I’ve been trying to emphasize pulling back on the deadlift, especially my conventional pull. I feel a bit like it would be easy to slip into hitching by pulling back. Anybody else feel this and any tips to stop it?
If pulling back leads to hitching the bar might be too close to you at the start of the lift.
I used to pull back really hard, especially in the lockout. Careful… Too much backward lean will force your knees to bend and most likely get you redlighted. I eventually found it more helpful to focus on pushing my hips through instead of leaning or pulling back. This gets you a forceful lockout and reduces the pull distance so I felt like it was the way to go. If you want to pull back though just be aware of your knees and how far you’re leaning.
[quote]burt128 wrote:
I’ve been trying to emphasize pulling back on the deadlift, especially my conventional pull. I feel a bit like it would be easy to slip into hitching by pulling back. Anybody else feel this and any tips to stop it?[/quote]
In addition to what Strengthstudent says, I wouldn’t worry about trying to pull back per se but drive thru and down on your heels. When you get set up lift your big toes. This will get you on the heels. Once the bar is cleared the knees really drive forward with the hips. If you pull backwards all your gonna do is hyper extend your back.
Good tips, thanks guys. I’ve only just started pulling conventional again (have been doing sumo), so I need make sure I’m not developing any bad habits.
I think “pulling back” is a useful cue when pulling the bar from the floor and up to the knees. I don’t think it’s all that important to pull back when the bar is above the knees. This is largely a cue used to keep the bar from swinging out away from the lifter’s body and thus putting them into a poor leverage position. I’ve never seen the bar swing out away from a lifter once it cleared the knees. Whenever the bar “gets out in front” of the lifter it is right after it breaks from the floor and is still below the knees. Once the bar is above the knees I just think about standing tall and pushing the hips forward.