Deadlift 101

[HIThopper]

Might be worth a sticky too, another great article from deiselcrew similiar to the squat one, I cannot stress how helpful these have been to me.

http://www.dieselcrew.com/articles-pdf/deadlift101.pdf

[Joe]

Agreed. Good article HIT. I will stick this too.

[Hayabusa3]

Very good again! Even after reading this I wish I could have someone who knows what's up watch me and critique.....guess that's what youtube's for then...

[Joe]

Post a vid up Haya, there's a TON of strong DL-ers on here. Not that it's too too hard, but there's guys on here who make my DL puny :)

[Hayabusa3]

Might actually do some tonight.....I'll bring the camera then.

[T.W.A]

Hey Joe (or any advance guys),
i remember you talking about pulling back and then up, not just straight up. Do you do this from the very start of the lift? is this just to make sure that you use your hips and legs, and don't just pull with your back?

[Joe]

Hey Joe (or any advance guys),
i remember you talking about pulling back and then up, not just straight up. Do you do this from the very start of the lift? is this just to make sure that you use your hips and legs, and don't just pull with your back?

I was taught to start pulling back about 1/3 of the way up. From a side view you should be able to see the bar doing a "semi" semi-circle.. It's easy to spot if you film your DL from the side. It's one of the first things I was taught to do at Westside. Put it this way you can pull a lot more pulling BACK than pulling straight up.

[T.W.A]

bit confused by 'pulling back.' Do you mean you lean back or are you pulling the bar towards you as you pull up? Sorry if its a stupid question, im gonna see if i can find a vid on youtube

[Hayabusa3]

Here we go - please try no to focus too much on my gigantic calves as you will never be able to obtain this high level of pure muscle and you could miss the vid....

The first is a warm up...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQU5JIjhjWo

2nd is a max lift but lost the form...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRfhF3Z4zOs

So I dropped it down again but looks like I'm still not quite right....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cHqACgsVqU


Let her ripp...

[SoupDragon]

Is there any benefit for powerbuilders to switching between sumo and conventional style every few months?

[B.Money]

I can never "feel it in my hips" ever! I don't quite understand. I can put tension on my hamstrings, glutes, etc. but I don't understand getting the same feeling in the hips.

Also I was reading an article on deadlifting over at IM.com and the poster was really talking about setting up in the highest position possible for the deadlift, then pulling from there. I tried this and had my back near horizontal, and found I was using a lot more lower back and didn't feel too strong. I guess its individual, but in this article it talks about keeping the hips low, which to me seems to be the opposite.

[Joe]

Is there any benefit for powerbuilders to switching between sumo and conventional style every few months?

Yes.

[Gonzomedic]

Thanks for the link!

[damutt]

Thanks for the link! Hopefully this will help my lift

[kevinyu]

What a great article. Man it clears up ALL of my questions I had about deadlifting. Thanks so much.

[Butosai]

I've never tried sumo style deadlift, do people generally lift big with that over the bent leg deadlift?

[Joe]

I've never tried sumo style deadlift, do people generally lift big with that over the bent leg deadlift?


depends on a variety of things like build

[SoupDragon]

I had to drop the weight by over 20kg to pull sumo style. And I have managed to hurt my back now too :(

[Angra Mainyu]

i have a question about deadlifts that never seems to be answered. I don't know what i am supposed to do with my upper back. Are you suppose to tighten in like when you're about to bench? because what i usually do is i let my shoulders roll forward a bit so that my traps are being worked a lot more but my upper back is still straight and my lower back is still good form, but my upper back is kinda like in the bottom position of doing a bent over row. i can lift a lot more like that and its never hurt, but i am in no way qualified to judge if thats safe or not.

[DougoeFre5h]

i have a question about deadlifts that never seems to be answered. I don't know what i am supposed to do with my upper back. Are you suppose to tighten in like when you're about to bench? because what i usually do is i let my shoulders roll forward a bit so that my traps are being worked a lot more but my upper back is still straight and my lower back is still good form, but my upper back is kinda like in the bottom position of doing a bent over row. i can lift a lot more like that and its never hurt, but i am in no way qualified to judge if thats safe or not.

