disagreement over deadlift form

[huskyguy]

A friend of mine were arguing over deadlift form-(standard not stiff legged).

He says your ass should be high in the air and that way it you can lift greater weight. I think it should be a bit lower than that allowing your legs to do more of the work. Who is correct, we are both fairly strong when it comes to deadlifting so it is hard to say who is right on this issue.

 

[macgyver_48]

i would say to only go as low as it takes to get your shoulders behind the bar.

 

[solcraft]

your legs should do most of the inital lift,traditionaly, and finish of with your back. especialy if you are tall- bieng that it is difficult to clear your knees if your form is not on.

 

[Insane_Man]

90 degrees about at the bottom. Depends on the person though, if you can lift more with your back then by all means.

 

[joshbeam1]

90 degrees about at the bottom. Depends on the person though, if you can lift more with your back then by all means.

i use alot of back, but i also use alot of legs. Think ya wanna use mainly your legs till u get the bar almost half way then use more of your back. I have some clips of how I do them, not that wthats perfect by anymeans, but u can get an idea at least.

 

[jcp2]

I have seen some pretty big pulls almost stiff legged, but those are the freaks. I have to break the floor with my legs, keeping my hips somewhat down, not in a squat position but down. I think most are going to be better pullers in that position.

 

[SCG2]

biomechanically speaking, the higher your ass at the start of the lift, the less quad involvement. as someone said, if you can pull like a freak with just your hams, ass, and back, then go for it. if you have strong quads, you'll be better starting lower and using the quads to get the bar a few inches off the ground before the hips get high enough to start extension. and obviously, if you're trying to focus your training specifically on one or the other (quads, or just posterior chain) you would adjust accordingly.

 

[GymLift]

I have some clips of how I do them, not that wthats perfect by anymeans, but u can get an idea at least.

These clips posted somewhere? Would love to see them.

 

[mister69]

if you end up with bloody shins then you are doing them right

 

[Mr Rogers]

I guess it all depends on the person. Whatever is most comfortable, most effective and least likely to cause the person an injury.

That being said, I change up how I do my deads almost every set.. depends on if my back or quads are feeling stronger when I grip the bar.

 

[joshbeam1]

These clips posted somewhere? Would love to see them.

http://rapidshare.de/files/4410690/pb_back_day1_001.asf.html

 

[IFBBPro]

First legs, then back = no injuries.

 

[mister69]

hey josh,

did your shins get nice and scraped on that rep?

great lift brotha

 

[bula]

if you end up with bloody shins then you are doing them right

Correct. The pull should be right up the shins. You want your butt as low as possible, on your heels if your legs are short enough. You want your shins to be almost touching the bar prior to the lift. Shoulders leaning slightly forward over the bar. On the initial pull, its all leg press. The angle of your upper body should not move at all until the lift is almost at 50-60% of the way up. Think ALL LEGS to this point. The complete the lift pulling back with your upper body. If you use too much back in the beginning of the lift, your limiting the weight you can dead by at least half. Trust me, you may think your using all legs since your back movement is limited in the beginning of the lift, but your back is stablizing the body and is under serious stress the whole time.

Deads are my favorite mass exercise (even more than squats). They absolutely rock. Do them every back workout if your trying to gain mass and get that nice thick look in your middle back.

Bula

 

[blackbeard]

I have seen some pretty big pulls almost stiff legged, but those are the freaks. I have to break the floor with my legs, keeping my hips somewhat down, not in a squat position but down. I think most are going to be better pullers in that position.

yep Ano comes to mind looks like hes stif legging 800+ lol

if you were to teach someone who nnever pulled before then yeah better of using the quads in the lift..if someone has their "own" method of pulling and they are pulling serious weight why change? its obviously working

 

[pullinbig]

Correct. The pull should be right up the shins. You want your butt as low as possible, on your heels if your legs are short enough. You want your shins to be almost touching the bar prior to the lift. Shoulders leaning slightly forward over the bar. On the initial pull, its all leg press. The angle of your upper body should not move at all until the lift is almost at 50-60% of the way up. Think ALL LEGS to this point. The complete the lift pulling back with your upper body. If you use too much back in the beginning of the lift, your limiting the weight you can dead by at least half. Trust me, you may think your using all legs since your back movement is limited in the beginning of the lift, but your back is stablizing the body and is under serious stress the whole time.

