Deadlift form help

April 14, 2021 - YouTube

Been doing SS going on 5 weeks now. I'm now making 5lb jumps each workout for deadlift. I feel my back is rounding on the way down. Thoughts, advice, etc?

Thank you!

Hey
Please take a look at the sticky for how to film the lifts so we can see everything we need to.

You're setting up with your weight on your toes. Make sure to rock back to midfoot before you set the back.
You aren't really setting your back between reps. Keep the hips in place and lift your chest up to try and point it to the wall in front of you. The arms will pull taught when you do this.
Lastly, you're pulling the bar around your knees off the ground. Set the back, take your breath, and then push the floor away with your feet to break it off the ground.

Measure the plate diameter when you get a chance. Should be 450mm across. I could be crazy, but these look a bit small for 45s.

Thank you!

The plates are 'fitness gear' brand - just starters I found cheap second hand. They are 45 lbs when we weighed them, but we actually have competition bumpers arriving today (hopefully), so I will be using those going forward.

I find myself focusing on trying to push my belly down and tighten my abs but then lose out on everything else (ie setting my back and pushing off from mid foot).

I apologize for the film angle. I read the sticky five minutes too late, but I will film correctly next time. My next lift day is Friday, so I will focus on your advice and post a follow up from the correct angle.

Thanks again!

Good eye, Pete. Those look like Fitness Gear plates. The pair I have are 15.5" in diameter.

The only reason I mention the plates is because smaller diameter plates mess with getting a proper and consistent setup. Hopefully the newer plates will give you an advantage in setting the back.
Don't worry about tightening your abs deliberately when you set the back. They'll get tight when you take your breath and try to exhale against a closed glottis.
Once you get your shins on the bar, make sure you grip is tight and slowly "squeeze" your chest up while your hips stay put. Like your trying to touch your ass and shoulders together behind you. Then take the breath and brace. Then break it from the floor. Or inhale and lift the chest at the same time if that works better.
Looks like you uploaded without audio, but when you get a good back set, you should here a "click" of the bar hitting the top of the plates, and they should come off the ground with very little noise.

No audio was because my kids were screaming in the background, figured no one wanted to hear that. But I will be lifting without them tomorrow and will definitely listen for that "click".

I'll post my follow up tomorrow. Thank you, this has been incredibly helpful!

Hello again,
Lifted today using the correct diameter plates, attempted filming from the correct angle, and tried to apply all critiques from Wednesday. Here's the link to the preceding thread:

https://startingstrength.com/resourc...form-help.html

Here is the updated lift from today, 16APR2021. My grip was slipping on the fifth rep just before lockout. I made that rep up after recording. Otherwise, I tried squeezing my chest up while listening for the "click" and thinking about pressing the floor away with the mid-foot. I felt an improvement during the lift, but know I have a ways to go. Thoughts, continued advice?

April 16, 2021 - YouTube

Thank you!

The setup of the back for the first rep looked fine until you dropped your hips and nudged the bar forward. After that, the hips are set a little low for the rest of the set.

For some reason you get your back into extension, then it looks like you take a breath and "crunch" the abs, taking it out of extension. If that's what's happening: take your breath, close the back of your throat (glottis), and try to exhale against the closed throat. That will cause the trunk to contract without pulling your back out of extension.

Lastly, push the floor away with your feet and think about staying over the bar for the first couple inches off the ground. You're pulling around your knees, so the bar gets further away from the midfoot balance point and helps pull the back out of extension.

Keep the hips high. Breath and brace as described. Push the floor away with your feet.

Catherine,

(obligatory "I'm not a coach")

The one thing that stands out to me in this latest video is your gaze. You're looking up the opposite wall from your very first rep instead of a point on the floor ~10-15' in front of you (BBST, pp 136-7), which also makes it harder to keep your back in extension. By your last rep, you're throwing your head back, which, with higher weights, may mean that you're going to fall backwards with the bar in your hand. Rip talks about this in Looking Up in the Deadlift.

Another good article on this is Deadlift Mechanics: The Obvious Can Be Obscure in the "Eye Gaze" section.

Keep at it!

Thank you! I will get on these corrections and try to get it all down!