Sumo Deadlift Formcheck

Hi!

I figured I’d try to get some pointers on what I’m doing wrong. That is, I feel I’m doing something wrong because no matter what weights I use, from 70kg to 220kg, it feels like I have two giant lumps in my lower back after doing a set. Add to that I have a hard time just standing up after finishing a set.

Weird thing(?) is that if I do pallof press immediately after finishing sumo deadlifts then I my back gets back to ‘normal’. However, my lower back always gets pretty stiff in the next following days. I.e I feel like a 70 year old man getting up from bed in the morning.

I’ve moved away from doing regular deadlifts as they are even worse for my lower back.

I did not record a video of my squats, but I feel like I’m doing something wrong here as well. For example, I have a hard time getting below 90 degrees, and if I do my lower back acts up again. From the lowest position and up my knees automatically tend point inwards. This happens even if I use a sumo wide stance or really narrow stance.

I have been lifting on and off for 3-4 years, but only started doing squats/deadlifts(sumo) this christmas. Yes I know, I was one of those “every day is upper body day” dunces.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I’d really appreciate if any of you experts could take a look at my form doing sumos. (this is 150kg’s btw)

PS. English isn’t my native tongue, so sorry for any bad grammar.

[youtube]40Abqixjqz0[/youtube]

Edit, well that link didn’t work… I cannot figure out how to embed a youtube click, so here’s the video if you care to click it and watch it on youtube…

Haha, that sentence in all it’s variations seem to be well known among non-norwegians! :stuck_out_tongue:

I have the feeling that this will result in lots of double posts as my editing and new posts does not seem to appear… Anyway, here’s the youtube link as I cannot figure out how to embed it :<

Things that I see…well, let’s start with things that I cannot see in this particular camera angle: I cannot see knee flare, as Dave Tate eloquently says, keep your hips toward the bar and try to drop your sac on it on the way down. I can see that you’re not doing that, because of your shoulder position. I’d like to see you a little back more, because your first motion before the bar breaks the floor is that your hips jump up and then you start to move the weight. You’re using a lot of lower back to lift it which is probably why you’re getting the pump. Use your legs to drive and you’re almost doing a deadlift in 2 parts, the crane up to your knees and then you send your hips through. Try ironing it out into one fluid movement. That pump could also be coming from the hyper extension you do on the tail end of a couple of those reps. Your lift ends when you stand up straight. (But it was only on a couple that I saw that.)

Use your legs more and end the lift once your upright is the cliff notes version: I’d also like to see what it looks like at a heavier weight, because it looks like you’re drilling form here, and the breakdown is more in your set up than through the lift, itself. It just takes some practice and trial and error to see where works for you.

Keep it up.

[quote]Lightsonfero wrote:
Things that I see…well, let’s start with things that I cannot see in this particular camera angle: I cannot see knee flare, as Dave Tate eloquently says, keep your hips toward the bar and try to drop your sac on it on the way down. I can see that you’re not doing that, because of your shoulder position. I’d like to see you a little back more, because your first motion before the bar breaks the floor is that your hips jump up and then you start to move the weight. You’re using a lot of lower back to lift it which is probably why you’re getting the pump. Use your legs to drive and you’re almost doing a deadlift in 2 parts, the crane up to your knees and then you send your hips through. Try ironing it out into one fluid movement. That pump could also be coming from the hyper extension you do on the tail end of a couple of those reps. Your lift ends when you stand up straight. (But it was only on a couple that I saw that.)

Use your legs more and end the lift once your upright is the cliff notes version: I’d also like to see what it looks like at a heavier weight, because it looks like you’re drilling form here, and the breakdown is more in your set up than through the lift, itself. It just takes some practice and trial and error to see where works for you.

Keep it up. [/quote]

Yikes, I accidentally clicked ‘report’ on your post, but it ended in a page error so I don’t think it went through. Sorry about that.

Anyway. Thanks for the feedback! I was trying drill form with a friend watching me here, yep. So more back and perhaps touch my shins on the barbell? Got it. Since you mentioned that my hips jumps before I actually start moving the weight, should I set up with my hips higher?

I never really felt like I was struggling with the actual weight because it was too heavy (even at 5x220kgs) but I get such a pump in my lower back that I just have to call it. My leg day usually consists of doing squats before sumos and then going something like 70-120-170-200-2xx and by the time I hit 200 it feels like by lower back is about to burst open.

Thanks, again!

I want your shins close to vertical when starting, this will force your shoulders back behind the bar and your butt down so when you start the lift, it’s because you’re driving through your legs and treating your arms like meat hooks. Once you hit it and your lower back doesnt feel like its going to pop, it will click.

Yes, your shins should be against the barbell and it should travel in a straight line up and down, when you watch your video, you’ll see at the top it goes back and forth and on the way down follows your knees that are bent before they should be. I hope this all makes sense and happy tugging.