Deadlift form check

[Yonason Herschlag]

The first video is from two weeks ago. My problems were:
1. soft knees
2. starting position with hips too low and bar too far forward
3. insufficient lower back extension



The next two videos are from today. I'm sure there's some improvement, but I would appreciate some feedback to get this better.





I really appreciate your coaching. There are no coaches in my neck of the woods.
THANKS!!!

[Michael Grantham]

Better on the more recent videos, but your still starting with your hips too low. See how they rise before the bar comes off of the floor?

[Yonason Herschlag]

Today I did deadlifts at the end of my workout, so I was already exhausted. Here's a few light sets. I'd appreciate your feedback.

[crookedfinger]

Today I did deadlifts at the end of my workout, so I was already exhausted. Here's a few light sets. I'd appreciate your feedback.

These are fine. Carry on

[AndrewLewis]

Hips are still too low at the start. You can see it if you look at your hip position like 1mm after the plates leave the ground. That's where your hips should be at the start.

Pull slower off the floor. You'll be more sensitive to the problems that way at the beginning. Speed it up a little once the hips are in a good place.

You should hook grip or use straps. Alternate grip is not great.

[johnnys]

Maybe it comes with "slower off the floor" but re-extension of the back on subsequent reps would be good, I think.

[Sean Herbison]

To be frank, I wasn't expecting much out of you when you first posted here, but I was wrong, and you're improving noticeably each time you post. Good work.

As to the deadlifts, your initial setup is pretty good. You do have your hips a bit low and your shoulders a bit too far back, but it's getting there. On your subsequent reps, though, you have a tendency to really sit down and push the bar forward with your shins. Watch how the bar has to swing back into place when that happens. What I would recommend is taking a second or two at the bottom of each rep to take a breath and reset, making sure the bar has returned to the midfoot position.

[Yonason Herschlag]

To be frank, I wasn't expecting much out of you when you first posted here, but I was wrong, and you're improving noticeably each time you post. Good work.

As to the deadlifts, your initial setup is pretty good. You do have your hips a bit low and your shoulders a bit too far back, but it's getting there. On your subsequent reps, though, you have a tendency to really sit down and push the bar forward with your shins. Watch how the bar has to swing back into place when that happens. What I would recommend is taking a second or two at the bottom of each rep to take a breath and reset, making sure the bar has returned to the midfoot position.

Well thanks Sean. Thanks to you and to Rip's website, I can get such top notch feedback. So valuable, yet free.

You are the first to mention my shoulder position. After reflecting on that recommendation, I'd like to double check that I am understanding correctly:

The lats need to be engaged pushing the bar towards the hips (fulcrum) thus reducing the moment arm, adding leverage to the lift.

I will try that in my next deadlift session, and perhaps that will also make it easier for me to start with my hips higher.

And I hope to also incorporate yours and Rip's advice not to bounce when doing deadlift reps. I've just been so stressed out lately that it makes it difficult to focus on more than one thing at a time. The bouncing is a bad habit that I need to overcome.

Hips are still too low at the start. You can see it if you look at your hip position like 1mm after the plates leave the ground. That's where your hips should be at the start.

Pull slower off the floor. You'll be more sensitive to the problems that way at the beginning. Speed it up a little once the hips are in a good place.

You should hook grip or use straps. Alternate grip is not great.

Thanks Andrew. I am a novice regarding the hook-grip. I only started incorporating it a few weeks ago. In the first video from yesterday (posted above), I did a set of five with the hook grip, and I didn't want to be distracted from the pain on the next heavier sets. I will probably take your advice to use straps on the work sets of my next work-out, so that I can focus my attention on other details.

Maybe it comes with "slower off the floor" but re-extension of the back on subsequent reps would be good, I think.

Thanks John. That's actually a very helpful point. I think I should continue with light deadlifts working on my form to protect the health of my back. As someone who had a ruptured disc, I really have to be sure that I can hold the fully required extension for every lift I perform. Had you not mentioned this, I'd probably go on ruining my back.

[Sean Herbison]

You are the first to mention my shoulder position. After reflecting on that recommendation, I'd like to double check that I am understanding correctly:

The lats need to be engaged pushing the bar towards the hips (fulcrum) thus reducing the moment arm, adding leverage to the lift.

While using the lats to pull the bar in close is a useful cue, I don't know that it's mechanically necessary. However, it is a fact, so far as I've ever seen evidence, that a heavy deadlift will start with the shoulders slightly in front of the bar, for whatever reason that is. Since they're going to be there anyway, we like to minimize the potential for error by getting rid of unnecessary movement that could go wrong.

I will try that in my next deadlift session, and perhaps that will also make it easier for me to start with my hips higher.

The shoulders are tied right in with the hips. Assuming a straight back (not always a valid assumption), the segment length there doesn't change. This means that if your hips go down, one of two things can happen. Either your shins move forward to let your hips drop straight down (like some of your reps after the first), or you sort of rotate behind the bar, with your shins stationary but your shoulders coming back (like your first rep).

[Mch64961]

I don’t know if it’s the camera angle, but is the bar staying in contact with you the entire time? It doesn’t look like it is from watching the video.