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Thread: Deadlift can’t get back flat

  1. #1
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    Sep 2020
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    Default Deadlift can’t get back flat

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    Hi-decided to video my
    Deadlift form and noticed a (worse than I thought) pronounced hump in my middle back. Tried the squeeze the chest/belly to bar cues to flatten it but that’s the best it got. Called it a day at 3 with 225lb really out of fear of injuring myself. Don’t recall it being this bad when I DTP six or seven years ago but I’ve been deskbound since then and worried it’s irreversibly messed up my posture.
    Also, what’s not great on the first rep is utter garbage by the third rep.
    Any help would be appreciated.

    5 May 2021 - YouTube

  2. #2
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    Start with the bar over mid foot.

  3. #3
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    Sep 2020
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    Pretty sure it was...

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cooper2020 View Post
    Hi-decided to video my
    Deadlift form and noticed a (worse than I thought) pronounced hump in my middle back. Tried the squeeze the chest/belly to bar cues to flatten it but that’s the best it got.
    You don't appear to be extending your back during the setup. Setting your back is step 4, right before the pull (cues include raise your chest or drop your belly between your legs).

    Here is Coach Rippetoe going through the deadlift in a 4 minute video!

    The Deadlift in 5 Steps | Mark Rippetoe

    Dealing with back extension is shown here, as Coach Rippetoe gets on the mat with a trainee to fix it (8 minute mark, but watch the whole thing):

    Lower Back Position Control

    Here's a classic article on the topic by Coach Rippetoe:

    The Most Important Thing You Will Ever Learn About Lifting Weights | Mark Rippetoe

    For more on the deadlift setup, see this excellent video by Coach Delgadillo:

    Fixing a Rounded Low Back in the Deadlift | Nick Delgadillo

    And if the problem is still not going away, more from Coach Delgadillo:

    Fixing the Hard Cases in the Deadlift | Nick Delgadillo

    Good luck!

  5. #5
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    Sep 2020
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    Thanks-the article in particular is a useful read. Try as I might I just can’t seem to get the thoracic spine to flatten my back out and I cannot for the life of me squeeze my chest up. I need to lose about 30lb and my gut really gets in the way which mean I end up taking a wider stance as well.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cooper2020 View Post
    Thanks-the article in particular is a useful read. Try as I might I just can’t seem to get the thoracic spine to flatten my back out and I cannot for the life of me squeeze my chest up. I need to lose about 30lb and my gut really gets in the way which mean I end up taking a wider stance as well.
    I have a bigger gut than you. you just need to stand half an inch away.

  7. #7
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    May 2021
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    Man, barbell coaching is really weird when you try to do it online since coaching is usually a trial and error feedback loop in real time until something sticks and works. So with that said, I'll try to list a bunch of different things I've done for myself and my other clients.

    1. If they are having difficulty with 'sticking their butt out' to 'feel tight in their hamstrings' or failure to use 'belly to the floor' or 'shove your belly between your thighs' I like to have them do the movement from a higher position.
    My point being is that you are only having issues because you are parallel to the floor. That just makes it very awkward for a lot of newbies - including myself when I first started.
    So what you can do is stand up tall. Stand up with a 'proud chest' (this in reality is squeezing your shoulder blades together and DOWN - the result is you pointing your sternum(the mid chest bone) to the ceiling as high as possible), and you will realize - to do this, you must push your lower back into it's normal curvature.
    **important: When people say 'flat back' they do not actually mean your SPINE will be flat - but the spinal erectors running alongside your spine will create the illusion of a flat back. The normal spinal pattern is concave inwards, and then concave outwards, an S so to speak. All you have to do during a deadlift is to maintain that tall proud chest while standing, but bent over with your nipples at the floor. So let's do just that:
    -Stand tall with your chest proud or whatever domination of a cue you prefer, and then SLOWLY push your HIPS BACKWARDS and KNEES backwards so you can counter balance the weight of your torso becoming parallel to the floor. If you do this correctly, you will feel extreme tension in your hamstrings (located behind your thighs). You should only be able to push your hips and knees backwards until about where the barbell rests on top of your knee caps with a standard deadlift grip. At this point - you push your knees forward 1" (hint hint, remember the 5 step method and why you take a 1" set up from the bar?) and then you slide the weight down to the floor down your shins. Pushing your knees forward 1" relaxes a little bit of tension in your hamstrings and allows the torso to continue to become more parallel and flat to the ground.

    Imgur: The magic of the Internet

    In your set up:
    1. your gaze is too far out. You basically want to double chin so the spine of your neck is aligned with the rest of your spine. So look more towards the floor.
    2. you need to find a cue or just practice standing tall and reversing into position - because you have to be able to rotate your butt up and outwards like you are trying to point your asshole to the wall - not the floor. If you successfully do this, you will feel your lower back automatically go into position and you will feel extreme tension in your hamstrings


    Imgur: The magic of the Internet
    An important thing I see in your deadlift is that you are trying to 'explode' out of the hole. Look - the deadlift is not an explosive movement. It moves as fast as you want it to move. A correct deadlift is one where you leg press it off the floor with the bar in contact against your shins the entire time with knees out as you drag it up your body on top of the knee cap - you finish the movement with hip drive. You squeeze your buttocks HARD and thrust forward when the bar is on top of your knee caps. And at the top - you make sure to pull your shoulder blades back and down to create the most super open proud chest possible - and then keeping that chest - you reverse the movement via hips + knees backward until bar sits on your knee caps - and then 1" forward, and drag it down your shins to finish.

    What's happening in this moment is that your knees instantly shoot backwards and lose contact with the bar. Whether this is happening because you are trying to explode up or because your hips aren't set into the right position is a chicken or the egg problem, or both.

    I would lower the weight to something you feel comfortable fucking up with form on so you can experiment without creating more form issues.

  8. #8
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    If these were filmed from the requested angle, we could adjust your stance more accurately. For people with bigger guts, we can bring the heels in and turn the toes out more. Sometimes as much as 45 degrees to accommodate a gut. You'll be able to get your thighs out of the way, but you'll have to take a little wider grip.

  9. #9
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    Wow-this is the kind of feedback I was after thanks. I got up to 405 quite comfortably about 7 years ago (before I became a father/husband/deskbound stressed and could eat and sleep as much as I wanted).
    It seems over the years my posture etc has suffered but I refuse to believe it can’t be rectified and the points you raise are really interesting 👍

  10. #10
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    May 2021
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    starting strength coach development program
    No idea who you're replying to, but good luck to you and your conquest for strength! Just remember that even Rip advises to use the heaviest weight possible that you can actually keep perfect form on- then load in small increments from there. Our goal with form is to strengthen the correct muscle groups (our chosen kinetic chain vs another). Plus since good form is more efficient, it's how you'll be able to realize your true potential pound for pound.

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