYC Squat or SYTYC Bench. Any other good videos?
I’m also kind of confused on being ‘too far from the bar’. I know it’s suppose to ride up my legs kind of, but I read my shoulders are suppose to be behind the bar, not over it. Do I need to approach this like a close stance squat kind of??
You shoulders should not be behind the bar. Most people now are going to set up with shoulders directly over the bar, or more than likely shoulder blades over the bar, which will actually put your shoulders in front of the bar.
[quote]MElrodR wrote:
You shoulders should not be behind the bar. Most people now are going to set up with shoulders directly over the bar, or more than likely shoulder blades over the bar, which will actually put your shoulders in front of the bar. [/quote]
Ok that makes a lot more sense then. I probably just misread that, and that screwed me up. Thanks. Wednesday I’ll be DL’ing again, I will try and adhere to all the advice in here
The more in line your triple joint (ankles/knees/hips/shoulders) can be towards vertical the better. Personally I setup with shoulders just over the bar, I have my shins touching the bar right from the start and rotate my hips down and back pulling myself down to the bar building up potential energy in the hip flexors as I go down then focus on prying the bar off the ground instead of ripping it. You’re so far from the bar in your setup that you get pulled onto your toes right from the initial pull.
I’ll try and post a video Wednesday, with the same weight, or lower if I’m still just not getting it. But I think my lack of any type of set-up other then ‘lift’ will go a long way into fixing the issue.
Ok here’s another try. Still have my hips shooting up fast, can’t seem to make it into one smooth motion. Also, my back is still rounding, which I can’t tell if that means I just need to use a lower weight or that I’m still effing up form wise. This was my 2nd of 3 sets. I tried to video my last set, and I widened my stance a tad, and I felt like that set was a lot better, but I guess I didn’t record correctly.
Thanks for everyone who is helping. I concentrated on keeping the bar as close to me as possible, and flexing my glutes at the top as opposed to hyper-extending, and pushing through my heels.
EDIT: Also, realize the plates kind of block my lockout, sorry about that. Didn’t realize that until just now.
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Ok here’s another try. Still have my hips shooting up fast, can’t seem to make it into one smooth motion. Also, my back is still rounding, which I can’t tell if that means I just need to use a lower weight or that I’m still effing up form wise. This was my 2nd of 3 sets. I tried to video my last set, and I widened my stance a tad, and I felt like that set was a lot better, but I guess I didn’t record correctly.
Thanks for everyone who is helping. I concentrated on keeping the bar as close to me as possible, and flexing my glutes at the top as opposed to hyper-extending, and pushing through my heels.
EDIT: Also, realize the plates kind of block my lockout, sorry about that. Didn’t realize that until just now.[/quote]
Didn’t take any videos today, but form is definitely improved. Usually feel it a bit in my lower back, but not today. Just tried really hard to concentrating on pulling before trying to raise my hips, if that makes sense. Working diligently trying to get my conventional dead on point!