Deadlift Form Check

[Mike Longnecker]

Pete was the last to critique me, and he asked me to keep my hips higher. I'm still struggling with breaking at hips then knees on the way down.

This is as flat as I have been able to get my back. Which makes me nervous.
315x5-last time I did a reset at 275x5 so I worked back up.

YouTube

Thank you!

Mike

[Pete Troupos]

Hey Mike
Your position for the first rep is close to being right, but hips still need to be a bit higher. You set up in the right spot and then sit your hips down. Once you've bent the knees and touched your shins to the bar, the hips need to stay in place. As you progress you keep dropping the hips down low at while trying to set up for the next rep. See how much further your knees are in front of your arms at the bottom? Get the hips up, pull the bar back, and make sure you're on midfoot.
Can you set your back flat without a belt? You're rushing the back set. It's a distinct and separate step from the pull of the ground, but you're blending the two together, so you don't ever get it set as hard as you could. Squeeze the chest up to set the back and get all of the slack out of the bar first, then once you feel like you've set it as hard as you can, set it harder. And when you're sure it's set and you feel like your head is going to explode, then you can pull the bar.

[Mike Longnecker]

Thank you, Pete.

I figured I was still a work in progress. Is it worth the B rating to add 5 pounds to the bar?

I will keep working on keeping my hips up.

I have tried without the belt, thinking maybe I need a 3 inch belt, but it made no difference. Apparently I have just never truly felt what setting my back correctly must feel like.

[Pete Troupos]

Have you already seen the video on our YouTube channel about low back position control where Rip works with the young man on how set the lumbar spine in extension? It's worth a look if you're working on your own.
Are you close to a coach?

[Mike Longnecker]

Yes, but I will watch it again. I need to get better at cueing myself, specifically butthole towards the wall/shove your junk between your knees.

Nikki is 2 hours away from me, but that's not something I'll be able to afford anytime soon.

My lumbar area feels the best it has after pulling that set so it's an improvement over what it was but certainly not perfect or optimal.