Unbalanced or Asymmetric Deadlift

Hi everyone,
About 2 months ago I got injured on my right hip. After a while I figured out it could be Piriformis Syndrome which I managed to deal with by stretching and foam rolling.

The injury happened due to an asymetric technique I had in squats and deadlifts which caused me to lay more on my right side.
That was due to my knee been anatomically on just a little external rotation due to a miniscus surgery I had about 4 years ago, and my right leg doesn’t feel comfortable if it’s not in just a small external rotation. It’s not serious, but in squat it caused asymmetric as my left foot was pointing forward and my right leg was pointing outward.

As I managed to sort that out by simply pointing my left foot outward as well, I am not trying to figure out how to deal with my unbalance in my Deadlift. When I got injured, I remember the entire right-sided hip was very sore after the set, like some kind of asymmetric or unbalance…

Now I’m trying to figure out, how can I spot an unbalance / asymmetric form, and how do I deal with such thing? I am a little bit lost!

Also, for those with experience with Piriformis Syndrome, What kind of stance did you find which is less likely to irritate the piriformis?
Thanks!

[quote]pala wrote:
Hi everyone,
About 2 months ago I got injured on my right hip. After a while I figured out it could be Piriformis Syndrome which I managed to deal with by stretching and foam rolling.

The injury happened due to an asymetric technique I had in squats and deadlifts which caused me to lay more on my right side.
That was due to my knee been anatomically on just a little external rotation due to a miniscus surgery I had about 4 years ago, and my right leg doesn’t feel comfortable if it’s not in just a small external rotation. It’s not serious, but in squat it caused asymmetric as my left foot was pointing forward and my right leg was pointing outward.

As I managed to sort that out by simply pointing my left foot outward as well, I am not trying to figure out how to deal with my unbalance in my Deadlift. When I got injured, I remember the entire right-sided hip was very sore after the set, like some kind of asymmetric or unbalance…

Now I’m trying to figure out, how can I spot an unbalance / asymmetric form, and how do I deal with such thing? I am a little bit lost!

Also, for those with experience with Piriformis Syndrome, What kind of stance did you find which is less likely to irritate the piriformis?
Thanks![/quote]

The title caught my eye, as I’ve recently made the decision to reintroduce deads into my personal program for a variety of reasons. And because I absolutely intend to: 1) stay injury free; and 2) hit 3.5 times body weight (raw and natty), I’ve made it a priority to master every nuance of the lift.

Basically, know that what I say isn’t something that’s off the cuff.

First of all, how do you know for certain that it is piriformis syndrome? Did you self diagnose? Even for an advanced lifter, this is risky. And you sound like a beginner. If at all possible, you should get an in-person exam. It wouldn’t surprise me if you have other issues going on.

Regarding your faulty technique, yours is a text-book case of altered movement patterns following an injury (the meniscus), which resulted in a new injury.

THIS IS WHY I PREACH THAT PEOPLE SHOULD THINK TWICE WHEN TRYING TO LIFT CLOSE TO OR AT THEIR MAX WHILE INJURED.

It’s a hideous cycle and if you don’t have the discipline and maturity to recognize and stop it, you’ll be in a lifetime of pain. This is guaranteed.

Once you get properly diagnosed for this and any other issues you have, I strongly recommend incorporating uni-lateral work into your program. These will expose your imbalances. And if you give them the respect they deserve, they will help to mitigate the disparity.

You probably cannot afford a highly skilled coach. So the next best thing is the video yourself and ask more experienced lifters on this or other sites for advice. Be advised that you still must bear the responsibility of determining the gold from the manure.

Let’s say it is the piriformis (I don’t know this for certain based on what you’ve told me). The piriformis, among other things, concentrically rotates the hip externally. It also concentrically abducts the hip. It does other things, but the purpose of this discussion, the sumo or semi sumo style may NOT be for you (if you indeed have piriformis syndrome).

This is just a guideline based on what little information you provided. And I’m still not convinced that you’ve explained all your ailments. These unknown variables and your success rate in addressing them will ultimately determine what style of dead is best for you.

