Post: #76

(08-02-2014 08:13 AM)RexImperator Wrote:  Those are push presses, not strict OHP, but dang, 315.

I like these dumbbell exercises also to mix it up

Post: #77

If you experience pain deadlifting you are in the wrong unless your spine is physically incapable of performing it, which isn't solely to do with deadlifting but more likely a problem with bending over and performing a lift on day-to-day situations like moving a chair or box.

I do deadlifts once a week currently @ 225kg with no belt or straps. If you are going to do any sort of lifting which involves strain on your back I would suggest buying foam rollers and tennis balls strapped together with duct tape.

Post: #78

You are starting out. So use Starting Strength method and don't deviate from that method until your deadlift is at 500lbs. Then you will know what is right and will form your own opinion on it.

startingstrength.wikia.com

Videos on deadlift

Post: #79

(08-01-2014 07:21 PM)berserk Wrote:  

(07-31-2014 10:01 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  Reading threads like this makes me nervous about deadlifting heavy weights...which I suppose is good, in a way. I have achieved a 405x5 doing Starting Strength but I'm partly wondering if it is safe/smart to keep going. Should I switch to something else, or lower the weight and do more reps?

That's a solid deadlift man, so maybe be content that you're strong and drop the ego lifts? I wouldn't worry about your back alone but also knees when you get to that kind of weight. I usually just deadlift now at 60-70% max and have no real desire to go heavy.

Thanks. I don't really do ego lifts- I've just been training it weekly so I would add a little more weight each week. I do a 1x5 at 85%. Started at 135 last year. The only time I've really stalled is when I stopped eating so much, and the time when I had to learn the mixed grip which required a slight reset.

Post: #80

For some reason I've never had back pain from deadlifts even when my form is not exactly perfect. I think this is because I 1) make sure to take a breath before every rep and 2) always pull each rep from a dead stop, never doing touch and go.

Post: #81

I love deadlifts. Nothing else makes my back feel as solid.

However, my father was a competitive bodybuilder back in the 70s and trained a well known Mr Oympia winner. My dad never ever did deadlifts as he believed them to cause too many injuries.

Horses for courses.

Post: #82

Just don't deadlift

They used to be my favorite exercise until i tweaked my back and was in serious pain for a couple of weeks that fortunately completely resolved itself.

I was lucky- you can find horror stories all over the web of people who have ruined their back and now have chronic pain and disability.

It's not worth it-the risk is far greater than the benefit, especially since you can substitute other exercises-rack pulls, squats, bent over rows, hyperextensions, etc

I don't buy the argument that you can do them as long as your form is good- heavy loads on your spine can injure you even with perfect form and who can keep perfect form with every rep anyway?

If you must do them, at least use weights well below your max

Post: #83

For those of you belly aching over the fact that deadlift is dangerous/will put you in a wheelchair pre-maturely/ etc.

Deadlifting and lifting heavy saved my life. How you may ask? I fell off a cliff while snowboarding 9 months ago. I was paralyzed from the waist down and fully recovered due to literally two things: 1. my lower back was the strongest it had ever been before the accident because of pulling just under 500 pounds from the ground and olympic lifting (had I been weaker, the muscle wouldn't have stopped the bone from fracturing the way it did) and 2. The muscle memory in my legs from the squatting heavy allowed my legs to re-learn everything exceptionally fast.

Thanks to the gym, I'm walking and living a normal life. Had I taken the easy route, I would be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.

Post: #84

If you're hurting while doing a deadlift, you're doing it wrong. Your form is off and your body is telling you to stop.

Get a personal trainer and start at a light weight. I asked a power lifter friend at my gym how to properly deadlift. He got my form perfect and right now i'm running into the problem of not having enough grip strength. Everyone should deadlift.

I got my over weight friend coming with my to the gym. She's getting newbie gain now, but after three weeks she has reached 115lbs doing a straight bar deadlift. Very impressed with her gains.

Post: #85

(03-31-2012 04:11 PM)metalhaze Wrote:  

(03-31-2012 02:48 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  You can break your dick fucking.

Not every guy wants to go through life with 13 inch biceps.

then do pull ups with a weight belt.

Again do DL, Squats and cleans at your own risk. just google Dr. Stuart Mcgill.

Unless you are a competitive powerlifter, once you snap some shit in your back IT WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. you can end up being on a wheelchair by the time you are in your 50s-60s, It's not a joke.

Most russian olympic lifters train 80% of the time with very low weights concentrating on form only.


yes these moves will make you grow but the risk is too high, all it takes is one false rep in a 400 pound squat or DL and snap you are in bed for weeks with chronic back pain short of herniating a disc.

