Gotcha thanks. Yea that’s very likely the issue. I’ll definitely post a vid
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19 November 2019
Deadlift
365x3 @ 8
Floor press
225x4 @ 10
205x4 @ 9
Front squat
225x5 @ 8.5
245x3 @ 10 (whoops)
Stair stepper 15 minutes
@littlesleeper @MarkKO @simo74 @mortdk
Thanks again y’all for checking it out. I don’t have a coach so I really appreciate it
I’m not seeing anything horrible there at all, they looked pretty smooth to me and there is no noticeable rounding of the lower back. It looks like by rep three you lose a little tightness, looks like your lats aren’t locked in when you initiate the pull. I’m certainly not an expert here mate so Maybe The others will see something I don’t.
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I think it’s the hyperextending at the top. It isn’t extreme but it’s there and it increases from rep to rep. Do it often enough and it could very well hurt your lower back. Push your glutes through, dont extend your lower back. Try twisting your feet out as you lock out.
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Thanks guys. Ok so hyperextending I can fix immediately.
Simo you said I lose tightness there and that’s exactly what I felt like during the set. That always happens when I’m lifting heavier weight. I lose tightness because something isn’t strong enough or I’m not doing something right, but I don’t know what that something is. I then stop the set because I’m worried that my low back is rounding. Everything else feels like I could lift more weight, but I’m struggling with losing tightness (even though I’m breathing hard as hell into my belt)
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What you’re describing is almost certainly a bracing issue.
Breathing is part of bracing, but by no means the majority. Your abs and pelvic area need to be actively working to keep things stable. Without that getting a bunch of air won’t do much.
Try this: lie on the floor with your knees bent like you’re going to do hip thrusts. Pull your abs away from your navel and then make like you’re holding your pee. Hold that and breathe into your belly, then squeeze your glutes. That’s you braced in the abs and pelvis. Now push your hips up. That’s one rep. Do three sets of 10 whenever you warm up.
You can also take a 90/90 position (flat back, hips and knees at 90 degrees and feet flat on the wall) and repeat those bracing steps. Instead of pushing your hips up, push gently on the wall with your feet and hold your brace for 10 seconds. Do this 10 times
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Thanks Mark. I understood everything except for this step. Would you mind explaining this more?
If I’m understanding him correctly, try to push your abs out while flexing. Give yourself that bodybuilder muscle belly look.
The only other (very minor) thing I think I see (currently watching on my phone) - is your back might be flattening out ever so slightly when you begin your pull. If I’m not careful, this happens to me as well. Butt comes up a few inches before the weight breaks the floor, moving your shoulders over/in front of the bar, rather than behind. This will add some extra work for your lower back to complete the lift. Honestly, this weight looks easy/light for you, but I could see this being exaggerated under heavier loads.
If I don’t consciously think about sitting back to pry the weight off the floor, my deadlift looks exactly like this and I lose lbs on my lift.
This is barely happening, but just another thought to consider!
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Ok gotcha. Yea the weight feels hard for my bracing but easy for my muscles. Really odd. I feel like I could pull a shitload if I can get this fixed.
I’m going to use that “sitting back” cue. It’s funny that you say it looked easy because that was a PR for me (and in fact it was easy except I lost my bracing). I think fear and technique are holding me back since I phucked my back a year ago and am scared I’ll do it again
Edit: phucked my back more than 2 years ago, not 1 lol
Pull your abs towards your spine.
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I have read mark explain this a few times now and I also get a bit lost. If I read the steps and try them in order I get tied in knotts!! Lmao I am starting to think that I am not as smart as I thought I was !
I could just be terrible at explaining it.
Step by step:
- Lie on floor with knees bent
- Pull abs away from navel aka towards spine
- Hold your pee
- Take air in
- Squeeze glutes
- Push hips up
So by the time you push your hips up you’re pulling your abs into your spine, holding your pee, and squeezing your glutes all at the same time.
I think the explanation is ok it’s just hard to actually do what I think you are saying.
- Lie on floor with knees bent - ok this is easy
- Pull abs away from navel aka towards spine - this is confusing, it sounds like you are saying pull your abs back like a vacuum which is kinda opposite to what I usually do when I brace.
- Hold your pee - I assume this means squeeze like you are trying to stop a piss
- Take air in - this is easy
- Squeeze glutes - this is easy
- Push hips up - this is easy
It’s the abs bit that’s is hard to visualise. When I brace I am usually doing a big belly breath and pushing pressure out front and back whilst squeezing my abs. What you describe seems different to this.
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Exactly what I’m trying to convey
Not so much, it’s more stabilising your pelvic floor. I don’t feel it quite as a squeeze. Imagine you have to pee really badly but there’s nowhere you can go, so you have to hold it
This is what pushes your abs out, except you don’t push them yourself. The increased volume in your midsection does that. You’re still vacuuming and holding your pee when this happens so what you get is a metric shit-ton of pressure because you’re pulling your abs in hard and keeping your pelvis stable while a bunch of air is expanding your diaphragm trying to push your abs out, which are you aren’t letting it do. The end result is your midsection and pelvis are completely locked into as stable and strong a position as they ever will be and your spine is supported by what is now a solid block of concrete that isn’t going to let it flex.
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This makes a lot of sense. I was pushing my abs out myself instead of letting my breath do it for me
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I was too until I got taught otherwise. The reason (I think) just pushing your abs out doesn’t do much is that it doesn’t make them contract much. It just creates more room to get air into, which will still compress with movement because the cintauner it’s in isn’t super stiff. When you brace properly, you create a stiffer container to force the air into so it is about as compressed as it will get once you finish inhaling.
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I find that if I try to breath in whilst squeezing my abs in, then I just chest breath and the air doesn’t create pressure in my midsection. This is going to take practice.
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You’ve got to push hard into your squeezed abs. Try breathing into your lower back too, that can help.
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I think I get it, i’ll try more tonight (look a bit funny lying on the floor at work trying this!!)
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