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Thread: Deadlift asymmetry in hips and back

  1. #1
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    Default Deadlift asymmetry in hips and back

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    Hello,
    19, 6’2, 89kg body weight. Squat is 127.5kg, deadlift is 137.5kg.

    When filming from behind the asymmetry is pretty obvious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FyC2v6sdc0 I get something similar on squats (hips move right on the way up) but it is barely visible. My left spinal erector feels bigger than my right one.

    FWIW the set in the video was me actively trying to stay symmetric; it seems like my hips just want to go like this. Is this cause for concern, do I have to reduce weight until I can get it even? Is there anything else I should do to strengthen the right side?

  2. #2
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    No one/no thing is perfectly symmetrical. This is not a terrible pull, and may never be a problem. Do you have a leg length discrepancy? Get it measured.

    Leg Length Discrepancy | Mark Rippetoe

  3. #3
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    I'm not sure if this is more of a cause or an effect, Eliot, but have you noticed in the video that your head turns toward the right as you pull, too?

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    Followed your method Rip and couldn't find an LLD. I was practicing with 100kg today and I think I finally found a cue that works, I'll post again if it works at heavier weights.

    I think my head's straight enough in the video relative to my feet, which was my reference point. It just looks that way because of my back being out of line.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by eliotg View Post
    Hello,
    19, 6’2, 89kg body weight. Squat is 127.5kg, deadlift is 137.5kg.

    When filming from behind the asymmetry is pretty obvious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FyC2v6sdc0 I get something similar on squats (hips move right on the way up) but it is barely visible. My left spinal erector feels bigger than my right one.

    FWIW the set in the video was me actively trying to stay symmetric; it seems like my hips just want to go like this. Is this cause for concern, do I have to reduce weight until I can get it even? Is there anything else I should do to strengthen the right side?
    Look at the video, specifically the distance between your hands and the outside of your legs on each side while at the bottom.

    You are not setting up symmetrically when you start; you will invariably end up symmetrically at the end. That's the cause of the perceived issue here.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Satch12879 View Post
    You are not setting up symmetrically when you start; you will invariably end up symmetrically at the end.
    Did you mean "asymmetrically at the end"? I think you did.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Satch12879 View Post
    Look at the video, specifically the distance between your hands and the outside of your legs on each side while at the bottom.

    You are not setting up symmetrically when you start; you will invariably end up symmetrically at the end. That's the cause of the perceived issue here.
    That's a great catch, Satch. Eliot - if you cannot pull this weight with double overhand or hook grip, it may behoove you to try using straps, to make this even easier to straighten out.

    Quote Originally Posted by eliotg View Post
    I think my head's straight enough in the video relative to my feet, which was my reference point. It just looks that way because of my back being out of line.
    Your head may be centered left to right, in the frontal plane, but it is not straight ahead in terms of the axis of your spine. In the video, your right ear is visible, and your left is not, from the beginning of each rep. It appears to get a bit worse as each rep continues, though the position of your hips shifts to the right even more so.

    Have you been checked for scoliosis?

    I'd be curious to see your squat and your press as well.

  8. #8
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHrQJhh7YxQ

    My hips drifting to the right causes them to rotate to point left to compensate, so previously I was focusing on the rotation of my hips. But today I thought about keeping the position of my hips centered along the coronal axis. It sounds obvious in hindsight, but this only clicked for me the other day. I think this set is an improvement, I slipped on the last rep though. Honestly, my main concern was my seeming inability to propriocept and prevent this left back dominance, so this is reassuring to me.

    Thank you for the advice Satch, I think my hands are better here. Re: scoliosis, I checked with my GP a while ago but she wasn't concerned. Let me know if you think this warrants a more extensive check.

    Here are my squats if you want: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRWHptCN8M8
    5th set of 5 (I started an intermediate program a few weeks ago. Yeah, I realise now that I could have made more progress on LP if I ate more, but I've already started...) By the way, the tilting of the bar is not a typical issue, I think it was just resting funny on my back at the time.

  9. #9
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    This looks like a short right leg. Your GP is not qualified to assess this.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by eliotg View Post
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHrQJhh7YxQ

    My hips drifting to the right causes them to rotate to point left to compensate, so previously I was focusing on the rotation of my hips. But today I thought about keeping the position of my hips centered along the coronal axis. It sounds obvious in hindsight, but this only clicked for me the other day. I think this set is an improvement, I slipped on the last rep though. Honestly, my main concern was my seeming inability to propriocept and prevent this left back dominance, so this is reassuring to me.

    Thank you for the advice Satch, I think my hands are better here. Re: scoliosis, I checked with my GP a while ago but she wasn't concerned. Let me know if you think this warrants a more extensive check.

    Here are my squats if you want: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRWHptCN8M8
    5th set of 5 (I started an intermediate program a few weeks ago. Yeah, I realise now that I could have made more progress on LP if I ate more, but I've already started...) By the way, the tilting of the bar is not a typical issue, I think it was just resting funny on my back at the time.
    These do look much better, yes - as you are noticing, proprioception may need to be retrained from how it feels at first. You seem to be well on your way to doing this, so well done there. It's hard to tell from the six o'clock position, but your squats may be more upright than is best...but that's nothing to do with the current concern. Since Rip thinks it looks like a short right leg, I'd definitely figure out how to get that looked into by a qualified source not your GP, though. Getting your form dialed in is vital, but a real LLD requires specifics determination to know the next steps.

    About your 5x5 squats...if you know that insufficient food intake is what ended your LP prematurely, and you're working on fixing that factor, you should be able to switch back to the NLP and thrive there for a while. That would be better than cheating yourself with a large change like a volume squat day.

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