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Barbell Deadlift form check

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It looks like you need to bring your hips through quicker. Once you hit right around knee level, that's when you need to really squeeze your glutes and drive those hips to meet the bar. This will help keep the bar over your mid-foot as you approach lockout and it won't drift forward as much.

This knee level mark...Would it be the same for the bodies with different proprotions (long torso, short legs and vice versa), and, lets say, for the mesomorph and ectomorph, short&wide and long&lean? Everyone is built differently, will this mark suit all?
 
This knee level mark...Would it be the same for the bodies with different proprotions (long torso, short legs and vice versa), and, lets say, for the mesomorph and ectomorph, short&wide and long&lean? Everyone is built differently, will this mark suit all?

Well there really are only the knees and the hips. And the knees have to go first, because they can't stay in the way of the bar, and at knee level they aren't in the way anymore. After the knees have extended, you only have to push the hips. But it is important to keep the hips moving from the beginning; you don't want to stop moving the hips at any point of the movement, only the speed changes.
 
Have you ever tried the half-sumo DL (as I call it). It's wider than a conventional, but not super wide like a sumo.

an easy fix is simply deadlifting in a narrow sumo stance.

Yes I was pulling in Narrow Sumo (or Semi Sumo like I used to call it) for some time and it was feeling more natural than my untrained conventional stance. Actually I prefer to squat in a little wider stance so its all make sense.
But recently I decided to improve my technique and get back to conventional and take from it as much as I can. I will work on my conventional for a few session more and after that maybe I change stance to semi sumo. Do you have any cues or setup instructions for this stance? I am pretty sure that I did this pull suboptimally.

This is personal preference but I like to get everything tight and braced before I ever put my hands on the bar. That way I spend less time hunched over the bar and I don't leak any of my tightness and I'm not wasting any extra energy. For me it's brace, hands on bar, "wedge" and go.
I tried it before by doing deadlift setup by Kelly Starret in Supple Leopard. I didnt like it though, but maybe I will give it another shot.

I know there's a lot of debate about belt or no belt but to feel proper bracing, I would add a belt once you hit your main work sets. If you want to get stronger without a belt then that is totally fine but I've always noticed when my strength went up while wearing a belt so did my belt-less work.
Thank you for suggestion but, I am actually don't plan to competing or hit some big numbers. I just want to pull safely and be generally stronger person. My goal is to pull two times my bodyweight (about 200kg), its relatively small number and I think its achievable without the equipment, so I rather want to strengthen my core than use belt :)

Thank you @Steve Freides, @Kettlebelephant, @Jared_G_85, @Geoff Chafe, @305pelusa, @NoahMarek and @jca17 for your helpful responses, you are great! I read all your posts a few times and I think that I have to work on these things:
  • reviewing Mark Rippetoe setup once more
  • staying slightly behind the bar, "wedging under the bar"
  • fixing neck position to neutral
  • keeping bar over midfoot
  • adding more hip drive, "generating from the hinge"
I will try to use all this cues on the weekend I and I will post another videos :)
 
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Well there really are only the knees and the hips. And the knees have to go first, because they can't stay in the way of the bar, and at knee level they aren't in the way anymore. After the knees have extended, you only have to push the hips. But it is important to keep the hips moving from the beginning; you don't want to stop moving the hips at any point of the movement, only the speed changes.

Yes, probably it's the matter of speed. Because visually it looks different with different athletes, hence I, probably mistakenly, thought about body types.
 
This knee level mark...Would it be the same for the bodies with different proprotions (long torso, short legs and vice versa), and, lets say, for the mesomorph and ectomorph, short&wide and long&lean? Everyone is built differently, will this mark suit all?

For people that I have helped at the gym with their deadlift, this seems to have worked for all of them whether they pull sumo or conventional regardless of their body type. As @Antti mentioned, you definitely don't want the hips to be idle at any point once you start pulling. Even once you initiate the pull, the idea of bringing your hips forward to meet the bar will help with your leg drive off of the floor. This is pretty much why the kettlebell swing is probably the best assistance exercise for the Deadlift.

