all this means is that you haven’t learned how to do it. you’ve only invested months, not years, in trying to learn this particular thing. You haven’t been willing to rebuild your deadlift from the ground up.
what kind of belt do you wear to deadlift? I can’t tell if it’s a soft belt or a standard leather powerlifting belt. I would suggest playing around with tightness and height, trying different things to elicit different physical responses. You may just not be wearing your belt appropriately for effective biofeedback.
As a side note, this may resolve itself if you build a stronger squat. I’ll tell you my story, and you can see if you relate.
When I was younger, like early to mid 20’s, deadlift was a much higher priority than squat. My deadlift was about 150 lbs better than my squat. I was deadlifting like 460 or so when my squat was in the low 300’s. At some point in my mid to late 20’s, I decided to really work on my squat hard, because I wanted to put up good powerlifting numbers. As I did this, my deadlift progress slowed a bit, and my squat shot up. As this happened, I noticed that my ‘natural’ deadlift mechanics changed. Specifically, my back angle changed, as I learned to brace through a heavy squat. As we all know, there is no such thing as a rounded back squat (or at least a successful one). The best squat I’ve done at this point is 560 unwrapped, and my best deadlift is 615. But my mechanics have improved tremendously, and as a result, these numbers have come together without me adding excessive bodyweight.
I have a hunch that this could be what’s going on with you.
Standard powerlifting belt. Idk i feel like you could be righr and ive been trying to find a way to brace with straight back but till now no success. For the sake of not being ignorant and arrogant i will continue to experiment with straight back for a few more monthes. But keep in mind i did do straight backs for 2 years before doing rounded. And i only trained rounded for 2 weeks and immedietily hit 530lbs. The squat part does ring a bell but its kinda reverse hahaha. By deadlifting with a rounded back,i finally learnt how to brace in the squat( i couldnt brace effectively in the squat before either) but in the squat i am able to maintain a neutral back. Idk honestly i will try but i cant promise anything.
I would suggest trying paused deadlifts. One heavy day per week, one day with pauses. That’s what pushed my deadlift up to 530, beltless. It can be a crutch. I use one now more frequently, but not until I hit 500.
Here’s the thing. OP isn’t going to earn a living deadlifting, so for him, just like me and the rest of us, this is a hobby. To me it’s stupid to continue to use sub optimal form for maximal weights today while putting yourself at higher risk of injury. The better approach is work on mobility issues, neurological firing issues, muscle weaknesses/imbalances, and strengthen your entire chain and turn your body into a beast, but a functional one.
As they say, take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live in.
At 50, I am more sensitive to this issue than the younger set. Fortunately I’ve worked hard to preserve mine while others have already thrown in the towel. Feels like I’ve gotten an extension on life b/c of it.
For me its a passion. Call it stupid or whatever you want. But id rather die setting world records than live till the ripe age of 100 not having done anything extraordinary with my life. Not related to thediscussion i presented,just a response to this specific line you said.
Defecation occurs in a rounded back position and often involves abdominal bracing. Bracing increases the stability of the spine in whatever position you are in when you brace. Like a hunched fighter taking punches.
Looking at that straight-back deadlift video I get the impression that you are using all back and hamstrings, your glutes aren’t properly engaged and your quads are weak (which also explains why your squat is far behind). So in addition to working on bracing, you need to build up your glutes and quads. I know you have bands because you posted a video where you are using them, so try doing RDLs with a band around your waist hooked to something behind you. The band tension doesn’t need to be crazy, just enough to force you to use your glutes to push your hips forward. You can do these with light weight for a warmup, basically a glute activation drill, and you can also do them as an assistance exercise with more weight but would keep the reps at 8 or more. Just don’t let your back round. That is one of the most effective glute exercises.
Do you have a safety squat bar at your gym? Squatting with that (in addition to regular back squats) would be good to build up your quads, plus your back. If not, then high bar squats are another good choice. Leg press wouldn’t hurt either.