Hey, it’s been a while since I posted a form video here but was just wondering what you guys thought. I added a snapshot of when the bar leaves the ground on my first rep. I realize that my form breaks down as the set goes on, any advice on how to correct that would be greatly appreciated too
You can avoid form break-down by lifting lighter weights. lol.
In all seriousness, I don’t see a tremendous amount of breakdown. This is just what happens when you deadlift heavy for multiple reps. Looks good.
Stop doing rest pause reps and do legitimate touch and go (that is, not banging the weight off the ground) with a lighter weight if you want to do reps. Do singles to improve technique.
There’s nothing wrong with your positioning on that first pull, though. As you go along your hips get higher and your chest leans forward, so you’re reinforcing a bad motor pattern, hence my first point.
I personally don’t like having the head down like that and then ducking into the lift, so to speak, like you do on the first pull. You waste too much oxygen and don’t develop tension in the posterior chain as well as you could, IMO. I prefer starting from the top and contracting everything isometrically, then fighting the tension down and pulling myself into position without ever losing it. It’s 1000x easier to maintain form this way.
I wouldnt worry too much, doing reps like that will always tend to through you out of position as the set goes on. Finding your starting position and setup in a sumo is so crucial for the whole lift. You start well with your hips into the bar and a vertical posture
I think it is sad to say that form must breakdown with heavy reps. Indeed reps might vary slightly, but there should not be such a dramatic shift in position. Below is a recent set of mine (570lb x6). Also, I disagree with the premise that you should do reps touch and go - the sumo deadlift is decided from the floor - if you get it off the ground in good position, you should always lockout the rep. IMO the OP needs to focus on three main things:
[quote]arramzy wrote:
I think it is sad to say that form must breakdown with heavy reps. Indeed reps might vary slightly, but there should not be such a dramatic shift in position.[/quote]
Man, I must suck at this more than I thought. I definitely didn’t see a dramatic shift in position. I watched his first and last rep back to back several times and… just didn’t see it. I’m definitely taking your word for it, as you’re substantially more qualified than I am (I don’t even lift sumo anyway).
Flipcollar:
I’m young and stubborn so I don’t see taking a step back really happening lol thanks for the kind words 
HeavyTriple:
I generally try to take my time because if I rush myself too much off the ground I get all sorts of fucked up. Maybe I am starting to take a little too long as I’m trying to keep hitting rep pr’s in 5/3/1 as the months go on.
Thanks though for the first pull, I thought my hips were too far away from the bar but from your guys replies I guess not.
I’ve never been able to pull as much that way and on singles the shift down doesn’t really effect my starting position much, but I’ll definitely give it a shot next time I deadlift. Thanks for the input!
Cparker:
Ok perfect, my main concern was that my hips were too far away from the bar. Thanks!
Arramzy:
I’ll keep those three things in mind. Now that you mention it I’m not sure that I was consciously contracting my lats at all. So are you saying I should open my knees more so I can get my hips closer to the bar? Thanks for the advice!
this should help you out in reference to getting the knees out, which arramzy noted.
Taking a breath and getting tight before dropping down to grab the bar can help. I reset for each rep because my positioning always feels slightly off when taking a breadth while grabbing the bar.
[quote]arramzy wrote:
I think it is sad to say that form must breakdown with heavy reps. Indeed reps might vary slightly, but there should not be such a dramatic shift in position. Below is a recent set of mine (570lb x6). Also, I disagree with the premise that you should do reps touch and go - the sumo deadlift is decided from the floor - if you get it off the ground in good position, you should always lockout the rep. IMO the OP needs to focus on three main things:
[/quote]
Let me clarify.
A tng set for me still comes to a stop on the floor, but I don’t release tension and I perform the eccentric slowly. If you’re looking to build the prime movers through rep work, this is Inarguably the best method.
To your point, sumo is about the initial setup and floor break. But why then would you do a rep set with little to no eccentric component where your form breaks halfway through the set? This is exactly why I said singles are best for technique work. The initial pull even in a rep set like the op will be unique in that there will not be an eccentric loading phase, so again, why treat it like reps 2-5 are the same? They just aren’t from a biomechanics standpoint.