A solid Deadlift Day for me would be:
Main Lift: Conventional Deadlift
Supplemental Lift: Pause Front Squat
Assistance Lift: Kettlebell Swing
 
My hip structure restricts my hip from going into deep flexion thus making it hard to maintain a good lumbar arch so by widening my stance, I can maintain that arch very easily.

This gave me to think more about my hip structure and currently used stance.

I found this article Should you Deadlift Conventional or Sumo? • Stronger by Science where author argues that hip structure is the key factor when selecting deadlift stance. What do you think about it?

Do you know any method, other than trying all stances by myself for longer time, to check which stance is better suited to a someone's hip structure? I prefer to squat in wider stance, and narrow sumo "feels" more natural, but I can't tell right now that it is better than conventional...
 
@damogari, lots of folks can do either just fine - I wouldn't get worried about hip structure unless you have a reason to do so. Try both, try cycles of both, try cycles where you start with one and end with the other, try for maxes with both, try days where you warmup with one and do work sets with the other, try cycles where you alternate workouts between stances - and see what you think when all that's done.

-S-
 
@damogari Have you ever tried Jefferson(Straddle Deadlifts)? Its an interesting version, and some argue it is the most accessible for some people. There is also an anti-rotation element for those who like the One Hand Swing.
 
Thanks @Geoff Chafe for recommendation! I know what Jefferson lift is but have not tried it yet. Its on my "old lifts" list to try along with a couple more. Recently I started doing zerchers and have some experience with kb bent press. Really like those.

Your thread USAWA Heavy Lifts led me to USAWA rulebook where I lost a few good hours of reading - have to admit that some of them are really weird! I want to explore these lifts after I will have my deadlift technique down pat.
 
Do you know any method, other than trying all stances by myself for longer time, to check which stance is better suited to a someone's hip structure? I prefer to squat in wider stance, and narrow sumo "feels" more natural, but I can't tell right now that it is better than conventional...

I agree with Steve's response. Don't get carried away with the anatomy unnecessarily. Most people can do both just fine. One reason I like a narrow sumo stance for me is how natural it feels. I pretty much never pick up something heavy from a "conventional" stance in real life. I have always picked up heavy things with my hands between my legs. When it comes to deadlifting with a barbell or kettlebell, same thing, it just feels better. I can also maintain excellent spinal mechanics when pulling sumo but really struggle when pulling conventional. So yeah, it is good to do both, but I would focus on nailing down good technique with a single style (whichever feels more natural) before trying others.
 
FWIW, sumo is more technical in my opinion and that of many others.

E.g., with heavy weights, I've had it happen to me that I could get 5 reps at a given weight and not even get one rep with 10 more lbs. on the bar. Sumo seems to be "it goes or it doesn't" while one can muscle through a conventional DL.

Another example is form and setup - I gradually worked out my conventional setup and form over the years, but all my attempts to pull anything significant in a sumo stance failed until one day the form light bulb went on for me, and I've since included sumo in my training.

-S-
 
@Steve Freides How wide is your sumo stance? It's really more of a spectrum and that's why just calling them sumo vs conventional can be misleading in my opinion. I don't find a narrow stance sumo to be more difficult than conventional in terms of technical difficulty. Establishing the "wedge" is much easier in this stance for me.
 
My current sumo pull is wider than narrow sumo, but you have to remember that I'm relatively close to the ground to start with, so my stance is wide sumo for me but wouldn't be for others. My hands are on the knurling, thumbs near the smooth part, and my legs aren't a whole lot wider than the outsides of my hands. I have, FWIW, done enough narrow sumo that I've pulled that way in a meet, but it's not the way to move the most weight for me.

-S-
 
Yesterday I was deadlifting with your cues, especially with head positioning and hip drive and lifting was a lot, lot better. Keeping barbell closer activates my lats and everything was going smoother. Unfortunately I wasnt able to record this session, but will try to make a video next time.

I also tried to deadlift in narrow (semi) sumo stance with the submaximal weight (150kg, ~85% RM) and have to admit that lifting the same weight was a little easier in narrow sumo stance. Next week I will have deload and after that I will switch for semi sumo stance for next cycle (7 weeks). After that it will be more clear which stance should be my primary one.

Thank you once more for your help :)

Do you have any advices/cue/sources for deadlifting in narrow sumo stance?
 
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