35 years old, 20 of them spent thus far training - but I still have much to learn!
Trying to learn more leg drive and speed, trying less to simply “muscle” up the weight. As you can see, I’m short, short legged, and somewhat long arms. I also have APT. Recently charity meet I pulled a 510, but I stayed safe due to only really preparing but a month prior.
Any constructive criticism from the veterans? I’m looking to move some more weight, but also still be able to golf when I’m in my 60s.
Looks good.
The only thing I could say is during your setup and it’s a bit difficult to tell from the angle: it looks like you could afford to get the bar closer to your body during the initial pull (dragging your shins). It’ll give you better leverage. It looks like the bar might be getting pulled back into your body rather than pulled along and up your body - but again, the angle is difficult.
I can kind of see where it looks like you get pulled forward during the initial pull putting you on the balls of your feet. It’s only a split second, but it takes away from your power off the floor and puts extra strain on your lower back. Watch your butt shoot up just a tad during the initial pull. That could be another indicator you’re too far away from the bar.
Maybe try and put the bar against your shins before you pull. You may have to possibly sit down even further - but the idea is to try and line the bar up as close to the center of your body as possible during the initial pull. Guys w/ long arms have such an advantage in that they don’t have to sit down so far to get that same leverage. I have short arms so I really have to crouch down to get that good leverage. However, the weight is sooooo much lighter pulling from that position. Play w/ it and find your best leverage. That’s all these lifts are anyway (for the most part).
I don’t know what you call it, but when I pull, I started doing reps w/o letting the bar touch the floor. I would drop it down below the knee and yet not touch the floor. This is good for multiple reasons, but for you; it may help you find that position better. Let the bar drop along your body to just below your knee and then pull back up again. You’ll basically be like sitting down w/ the weight before you pull the next rep. Use a medium weight for multiple rep sets and see if this helps develop your position. Generally those who do that or bounce/touch their reps end up in the proper pulling position after the first rep. You should be able to feel the difference.
This may be generic, but I once heard if you have short arms, you are always pulling your sleeves back away from your wrists. If you had long arms, it wasn’t really necessary. LOL - I have short arms.
Everything else looks pretty doggone solid. Nice pulling.
Beautiful reps. You pull damn near perfectly for your build. Your stance makes room for your girth such that you reach well to the bar. You are not a hamstring lifter and so you bring your shins to the bar rather than the other way around and it looks awesome when you start the pull. Because you do start out over the foot, your knees need to open immediately which results in a slight rearward motion of your ass, but that’s just how it goes when you shift leg drive back to the heels starting from this kind of stance.
I used a Post-it on my monitor as a plumb line and your bar trajectory, through the pull is damn near vertical and the bar stays tight to you so I will say that the initial bar position and the opening of your hips vs. knees is spot on. The only horizontal movement is when you do that “USPF lean” at lockout.
Anyway, for what it’s worth, my critique.
What’s with the straps?
Thank you very much, both of you guys! This is exactly what I was looking for.
[quote]emskee wrote:
What’s with the straps?
[/quote]
Heheh, you saw those, eh? I use them for reps, never for singles. I’m trying to rebuild some cardio/conditioning that I’ve lost in this ridiculously cold winter, so I’m trying for 5+ reps with 405ish. Also with reps I’m practicing form.
Unrelated, I’ve determined I need some 3/4" plywood under my rubber mats. Hopefully I can get some nice fellow at Home Depot or Lowes to cut up some for me, as a sheet won’t fit in my tiny car. I’d like to save my cement basement floor.
I use…
http://www.woodfloorsplus.com/products/?pnum=AGTDRIcore2X2Panel&gclid=CK-a_pGN77wCFa47Mgod9XwAxQ
which, if the above link is blocked, are called DRIcore Panels 23.5 in x 23.5 in 1 Panel and I got them at Home Depot.
You can “sorta” see them in this video of me…
I have them with carpet squares/strips/a throw rug, whatever, all pieced together on top of those interlocking rubber mat things you can also get at Home Depot. No “BOOMS” from nongenteel bar placements back to the floor. All of this stuff fits in a car.
You can see from the video why I like your form so much.
Those are friggen great, and CHEAP!!
I’ve got “Rubber-Cal “Dura-Chef Interlock” Anti-Fatigue Mats”
http://amzn.com/B001UIPFH4
And then a few 1/4" cut-up rubber floor sections on top, then I stand on a 3/4" rubber horse stall mat.
My problem is with my all my different sized plates, the silver Standard plate being the largest in diameter takes all of the pressure into a 1" contact patch. The anti-fatigue mats help, but those subfloor panels look fantastic. Plus I can buy several if I want to stack them up. Thanks for that idea, I’m going to steal it!
