Deadlift Tips

Training Powerlifting
1

Hello. Lately I’ve felt like there is something wrong with my deadlift … So probably there is. I asked a fellow gym member to film me while I did some deadlifting, and apparently, when things start to get heavy, I raise my butt. Also, it looks like I am rounding my “lower”-lower back somehow (Almost at the hips), and it drives my crazy, since I do everything not to, and even if it feels good in the starting position, I just know I round in the lower region.

Overall, I feel like I am heavily using my lower back, and I can rarely even feel the lift in the legs, though I feel like I use the glutes, which probably weakens my lift quite a bit. Maybe I am overthinking it, but I still remember some time ago, when I really felt like I used the hamstrings in my deadlifts. I am quite inflexible, and maybe this is the reason - maybe I cannot “push” my butt far enough behind me, and therefore the back takes over. Keeping my butt and hamstrings tight in the starting position feels very awkward and almost impossible to maintain when I start the lift.

Currently stretching everything for long periods. For a comparison, I am very far away from touching my butt with my heel when stretching my quads, and that level of inflexibility pretty much goes for every part in my lower body.

Heavy for me is, today I did 137kgs for two reps, which kind of worries me, since I’ve repped for more few kgs below. I am following 5/3/1, by the way, and due to some long-term knee problems squat days are pretty much only “sled- and isolated work days”.

I know a video would help more than words, and I’ll probably get my shit together, and post one when I get back to the gym.

Anyway, my whole point with this thread is, has anyone had a similar problem, and what did you do to fix this? Thank you very much.

2

I made a video on how I deadlift which I think will address a few of your issues. See if it helps.

3

Get your posterior chain into the pull. Keep your shins vertical and sit back. Watch some videos on hip hinge in the deadlift. Should fix your problems. Honestly if you go into the pull with the thought that as you set up all you are worrying about is keeping your shins vertical and your shoulders over/behind the bar, you’ll probably set up pretty well.

4

Hey guys, many thanks for the replies. I didn’t really expect it to be so quick. I think pretty much everything has been answered, and the only thing to do now is to try it out.

About Hip Hinge, that gym member who filmed me actually mentioned it, but when I went back home, I stupidly tried searching for “hip pinch” and “pinge” on the web, and therefore I gave up figuring out what he meant, but I actually think this is one of my problems so thanks for bringing that up, deepsquats.

About the vid, I gotta say I agree with pretty much everything. I use hook grip instead of straps, and I feel very comfortable with that. Except for setting up, I never think about my grip, and I too use a narrow, conventional stance. Only, I pretty much point my feet straightforward. I think I’ll try to point them a little out, thinking that it might actually help me activate the glutes, given it’s a bit easier to contract them like that. I pretty much always had the bar touching the shins when setting up, so I’ll try the “pull” you did, thinking this will give me better balance and weight on the heels. I’ll try activating my glutes more “actively” if that makes sense like you, T3hPwnisher, recommend in your vid.

I must admit, though, I am as flexible as granite, so I really think this must be attended to as well, before I can be happy about my set up and general form.

Thanks so far, guys, I’ll give a shout after I get to deadlift again, hopefully with a vid.

5

Just a quick update. I did some very light deadlifts today. I tried to set up my phone for recording, but every time it fell out of angle, so I gave up before I started throwing the wrong stuff around in the gym in anger. It did improve, though. What especially helped me was not starting with the weight at the shin, and starting the movement with a “roll”.

I used to move my body and especially the shins towards the weight, which now feels very disadvantageous compared to “dragging” the bar towards you - it really gives me more room to set up my hips and actually lean back more in the deadlift. It also means I am a tad over parallel, which I feel is really low, but it’s better than a hurt back. I also try to move my hips far enough back so that I feel a stretch, something I did not do before.

Alas, I think mobility must be improved before I can ever be happy with my deadding. A gym member watched me under my stretching, and he seemed very amazed of how little I could stretch my hamstrings.

6

I’m going to second the advice of working on the hip hinge. If you have access to kettlebells, master the kettlebell swing and try to perform a few lightweight swings in between sets of deadlifts. I find stiff-legged and especially Romanian deadlifts to also reinforce good hinge technique. Try doing those with lightish weights for highish reps.

7

Yes, I actually did start using romanian deadlifts as well, and it feels like I’ve needed those for a while. I tend to do the hip hinge movement whenever I feel like it, especially before deadlifts, meanwhile, in the shower, etc. Never in public, though… I’ll definitely give the kettlebells a try, since we do have some fairly light in my place. They’re pretty much only used to stabilize our old racks, lol.