Deadlift Form Check

[Adam Doyle]

This is week 7 on my first time through LP. Deadlift progress has been a little weird for me because I did some spread out work prior to LP. I thought I was heavy enough at the beginning of LP to only DL once a week, but I think that was a mistake. So I switched to DL every other workout with 5 lb increases. When I fail to get 5 reps on my work set, I’ve had a hard time determining if it was truly a failure or if I just gave up too early. Last Friday I lifted 280 for 4 reps, and felt some rounding on rep 5 and I paused. Once I paused I lost momentum and stopped. Today I repeated 280 and was so focused on form and grinding and not stopping that I lost count and somehow pulled 6 reps...haha:

YouTube

It seems like there is a huge mental component to the DL for me, involving when to keep grinding or when to put it down. A few questions:

1. How is my form? What needs fixed?
2. I felt mid back rounding in reps 4, 5, & 6. Looking at the video I can see some slight rounding on 5 & 6. Is it ok to have a little rounding in the last few reps of your work set? I’m trying to get a feel for what I should just grind through and when I should drop it.

Thanks so much for all you guys do!

[Pete Troupos]

Hey Adam

I don't see a lot of flexion until the last few reps, and even then I wouldn't consider it egregious. When the back starts to fail in flexion, it always feels like it's moved more than it actually has.

You can help yourself out a bunch by not setting up so close to the bar. Your hips are high, shoulders way in front of the bar, and shins too vertical. Setup about 1/4 to 1/2 inch further back. About where the first strap or lace knots are on your shoes as a guide. This will get the shins at the correct angle and the hips a bit lower so you can get the back into hard extension easier and more thoroughly. Then your quads can actually help break the bar off the ground, as is their job, while the back holds its position.
Work on that for a bit, and I think you'll find you can get and hold the extension a lot better.
Good luck.