Wussing out on the deadlift

[Erik Y]

First of all, a big thanks to the coaches on this forum. It’s unbelievable how much quality advice has been provided in this space free of charge.

Male, 30 years old, 5’11”, 200 pounds, doing LP, on a reset from 315, set today was 305 for 5. At the beginning of the deadlift, I try to get as tight as possible by lifting my chest up and waiting for the two clicking sounds before I break off the floor. This works great, but my lower back hates it, so sometimes when it gets really uncomfortable during my work set I find my hips firing early involuntarily, which I always immediately regret. This inevitably results in a massive grinder trying to clear the knees. When it happens on the fifth rep, as it did today, I can tough it out and finish the rep. But if it happens earlier in the set, the exhaustion from the bad rep screws up the following ones, which usually means a missed fifth rep. And if I do manage to make the last rep, it is not a fun time.

I know (I think) that the coaches here are not psychologists, but I was wondering whether someone has seen this before and has some advice on how to keep the body honest. I’m consciously aware that the whole system has to get tight before the bar moves, but it only takes one moment of unconscious wussing out for the bar to break off the floor early, and once it’s in motion there’s no way to reset the lower back mid-lift. Due to my location (China), I can’t get a good coach to kick my ass about it in person (although there’s plenty of personal trainers around to explain why I should be deadlifting in the smith machine). I really want to nip this thing in the bud before it becomes a bad habit.

[Adam Skillin]

First of all, a big thanks to the coaches on this forum. It’s unbelievable how much quality advice has been provided in this space free of charge.

Male, 30 years old, 5’11”, 200 pounds, doing LP, on a reset from 315, set today was 305 for 5. At the beginning of the deadlift, I try to get as tight as possible by lifting my chest up and waiting for the two clicking sounds before I break off the floor. This works great, but my lower back hates it, so sometimes when it gets really uncomfortable during my work set I find my hips firing early involuntarily, which I always immediately regret. This inevitably results in a massive grinder trying to clear the knees. When it happens on the fifth rep, as it did today, I can tough it out and finish the rep. But if it happens earlier in the set, the exhaustion from the bad rep screws up the following ones, which usually means a missed fifth rep. And if I do manage to make the last rep, it is not a fun time.

I know (I think) that the coaches here are not psychologists, but I was wondering whether someone has seen this before and has some advice on how to keep the body honest. I’m consciously aware that the whole system has to get tight before the bar moves, but it only takes one moment of unconscious wussing out for the bar to break off the floor early, and once it’s in motion there’s no way to reset the lower back mid-lift. Due to my location (China), I can’t get a good coach to kick my ass about it in person (although there’s plenty of personal trainers around to explain why I should be deadlifting in the smith machine). I really want to nip this thing in the bud before it becomes a bad habit.

Try this. Get set up. Lift your chest. Get your back into extension, not just until you feel/hear the clicks caused by the slop between the bar components and plates, but until the bar is bent and you feel almost all the weight in your hands (you'll feel the weight on the soles of your feet as well). Once you're fully "squoze," don't think about pulling the bar up, but rather about pulling against it to help you push the floor down. In other words, cue yourself to leg press the earth away from the bar. That should solve the hip/knee extension timing issue for you. If not, get yourself verified and post back with a video.

[Erik Y]

Thanks Adam, I’ll try that next week and report back.

[coleossus]

Erik - know you're here to ask the coaches, but I had the same problem. For me, turns out I was deadlifting too intensely+frequently (2x week). When I moved to something more HLM styled, intensity - recovery - accessory and started doing SDLs at about 80% of my intensity day, my deadlift started going back up.

Not sure if that's useful for you, thought I'd chime in since your post sounded like the same problem I was having.

[Erik Y]

Thanks for your advice, Coleossus. I’m actually deadlifting every other workout right now, so fewer than two times per week, and I also only get in 2-3 workouts a week due to time and schedule constraints from my job, so recovery seems okay for now. The plan is to add some lower-intensity volume soon, but definitely feeling this is more of a mental block or form issue at the moment.

I’m away on business again today, so a little behind schedule. Tomorrow is deadlift day, so let’s see how I do.

[Erik Y]

Workout today and... huh. I’m honestly puzzled more than anything. Zero funny business during warm-ups, when I got to the work set the first two reps felt great, and I was sure I was going to get it. But then on the third rep I got the weight in my hands, tried to push the floor away, and it just didn’t come off the floor.

It could just be that I’m not recovered after my trip yesterday or that I’m just not used to the new conceptualization, but I have a feeling I screwed something up. I really don’t like the idea of having a video of myself on the internet, but if that’s what it’s going to take to get my deadlift up, I had better go and get verified and come back.

One more quick thing while I do that: I found this set really tough on my hands, and I had some pain in my carpal tunnel. I know from experience that’s likely from spending too much time on my phone, but I need to use it for work. Is there anything I can do to take some of that pressure off?

[Steve Hill]

Are you using chalk? Hook grip?

[Leanne M. Lloyd]

don't think about pulling the bar up, but rather about pulling against it to help you push the floor down.

I've never heard the leg press cue described in that way, but it completely changes my understanding of the concept. Very helpful, thank you!

[Eric Schexnayder]

Try this. Get set up. Lift your chest. Get your back into extension, not just until you feel/hear the clicks caused by the slop between the bar components and plates, but until the bar is bent and you feel almost all the weight in your hands (you'll feel the weight on the soles of your feet as well). Once you're fully "squoze," don't think about pulling the bar up, but rather about pulling against it to help you push the floor down. In other words, cue yourself to leg press the earth away from the bar. That should solve the hip/knee extension timing issue for you. If not, get yourself verified and post back with a video.

I must try this.

[Phil Meggers]

Try this. Get set up. Lift your chest. Get your back into extension, not just until you feel/hear the clicks caused by the slop between the bar components and plates, but until the bar is bent and you feel almost all the weight in your hands (you'll feel the weight on the soles of your feet as well). Once you're fully "squoze," don't think about pulling the bar up, but rather about pulling against it to help you push the floor down. In other words, cue yourself to leg press the earth away from the bar. That should solve the hip/knee extension timing issue for you. If not, get yourself verified and post back with a video.

Adam's description is dead-on, as is his recommendation to get yourself verified and post a video. Describing your situation is a good start, but video will be a tremendous improvement.