Fixing my Deadlift

[Rowan11088]

What's up Essenpee,

So I was doing singles of deadlift today, and failed for the first time. I also felt more back discomfort than normal afterwards, so I know my form is off. I think the main issue at the heart of both of these problems is my weakness right off the floor...I generally accelerate nicely once the bar is about a foot in the air, and it feels much lighter at the top. What kind of deadlift assistance work would really help the bottom portion of the lift? Any other advice would be welcome too.

And yes, I know I need to get some friggin video, but I forgot today.

 

[Justin_Time]

I had this problem before, thought it was weird since most people have problems with lockout strength.

I found out that I was leaning too far forward and had the bar too far from my shins setting up. Now i keep a tighter arch and sit back before I start the lift( still making sure my scapula are infornt of the bar). This is what fixed my DL. The first time I failed since improving my form was at lockout.

I AM NO EXPERT BY ANYMEANS

 

[ThinkGreen]

-Defecit deads
-Deadlifts with smaller plates (35#'s or 25#'s)
-Fix your DL form/post a video

 

[ronin0352]

^^^ in addition, pulling with lifting shoes (Do-Wins) helped my strength off the floor tremendously. That used to be my weak spot, now it's the lock out

 

[RedNeckJiuJitsu]

Zercher Deadlifts, now.

 

[mustang]

If your shoes are causing a form problem, try going barefoot the next time you pull and see if it makes a difference. Also keep sure your shoulders are behind the bar before pulling, that could be causing your weakness off the floor.

Otherwise like others have said, defecit deadlifts are good for off floor power.

 

[Fistyouforfree]

Snatch grip deads. Also more Dynamic work. Work on your speed with lighter weight.Get used to lifting fast.

 

[BreezerD**]

If your shoes are causing a form problem, try going barefoot the next time you pull and see if it makes a difference. Also keep sure your shoulders are behind the bar before pulling, that could be causing your weakness off the floor.

Otherwise like others have said, defecit deadlifts are good for off floor power.

Going barefoot might not help at all - you might be better off with raised-heel shoes. If you're DLing in raised-heel shoes, make sure to dip down before you start the pull. Watch some Mikhail Koklyaev DL vids to understand how to do this. This will make your quads contribute more to the movement and give greater speed off the floor.

Also, you want your scaps OVER the bar, not behind.

 

[mustang]

How would raised heel shoes be beneficial? I'm not arguing it but curious.

And over the bar was what I meant lol.

 

[Rowan11088]

Thanks for the tips guys, especially since I was too dumb to include any video. The shoes might be a contributing factor actually, I hadn't thought of that. I've tried without them before, but not enough to really see if there's a difference. I'm taking about a week off from lifting to let my CNS recover before starting a new routine anyway, so by then my back should feel good and I'll post some lifts at various weights.

 

[ronin0352]

Rowan, are you wearing proper lifting shoes?

Mustang, to answer your question:

If I have a little heel under my shoe, that places my knee in a position that is a little bit forward, maybe three to five degrees more forward than it would be in flat shoes. This increases the quadriceps’ effectiveness off the floor because it increases the knee angle enough that it allows the quadriceps to open the knee up over a longer range of motion. Thus, the quadriceps has more work to do. It doesn’t increase the knee angle enough that posterior chain recruitment is diminished at all. The only way to do this would be to have enough of the heel so the lift would produce a knee angle so acute that it actually shortened the hamstrings from the distal end. We’re using the hamstrings from the proximal end to extend the hip.

Find the rest of it here: Going Deeper into the Deadlift with Mark Rippetoe, Part 1

And here's part 2: Going Deeper into the Deadlift with Mark Rippetoe, Part 2