And yeah, your pulls look almost identical to mine; I appreciate that. Nice pulls too, by the way.
[quote]Sea-Doo Boy wrote:
Those are friggen great, and CHEAP!!
I’ve got “Rubber-Cal “Dura-Chef Interlock” Anti-Fatigue Mats”
http://amzn.com/B001UIPFH4
And then a few 1/4" cut-up rubber floor sections on top, then I stand on a 3/4" rubber horse stall mat.
My problem is with my all my different sized plates, the silver Standard plate being the largest in diameter takes all of the pressure into a 1" contact patch. The anti-fatigue mats help, but those subfloor panels look fantastic. Plus I can buy several if I want to stack them up. Thanks for that idea, I’m going to steal it!
And yeah, your pulls look almost identical to mine; I appreciate that. Nice pulls too, by the way.
[/quote]
Thanks.
Yeah I had the same problem with indentations in the rubber and this is why I floated those OSB squares on top. Maybe 4 years ago? Still holding strong.
So in my case it’s just 3/8" rummer mats with the osb things on top, carpet squares stuck where I deadlift to keep the bar from rolling around and all is good.
Okay, not “rummer” mats which I guess are rubber mats on the floor to cushion your fall when you drink too much rum.
I meant “rubber”.
Looks like solid reps. Well done. 20 years of experience in there.
[quote]emskee wrote:
“rummer” mats which I guess are rubber mats on the floor to cushion your fall when you drink too much rum.
[/quote]
I could very well use some of these as well, should you be so kind as to provide a link or source. Perhaps there’s a market opportunity there.
[quote]Sea-Doo Boy wrote:
[quote]emskee wrote:
“rummer” mats which I guess are rubber mats on the floor to cushion your fall when you drink too much rum.
[/quote]
I could very well use some of these as well, should you be so kind as to provide a link or source. Perhaps there’s a market opportunity there.
[/quote]
I’m good, I’ll let you know…
I’m back for more critiquing!
Here’s me failing 505, about 10 minutes after smoking 475. I’ve gotten 510 in competition before, but I attribute that to adrenaline and “muscling” it up. I’ve been working on sitting down/back more, getting more quads involved, and trying to develop more speed. This was my 2nd attempt at this weight, and this time I actually got the bar a bit further before my back rounded and my body pretty much yelled “NO!” at me.
What weakness(es) does this portray?
In your first video from the original post you finish with your back not your hips. It will make a dramatic difference in your lockout.
In the last video it just portrays that you’re not strong enough haha. I mean it’s kind of simplistic but if you can’t only barely get it off the floor it’s either because you lost position or you’re just not strong enough to get it off the floor with enough speed.
Front videos for deadlift are kind of worthless for critique. Side shots or front/side angled shots are much better.
My deadlift fails at the same point (and with similar weight). Barge is right. Corrective exercises that seem to work for me include band pulls, RDL’s and pausing deadlifts. Also, I’ve found that training in my basement with a stiff bar robs about 20 pounds.
Thanks to both of you. Simple is good; I have not dedicated myself to my deadlift to nearly the extent of my bench as of late, and it has shown. The bar is a Texas Power Bar, and yeah it’s great for squats/bench, but not so much for deads. I’ve trained on a Texas Deadlift bar, and I could not believe how much different all that extra whip felt. Not quite ready to shell out the $$ for another barbell yet, tho.
I do love training in my basement; best investment I’ve ever made as far as fitness goes. My gym, my rules, my music. And I can only yell at myself for doing curls on my squat rack. The DRICore panels emskee suggested have worked great, by the way.
The demonstration I always make to people about hips versus back is this.
Take a bar say with 135 on it and hold it right above your knees with your butt back like you would be in a deadlift.
First “finish” the pull like your normally would by pulling the bar up with your back.
put the bar back in the starting position right above your knees. Now all I want you to do is push your hips forward. Nothing else (I mean of course other things will move but that’s kind of the point).
Now tell me which is easier.
My mental cue is “bar over knees, hips to bar”. All my warmups are done with a violent hip thrust to finish the movement to get the groove down for my heavier lifts.
I’ve done that drill actually, and it’s a dandy!
Other thing I learned from my coach this past weekend is my setup needs improvement. As I come down to grab the bar, I need to shift my weight forward more on my toes, and simultaneously retract my shoulders and lock in my arms. I did not do that on the vid above, and I ended up with the failure. Even looking at the video’s single frame preview picture you can see my shoulders are not retracted.
This Saturday is a charity meet, and I’ll see if I can incorporate this into my pull. Kinda wish this meet was a few more weeks out, but that’s life!