Problems with deadlift

[Jakub Nowak]

Thanks guys for your advice. I did watch these videos from The Art of Manliness a long time ago, but I'm definitely gonna rewatch them and focus on the details you pointed out; and I will read the squat and deadlift chapters in the blue book.

As far as the squat depth goes, I have a hard time judging by myself when I'm just below parallel, so I kinda settled for going deeper to make sure I'm not cheating them. And about the bar placement, it always stays comfortably in a shelf on my back, I don't know much about anatomy but I think that's the place it's supposed to be in (but I could be wrong).

Btw, would you advise for me to add weight to my next deadlift? Because if I can't maintain proper tightness in my back I suppose it won't help. And I probably will try and utilise a belt next time. The one I got is wider on the back (I really couldn't find one that stays the same), I don't know if it's a problem or not.

[Eric Schexnayder]

I'm not familiar with Addison's disease or its impact on training, so can't advise you in that regard. Assuming it's minimally impactful, I'd add a few pounds and implement the technique changes above. A few more pounds as opposed to the weight you're currently lifting is unlikely to increase your chance for injury significantly. And for a guy your age and size, this is really not a whole lot of weight to deadlift anyway.

I would recommend not removing weight from the bar. In my (random internet stranger) opinion, you need some weight on the bar so that technique becomes an important lever in actually completing the lift. Too light and you may end up manhandling it without actually having to learn to control technique under a load. You need something to trigger your mind into going, "wow, that felt much easier!"

The most important thing for maximizing efficiency and minimizing your chance of injury is to get your back straight and tight. Definitely get a belt and learn to use it correctly. For the deadlift, the best belt advice I got was to start at as tight as you can get the belt and then back off one notch. This gives you enough wiggle room to breathe at the bottom while still having something to brace against.

The ones that are wider on the back are shit. Get a 3" Dominion Strength Double Ply belt. You won't believe the difference (give the Dominion Belt a little time to break in).

One last thing on the deadlift technique. We call it a "Pull" because of the movement pattern it emulates and trains, but don't get the idea that you need to pull on the bar. "Pulling" on the bar sets you up to push the floor away. Don't cue yourself to "pull". Cue yourself to pull all the slack out of your arms, back and the barbell itself, and then push the floor away. Do this by telling yourself to use the barbell as leverage and drive your heels through the floor. Read here: The Deadlift: Pushing the Floor | Mark Rippetoe

[Jakub Nowak]

Thanks again for feedback, I appreciate it a lot.



Here's my squats from today, just as @ddl asked. I tried doing 110 kg and it went poorly, I managed to get the first set done, but for the second and third after a few reps I just couldn't get up, it felt too heavy and I was kinda in a Slav squat, at least seems fitting.

I felt a bit dizzy before the 2nd and 3rd set, so maybe the reason for failing them is related to my disease, I'm seeing my endocrynologist next month and I hope I'll find out what to do.

And maybe the reason is my eating. As my TDEE is around 3000-3200, I try to eat around that, yesterday it was closer to 2700 kcal. I know the best way to gain weight on the bar is to eat more, but I'm literally obese. I try to eat maintenance just as Rip advises, but maybe it's not enough at this point.

I'm not familiar with Addison's disease or its impact on training, so can't advise you in that regard.

It basically means my organism produces very little to no cortisol and I have to supply it. And as the organism tends to produce it in response for stress, I'm guessing that my problems were partially because I started working out and I needed to mimic what a healthy person's adrenal glands would do in this situation, i.e. increase the doses.

Get a 3" Dominion Strength Double Ply belt.

Well I'm not too keen on the idea of importing it to Poland, as it's already expensive for a student living here like me. But I'll probably try to find something similar and more affordable for me.

[Mark Rippetoe]

You are about 7 cm too deep. You are relaxing to get there.

[Maybach]

A classic presentation of a "deadlift too light" squat stall, for my money.

