Would chalking my shins help the bar come up smoother or would it make it more difficult. Also if it makes it more difficult then what would be better to put on your shins because i’ve seen pictures of powerlifters deadlifting with a white powder on their shins.
the powdered soap they have at elementary school bathrooms
use baby powder. not chalk
Chalk increases friction, use it on your hands.
Baby powder reduces friction, use it on your shins and thighs (don’t expect it to help that much). If you prefer you can deadlift in tights or slick sweat pants. Don’t get any baby powder on your hands or it will ruin your grip.
Or if you’ve read Muscle Revolution by Chad Waterbury you wouldn’t start with the bar against your shins. “To lift a bar that’s against your shins you have sink into a deep squat position which is a disadvantage for monster pulls. If the bar starts out a few inches in front of your shins you can start with your hips higher, and lift more off the floor.” Chad Waterbury, Muscle Revolution
[quote]Hero Time wrote:
Or if you’ve read Muscle Revolution by Chad Waterbury you wouldn’t start with the bar against your shins. “To lift a bar that’s against your shins you have sink into a deep squat position which is a disadvantage for monster pulls. If the bar starts out a few inches in front of your shins you can start with your hips higher, and lift more off the floor.” Chad Waterbury, Muscle Revolution[/quote]
yea i never ever start with the bar touching my shins for that exact reason…Thanks for the help guys
[quote]Hero Time wrote:
Or if you’ve read Muscle Revolution by Chad Waterbury you wouldn’t start with the bar against your shins. “To lift a bar that’s against your shins you have sink into a deep squat position which is a disadvantage for monster pulls. If the bar starts out a few inches in front of your shins you can start with your hips higher, and lift more off the floor.” Chad Waterbury, Muscle Revolution[/quote]
I’d like to point out that just because the bar might not START against your shins it doesn’t mean the bar will NEVER touch your shins, the bruising/cutting tends to happen closer to your knees than your ankles in my experience.
OP, try a thin layer of vaseline, it works a treat.
I remember seeing some where once that someone uses shin guards for hockey, but I would think they would get in they way? Anyone ever use these?
[quote]Hero Time wrote:
I remember seeing some where once that someone uses shin guards for hockey, but I would think they would get in they way? Anyone ever use these?[/quote]
Nope, stuff like that works good while training.
We use soccer shin guards.
I once saw someone who cut a plastic bottle in half 
Btw, where you start your DL is more or less determined by your leverage/height/etc. Any general statement is very likely to be false for at last a few people.
starting the DL with the bar way too far away from the body while leaning too much forward is perhaps the most common beginner mistake a see. I always start with the bar touching my shins. It allows me a fairly upright position and good glute/ham use.
The bar should be very close if not touching your shins, where exactly it is does depend how your leverages. However the knees should be in line with or slightly over the toes so in no way do you have to do a deep squat to get the bar to touch your shins. Once you lift heavy having the bar even one inch out in front of you will totally screw up the start of the lift.
BTW the baby powder is much more important on your thighs than shins.
Any shin guards, at least any that I have tried, don’t work because they are too thick, on the way down the bar will hit them (if you are going pretty heavy). You can try making a shin guard out of sports tape if you want. Put two strips up each shin and then tape them down by having a strip going around your calf at the bottom and the top.
just use tape, vertical strip wrapped with one strip on each end
Trap bar…