Old Forum Deadlift form check

[James Whitmore]

Hi everyone,

I really like deadlifting and have studied and practiced deadlifting on and off for a couple of years. Unfortunately it has been mostly off until recently so I haven't made a lot of progress in those couple of years. I started the dl again last term (I am an English teacher living in China right now) and have made a new pr of 155kg, using pttp style training. I am currently 10 kg away from a double bodyweight dl.

I have recently switched to the modified delorme workout from Beyond Bodybuilding in order to give one of my students something to do together in the gym and try to put some meat on my bones.Trying to break him of typical bodybuilding style workouts and get him deadlifting.

Anyways: Any feedback on my deadlift technique?

155 was a 10kg improvement over last term.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVC0ad_I7ps&feature=youtu.be.

 

[Lehrskov]

Hi James!

Not at all bad - and way to go on the 2x bw pull.

A few things in no particular order:

1) Straighten your lower legs: you are going forward on the knees, and thus have to move the weight AROUND them - you can actually see this at sec:09 (think 'ski boots' and just sit back more).

2) Pack shoulders more, and pull them back -> towards your behind (not up towards your ears). Idea is to activate your lats much, much more.

3) More tightness: when you setup and just before you pull. 'Wedge' yourself in between the weight and the floor.

4) Tighten your abs and obliques. Trick: pull your rectum towards your navel. Work on 1-arm deadlifts to get to know your obliques.

5) Stand up much stronger: it should feel like a strongfirst plank when you stand up.

 

Best!

 

[Steve Freides]

The video shows something I do, too, which is fixable - the setup is too close to the bar and the bar moves away as it comes off the ground.  Try setting up just a little further back, maybe bar over the middle of the foot as opposed to right next to the shin, and see how that works out.  Look for the right spot.

-S-

 

[James Whitmore]

Okay so time zone differences and not having easy internet access hinder prompt replies. I am appreciative of the pointers.

 

Ulrik:

Straightening my shins has been something I've been working on since that video.

I do tighten my lats but took your suggestion and realized as you said, my should could be pulled to my hips more. I focused on that and tightening up the obliques more during setup on Friday while doing the medium day of the modfied Delorme. Definitely noticed a tighter more connected back, but it will need some work of course to really get it consistent. I found I needed to reset every 2 or 3 reps in order to maintain that lat tightness for all 5 reps.

Prior to the video I had been following a pttp style schedule with sets of 3 of suitcase deadlifts on alternate days. I really like that exercise.

When you say stand up stronger do you mean tighter at the top or just stand up more aggressively? As far as speed I'm not sure I could have on that lift since it was a max or near max effort.

 

Steve: With regard to foot placement. If the shins are vertical the bar should 'scrape'? and if you favor a more quad dominant stance as advocating by diesel crew then the bar is over midfoot or over the toes? It seems leg position would determine bar placement? I could move the bar forward but then I wouldn't need to straighten my shins as much?

I will be doing as many series as possible on Monday of (65kgx5, 97.5kgx5, 130kgx5). I will try to take a video or two for an updated form check and though with lighter weights more fatigue. Heavy day is a bear to get through. Really gotta dig deep and get revved up to get though it. Light and medium days are calm technique days for us. Technique is one of the ways of convincing my student that its okay not to kill ourselves every time. Save it for Monday and focus on technique. He is learning well though. Just got to figure out a way to get him to pull his hips back a bit more to get a better lower back arch. Its getting better but still not quite there. Its a work in progress as technique always is.

 

[James Whitmore]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgSluNyS9uI

so here is 3 reps (trying for 5) at 130kg. This is the 3 series of (65x5,97.5x5, 130x5). I've been focusing on cranking the shoulders towards the hips more.

Since this is my first time on the modified delorme, i'm not sure how difficult Monday is supposed to be. All the weights and sets feel easy until I hit the 130 (course it's much heavier) then I feel like I am going for a near max effort.

I'm keeping the weight the same and will retry the same next Monday. If I don't make 3 complete series or more should I drop back the weight for a week? Say go back to 120 or 125 kg for the top set?

I'm working on getting enough nutrition, but find it hard to get a good muscle gaining diet here in china right now. Meat and milk tend to be scarce and expensive. I've gained about 1 kg so far in the last 2 weeks.

 

[Brett Jones]

James,

those plates look small - standard 45# plates place the bar about 9 inches off the ground

check to make sure you aren't pulling from "beyond the range" since that could cause several of your DL faults.

might need to elevate the bar/plates to get you to a better starting position

 

[James Whitmore]

Thanks for the tip. You happen to be absolutely correct.

You know when I first walked into the gym last year I thought that might be the case, but since then forgot about it. Sure enough upon measuring, the 20kg plate is only 15.5" across. So we are going to take the two center matts and put them under the weights and stand on the wood floor. This will even out the height near perfectly. We will give it a try on Monday.

 

[ericreichelt81]

I watched your previous videos and it's still obvious your thinking nonstop on technique, and using zero intent. By watching your lockout it's obvious this weight is not difficult. Pull the bar fast man. Also, shin angle is directly related to femur/Tibia and bar position. I agree in that the bar should oh forward and get hips down more and use your quads to break the bar. One last tip that for the life of me I can't figure why it's not said more. Bring your feet in so your heel is even or inside pelvic girdle. This way force is better transferred and allows to get your knees externally loaded to bring in adductor a and a much better lockout drive. But, all that said great job on 2x pull.

 

[James Whitmore]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQiVymOpoHU&feature=youtu.be

So we have adjusted for the short height of the bar. Feels much better. Got all five series on Monday. The video is the last set so yeah I am a bit tired, but I think my form is holding fine safety wise.

So I went with the bar forward position and shins slightly forward(just a little). This is a much more powerful stance for me. I also can get the wedge feeling here which I don't really get with shins vertical. Also I went for more "intent" after locking in at the start. Thanks for the tip eric. My feet are usually hip width or slightly narrower.

My question is will this be acceptable form for a sfg cert or do the shins have to be absolutely vertical?

thanks for all the help gentlmen