Deadlift form check

[Mark Rippetoe]

Eye gaze helps with proper back angle, so with a gaze between his toes he's extending knees too soon, back angle stays horizontal longer, so the moment on lumbar doesn't drop off as soon as it should.

A soft neck could also be offloading some of the work from the thoracic spinal erectors to the lumbar erectors, and thus... etc.

How'd I do?

The cervical is connected to the thoracic is connected to the lumbar. Looking at one's belly button puts the cervical in extreme flexion. This has an impact on everything down the spine.

There you go.

[JD Keip]

There is nothing wrong with his shin angle.

The bar looked close at setup, and the shins ended up nearly vertical, like a SLDL. Is this guy near the limit of anatomical variation of "normal," or is simply that my eyeballs need calibrated?

Look at his neck/eyegaze position. Is there anything about this that might cause some low back position problem?

Dillon's first comment, second paragraph had already addressed dannyM's choice of neck position prior to my comment, so I just let that go under a deliberate Step 4.

[JD Keip]

Eye gaze helps with proper back angle, so with a gaze between his toes he's extending knees too soon, back angle stays horizontal longer, so the moment on lumbar doesn't drop off as soon as it should.

A soft neck could also be offloading some of the work from the thoracic spinal erectors to the lumbar erectors, and thus... etc.

How'd I do?

Wasn't directed to me, but I figure the anatomy goes more like the SEs position the (chain to the) scapulae and create the overall neutral spine at the bottom. If the SEs instead start in thoracic (and cervical?) flexion at the bottom, they're harder for most lifters to extend at the top to finish the lift.

Proper, neutral cervical-scapular position means the discs are evenly loaded, and the upper traps are at their resting length, their strongest position to support the shoulder girdle and thus arm.

But yeah, good neck position leads to good overall back position.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The bar looked close at setup, and the shins ended up nearly vertical, like a SLDL. Is this guy near the limit of anatomical variation of "normal," or is simply that my eyeballs need calibrated?

On second inspection, maybe a little too vertical, but he clearly performs step 3, and he's wearing silly little shoes with no heels. But you cannot look down at the floor between your toes and correctly set your back. This is his main problem.