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Deadlifts with short arms.
I have short arms. My wrists sit just below my waist with arms at sides. I have been deadlifting with high hips. Very high hips. With shorter arms, would it be better to drop my hips and use more leg drive to get out of the bottom while still 1)keeping bar mid foot, 2) scapula over bar, and 3) back strong?
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TMPHBITEU
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We never take the hint.Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe
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Motherfuckers need to start.
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Hahaha. Did you do this to purposely piss the man off?
@Rip: if you ever decide you want to stop coaching people, please become a comedian. I will pay for your show.
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If you can keep the bar over the mid foot and the scapula over the bar then you would be in the right position anyway. Why would you start with your hips higher than that?
Other than that I have the same short arm issue and the truth is that you can't do much other than accept the fact that you won't be a great deadlifter and move on. I've tried sumo (which I guess I would qualify for because of my arm length) but don't like it at all. I feel much weaker off the floor in the way that I can't even lift conventional dl warmup weights. Plus I hate my hands grinding up my crotch on the way up. Sumo just doesn't feel right.
If you have the issue of not being able to get your lower back into a locked position (I do) because your hamstrings reach the end of their ROM in that position, stretch them regularly as this well surprisingly help wonders. Not using a belt (or probably using a narrower one if you can find one, as per Rip's article) helped me as well to get into a better starting position.
Also when I get close to max weights I tend to prefer the "bottom up" setup instead of the preferred "top down". That means you sit down "ass to grass", your back vertical, your knees way forward and the bar way forward as well. In that position you will be able to put your whole back into proper extension without much tension from your hamstrings. Then you push your butt up while pulling the bar back into you to get into the right deadlift position and start the lift. It is quite possible that you can't push your butt up as far as usually without relaxing your back again, so you might end up starting with a slightly more vertical back angle and the bar slightly in front of the mid foot. That is a bit inefficient off the floor obviously but if you're like me, getting the bar off the floor is not your sticking point and being able to keep your back in proper extension will benefit you mid way through the lift. But notice the emphasis on slightly.
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I went camping with my son this weekend. I got up at 630 to take my morning dump and realized how much of a challenge it is wiping with these damn cursed short arms now that my lats are bigger.
Thanks for sharing this. My foot position and scapula position are fine but my hips are so high that my back is at a greater angle than 90%. I need to get some video of this. Thanks again.
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I think it helps more if I put my feet at shoulder width and shorten my legs by pressing my knees into my elbows. It makes breathing at the bottom hard, but helps with my t-Rex arms.
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Crap, you just made me spit coffee through my nose.
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