Hi everyone, could you please help critique my deadlift form? The weight is pretty light at 115 lbs. Watching the video myself, I feel like my hips are too high. I would also like to mention I have long legs. Thanks.
Video:
Nice bar path. Might see more with vids from other angles but looks good. Do you feel like thereās any other issues beside hip height?
Optimal hip weight in the start position will vary from person to person depending on their leverages. High hips is not a bad thing. Yours certainly donāt look bad considering you can get in a solid start position. Itās hard to say for sure this is the most efficient position for you with light weights so your best bet right now is to try slightly lower hips and compare.
At heavier weights or closer to max that optimal starting hip height will be more apparent because itās the most efficient position so if you deviate from that your body will compensate e.g. hips rising at the start before the bar breaks the floor.
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Thanks. Agreed the angle is not the best. My main concern was with the hip height but I also did notice that my hips donāt move when pulling the bar off the floor so I figured that was a sign that it might be okay.
I do tend to get some minor lower back pain but Iām guessing thatās expected.
I would disagree with the bar path. Thatās a SLDL. Watch your hips in the video. Put your finger on the screen and watch your hip angle from beginning to end. It doesnāt change. Thereās literally no leg drive in your deadlift, at all. You need to sit back into your deadlift and use at least some leg drive.
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Its not bad. It will take some time to figure out what is best for you but you are on the right track. As @flappinit pointed out, you are doing more of a stiff leg deadlift. Its not the end of the world if you do it this way and you should get some gains if you progress in weight.
However, you should be aware of the different aspects of form and how changes are going to affect your form. If you start using lower hip height, your knees and ankles will also bend more; will make it more difficult to clear your knees. If you keep pulling with high hips, your back angle is going to be shallower and it will be more difficult to keep straight as weight gets heavier. If you do plan on going much heavier, these are problems you will have to solve eventually.
It looks like you already know about breathing in and holding it to brace for each rep. Hereās a pointer on that. At the top of the rep when you are standing, thatās when you want to exhale and get another breath. It is very difficult to get enough air when you are bent over at the bottom of the rep. This should help you maintain tightness on all your reps which will be crucial if you eventually go heavier
Thanks for the advice everyone. I think Iām setup with such high hips because I have trouble reaching the bar due to my long legs and shorter arms. Iāll try slight lowering my hips and seeing how it feels.
The other option is to try an DL-type sumo.
Try it out but Iād recommend going slightly heavier. Needs to be enough to challenge technique to tell. If you hips jerk up at the start to their previous position or otherwise translate up before the bar breaks the floor then hips are too low.
One thing that you can try to just test:
Instead of standing over the bar and bending over to grab it, actually āsquat downā until your hands touch the bar. This will put you in a more proper position to use a bit of leg drive to deadlift. You have long legs so youāll have to mess around until you find something that feels right. You could probably put your feet out a bit wider as well.
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Iāve a 35" inseam. I found that pointing my feet outwards helped a lot with being able to fit my legs in the right position and getting my hips set properly.
thatās irrelevant because the weight is too light to force any change in your posture. Figuring out the best deadlift leverages is impossible if youāre not using a challenging weight for yourself.
couple things to note: depending on what he wants to get out of his deadlifts, this may not really matter. IMO, this is an effective way to train if heās training for ābodybuildingā or general athleticism purposes. I think he should definitely explore a lower hip starting position to see how it works for him, but I donāt find it necessary unless heās really pushing towards max numbers. His hip height is essentially where my hips stay when Iām deadlifting for reps in strongman contests. So, it can work. Even for max attempts, I donāt start with my hips much lower than this unless Iām trying to get the most out of a deadlift suit. Itās all about what muscles are strongest for an indivdual, imo.
stop blaming limb length. Thatās ridiculous. Your shoulders are out in front of the bar, thatās why your hips are high. If your shoulders are behind the bar, or even straight over it, youāll end up being able to sit back more and still hold the bar. You can get your hips MUCH lower than this with your body, I promise. Take the excuses out of your head, throw them in a trashbag, take the trashbag to a dumpster, and light the dumpster on fire.
yep. Only thing Iād add to this is once the bar is in your hands, make sure your weight is shifted backwards sufficiently that your shins are still close to vertical. If you squat down to grab the bar and shoot your knees too far forward, it will cause problems.
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