I’ve been deadlifting for some about a year now and I have long femurs and Long arms and also a really horizontal back angle. I have a hard time setting my back into a neutral state. I squeeze my chest up hard but I still have some flexion in my lower back. I understand these are the cards I’ve been dealt and I can’t change my bone structure but is there any way to improve this or get m lower back into extension or it’s neutral state. I have attached some pictures.
Thank you!
Jeezus you were unlucky with your genetic leverages lol. If you insist on pulling Conventional your back angle is always gonna tend towards horizontal
I think I recognise that powerlifting gym you’re at. It’s a decent one so get someone to teach you sumo.
Back rounding wise which is a different issue I think. Couple of different solves depending on what’s happening (a vid would be handy)
Can you get into the position at all? If not perhaps it means you are lacking in mobility/flexibility.
Are you losing back position as you start or during the pull. Or you can’t get into a neutral position at all?
I am able to get into position pretty comfortable and can maintain tension throughout the lift. Here’s 2 videos.
Yeah, I’d vote for sumo pulls.
I got a feeling you have tight hamstrings too. We got the same leverages I think.
Rounded back deadlifts are a controversial topic. I’m by no means qualified to have a say on it. You might pick up something here though. She definitely has more credentials that me
Stefi Cohen is starting to look like a miniature Dan Green.
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Have you ever tried sumo? That might work better for you.
It looks like you are able to set up with a neutral spine but you don’t know how to brace properly. But your start position doesn’t look too great and I’m not sure you can do much about it so sumo might be a safer bet.
Lol can’t unsee that anymore.
Nah he just be a slightly bigger Stefi Cohen with a beard
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Probably is safe enough. If you are making gains just keep on going. You can try fixes along the way to get closer to some “ideal” technique but you should mostly focus on getting stronger. Or sumo lol
I don’t feel pain or anything but just that I get a sore lower back rather than my hamstrings or glutes. I think it might be tight hamstrings because even when I hip hinge slightly I feel a tight stretch on my hamstrings. Thanks everyone for the replys! If all else fails maybe in the future I’ll switch to sumo.
You’re conventional looks more like a stiff legged dead. Your ape index is low. Meaning your legs are much longer than your arms in proportion. Everyone is saying it but you’re build for sumo deads or a hybrid. There are variations of sumo. Wide mid stance etc you can play around with it until you find sweet spot.
Dave Tate has a pretty good couching article on this website for dead lift. It’s older but easy to find. Basically he goes over what type of dead based on body structure. It’s the reason I started pulling sumo. I personally still training conventional as well but less frequently, every 3rd deadlift session.
I miss spoke I the believe that deadlift manual was actually in Dave’s site elitefts it used to be free. Idk if it still is. You may not be interested but if you were didn’t want you running around looking in the wrong place.
Thanks man. I have long legs and a shorter torso. I feel that i have reasonably long arms. Ill try to experiment with the conventional and stretch my hamstrings. If it doesnt work then ill give sumo a try.
I understand that! Yeah minor tweaks can improve a lot. Good luck to you man!
I think your main problem is deadlifting while standing on a vertical wall. I’ve never had much luck with that and found that standing on the floor instead made a world of difference.
I’m sorry… I couldn’t stop myself…
But in all seriousness, I’m not even close to your leverages and have still ran into a similar problem with not being able to get into a non-rounded low back position at the bottom. Something that has helped, though, has been adopting a technique you see quite a few Russians do, where they begin in a low squat position, brace, then raise their hips while initiating the pull. Check this video of Malanichev…
Also, do a bit of reading on how to loosen up your hamstrings before just arbitrarily throwing static stretches at them. I’m not an expert, but it seems like I’ve seen lots of stuff from mobility guys indicating there are better, safer ways to accomplish the same goal. I personally hit up Joe Defranco’s Limber 11 routine before any low body days, and sometimes on bench days because of how much of an improvement it makes on my low back tightness.
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I’ll definitely check it out. Thank you so much.