[quote]56x11 wrote:

[quote]pala wrote:
Hi everyone,
About 2 months ago I got injured on my right hip. After a while I figured out it could be Piriformis Syndrome which I managed to deal with by stretching and foam rolling.

The injury happened due to an asymetric technique I had in squats and deadlifts which caused me to lay more on my right side.
That was due to my knee been anatomically on just a little external rotation due to a miniscus surgery I had about 4 years ago, and my right leg doesn’t feel comfortable if it’s not in just a small external rotation. It’s not serious, but in squat it caused asymmetric as my left foot was pointing forward and my right leg was pointing outward.

As I managed to sort that out by simply pointing my left foot outward as well, I am not trying to figure out how to deal with my unbalance in my Deadlift. When I got injured, I remember the entire right-sided hip was very sore after the set, like some kind of asymmetric or unbalance…

Now I’m trying to figure out, how can I spot an unbalance / asymmetric form, and how do I deal with such thing? I am a little bit lost!

Also, for those with experience with Piriformis Syndrome, What kind of stance did you find which is less likely to irritate the piriformis?
Thanks![/quote]

The title caught my eye, as I’ve recently made the decision to reintroduce deads into my personal program for a variety of reasons. And because I absolutely intend to: 1) stay injury free; and 2) hit 3.5 times body weight (raw and natty), I’ve made it a priority to master every nuance of the lift.

Basically, know that what I say isn’t something that’s off the cuff.

First of all, how do you know for certain that it is piriformis syndrome? Did you self diagnose? Even for an advanced lifter, this is risky. And you sound like a beginner. If at all possible, you should get an in-person exam. It wouldn’t surprise me if you have other issues going on.

Regarding your faulty technique, yours is a text-book case of altered movement patterns following an injury (the meniscus), which resulted in a new injury.

THIS IS WHY I PREACH THAT PEOPLE SHOULD THINK TWICE WHEN TRYING TO LIFT CLOSE TO OR AT THEIR MAX WHILE INJURED.

It’s a hideous cycle and if you don’t have the discipline and maturity to recognize and stop it, you’ll be in a lifetime of pain. This is guaranteed.

Once you get properly diagnosed for this and any other issues you have, I strongly recommend incorporating uni-lateral work into your program. These will expose your imbalances. And if you give them the respect they deserve, they will help to mitigate the disparity.

You probably cannot afford a highly skilled coach. So the next best thing is the video yourself and ask more experienced lifters on this or other sites for advice. Be advised that you still must bear the responsibility of determining the gold from the manure.

Let’s say it is the piriformis (I don’t know this for certain based on what you’ve told me). The piriformis, among other things, concentrically rotates the hip externally. It also concentrically abducts the hip. It does other things, but the purpose of this discussion, the sumo or semi sumo style may NOT be for you (if you indeed have piriformis syndrome).

This is just a guideline based on what little information you provided. And I’m still not convinced that you’ve explained all your ailments. These unknown variables and your success rate in addressing them will ultimately determine what style of dead is best for you. [/quote]
Hi mate, thanks for the comment!

My injury diagnoses is far from just concluding that I have piriformis. It was intense two months with constant chronic pain where I have visited a doctor, consulted with physiotherapists, and was been treated by a chiropractor. I was doing daily researches during those intense months and learning every kind of symptoms that could match my pain. I went from vertebra faults, to SI Joint dysfunctions, Greater Trochanter, Piriformis, IT Band, Lower back and so on.

Eventually, the only treatments that made me feel any better is remove pressure on my hip abductors and stretch/foam roller the specific muscle. That almost alone removed my entire chronic pain!

[quote]pala wrote:

[quote]56x11 wrote:

[quote]pala wrote:
Hi everyone,
About 2 months ago I got injured on my right hip. After a while I figured out it could be Piriformis Syndrome which I managed to deal with by stretching and foam rolling.

