Deadlift technique

Gettinpumped

Gettinpumped

Active member
Can anyone give me some helpful tips on how to perform the conventional deadlift? I've been doing them and up until this monday I thought I was doing them right but some powerlifter said I wasnt using any leg drive. He said I was kinda stiff legging it. I've been trying to practice on my form but Im not sure if Im doing it right as my lower back seems to really get soo pumped that I cant even walk. I keep my chest out, head up, and I try to not jerk the bar up. I will try to get a video up of me deadlifting.
 
Gettinpumped said:
Can anyone give me some helpful tips on how to perform the conventional deadlift? I've been doing them and up until this monday I thought I was doing them right but some powerlifter said I wasnt using any leg drive. He said I was kinda stiff legging it. I've been trying to practice on my form but Im not sure if Im doing it right as my lower back seems to really get soo pumped that I cant even walk. I keep my chest out, head up, and I try to not jerk the bar up. I will try to get a video up of me deadlifting.
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Well what I do is I sort of bend my legs a few times before pulling the bar up. I stand behind the bar, grab it, then drop my legs up and down a few times to sort of remind myself to drive with the legs.

You can also try this, grab the bar, hold on tight, then lift and don't pull with your back until your almost standing. Kind of try picking up the weight with only your legs until you need to pull with your back. It's kind of hard to explain online.

If you post up a video, it would be great.

In the meantime, look up some videos on either youtube or some powerlifting sites such as MMI...watch out for that fool beelze, he knows not what he talks about...HA j/k
 
I've had similar technique problems...I got really strong doign it the way you're doing it now, and then pulled a back muscle.

Do you look at yourself in the mirror? I find that, even if my head is up, if I look at myself in the mirror I will pull alot harder with my back than my legs.

If I pick a spot high on the ceiling (look straight up above you, and then proceed to look maybe 10-15 feet in front of the spot right above you...so you are looking at a spot thats almost right above you but definately in front of you, grab the bar and just stay fixated on that spot) and just stare at that mother I pull with alot more leg. This also helps me actively think of pulling "up and backwards" instead of just "up".
 
video is the best way to evaluate.

fwiw, i've been experimenting with my setup on deads and for me, this is what works. set your feet up under the bar like you're ready to dead, arch your back, slight bend in the legs - now making sure you're keeping the arch tight as can be, slowly bend downwards keeping your legs slightly bent. grab the bar, head up, shoulders back, now drop your ass (bend legs, this should be a quick motion), and deadlift the weight up. if you've kept your tight arch, your leg drive should be taking the majority of the load. it takes some practice and if you catch yourself bending over turning it into a SLDL, then your core needs some work - i.e. good mornings, hypers, etc. JMO.
 
I truly believe there a lot of factors that contribute to a good deadlift technique. I think the best advice is to experiment (but not to the point of known bad forms). I recently switched to sumo style and all I can say is, what a big difference. I had a very hard time keeping back straight in a conventional style. I think sumo works best for me because I have an ectomorph build (very slender and flexible) and I have a long torso. I am also 6' 2" and that is a LONG way to pull conventional style. Have you tried sumo style?
 
Yeah I've been doing sumo but I dont really like it. I think maybe I will keep doing them if I dont get my form right on conventionals.
 
I'm 6'2, Ecto, but Lift conventional style.

I only dead three to three and half plates a side though, so take that for what it is.

I find I get a slight bending in my upper back when I dead, however due to a lowerback injury, i have to be very careful of how much arch I have, normally i forcefully get rid of some of my lower arch by curling my hips backwards.

I'm probably going to continue lifting this way as it:

A: Doesnt hurt my back
B: I'm seeing increases in my lifts slowly.
 
I worked on my form today and the guy watching me said it was damn good. I originally wasnt keep my hips low. Once I did that it felt better and I didnt feel any pain on my lower back. I forgot my camera so next week I should have the video.
 
Gettinpumped said:
I worked on my form today and the guy watching me said it was damn good. I originally wasnt keep my hips low. Once I did that it felt better and I didnt feel any pain on my lower back. I forgot my camera so next week I should have the video.
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Congratulations man!

For some odd reason, deadlifting form took more time for me to develop that most other lifts, I don't know why. I picked up ATG squats pretty quickly with good form (below parallel, not rounding the back, etc.) but deadlifting gave me a problem for some time to find the pain-free/correct form balance.

It's all about dropping those hips and using those legs to pull the weight up. Once you get it down correctly it becomes second nature just like any other lift that your comfortable with. Not to mention when you take the load off your back and use some leg drive that's when the weight will really start to soar. Congratulations again and let's see that video!

-Mike
 
One thing I do when pulling is to make sure that I focus on driving with my legs and feet. During my warm up sets I really like to force myself to focus on pushing off with my feet when I start each rep.

Obviously I'm using my whole body but by focusing on my feet I get a good amount of strength from the legs/hip region and not just lower back.
 
Here are some vids if that helps.

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jas123 said:
Here are some vids if that helps.

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There are more in the links in the stickies.
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What the hell kind of music do they listen to in that gym?????



:lol::lol: Good vids. Someones really strong.
 
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