First off, yes I can argue that touch and go is the best. I’ll explain shortly.
More importantly, singles are great, but unless you plan to be in the gym for 6 hours every day, good luck getting in enough volume. This is why I believe in doing rep sets with a complete unloading after every rep. I can get in the volume, and as far as ‘stressing the moving muscles’, I am stressing this most limiting factor - being able to retain position off the floor. Again, if you can get a sumo deadlift off the floor in good position, you should always lock it out. People argue with me on that one, but I struggle to find a world class sumo deadlifter who disagrees with that premise.
As well, you state ‘little to no eccentric’. wtf does eccentric have to do with anything? Deadlift is a purely concentric movement… so long as you don’t let go of the bar, the bar can just drop…
Thanks for that video cparker, helped clear some things up. So essentially as long as I’m getting my hips as close to the bar as possible while keeping them high and tension that’s what matters? Sorry if I seem like I’m having trouble wrapping my head around this but hip/torso position has been the main thing I’ve been struggling with for my sumo pull.
[quote]arramzy wrote:
As well, you state ‘little to no eccentric’. wtf does eccentric have to do with anything? Deadlift is a purely concentric movement… so long as you don’t let go of the bar, the bar can just drop…[/quote]
I was very clear in stating that you do eccentrics in DL to build muscle, not to master technique. Singles are better for that.
I’m also aware that it is a concentric only lift because I’m not an idiot. However, doing concentric only work doesn’t build muscle nearly as effectively as reps with a controlled eccentric. If you are arguing that, then you simply don’t understand biomechanics/exercise physiology.
And again, everything after the first rep in a “controlled drop” set is not applicable to a meet deadlift because you are still loading the prime movers during the eccentric and not going from a true dead stop situation like the first rep.
I should’ve mentioned this in my last post but slow eccentrics on DL’s aren’t really an option for me. I pulled my right hammy a while back and it doesn’t agree with slow eccentrics. No problems with concentric strength, haven’t noticed any real imbalances with main lifts and it keeps up with my left on single-leg leg curls, but slow eccentrics just bother it a bit more than I’d like.
Basically yes, easier said than done though obviously. Requires a fair amount of mobility and proprioception. As well as patience as said before getting the weight off the ground. I also like to squat down to the bar for my setup, but due to a recent wrist injury ive had to use straps and that makes setting up more lengthy
[quote]tylerkeen42 wrote:
Thanks for that video cparker, helped clear some things up. So essentially as long as I’m getting my hips as close to the bar as possible while keeping them high and tension that’s what matters? Sorry if I seem like I’m having trouble wrapping my head around this but hip/torso position has been the main thing I’ve been struggling with for my sumo pull.[/quote]
[quote]cparker wrote:
Basically yes, easier said than done though obviously. Requires a fair amount of mobility and proprioception. As well as patience as said before getting the weight off the ground. I also like to squat down to the bar for my setup, but due to a recent wrist injury ive had to use straps and that makes setting up more lengthy
[quote]tylerkeen42 wrote:
Thanks for that video cparker, helped clear some things up. So essentially as long as I’m getting my hips as close to the bar as possible while keeping them high and tension that’s what matters? Sorry if I seem like I’m having trouble wrapping my head around this but hip/torso position has been the main thing I’ve been struggling with for my sumo pull.[/quote]
[/quote]
cparker has made an extremely important point - proprioception and PATIENCE. Mobility is rarely an issue for people (at least not after sumo deadlifting for a month…), it is more so that they aren’t aware of what their body is doing. I personally think that the rule of hips ‘as high as you want’ is a misnomer - to get them close, they will need to be down because otherwise your torso is going to be way over the bar. That’s where the cue of folding into the bar like there is a wall straight up from it is useful. With this in mind, I encourage you to focus on the concurrent knees out, hips down/forward, lats engaged, and chest up as you set up the bar. Build tightness as you perform these cues, and then ease the bar off the ground with PATIENCE. Don’t let the body shift an inch from your ideal position. Bar might take 4 seconds to get off the floor, but that’s fine. This will be your most important long term investment in your sumo deadlifting.