T Nation

My Problem with Deadlifts

Beginners
#1

Hello, long time lurker, first time poster. I did a search and couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. Long story short after getting my TRT started and hormones withing the range of the living I started lifting again. This time two years ago before things with south I was at 250% 30% bf, now i’m way up there.

My problem is, I have an issue with deadlifts when I bend down my posture isnt the ebst and I don’t want to lift this weight with a bad form and hurt myself. My shoulders are rounded over and I force myself to straighten my spine but it seems bending over that far (I’m 6’5") I cant avoid it. My posture has been getting to be a problem with squats as well, putting pressure on certain points.

Is there a way to either:
A) Correct my posture enough in the relatively short term with stretches
B) Deadlift a certain way where I can do them without hurting myself.

I know the short answer is lose weight, stop slouching, and man up. I’m doing stronglifts 5x5 to keep some muscle mass while dieting and I really like(d) dead lifts when I was moving some major weight but now Im doing 185 and my back is hurting.

Thanks for any help

#2

Gee, look what I came up with in a matter of 30 sec of using the search bar:





#3

I appreciate your level of sarcasm, I really do. I’m not very well versed on the muscles, tendons, and bones of the back so reading some of that looked like I was trying to disarm a bomb.

A majority is for people with pushed out stomachs it looks like, I’m more of a product of a computer chair, shoulders forward. I have identified the problem, now i’m looking for a solution.

If I have the weight higher off the ground by 6 inches or so will it negate the lift? I feel like im not straining and hunching over as much when the weight is not so far away.

#4

[quote]BigDakota wrote:

If I have the weight higher off the ground by 6 inches or so will it negate the lift? I feel like im not straining and hunching over as much when the weight is not so far away.[/quote]

Absolutely not. You can do rack pulls from say, just under the knee or wherever you’d like to set the pins. If you are not a powerlifter then a full range of motion deadlift is not important if you don’t want it to be. Also, very tall people and people with long limbs have difficulty often with ass to grass squats and deadlifts from the floor. After beating the crap out of my joints, I now only do rack pulls and I love them. Give it a try and see how they feel for you.

Oh, the rounded back could just be a weak back due to hunching over at your desk, or anything really. You may just need to hammer your back from all angles for a while to be able to maintain a good arch and keep your shoulders up and back. In other words, just make your back stronger. One thing you can try is looking up a point on the ceiling and imagine puffing your chest out while you pull up. Could be overall strength, could be technique. Hard to tell without seeing you deadlift.

#5

thanks for your reply. I really appreciate the information. For me it feels the most comfortable right below the knee on the way up so I will try that.

#6

[quote]Jackie_Jacked wrote:

[quote]BigDakota wrote:

If I have the weight higher off the ground by 6 inches or so will it negate the lift? I feel like im not straining and hunching over as much when the weight is not so far away.[/quote]

Absolutely not. You can do rack pulls from say, just under the knee or wherever you’d like to set the pins. If you are not a powerlifter then a full range of motion deadlift is not important if you don’t want it to be. Also, very tall people and people with long limbs have difficulty often with ass to grass squats and deadlifts from the floor. After beating the crap out of my joints, I now only do rack pulls and I love them. Give it a try and see how they feel for you.

Oh, the rounded back could just be a weak back due to hunching over at your desk, or anything really. You may just need to hammer your back from all angles for a while to be able to maintain a good arch and keep your shoulders up and back. In other words, just make your back stronger. One thing you can try is looking up a point on the ceiling and imagine puffing your chest out while you pull up. Could be overall strength, could be technique. Hard to tell without seeing you deadlift.[/quote]

I agree with all of that ^^^

Another option if you want to eventually deadlift from the ground is to start off with a rack pull and slowly lower it over time as your mobility improves (I’m talking months here not days).

Get a foam roller and use the shit out of it everyday. Roll you IT bands (outside of your thigh), hamstrings, quads, glutes, lower and upper back everyday. Maybe even a couple times a day.

Also, getting a band (a light band from elitefts.com works great) and do band pull aparts every day. Sets of 20 several times a day will do the trick. This will work your upper back and help you be able to pull your shoulder blades back when deadlifting, squatting, or anything else.

#7

I always have some slight shoulder rounding when I DL (I’m 6’ though). For me, it’s due to short legs and a long body, thanks to my dear stumpy Dad’s genetics! :slight_smile: If I were to DL with a 100% straight back, either my torso would have to be parallel with the ground or I’d have to be in a very deep squat position.

Also, sometimes we can look at our own form and posture and see greater problems than actually exist - I’d suggest posting up a picture or video to give a better idea to the more experienced guys here (i.e. not me!)

Last but not least - face-pulls! I love these, they’ve really helped with my own posture problems.

#8

Just out of curiosity can you post a video of your current full range deadlift just so we can see exactly what your problem maybe. I have seen some weird stuff with deadlifts. Like I had Guy ask me once how to keep off his toes during the deadlift so I explaine the blah blah what everyone would say. A few days later he said it didn’t help so I asked him to show me what he was doing and sure enough he was starting the lift with the bar about 8 or 9 inches away from his shins. Obviously I don’t think this is your problem but, what I am saying is without seeing we can’t give the best advice.