Deadlift form check (single rep). Your favorite!

[2011holidayschedule]

Worth a shot, figure I'll probably be tore apart.

http://youtu.be/8Xo2wqKPDa4

I've been struggling to find the perfect starting position, had a buddy record me on a single rep that's not overly heavy for me, but it has form deficiencies. First and most importantly, the back isn't fully set. It stays consistent throughout the lift, but I can never fully set it in the fully arched position, and for fuck's sake, I've tried pushing my chest up as high as I humanly can (not very apparent in this video).

At this point I have no idea how to remedy this. On the descent, I notice my back is in the exact position I'd want it to be, but as soon as it comes within an inch of touching the ground, the angle is compromised. Unless my arms grow an inch, I don't know how to fix this. I've got the lube ready for your comments on how I should read the book and watch the videos. I have, and I need help.

From what I can tell, It looks like my feet are too far off from the start. The foot's not in the middle. Have to compensate for added shoe length next time. And yeah, they're Chucks, and they aren't lifting shoes.

Some stats: my current dl 1x5 sets are at 375lbs. This was filmed after 225x5, 375x5, and 405x1. The most I've pulled was 455. I'm afraid of how I looked during that pull, but it went up after one failed attempt. I'm 180lbs at, say, 5'10".

Your help would be immensely appreciated. Otherwise, I'm ready to be roasted.

[MikeC1]

Your lack of lumbar extension is the biggest problem, and at this point, it's the only thing you should be thinking about fixing. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is hard to do online, it would be much easier to fix this in person.

First, ditch the belt.

Are you able to set your back in and out of extension while standing, like demonstrated in the lower back positioning video? Are you able to do the same when bent slightly at the hips? With both the hips and knees bent?

[2011holidayschedule]

Hi Mike, thanks for the reply.

I am absolutely able to set my back in and out of extension while standing, with the knees bent, and with both the knees and hips bent at almost every degree. The only time I lose that solid extension is all the way at the bottom position of the deadlift. I was really paranoid about lumbar extensions for a while because I just naturally assumed I couldn't put my back in extension. For what it's worth, I feel that on the subsequent repetitions after my first one during a set, my back is in a better position since I force myself down in that position (as seen in the video), but I still lose that extension once the weight hits the floor.

As for the belt, I only recently started using it with a focus on using it for my 400+ single pulls. Though last night I did use it for my 375 set. May I ask why you recommend ditching it? To be honest, I don't feel like it's overly beneficial on the deadlift (especially compared to when I started using it for the squats -- wow!), but I'm using it as a safety at this point. Again, not sure how helpful it is since my lumbar isn't in full extension on the bottom.

For a while I thought maybe the weights I was using weren't standard size since they are those lame polygonal plates, but upon doing research, I've found those particular plates to be the same diameter as olympic round plates. For a while I also tried to force myself into the starting position with an extended lumbar (breaking the setup of bending down without moving the hips as displayed here), but even with that, the extension is lost once my hands wrap around the bar.

Outside of compromising range of motion by having the weight slightly elevated (NO!), or doing sumo pulls (NOOOO!), I'm really at a loss.

[pantsaregood]

This isn't helpful at all, but I have the same issue. I'd like to point out that wearing lifting shoes would only further complicate your form issues. They'll require you to bend even more to reach the bar.

I find that I can set up fine for Rack Pulls or Sumo Deadlifts, but those are fundamentally different movements.

[MikeC1]

The belt helps a lot with the squat to get a stronger stretch reflex because it starts with an eccentric portion, but since the deadlift starts from a dead stop, it just gets in the way and makes it harder to set your back.

Try this, when you're setting up, forget about where the bar is over your feet, forget about if it's touching your shins, or if your arms are straight. Bend your knees to get some slack in your hamstrings, lower your center of gravity, and try to set your lower back in extension the same way as if you are standing up. If you can do this while your hands are gripping the bar, then you can fix anything else after that.

[skipbeat]

Since this guy is obviously not new to strength training, could it be that he has developed lumbar muscles which look slightly rounded even in extension? My back is very developed even with modest lifts, my spine is literally indented with 1.5 inches of muscle coming out and I'm sure it affects the way it looks.

Even in the absence of the above, his back angle doesn't get worse as he pulls, though this could just be the relatively light weight. Plus, he's been getting stronger this way and as long as he doesn't go for a 50lb PR I doubt his back would explode.

I'd post another video of a heavier deadlift to see if the problem gets much worse, as well as just try to run through cues for your lower back. Having someone there during the set and yelling cues at you is pretty much invaluable.

Edit: I don't have a belt, but I thought the belt helps you keep your abs contracted, and a bunch of guys use them for deadlifting. Some guys think it keeps their asshole the right-way-in.

[Dastardly]

Since this guy is obviously not new to strength training, could it be that he has developed lumbar muscles which look slightly rounded even in extension?.

The guy in the video clearly has a rounded low back even at the beginning of the lift. I think the belt is the issue here is the belt. It is both obstructing view for us to see what is going on, plus most likely encouraging round backing as you can get better use of the belt that way.

[2011holidayschedule]

I'm going to ditch the belt and see if I can notice a difference. But honestly, it hasn't even been two months since I've started using the belt. I really don't think it's made too much of a difference in my setup.