Hey, Just wanted to bring up he question of round backed lifting.
I myself am rather rounded when Im punching out a heavy dead or a heavy bb row and have had no problems with it over the years.
Then the other day some fuckwit comes over and tells me Im lifting with a slight rounding of the upper back and am going to do myself an injury.
WTF! I know its common practice to keep your back straight and tight but when you are lifting heavy there is bound to be some rounding and so far I have been injury free and making awesome gains still.
Just was curious to see what everyone else has to say on this matter.
Mike BOYLE (sorry gents. I am dumber then a hedge post)wrote an article on this recently. He was of the opinion that the deadlift should be replaced with something else because of the potential for injuries, because keeping ones back tight was nigh impossible.
Read the article.
I do not advocate stopping deadlifting. But, If you can’t use proper form, cut back on the weight and focus on form.
Could you send a link to that article BF. I round my back also, if I’m doing conventional…I think it has to do with body-type (maybe). Short guys seem to do this more in my opinion. Anyways when I deadlift sumo, theres no rounding. I’m actually standing with my whole upper body upright and i Just rip the weight off the floor. You could try sumo if you never have?
Powerlifters usually round their upper back when deadlifting since it helps them put up bigger numbers. If you’re competing in the lift, the risk/reward ratio is probably worth it for a rounded upper back if the lower back is straight.
But for most of us who deadlift frequently, the scapula should be retracted and depressed for the entire lift.
[quote]Brawan wrote:
Hey, Just wanted to bring up he question of round backed lifting.
I myself am rather rounded when Im punching out a heavy dead or a heavy bb row and have had no problems with it over the years.
Then the other day some fuckwit comes over and tells me Im lifting with a slight rounding of the upper back and am going to do myself an injury.
WTF! I know its common practice to keep your back straight and tight but when you are lifting heavy there is bound to be some rounding and so far I have been injury free and making awesome gains still.
Just was curious to see what everyone else has to say on this matter.
Cheers[/quote]
Why was the guy a “fuckwit” for trying to help you out?
Do most of you guys act this way when someone more experienced offers you any advice at all?
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Brawan wrote:
Hey, Just wanted to bring up he question of round backed lifting.
I myself am rather rounded when Im punching out a heavy dead or a heavy bb row and have had no problems with it over the years.
Then the other day some fuckwit comes over and tells me Im lifting with a slight rounding of the upper back and am going to do myself an injury.
WTF! I know its common practice to keep your back straight and tight but when you are lifting heavy there is bound to be some rounding and so far I have been injury free and making awesome gains still.
Just was curious to see what everyone else has to say on this matter.
Cheers
Why was the guy a “fuckwit” for trying to help you out?
Do most of you guys act this way when someone more experienced offers you any advice at all?[/quote]
Im all open for advise. Thats why I posted this topic here so I could get some advice from you guys. The reason I said this guy was a fuckwit was because he was not more experienced than myself and was one of those blokes that are 5’10 60 kg and seems to be an expert on all.
[quote]BarneyFife wrote:
Mike Robertson wrote an article on this recently. He was of the opinion that the deadlift should be replaced with something else because of the potential for injuries, because keeping ones back tight was nigh impossible.
Read the article.
I do not advocate stopping deadlifting. But, If you can’t use proper form, cut back on the weight and focus on form.[/quote]
WHOOOAAA!!! I just have to fix what was said above before Mike Robertson and accomplished, avid and active PL’er has to come here and go Crazy.
It was NOT!! Mike Robertson but Mike Boyle that recomended not DLing.
Thanks for all the advice so far guys I probally should have stated I mainly do heavy singles with the DL at the beginning of every week and posterior chain work on Thurs to support it and have had no problems at all with the slight rounding of the upperback.
I weigh about 171 pnds and DL 396 for singles
[quote]Leafblighter wrote:
Powerlifters usually round their upper back when deadlifting since it helps them put up bigger numbers. If you’re competing in the lift, the risk/reward ratio is probably worth it for a rounded upper back if the lower back is straight.[/quote]
[quote]Brawan wrote:
I probally should have stated I mainly do heavy singles with the DL at the beginning of every week[/quote]
Well that solves it right there: Unless you’re training for a powerlifting competition, deadlift with less weight.
At 70-80%, you might find yourself pulling safer. Sure, you might not make the same progress, but nobody makes progress while injured either.
[quote]Phill wrote:
BarneyFife wrote:
Mike Robertson wrote an article on this recently. He was of the opinion that the deadlift should be replaced with something else because of the potential for injuries, because keeping ones back tight was nigh impossible.
Read the article.
I do not advocate stopping deadlifting. But, If you can’t use proper form, cut back on the weight and focus on form.
WHOOOAAA!!! I just have to fix what was said above before Mike Robertson and accomplished, avid and active PL’er has to come here and go Crazy.
It was NOT!! Mike Robertson but Mike Boyle that recomended not DLing.
[/quote]
I would like to SINCERELY apologize. I made a grevious error. Pardon me,Mike Roberston, and thank you phil for catching it. I will edit my post.
[quote]Kailash wrote:
Leafblighter wrote:
Powerlifters usually round their upper back when deadlifting since it helps them put up bigger numbers. If you’re competing in the lift, the risk/reward ratio is probably worth it for a rounded upper back if the lower back is straight.
Brawan wrote:
I probally should have stated I mainly do heavy singles with the DL at the beginning of every week
Well that solves it right there: Unless you’re training for a powerlifting competition, deadlift with less weight.
At 70-80%, you might find yourself pulling safer. Sure, you might not make the same progress, but nobody makes progress while injured either.[/quote]
True. Might drop the load back to about 80% for some 5x5 and see how it goes.
His upper back is rounding profusely. In theory, this would put more strain on the anterior portions of the intervertebral discs of the thoracic spine. However, the thoracic spine isn’t taking the brunt of the load in the deadlift; the lumbar spine is.
In the real world, there just aren’t many upper back injuries due to deadlifting. As long as your lower back isn’t rounding, I would have to say keep on deadlifting heavy.
That being said, I don’t believe your upper back should round in the bent over or t-bar row.
This is not a rounded lower back we are talking about here this is a rounded upper! I have the same problem I am excessively kyphotic in my thoracic vertabrae.
It bothers me occasionally after heavy deads or bent over rows but I dont think it is a long term issue, rounding of the lower back is different, and is unacceptable. If you cant keep a slightly arched or flat back you have no business loading the axial skeleton with a lean.