Best bet without seeing your form, is to do what feels natural and correct for your geometry. Once the weight because heavy enough, you will be nearly forced into your most natural form as far as shoulders/upper back goes. In any case you should feel heavy loading of the traps and you should not be rolling your shoulders forward. I keep mine locked fairly center, not forward at all.

If you could, post a video of some typical pulling, side angle or slightly rear-side angle is best to help with your form.

[Angra Mainyu]

Best bet without seeing your form, is to do what feels natural and correct for your geometry. Once the weight because heavy enough, you will be nearly forced into your most natural form as far as shoulders/upper back goes. In any case you should feel heavy loading of the traps and you should not be rolling your shoulders forward. I keep mine locked fairly center, not forward at all.

If you could, post a video of some typical pulling, side angle or slightly rear-side angle is best to help with your form.

yeah it feels completely natural for me. so there is nothing wrong with not pushing my rotator cuffs as close to each other as i can get them?

[DougoeFre5h]

Again, I would really need to see what you're describing but it sounds like you want to do something entirely UNnatural for the sake of... well I don't know why.

[Angra Mainyu]

what im trying to describe is this http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/showpost.php?p=280628&postcount=2
so is that correct form?

[DougoeFre5h]

I have little to no experience with a sumo style dead (which that response was directed to), but for traditional shoulder width stance I would pretty much whole-heartedly disagree with that post. Just get in the gym and start pulling, do what feels natural and returns results - you are officially overthinking this.

Better bet, post a vid. Best bet, ask a guy who pulls decent weight in your gym to help you.

[padge]

In the thread Angra referred to I am just pulling as naturally as I can while trying to keep my back straight. Pres recommended tight shoulder blades but if I think about it I'm not sure I could even hold it like that for more than a rep or two. I'd have to try and see.

[president_fad]

I dont kno how to explain it any better than that, but when you do that with sumo, it keep your chest up and doesnt allow your shoulders to get rounded.

[padge]

I think I get what you're saying, I'll make a note and try it next time I deadlift.

[mikethedon]

very good article!

I find one of the biggest problems that I have when deadlifting is not "pulling" the bar but pressing through the floor. I think thats why im loosing power.

[steelsnow]

I have been wondering about my DL form for a while... from the floor i always start my lift by raising my butt up. This is wrong and will fuck my shit up according to the article. I tried it just lifting my butt then the rest of my body now with no bar or weight, and then tried my pushing my heals into the ground and leaning back. I can tell a huge difference between the two. By raising my butt up first, I was actually using more of my lower back to raise the bar, where as the pushing and leaning back is definitely one fluid motion.

my question is about lowering the bar. i use my back and bend over till i am about at my knees with the bar, then bend my knees and go down. is that correct? i would probably be better off shooting a video, huh?

[mikethedon]

I have always found with the decent try and keep the same form as the ascent....just makes sense to me.

Steelsnow....the first thing that should move is your head....same as the box squat

[steelsnow]

I have always found with the decent try and keep the same form as the ascent....just makes sense to me.

Steelsnow....the first thing that should move is your head....same as the box squat

the box squat... didn't think about that. i'll try and imagine doing one next time around.

[SoupDragon]

I switched to semi sumo style for 3 months. I switched back recently and my working weight on shoulder width style has dropped from 145kg to 130kg (for 3x5) :(

[Nate218]

I have never done any deadlifting and I'm at 38 years old . I have started doing partial deads on the smith machine at the gym and feel pretty good after doing them. I have some lower back pain and real deadlifts Im not sure I should be doing. Im not sure of the smith machine bar weight but I can do 2 45lb plates each side with a 25 on each as well for final set for 6-8 reps without feeling Im over doing it on my back.

You guys think partials are good even though smith machine is in fixed position or should I do lighter weight and do actual deadlifts? Thanks for any advice

Here is a utube vid of partial dl on smith.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7z21GdJ-Mw

[roccandrado]

his rationalizing for using the smith is a little odd, no?
how do you spot a rack pull? lol :stupid: