Deadlift Form Check please! (Part 2)

[Michael Wolf]

Sorry, I didn't mean to pester you, just wasn't sure if I actually hit submit on the post, I sometimes have that problem. I hope this doesn't change things between us.

When I'm performing the movement, I never noticed that my hips were dropping. I figured it must be embedded somewhere in my subconscious with the back straightening process. So I redid 265lbsx5. I set the back with the same chest up mind set but added in "don't drop the hips."
[video]
The result is I still drop the hips.

Ya, it's just your ingrained habit at this point. And those can be tough to break.

Since this video just demonstrates I don't know the hips are dropping, I performed another set of 5 (the 265lbs is not very draining), this time focusing on the hips not dropping and trying to pull the back straight. The result is I never really get a straight back and it looks like a nearly stiff legged deadlift.

I want to mention that the 2nd set felt like an RDL going up, and I felt like my legs weren't helping at all. The back felt as tight as the first set, but it doesn't look as tight as the first set.

In conclusion, I think I am unable to pull my back into extension without dropping the hips. With that being said, is it wrong to pull the way I am in the first set? It looks like the back stays straighter than it used to stay in the first few videos, and considering that the bar looks like it has no horizontal movement from the floor to the top, is it safe to assume that the bar is in fact starting above the mid-foot position?

It's not that it's "wrong," it's that it's not the most efficient way to pull a loaded barbell off the floor, and will ultimately put a lower ceiling on the weight on the bar, and you're making things artificially harder than they need to be. If you notice, there is, in fact, some horizontal movement of the bar right off the floor. Watch the plates when you drop your hips - they roll forward a bit. When you pull off the floor, the bar swings back towards you right at the beginning. It's not a lot of horizontal deviation, but it's some. You can get away with this because it's 265, a relatively easy weight for you. But what you lift this way will be some amount less than what you could lift if you did it efficiently.

It's not that you can't get into extension without dropping your hips. It's that you're not very good at it, because you haven't been doing it. To get good at it, and in the long run lift more weight, you're going to have to take weight off the bar to the amount you can lift with keeping your back flat. And work your way up from there, bit by bit. The last rep in your first set isn't TOO far off the mark. In fact, in your second set, I don't think you're setting up correctly either. I can't see your feet and shins, but the bar still does swing back a little. Are your shins in contact with the bar when you set up? I'm not sure they are. Hip height is set by the point where your shins contact the bar. Not lower, but also not higher. Shins must be in contact with the bar for a straight bar path, and also to ensure you're able to use your quads to break the bar off the floor, not lever it up with your back.

If you get the bar, and your shins in the right place, squeeze your back into a hard extension, and initiate the pull by straightening out your knees ("push your feet into the floor") while keeping back flat, I suspect you'll find an easier time keeping in extension.