Deads are my favorite mass exercise (even more than squats). They absolutely rock. Do them every back workout if your trying to gain mass and get that nice thick look in your middle back.

Bula

you want your ass as high as possible while still being in a strong starting position. this makes for a shorter range of motion. why have your ass on your heels if you dont need to be that low? makie sure you dont have slack in your arms and you giot the slack outta th ebar as well. the same holds true for lockout cept in reverse. you want to pull to lockout but no more. shrugging back at the top looks nice but it makes pulling more difficult. just gotta be upright.

i have knocked at least 5" off my overall stroke since july and my dead has moved nicely. i have added over 50lbs to my dead and it would be more but im having gripm probs right now. once i get that straightened out itll be nice to see where im at.

 

[bula]

you want your ass as high as possible while still being in a strong starting position. this makes for a shorter range of motion. why have your ass on your heels if you dont need to be that low? makie sure you dont have slack in your arms and you giot the slack outta th ebar as well. the same holds true for lockout cept in reverse. you want to pull to lockout but no more. shrugging back at the top looks nice but it makes pulling more difficult. just gotta be upright.

i have knocked at least 5" off my overall stroke since july and my dead has moved nicely. i have added over 50lbs to my dead and it would be more but im having gripm probs right now. once i get that straightened out itll be nice to see where im at.

I respectfully disagree pullinbig, especially for newbies trying to DL for the first time. The higher the hips, the flatter the back is initially. Unless you have dense, mature lower back muscles, a newbie deadlifter is gonna kill his lower back lifting from that position as the plates start stacking up.

I've seen your vids and you're a thick guy. So am I. I'm sure your lower back is pretty damn strong and can compensate for a higher hip position. But you get some 150 lb dude with a skinny back trying to go heavy with his hips as high as possible, and that guy will definitely end up curving his back to make the lift and then be stuck inside a tylenol bottle for a few days.

 

[GymLift]

If a 150 lbs skinny guy comes in, then I don't think he should be deviate to a slightly different form to compensate for a very weak back. That just means the new guy needs to drop the weight down. The back will catch up fairly quickly; I know this because it is happning to me right now.

PS You might say that I am "the new guy", although I'm 190 lbs, not 150 lbs.

 

[Behemoth]

I started out first doing deads with my hips rather high... this was when I was real skinny still. It didn't do anything bad except give me huge erectors and an overall thick back.

 

[pullinbig]

I respectfully disagree pullinbig, especially for newbies trying to DL for the first time. The higher the hips, the flatter the back is initially. Unless you have dense, mature lower back muscles, a newbie deadlifter is gonna kill his lower back lifting from that position as the plates start stacking up.

I've seen your vids and you're a thick guy. So am I. I'm sure your lower back is pretty damn strong and can compensate for a higher hip position. But you get some 150 lb dude with a skinny back trying to go heavy with his hips as high as possible, and that guy will definitely end up curving his back to make the lift and then be stuck inside a tylenol bottle for a few days.

i said from a strong starting position, not with a back parallel to the floor. many guys are way too deep in the hole when they dont need to be that low. sitting all the way down is overkill for anyone, newbie or vet.

if you sit back and take the flex out of the bar and your arms by arching up this raises you up severlal inches while holding a strong postion (not flat to the ground) try it sometime, youll be happily surprised.

that clip of me is old anyway and i dont pull like that anymore. im higher up now and my back is still in a good position. added 50lbs to my dead in just a couple of months. hmmmmmmm...........

respectfully submitted. =0l

btw im training a new guy at the gym now and on jes his 3 session on deads he addeed 110lbs to his previous dead pr. all i did was adjust his form. no way he got 110lbs stronger in 2 weeks. he weighs under 200lbs.