i think: “i hope i don’t fuck up my back”.
[quote]DanErickson wrote:
Hey guys
Just a quick question about activating muscles during deadlifts. For me I have always found that deadlifts hits my lower back, just recently I found out my hamstrings should be doing a lot of the work. I find deadlifts don’t hit my legs at all!
Are they even supposed to work your legs? Is there something that people consciously think about when deadlifting that makes it hit their hamstrings?
[/quote]
I’d highly suggest you get Mark Rippetoe’s book Starting Strength 2nd Edition. It will teach you the proper form for deadlifting.
[quote]AlphaDragon wrote:
Garage_Gorilla wrote:
I don’t “think” when I deadlift. practice it enough and all the components become second nature sort of like a baseball player taking a swing or a boxer getting his hips into a left hook. Once you get to maximal weights “thinking through” those steps robs you of precious moments in what is very much an explosive lift…one deadlifters opinion.
I fully agree with this.
It seems that those times I “don’t think” are the time I set new PR’s and those times that I do think are times I fail in PR’s.
“Too many mind. Mind the weight, mind those watching, mind the super hot girls watching…”
“no mind.” 
AD
[/quote]
Exactly.
When I deadlift I don’t think; I just deadlift. Thinking causes a duality which is not optimal for athletic performance.
That being said, to answer the original question about muscle activation, first get the superficial form down. Once you’ve got that, then just contract the muscles that you want to be doing the work. Yes, it can take practice to build this “mind muscle connection” but once you have, then it really simplifies the process of activating the desired musculature.
Eventually your body will just know how to correctly do the exercise and you’ll be back at the point that was being made above. Where you don’t need to concentrate on the details of the movement, your body already knows how to do it. All you need to do is concentrate on the lift.
Since we’re using Zen/eastern philosophical references:
“Before I started lifting a deadlift was just a deadlift. When I was learning how to deadlift a deadlift was no longer just a deadlift. Once I mastered the deadlift a deadlift was once again just a deadlift.”
What Do You Think When Deadlifting?
“Fuck. This is heavy!!!”
The title of this thread is more interesting than the content! 
The first few reps I let my head go up and have the rest of my body follow my head upwards. The last few reps I think to myself, “I really hope I don’t injure my back again.”
I start off by thinking that I need to sit back further and get my shoulders behind the bar before I pull, and I finish it thinking “I sure hope my eyes don’t pop out of my head.”
hum…
I do my thinking in the warm ups, and in the reps sets. And when I want to double check my form before a PR, I drop the weight (A lot) from the bar and do some REALLY light reps focusing on my form.
After that I LIGHLTY hit the sides my head with the palms of my hands just enough to rock it a little. That way I STOP THINKING!
Then is just… breath, Breath, Breath!, BREATH INNN!!!.. AHHHHHHHH!!!
on PRs for any lift I let muscle memory do its thing. Otherwise… if I think about this or that I miss the lift.
[quote]AlphaDragon wrote:
Garage_Gorilla wrote:
I don’t “think” when I deadlift. practice it enough and all the components become second nature sort of like a baseball player taking a swing or a boxer getting his hips into a left hook. Once you get to maximal weights “thinking through” those steps robs you of precious moments in what is very much an explosive lift…one deadlifters opinion.
I fully agree with this.
It seems that those times I “don’t think” are the time I set new PR’s and those times that I do think are times I fail in PR’s.
“Too many mind. Mind the weight, mind those watching, mind the super hot girls watching…”
“no mind.”
AD
[/quote]
I try not to think about the fact that I am on the second floor and houses are built poorly these days.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
AlphaDragon wrote:
Garage_Gorilla wrote:
I don’t “think” when I deadlift. practice it enough and all the components become second nature sort of like a baseball player taking a swing or a boxer getting his hips into a left hook. Once you get to maximal weights “thinking through” those steps robs you of precious moments in what is very much an explosive lift…one deadlifters opinion.
I fully agree with this.
It seems that those times I “don’t think” are the time I set new PR’s and those times that I do think are times I fail in PR’s.
“Too many mind. Mind the weight, mind those watching, mind the super hot girls watching…”
“no mind.”
AD
Exactly.
When I deadlift I don’t think; I just deadlift. Thinking causes a duality which is not optimal for athletic performance.
That being said, to answer the original question about muscle activation, first get the superficial form down. Once you’ve got that, then just contract the muscles that you want to be doing the work. Yes, it can take practice to build this “mind muscle connection” but once you have, then it really simplifies the process of activating the desired musculature.
Eventually your body will just know how to correctly do the exercise and you’ll be back at the point that was being made above. Where you don’t need to concentrate on the details of the movement, your body already knows how to do it. All you need to do is concentrate on the lift.
