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Barbell Deadlift questions

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Wesker11

Wesker11

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First question, my shins are getting beat up from deadlifting. They are bleeding on a regular basis. Am I trying to hard to keep the bar close to my legs? Pain doesn't bother me, just curious as I could of sworn I read that Pavel says a person with a good deadlift will have their shins scraped up.

Second question. I've been messing around with light RDL's for a warm up. I've noticed that I get that nice little curve in the lower back when performing these. When performing regular deadlifts, I have a pretty straight lower back. It doesn't round at all, its just board straight. Hear is my question. Should I treat the very beginning of the descent of a regular deadlift the same as an RDL in order to get that curve?

Thanks for any help
 
@Wesker11 it is generally a bad idea to have the curve of your spine change shape during a lift, especially while under load. Whether your back does better being totally neutral or in slight extension is up to you, but avoid letting it change position mid-lift.

As for your shins, the bar should be close to you, but if you treat it like a cheese-grater on your shins you're not helping yourself. First off, there is too much friction and that will cause you to lift less weight. Secondly, there are probably some technical errors you can clean up that will help fix this problem. Do you work with a coach who gives you feedback on your DL technique?
 
It seems to me like your shoulders are out in front of the bar a bit much. Do you feel strong and on balance if you begin with your hips down and back a little more?
 
I can try and see how it feels. I think my stance was a little wide. It was definitely more than 12 inches. Narrowed my stance and it felt real good today. No shin scrapes. I wonder if having my knees too far out shortened the radius of my arms at the beginning of the lift causing me to scrape my legs.
 
You could try buy another bar with less aggressive knurling. The first bar I bought really cut my shins up, so I invested in another with slightly smoother knurling and it's a lot better. I still get scrapes but not deep and bleeding.
You could also where long socks
 
Wesker11 said:
my shins are getting beat up from deadlifting. They are bleeding on a regular basis.
Click to expand...
Wear knee socks. If you need, get soccer socks or others that come up really high and fold down the tops as needed.

If that isn't enough, wear long pants, or get soccer shin guards to put inside your soccer socks. Or take a scissors to a big soda bottle and make your own shin guards - all have been done and used by some very good lifters so you won't be the first one.

-S-
 
Congratulations on the scraped shins! A good sign. I'd always take a scraped shin over a smoother bar. Long socks (or Steve's other suggestions) are the way to go. My good mate used to deadlift 300kgs in a commercial gym in long socks and no one made fun of it - the 300kgs probably helped but still :)
 
The blood on my bar does look pretty manly. I'll try out the socks. Thanks for all the tips.
 
1. Shins beaten up.
2. A "nice little curve" in the lower back at light RDL.

Something is wrong here.
 
@Inuk can you be more specific? Some very good deadlifters drag the bar up their shins.

-S-
 
Theres a difference between dragging the bar up by your shins and beating your shins. Myself i used to straighten my back and tiny move the torso a little bit in a more upright position during the very start of the pull. That resulted in bleeding shins. To fix this problem i worked with my mobility and kept the weights lights, until it became natural to set myself up before the pull and execute it correctly.
 
I don't think I'm doing what you are describing in your last post. Video of my form is in an earlier post.

Edit: Check out the marks on Andy Bolton's leg halfway down the page!

How to Deadlift More (Book Excerpt)

Here's a quote from the article.

"Now, back to my pull…

As the bar leaves the floor, I keep it very close - that’s why all great deadlifters have scars on their shins. Letting the bar drift away from your shins and out in front of you is a great way to fail a big deadlift attempt. For every centimeter you allow it to get in front of you, the weight feels much heavier and greatly stresses the lower back."
 
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If the bar is bouncing off your shins then there is something wrong, possibly hips not far enough back or not engaging lats, but I don't see this in the video.
 
Keeping the bar close is rarely a bad thing. If you want to drive more with your quads and lower back than with your hams/glutes, putting the bar a bit further away and letting your knees creep forward could be a good idea, but it looks like you've got a solid posterior chain dominant pull; I can see the RDL influence in your setup there.

Two problems:
1. your knees are out in front of the bar at the start, which might be why you're getting a bit more banged up than you'd like. Sit back on the heels more, push your a#@ back and get your shoulders over the bar instead of in front.
2. You're severely disconnecting through your midsection and overextending your low back at the top. Get your ribs down more, don't think about pointing your chest at the wall in front of you but be willing to let it face the ground, and once the bar gets to your knees focus on driving the hips forward. Right now it looks like you're thinking (consciously or subconsciously) 'pull back' and 'chest up'... think about the hip drive instead.

On the eccentric you've got a great hinge but need to keep connected through the midsection more. Hinge =/= ditching your butt behind you.

Just my .03...
 
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