The injury happened due to an asymetric technique I had in squats and deadlifts which caused me to lay more on my right side.
That was due to my knee been anatomically on just a little external rotation due to a miniscus surgery I had about 4 years ago, and my right leg doesn’t feel comfortable if it’s not in just a small external rotation. It’s not serious, but in squat it caused asymmetric as my left foot was pointing forward and my right leg was pointing outward.

As I managed to sort that out by simply pointing my left foot outward as well, I am not trying to figure out how to deal with my unbalance in my Deadlift. When I got injured, I remember the entire right-sided hip was very sore after the set, like some kind of asymmetric or unbalance…

Now I’m trying to figure out, how can I spot an unbalance / asymmetric form, and how do I deal with such thing? I am a little bit lost!

Also, for those with experience with Piriformis Syndrome, What kind of stance did you find which is less likely to irritate the piriformis?
Thanks![/quote]

The title caught my eye, as I’ve recently made the decision to reintroduce deads into my personal program for a variety of reasons. And because I absolutely intend to: 1) stay injury free; and 2) hit 3.5 times body weight (raw and natty), I’ve made it a priority to master every nuance of the lift.

Basically, know that what I say isn’t something that’s off the cuff.

First of all, how do you know for certain that it is piriformis syndrome? Did you self diagnose? Even for an advanced lifter, this is risky. And you sound like a beginner. If at all possible, you should get an in-person exam. It wouldn’t surprise me if you have other issues going on.

Regarding your faulty technique, yours is a text-book case of altered movement patterns following an injury (the meniscus), which resulted in a new injury.

THIS IS WHY I PREACH THAT PEOPLE SHOULD THINK TWICE WHEN TRYING TO LIFT CLOSE TO OR AT THEIR MAX WHILE INJURED.

It’s a hideous cycle and if you don’t have the discipline and maturity to recognize and stop it, you’ll be in a lifetime of pain. This is guaranteed.

Once you get properly diagnosed for this and any other issues you have, I strongly recommend incorporating uni-lateral work into your program. These will expose your imbalances. And if you give them the respect they deserve, they will help to mitigate the disparity.

You probably cannot afford a highly skilled coach. So the next best thing is the video yourself and ask more experienced lifters on this or other sites for advice. Be advised that you still must bear the responsibility of determining the gold from the manure.

Let’s say it is the piriformis (I don’t know this for certain based on what you’ve told me). The piriformis, among other things, concentrically rotates the hip externally. It also concentrically abducts the hip. It does other things, but the purpose of this discussion, the sumo or semi sumo style may NOT be for you (if you indeed have piriformis syndrome).

This is just a guideline based on what little information you provided. And I’m still not convinced that you’ve explained all your ailments. These unknown variables and your success rate in addressing them will ultimately determine what style of dead is best for you. [/quote]
Hi mate, thanks for the comment!

My injury diagnoses is far from just concluding that I have piriformis. It was intense two months with constant chronic pain where I have visited a doctor, consulted with physiotherapists, and was been treated by a chiropractor. I was doing daily researches during those intense months and learning every kind of symptoms that could match my pain. I went from vertebra faults, to SI Joint dysfunctions, Greater Trochanter, Piriformis, IT Band, Lower back and so on.

Eventually, the only treatments that made me feel any better is remove pressure on my hip abductors and stretch/foam roller the specific muscle. That almost alone removed my entire chronic pain!
[/quote]

Good to hear and thanks for the clarification.

  1. Is the meniscus injury lateral or medial?

  2. Were you diagnosed as having the sciatic nerve run THROUGH the piriformis? This happens with a certain segment of the population (the percentage varies depending on the study).

I suggest you:

  1. Continue the SMR work and research various mobility work such as PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation). ALWAYS raise overall body temp before performing these.

  2. Research the various unilateral movements out there AND KNOW HOW TO REGRESS → PROGRESS EACH EXERCISE (jumping straight into the hardest variation can cause more issues).

  3. And figure out a way to video yourself from multiple angles. The very few knowledgeable people on this or other forums cannot help you if the video quality or angle is poor.