My deadlift and squat form are atrocious. A few of the articles recently posted by T-Mag(10 tips for squatting and Precision Pulling) have been very helpful, but I am finding that my quads are completely dominant in all lower body lifts. Leg press, squat, even my deadlifts. I started in with box squats, and even with below parallel depth by quads are taking over the lift. I have started to work this problem out though. But my deads need help. After making a few of the changes suggested in precision pulling, my pulls have started to feel right. But I’ve noticed that the bar will get away from my shins by quite a few inches. I have heard that it should literally be dragging up my shins, and that seems logical physics wise. Any info would be appreciated. I am currently in Meltdown training, so my sets are of 10 reps. 315 for deadlift and 245 for squat. The weight for my pulls wasn’t maximal, but my squat was pushing it by the 3rd and 4th sets. Perhaps I have an obvious strength imbalance. My guess is weak posterior chain, atleast relative to my quads. I will probably fight through this Meltdown training, rest a week, and then spend the time remedying this imbalance. Any advice or information is appreciated greatly. Also wondering if anyone has pics of various portions of their deadlift(assuming your from doesn’t blow).
I’ve also heard that my shoulders should be behind the bar, and try as I might it doesn’t seem to be happening unless I allow the bar to start an uncomfortably long distance away from my shins…?
I must be doing them right then because my lower legs and socks are covered in blood after a good deadlifting session.
Practice, practice, practice. You will get there. I had a real problem with getting my squat and deadlift correct, but one thing that really helped was doing Ian kings limping series and super strength programs. His explanations of how to do the lifts and why to do them worked really well. You can check them out here at T-mag, just use the FAQ or search engine.
J,
Yes, it definitely sounds like your posterior chain is weak. Bringing that up is the first step to improving your technique in both the squat and deadlift.
As far as the bar getting out in front of you, that usually happens when:
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You start with your hips too high and your chest caved over, or
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You start out properly but get into this same position because your hips rise faster than everything else.
This is why when you set-up you want your hips high, but your chest high as well. Also, when you are pulling, think about pulling the bar back into your body versus just pulling it up. Not only will this force the weight to your heels, but it will improve your line of pull biomechanically.
Hope this helps.
Stay strong
Mike
If you are doing the first meltdown program as prescribed in the article, then you’re doing your deadlifts AFTER doing four other exercises with no rest in between sets. Not exactly an optimal time to concentrate on good form. Try putting the deadlifts first in the giant set, and consider lowering the weight. If you can deadlift a lighter weight with good form, then so be it…until your strength improves.
The information is appreciated. I will have to get a feel for where the weight is positioned on my feet on Thursday when I pull; I am also going to wear wrestling shoes from now on. Alot of my problem must be in my head, which can be defeated with practice only I suppose. When I pull, I am pulling the weight up and not into myself. I think about pulling it in and trying to use my own weight to aid in the lift, but it just feels uncomfortable still. When I start the lift everything is perfect, hips up, chest up, everything. But once I start to pull I just think about lifting the fricking weight so who knows how my form maintains itself after the initial pull. On Thursday I am going to focus on form, and probably for the rest of this 4 weeks of Meltdown since the reps are on the high end, I am really going to work on my form in all the core lifts. Thanks everyone. J. Persinger
Good mornings and glute-ham raises.