Since we’re using Zen/eastern philosophical references:
“Before I started lifting a deadlift was just a deadlift. When I was learning how to deadlift a deadlift was no longer just a deadlift. Once I mastered the deadlift a deadlift was once again just a deadlift.”[/quote]
Good post.
On the tangent of esoteric speaking:
“If a deadlift falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?”
Wow a lot of replies, thank you guys so much for all the info, I don’t know who to respond to first. First off I think I am understand the advice of “athletes don’t think when they set records.” For instance, I now realize when I am doing intervals and I am sprinting I am not thinking to myself “Ok, put one leg ahead of the other, turn body slightly when moving arms, step #2 put next leg in front of the other.”
It just doesn’t make sense now that I think of it that way. I guess I started this thread because I have had kind of a hard time getting anywhere with deadlifting. Once I reached 225 I was no longer sure I was doing it correctly and worried about hurting myself. SO I keep dropping the weight and starting over again with 135 and not really getting anywhere.
When I deadlift I find if I push through my heels I cant get ANY power and I am extremely weak, so I push through either the middle of my feet or more towards my toes. I was thinking that maybe if I have to drop the weight down even to something totally pussy even for grandma standards like 50 pounds and push with my heels and work from there then maybe I will actually get somewhere… What does everybody think of that?
Btw, a lot of funny posts concerning “Fuck, I hope I don’t hurt my back and the like”, or my favorite, something about doing deadlifts on a second story and consciously thinking about how poorly houses are built! HA
Bump
What Do You Think When Deadlifting?
Edit:
“fuckthisisheavyfuckthisisheavyfuckthisisheavy”
[quote]DanErickson wrote:
When I deadlift I find if I push through my heels I cant get ANY power and I am extremely weak, so I push through either the middle of my feet or more towards my toes. I was thinking that maybe if I have to drop the weight down even to something totally pussy even for grandma standards like 50 pounds and push with my heels and work from there then maybe I will actually get somewhere… What does everybody think of that?
[/quote]
Might be lack of dorsiflexion (decreasing angle between toes and shin) at the ankle. Lack of flexibility makes it easier to put the weight forward over the toes/ball than back over the heels. Crappy choice of footware could also be the culprit. Try deadlifting barefoot/sockfoot.
If its lack of flexibility I think standard advice is rack pulls; progressively lower the bar each time until you are ready to pull from the floor.
Mike Boyle had a recent article with a couple mobility drills for increasing dorsiflexion.
ReRead Cressey’s “Dissecting the Deadlift” articles.
These are some of my cues:
-
Descend to the bar as though you are descending under load. Take in your air and get tight at the beginning of your descent, and tense your muscle like you are doing a controlled eccentric as you go down to the bar. There’s no stretch-reflex for the deadlift, but this technique is as close as you can get to simulating one.
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Drive your heels through the floor. Don’t think of lifting the bar, think of kicking your feet through the platform.
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Head back. Some guys start the pull with their heads level or even down. It doesn’t work for me. I drive my head back into my traps from the beginning of the pull. Your body follows your head.
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Triceps locked. So you don’t pull a biceps.
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Pull back. Not up.
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Contract your abs as powerfully as you can throughout the lift. Transfers energy from feet to fingers with as little dissipation as possible.
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Finish the lift with your glutes. Thrust your hips forward like you are fucking. Maintain the tension in your abs so you don’t injure your low back.
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Just ride the bar back to the platform. Don’t try to lower it under too much control. But don’t drop it either.
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If you are pulling multiple reps, at least release tension throughout your body and then regather it between reps. Better still, stand up between reps.
Note: Everybody’s pull is different. Some of the best competition deadlifts look like stiff-legs. Lots of good deadlifters have their upper backs rounded during the pull. Try to keep your arch, but if you stay tight, a little rounding is fine.
I do mostly stiff legged deadlifts in order to target my hams more.
Before lifting it’s “I hate fricking deadlifts.”
While lifting I’m usually thinking “unnngghh” or “grrrrr”, or possible “huunfff”.
Immediately after I’m thinking “Breathe man, breathe!”
Shortly after it’s “Damn that was heavy, can I lift more next time?”
I just think, damn, i need to get this shit up, lol. I dont think i have ever really thought while doing a lift. I think before to ge tpumped up, but im so focused i dont think during the lift, lol.
i think
i hope i dont hit my balls.
“Light weight!”
Someone had to say it.
When I’m doing my warmup sets I think “This is so Heavy!”, then when I get up to my work sets, Max Effort attempt, or whatever I think “Lightweight!” Other than that, push the earth away with my heals and look straight ahead.