Deadlift form check

[atb]

Hi coaches!
First of all, thanks for the time and help you are giving here.
Could you please comment on my deadlift form. Sorry for not being able to film from a different angle - I am training alone and this was the only place where I could fix the camera.
The biggest problem I see on the video is my hamstrings going up first and then me doing stiff-leg deadlifts. I think Rip advises to get the bar closer to your shins in this case and that's what I did today (made sure it was exactly 1 inch), but the problem is still there. How should I fix it?
Is it possible that I have a short torso/long legs, and should I switch to sumo-deadlifts in that case?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JybM94IrVvY

[Milo's Ghost]

Good observation, Dr. Watson.

Your fix, tho, is wrong.

You're raising your hips before moving the bar. This causes all sorts of problems. The bar starts away from your shins and then comes back to them once you start the pull, instead of traveling straight up; your quads are taken out of the movement because the knees are already extended once you actually start the pull; and it puts your back in a bad mechanical position to pull - more horizontal than would be ideal.

Couple ways to fix this:

1) Stop doing it. Meaning, take a little weight off he bar and practice extending your hips and your knees at the same time. Think of pushing your whole foot through the floor. Concentrate on keeping your back angle constant until you get the bar a good way up your legs.
I'm not saying reset - that's not necessary - but you've got to practice this at something less than near-limit weight so that you can focus in it and not on how heavy the bar is. Think 'feet through floor' and 'constant back angle.'

2) I have a feeling you're doing this because your setup isn't as tight as it could be. It's not horrible, but you could squeeze your chest up more before you pull. Really make it tight, take all the slack out of your arms, and then just push straight up with your legs.

The solution is NOT just arbitrarily putting the bar closer to your shins. It comes back because of how your start the movement, not because of where it is. Bar over midfoot; that's what you're going for. It's almost always 1-1.5" from your shins, but worry about where it is over your foot rather than how far it is from your legs.

I can't see your midfoot but the bar seems pretty close to over it. Let's see what it looks like after you've fixed the above. A front quarter view would be helpful.

Finally - look at a spot 12-15 feet in front of you and keep your focus there. Don't lean with your head as you are now or look straight ahead or crane your neck back. Not the super bestest idea for your cervical spine.

Good luck. Work on the above and post another video.

Oh - and how much is on the bar? People really need to include that and whether it's a near-limit set or not (it should be).

[atb]

Thanks a lot. I have 230lbs on the bar (bw 170lbs - 6''). I'll reset to 200lbs and will try to focus on pushing with legs more and keeping the back angle constant at the beginning and will post a new video in a week.

[atb]

Hi, I am back. I dead-lifted last week, but my camera fell down during the process, so i couldn't post anything from last week's workout.
Today I pulled again trying harder to squeeze my chest up and think about pushing feet into floor and pulling my shoulders back instead of just going up - I think it was a better dead-lift (at least for my lower back), but it also resulted in a even worse neck position and more importantly more vertical (wrong?) back position - am I correct?
The videos.

Warmup set with 80kg=175lbs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQPSUfdwBAY

Final set of 105kg=230 lbs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFmhhUc2swA

Thanks again for your help.

[Milo's Ghost]

These are definitely better. Good job.

A few notes:

The first rep is pretty damn close. As the set progress, you get fatigued and things fall apart a bit.

So what are the main differences between the first and last rep?

1. You start to drop your hips a smidge (a highly specific unit of measurement somewhere between a hair and a bit). You can see it because in the later reps, the bar moves ever so slightly forward (you're pushing it forward when you drop your hips) and your hips shoot up the aforementioned smidge before the bar actually moves. In your first rep, neither of those things happens. Just focus on it through the whole set and I suspect you'll be fine.

2. In the first couple reps you squeeze your chest up pretty well; as the set progresses, you drop your chest a bit and compensate by jerking the bar off the floor. They are not the same thing. When you begin the pull - when the bar moves - there should be zero slack in your arms, chest, etc. Again, the first rep here is what you want to aim for.

What else?

Yeah, your head position is fucked. Look at a spot ON THE FLOOR about 12-15 feet in front of you. Don't crane your neck up or force it to look straight ahead.

Don't control the negative. Don't throw the bar down, but it should go down faster than it goes up. This will most likely correct itself as the weight starts to get heavy, so don't worry about it too much; just want to make sure you're not deliberately trying to set it down slowly, which isn't necessary and will drain you for the real work of getting it up in the first place.

Overall, tho, I'm very happy with your progress. Add weight and keep grinding. Three plates should fall in no time.

Also, why 230? At this weight you should be adding 10 lbs. every time you deadlift.

[Milo's Ghost]

Oh - and about the more vertical back, it totally depends on your anthropometry. It will vary quite a bit between individuals. The thing I always look for is whether the hips shoot up before the bar actually moves, along with if the bar is over the midfoot and traveling up in a vertical path; if they don't, and it is, then the hips position is usually correct. There can be other problems, often having to do with weight being on the heels or the toes instead of the whole foot, but usually if those two above criteria are correct, the hips are in the right place.

[atb]

Good news, thanks! Will work on the neck position, let the bar down a bit faster and maybe take just a bit longer rests between reps.

And yes, I got a bit greedy and went down to 210 lbs (95kg) instead of 200, last time I did 220, and 230 today.