Deadlift Problems

[AColeman]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone might have a helpful suggestion on how to work with a problem I’m having. I have femoral anteversion in my right femur(diagnosed when I was a kid) and it makes it really tough to keep my knee shoved out. While this is certainly a big challenge during the squat, I’m actually finding it to be more problematic during the deadlift.

I notice that during the deadlift if feels as though one side is doing most of the work. I also notice that while the bar stays in contact you with my right shin and thigh, it doesn’t on my left side.

I meant to post my most recent deadlift and squat workout but I erased it by accident.

Thank you in advance.

Al

[Michael Wolf]

Posting a video - with all the proper and necessary homework done first by reading the sticky and filming according to it's wise and benevolent dictates - will probably be necessary here.

I'm not a PT and to my knowledge, haven't worked with someone with a medically diagnosed anteverted femoral neck, but if I understand the condition correctly, I would think you'd turn your toes a little less out than the normal way we teach the deadlift. That should also make it easier to keep your knees in line with your toes. Remember we never want the knees indiscriminately shoved "OUT!" We want the toe angle out a bit, ideally, to better recruit the ab and ad-ductors of the hip into the movement, and we want the femur to line up with the tibia because the knee (basically) works like a scissor and doesn't like twisting on it. But if you have a situation where the toe angle can't be out because of your anteversion, you shouldn't just be shoving knees out anyway. You should be lining it up so your knee points the same direction as your toes, so if your toe-out is only 0-5 degrees, instead of the usual 10-15 degrees we might usually start with in the DL, then your knees should match that angle.

[AColeman]

Posting a video - with all the proper and necessary homework done first by reading the sticky and filming according to it's wise and benevolent dictates - will probably be necessary here.

I'm not a PT and to my knowledge, haven't worked with someone with a medically diagnosed anteverted femoral neck, but if I understand the condition correctly, I would think you'd turn your toes a little less out than the normal way we teach the deadlift. That should also make it easier to keep your knees in line with your toes. Remember we never want the knees indiscriminately shoved "OUT!" We want the toe angle out a bit, ideally, to better recruit the ab and ad-ductors of the hip into the movement, and we want the femur to line up with the tibia because the knee (basically) works like a scissor and doesn't like twisting on it. But if you have a situation where the toe angle can't be out because of your anteversion, you shouldn't just be shoving knees out anyway. You should be lining it up so your knee points the same direction as your toes, so if your toe-out is only 0-5 degrees, instead of the usual 10-15 degrees we might usually start with in the DL, then your knees should match that angle.

Thank you Michael. I’ll shoot a video from the front as I think that is the only place where you can see the anteversion effecting the hip shifting.