deadlift form check

[bud/s or bust]

So after videoing myself, rereading the SS chapter twice, and watching this a few times, i think ive figured out what im doing wrong, i just want a second opinion to make sure my reasoning is right. My set up is incorrect to begin with. I start right, placing my feet, then gripping, then lifting my chest and trying to set my back, but i think instead of just squeezing my chest and letting my back set by squeezing my chest, i drop my hips too far back into a mechanical disadvantage like you describe in SS on page 135, trying to pull the bar back through my legs as opposed to up in a straight line, almost trying to counter balance the weight. Also instead of having my scapulas directly over the bar and the very front of my front delt in front of the bar with my arms not perpendicular to the ground but at a slight angle, i try to put my front delt over the bar and have my scapulas behind the bar, arms perpendicular to the ground and butt way too far back. My back extension never really sets right either at the beginning which im guessing is due to my incorrect starting position. My lumbar and thoracic extension go to shit as soon as i break the weight off the ground which is obviously my biggest concern (my buddy said i round like a country road at the end of the video which is pretty accurate). Also i have a pretty aggressive lumbar hyperextension at the top which i need to clean up. Also i think my stance may be a bit wide which might be contributing to my inefficient start and not being able to push the floor as effectively as i could but obviously the angle of the video doesnt show that. The set was at 315 and my max is 385. Obviously ive got things to clean up big time and i think its all due to my shitty starting position, but is their anything i'm overlooking? once i clean up my start should the lumbar and thoracic extension clean up too or should i just drop weight and drill the fuck out of it? I think i said it best at the end of the video, "looks like shit, huh." Any help would be appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAOVzqA8TBo

[Mark Rippetoe]

This looks like an attempt to reform a CrossFit deadlift, with history of bouncing the reps off the floor that always results in the inability to hold a flat back. Here is the method we use:

1. Take your stance, feet a little closer than you think it needs to be and with your toes out more than you like. Your shins should be about one inch from the bar, no more. This places the bar over the mid-foot – the whole foot, not the mid-instep.

2. Take your grip on the bar, leaving your hips up. DO NOT MOVE THE BAR.

3. Drop your knees forward and out until your shins touch the bar. DO NOT MOVE THE BAR.

4. Hard part: squeeze your chest up as hard as you can. DO NOT MOVE THE BAR. This establishes a "wave" of extension that goes all the way down to the lumbar, and sets the back angle from the top down. DO NOT LOWER YOUR HIPS – LIFT THE CHEST TO SET THE BACK ANGLE.

5. Squeeze the bar off the floor and drag it up your legs in contact with your skin/sweats until it locks out at the top. If you have done the above sequence precisely as described, the bar will come off the ground in a perfectly vertical path. All the slack will have come out of the arms and hamstrings in step 4, the bar will not jerk off the ground, and your back will be in good extension. You will perceive that your hips are too high, but if you have completed step 4 correctly, the scapulas, bar, and mid-foot will be in vertical alignment and the pull will be perfect. The pull will seem "shorter" this way.

Your problems lie with step 4. DON'T DROP YOUR HIPS.

[bud/s or bust]

Thank you Sir

One more question. Should i drop weight to fix this or do you think as long as i follow your suggestions to a T the form will just clear up at 315 and i can continue to advance.

Thanks again

[Mark Rippetoe]

I think it's a strength problem, resulting from a previous hole in your training, so you'll have to.

[bud/s or bust]

Ok. So i dropped down to 255 from 315 to try to clean things up. I started at 135 and gradually added a little weight until 265 where my form kinda broke down more than i thought was acceptable so i took 10 off and started there. As hard as i squeeze my chest i still think my starting lumbar extension and thoracic extension isnt good enough. I'm thinking it could be some hamstring tightness? the start position felt alot better and i felt alot stronger in it thanks to your advice, feet closer felt like i had alot more hamstring engagement and more push on the floor and my scapulas over the bar felt alot better as well. still nervous cause i seem to still be rounding a little bit but im hoping just keeping the weight low and keeping in mind what you said it should clean up just as long as i dont let my ego get in the way of me fixing my form. thanks again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlSdbuI7e6k

[Mark Rippetoe]

Have you been doing CrossFit?

[Briks42]

Rip, I have a buddy whose deadlifts look a lot like this guy's. In this last video (and in my friend's deadlifts), it appears to me that the starting position is correct, but the back rounds as soon as the lift begins. Is that just a lack of strength or is this setup actually incorrect (not true lumbar extension or hips too low)?

[bud/s or bust]

yes sir, and some military prep stuff

[Mark Rippetoe]

How did I know? I knew because CrossFit is not a strength program, and unless you're already strong when you get there, the results are always the same. You can't hold your back flat at even a light weight because you've been allowed to call a bounced flexed-lumbar pull of the floor a deadlift.

[Robert Callahan]

Why does everyone feel the need to over under grip EVERY deadlift, regardless of weight??? And on a lesser note, why do they also feel the need to not actually lower it all the way??

Don't mean to pick on you OP, just something I see over and over again and don't understand where it comes from....