Don’t wear anything bleeding is a good thing that means you’re keeping the bar close, and that is where it is supposed to be. Scares are cool and chicks dig them. In twenty years I have never worried about scraping my shins. Just lift the bar.
George
[quote]ilyttoddll wrote:
Never scraped my shins as dave said ive tried but getfast im not flexbile for sh*t so that could be a problem? or is i t =P[/quote]
I also never scrape my shins, and I am quite flexible, as I can drop into and chill in a third world squat pretty easily. In proportion to my torso, my legs and femurs do appear rather short, so that could be it.
I would say it is not much of a problem unless you have trouble getting down into the proper positions. I am under the impression that a lack of flexibility can help strength.
DS, never scraping your shins, and not being able to are different stories. You will likey have a more effective deadlift if you keep it closer to your body
I had this problem and cured it overnight. If you pull conventional, approach the bar with your shins touching the bar. This way, you might glide over your shins a little bit and get a faint red line. Otherwise, if the bar slams into your shins, even if its a few inches, you will get messed up. This worked extremely well for me.
I’ve always found that getting my shins close to the bar hindered my deadlift and killed my shins. For me the hardest part of the deadlift is clearing my knees (I have long femurs), and setting my shins up 3-4 inches away from the bar helped with both of those problems.
However, the only catch to this is that the bar is a bit harder to control on the way up, so you will have to find a groove that works for you.
I’ll say the same thing I’ve said before when this came up: search for the Cressey series “Mastering the Deadlift”. I too used to be a shin scraper, and fixed it literally overnight by going through the articles step-by-step. Pay particular attention to the proper set-up section, and the troubleshooting section.
I don’t understand all these people that say scraping their shins on a dead is just part of the lift. It isn’t and shouldn’t be, nor should you want it to be. Not only do you F up your shins unecessarily, but scraping your shins induces friction, which obviously we don’t want.
FWIW, I’m 6’2" and I certainly wouldn’t say my femurs are unusually short for my frame.
Make sure to pull your shoulder blades together and brace your abs. They’ll help keep the bar in the proper path and minimize the shin scraping.
[quote]doubleh wrote:
I’ll say the same thing I’ve said before when this came up: search for the Cressey series “Mastering the Deadlift”. I too used to be a shin scraper, and fixed it literally overnight by going through the articles step-by-step. Pay particular attention to the proper set-up section, and the troubleshooting section.
I don’t understand all these people that say scraping their shins on a dead is just part of the lift. It isn’t and shouldn’t be, nor should you want it to be. Not only do you F up your shins unecessarily, but scraping your shins induces friction, which obviously we don’t want.
FWIW, I’m 6’2" and I certainly wouldn’t say my femurs are unusually short for my frame.[/quote]
Just because you scrape your shins, it does not put you in the ‘shin scraper’ category of those articles. It’s more like, ‘if you have these problems, you will be a shin scraper’.
Scraping is normal for many people. Watch the Cup of the Titans. Are they all wearing long socks on the deadlifts because it’s the stylish thing to do?
EDIT: This guy needs to fix his form, he’s a shin scraper!
My picture didn’t show
I have never had any scraping with deadlifts, dont know how people can be scratched, must be the position or grip you use
I have average-length femurs for 5’11" and I never scrape. The bar always seems to barely clear them on the “leg press” portion of the lift.
BTW, am I wrong for thinking of deadlifts as a leg press followed by standing up with the glutes and hams? I’ve always thought of them this way, but never heard anyone else that does.
If it bothers you enough, try moving your feet inside the knurling.
[quote]njrusmc wrote:
I had this problem and cured it overnight. If you pull conventional, approach the bar with your shins touching the bar. This way, you might glide over your shins a little bit and get a faint red line. Otherwise, if the bar slams into your shins, even if its a few inches, you will get messed up. This worked extremely well for me.[/quote]
x2
I agree with with njrusmc if you pull conventional, but if you pull sumo you’re going to hit some knurling. Just try to get it as close as possible to alleviate slamming the bar into your shins. Other than that , you’ll just have to tolerate bloody shins.
JayPierce, I actually think of them as a leg press followed by standing up as well. It helps me mentally because that way I can get my quads into breaking it off the floor.
In my deadlift I have 2 real challenging points: getting it off the floor and clearing my knees. The leg press thought has helped the start off the floor greatly.