[Jakub Nowak]

Here are my deadlifts from today, work set with two of the warmup sets:



I finally used the belt and I tried to push the floor with my feet, which made it substantially easier. My lower back also was a bit sore after the workout (which stopped after 30 minutes) and I'm wondering if that's normal or if it's a sign that my lower back muscles are overtrained. And I think my back was tight enough, but you know better than me.

And there are sets two and three from my squats with 110 kg, I managed to do all of the work sets pretty easily, I also think that my form was good, but the angle of the second recording makes me think that maybe the depth wasn't good enough, even though it seemed like that during the workout.



If you have any more suggestions, I'll be very thankful as those you gave me already were very helpful.

[Eric Schexnayder]

Deadlift: glad the foot cue helped. Your back is still not in good extension. A few more observations to help this:

-Bigger air. You need to take a much bigger valsalva and then pull. You barely look like you are taking in any breath right now. Get set up on steps 1-3, then take a deep, deep breath, pull your chest and low back up, then drive your heels. Hold the valsalva in your chest and belly, not your face, so you don't pass out.

-Your grip is too wide. It looks to be about a thumb's length away from the smooth center section of the bar. You want your grip to be narrow or else you are increasing the length of the pull and you are forcing your hip angle to close even more, which will also make it harder to set your low back (though you will have to learn to do this eventually in order to clean).

-Can't see your feet in this video, but I suspect your stance needs to be narrower at the heels with toes in roughly the same position, if not pointed inward ever so slightly to be ~30 degrees from pointing straight forward. This will allow you to have a narrower grip on the bar and still let you shove your needs into your elbows, which ought to help set your back harder.

-Again, without being able to see your feet or shins, I can't really tell for sure, but it still looks like the bar may be too far from your shins.

-Unless you have short thumbs and can't hold the bar with a hook grip, lose the straps.

-Keep your head in normal anatomical position. Don't try to look out at the wall. A spot about 3 feet in front of you should be fine.

[Jakub Nowak]

-Unless you have short thumbs and can't hold the bar with a hook grip, lose the straps.

Does it make sense to use a hook grip without chalk? I'd really like to train in a gym that allows it, but it was difficult enough to find one in my town that has proper squat racks.

And I have one more question: when should I move to the third phase of the NNLP, i.e. start using chin-ups? At my current body weight, I'd probably have difficulty doing a chin-up and I started thinking that barbell bicep curls as described in the blue book would be a useful assistance exercise to allow me to do chin-ups eventually, but that's besides the point.

[Eric Schexnayder]

Does it make sense to use a hook grip without chalk? I'd really like to train in a gym that allows it, but it was difficult enough to find one in my town that has proper squat racks.

Can't help you with that. Personally I'd sneak some chalk in a small bag and be discrete about it, you don't really need much. But if you can't or won't do that then maybe straps are your only other option.

And I have one more question: when should I move to the third phase of the NNLP, i.e. start using chin-ups? At my current body weight, I'd probably have difficulty doing a chin-up and I started thinking that barbell bicep curls as described in the blue book would be a useful assistance exercise to allow me to do chin-ups eventually, but that's besides the point.

Not for a while. Phase 3 is meant to reduce deadlifting frequency in order to facilitate recovery from the deadlift. As long as you can advance your pulls every workout, don't change anything.

Don't do curls. Do the program as written in the book. If you can't do a full chin up, do negatives. Rip has a video on this: Quarantined? House Arrest? Work on Getting Your First Chin-Up - YouTube

[Steven Kalin]

Does it make sense to use a hook grip without chalk? I'd really like to train in a gym that allows it, but it was difficult enough to find one in my town that has proper squat racks.

And I have one more question: when should I move to the third phase of the NNLP, i.e. start using chin-ups? At my current body weight, I'd probably have difficulty doing a chin-up and I started thinking that barbell bicep curls as described in the blue book would be a useful assistance exercise to allow me to do chin-ups eventually, but that's besides the point.

Liquid chalk, and don’t ask permission.