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Old Forum Son's first powerlifting meet.

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Physical Culture

Physical Culture

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My 13 year old son deadlifted in his first meet yesterday.  He's been training the deadlift for about two months.  He weighed in at 137, which put him in the 148 division.  He was the only kid in that age and weight division who was deadlifting only.

I put him on a PTTP cycle, starting at 120, and working up.  He was not as consistent as I wanted him to be (kids these days), and trained about three days a week: deadlifts, Roman chair backwards and forwards, a few pushups, and whatever else he wanted to do.

He was on track to hit 155 in the gym before the meet.  He went down to lift on Thursday, and came back up and said "I just don't have it today.  It just feels too heavy.  I did two reps, but man, it feels heavy."  I said "show me", and went down to the garage with him.  Immediately I saw he had loaded the bar wrong.  It was loaded like 185, but my bar is only 33 pounds (cheap Chinese bar), so it was 173.  He gave me two good, solid singles, and I told him what he had done, and to knock it off for the day.  A new PR for four reps!

Saturday, he opened with an easy 135, then 155, then 180.  He went three for three, with 9 white lights.

Pavel and others warned me here about kids deadlifting heavy with bad technique, so I really drilled technique with my son, and did not push him near his limits.  Pavel wasn't kidding!  There were kids there that honestly scared me, the way they lifted, and their parents kept pushing them to lift more and more weight.   It's all fun until someone gets hurt.

Video of Isaac's 180 pull.  His technique looked great to me, but advice is welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV7aRT-Jc9U&feature=em-upload_owner
 
Steve, congratulations to your son on his first meet.  The weight looked easy for him, not near his limit.

His form reminds us of why Pavel cautioned against youngsters pulling near their limits.  If you look at his back as the bar comes off the ground, at about 0:05, you'll see his lumbar is rounded and his back parallel to the floor.  He needs to work on breaking the bar off the ground with his back flatter and more upright, and he'll need to work on his hip mobility and leg strength to make that happen.  Consider taking him off deadlifts for his next cycle and having him focus on front squats, either barbell or with two kettlebells, or using goblet and wall squats in his program before he deadlifts.

-S-
 
Great stuff Steve. That was a very very easy pull.

Steve (Freides), I actually don't think there's much if any lumbar rounding going on--his back is mostly flat and the 'rounding' I think you see at the base of his spine is just his butt that his shirt's pulled over. Hard to tell, though, without a straight side angle video.

Steve (Matthews), what I noticed--knees caving in, weight coming off the heels (he almost rises onto his toes near lockout) and no hip drive. Literally, he just stands up with it. Also, his start position is very awkward.

What I'd advise:

option 1: really drill starting position. Weight on midfoot/heel and keep it there (maybe have him do light pulls with his heels on plates and toes off). Knees tracking over toes. Shins vertical. Harder arch in the back, and hips higher at the start. I think some of the issues may come from lack of hamstring flexibility, at least under load; so RDLs working up to touching the bar to the ground JUST by pushing the a#@ back could help. These could help teach him to push his hips through as well.

option 2: teach him sumo. This would make him get his knees over his ankles and keep them from caving in, get him into a more upright starting position without his legs getting in the way, work hip drive and force him to put the weight on his heels. Now that I think of it, actually, working sumo would fix all of his issues, so I would advise you to do this.

Oh, and he definitely has 205+ in him, and more easily AND safely, once those little niggles are taken care of. This looked like a warmup and his form was holding him back.

Did he enjoy the meet? Does he want to compete again?
 
Steve, nice job being a responsible trainer and not some vicarious loser dad.  On a Scott Iardella podcast Dan John made a broad statement that, if you're under eighteen, you're in quadrant one.  In other words, it's good to be exposed to a lot of activities while being restrained about competing.

Ditto what Aris wrote.  Your son should practice sumos and let his deadlift technique reveal itself.  I imagine conventional turning anti-ergonomic as he grows taller.
 
^ That too. Make sure he's not just doing DL and roman chair (and pushups). Building a general athletic base will not only have carryover to the deadlift at his level, but also any sports he plays, and is just healthy in general. Running, swimming, climbing, cycling, calisthenics, sandbags, kettlebells, etc. etc.
 
I'll pass on the kind words to my son.  Afterwards, he said that he thought he had 200 in him, but that he was happy to leave it at 180.  He skipped the fourth attempt.  That's what I've taught him- hit a small PR, call it a day, and get back to a training cycle.

Thanks for the good advice.  Technique is always important, and he has room for improvement.  Sumo might be a better position for him, though I may have to find someone else to coach him on it if he wants to continue.  It never felt right to me.

Aris and Matt make a good point about a wide range of physical activities.  He's also a black belt in Taekwondo, and runs in several 5k's a year, doing a cycle of running when he gets the bug to prepare for a race.  We also work him pretty hard on our small farm, hike a lot in the summers, so he gets a wide range of both easy and hard physical training.
 
I like to see a young guy kicking a#@. And it's cool that you and your son are participating in this hobby together. I bet he'll always remember training with you.
 
I also started my son out in DL only meets at 13 years old. Keep on top of technique,get stronger slowly  and make it fun for him.We transitioned eventually into full meets.He did win the USPF nationals deadlift only as a junior lifter with a 463 pull @ 163 lbs.I think your starting out the right way.

I would if you know it teach him the valsalva maneuver(if your not already doing it) to help him be tight throughout the lift.As we know tension equals strength and this technique also adds a degree of safety to the lift.Good luck and enjoy the time with your son.
 
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