Deadlift Safety

[Lifting N Tx]

Mark, I've read the article that you wrote for the Crossfit Journal on deadlifting. Your conclusion on deadlift starting position was that 3 things were critical:

1) The back must be locked in extension.
2) The bar must be touching the shins, with the feet
flat on the floor.
3) The shoulders must be out in front of the bar so
that the shoulder blades are directly above the bar.

I have, however, seen credible advocacy of an addtional criteria--back angle of at least 30 degrees from the horizontal.

Here is a quote from a discussion on another forum regarding this:

Here's how Zatsiorsky explains it: "When the body is inclined forward, the activity of muscles that extend the spinal column increases at first; then, with a deeper lean, this activity almost disappears. The ligaments and fascia of the back assume the load here. Since they are close to the axis of rotation, they should generate considerable force to counteract the forces of gravity moment. Here, the pressure on the intervertebral discs is very high."

The original discussion is here, in case anyone wants to see it in context.

Since I am one who seems to be strongest with a pretty flat back angle, I have wondered how accurate the idea that a much greater stress gets applied to ligaments, fascia, and perhaps vertebrae at flatter back angles is. Particularly, is it the case even if the back is kept flat and not rounded?

Any thoughts on this?

[Mark Rippetoe]

The back angle will be determined by these criteria, and expressed differently for each lifter due to individual anthropometry. The vast majority of all human beings will in fact have an angle between 30 and 45 degrees from horizontal.
I can't imagine why he thinks that connective tissue becomes more critical than muscle, and his statement that "they (ligaments and fascia) should generate considerable force to counteract the forces of gravity moment" is interesting, because there I was always thinking that muscles generated force while connective tissue just holds things together. Maybe if I was Russian I'd understand.

I have recently done an interview with Craig Rasmussen in which this is discussed at length. Watch for it on elitefts.com

[Lifting N Tx]

Thanks, Mark.

I've noticed that I don't have a problem pulling with a back angle somewhere in the range that you mentioned, for something like a power clean or clean pull. With a near-maximal deadlift, though, I can easily wind up pulling with an angle of ~30 degrees or less to the horizontal. This is still with back in extension. Most likely this may involve the bar moving away from the shins, though.

I'm not sure how much the tendancy to do this is due to quads being weak relative to back and posterior chain, versus individual leverage. I have noticed that this tendancy to approach almost a SLDL seems true of a lot of guys when pulling heavy, even though they may keep proper back extension.

I'll watch for that article.