Where do you get your bro science from? You say not to do deadlifts and squats, but you're recommending weighted pull-ups. Weighted pull-ups are terrible for your shoulders. Don't give bad advice and follow it with more bad advice. There is so much bad advice being given on this thread. You guys need to start doing research from more credible websites and NOT listening to random people on forums.

Post: #86

I just popped my left lower back. When you lower the barbell, you have to keep that tension on your back(dont know how to explain, you know what i mean). If you let it go by getting distracted, you can pop it pretty easily...

Post: #87

I'm a total newb at deadlift, only been doing it for a few weeks. I think my form on the way up is pretty good, and I'm only doing 155lbs, which is basically bodyweight for me. Still, it seems that on the way down, I'm finding it difficult to keep my shoulders back and chest out. My form is decent up until the bar is at knee level, then it breaks down during that final lowering to the ground motion. Do you guys recommend just dropping it once it gets to the knees, or would that defeat the purpose of the exercise?

Post: #88

Shoulders back is wrong.

Your shoulders should be DOWN and packed in tight. Scapular depression.

Not back.

The muscles holding your shoulders back (scapular retraction) are too small and weak to play with the weight of a deadlift. They can only play with bench press weight.

Chest is up (goes with scapular depression), not out (retraction). Again, chest out is for benching.

Post: #89

Shoulders towards hips is what I was taught, and try and make the lats tight.

Post: #90

Yep, you guys are right, I misspoke when I said I try to keep my shoulders back. I just meant I try to make my back and shoulders form one level plane, but on the way down, my shoulders slump and break that plane.

Post: #91

Also, do not look up, as this breaks the chain that is your solid back. Keep your head in the same line as your straight back, don't look down or up.

Post: #92

(08-05-2014 12:06 PM)MrXY Wrote:  Just don't deadlift

They used to be my favorite exercise until i tweaked my back and was in serious pain for a couple of weeks that fortunately completely resolved itself.

I was lucky- you can find horror stories all over the web of people who have ruined their back and now have chronic pain and disability.

It's not worth it-the risk is far greater than the benefit, especially since you can substitute other exercises-rack pulls, squats, bent over rows, hyperextensions, etc

I don't buy the argument that you can do them as long as your form is good- heavy loads on your spine can injure you even with perfect form and who can keep perfect form with every rep anyway?

If you must do them, at least use weights well below your max

This is pure nonsense. When performed and programmed correctly, DL is a superior movement for developing total body strength and fortifying the posterior chain, rivaled in it's effectiveness only by the squat.

While there may be specific cohorts of the population which may be advised to avoid it, to prescribe it as unsafe and unneccesary in general is patently absurd.

Post: #93

Rippetoe's Practical Programming has a picture of a 70+ year old guy pulling 405.

If you use correct form and work up to it slowly, where is the issue? I never do sets beyond my 5RM, unless I'm going up by 5lbs from the last week. That's around 85%.

Post: #94

(08-13-2014 09:25 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  Rippetoe's Practical Programming has a picture of a 70+ year old guy pulling 405.

If you use correct form and work up to it slowly, where is the issue? I never do sets beyond my 5RM, unless I'm going up by 5lbs from the last week. That's around 85%.

This.

Post: #95

Where did you more experienced guys here started with squats and how long did it take to progress to the point where you could squat your body weight?

Post: #96

Too long ago to remember clearly, but perhaps about 1 month. Started with the bar, then 40kg in first session. Repped BW or about 80kg at the time not long after. I also deadlifted 120kg in my very first DL session, about 2 months after I started squatting.

Quote:Rippetoe's Practical Programming has a picture of a 70+ year old guy pulling 405.

I know a 84 y.o who still pulls about 200kg or 440lb in competition. But those guys are not the same as newbies starting out.

I'll preface this with the information that I'm a powerlifter, the deadlift is by far my best lift and I've pulled over 3xBW in competition (x3.25 in training so far).

I don't think the deadlift is always automatically the best exercise to build body or strength. For some people with good leverage (long arms, short torso), yeah. For others with poor leverage (myself included), variations of the conventional deadlift (or a different style) are better for building strength and the deadlift itself is better as a demonstration of strength. My deadlift always improves best with very low volume and my strength is built mostly through squatting a lot.

It's precisely because the deadlift demands so much from everything in your body (ever tried pulling with a slight calf cramp? not happening) that it makes it a rather dangerous exercise for newbies. Newbies do not know how to engage their whole body, their CNS is rather poorly primed for such a lift. They will always shift to using whichever muscle group they're strongest with, and overuse it in place of others. That is almost always their back, while other critical ones like the glutes and abs go to sleep. They're better off strengthening and activating all major muscle groups over a period of time first before using the full deadlift as an exercise.

When I train newbies (including older family members like my dad who's 64), they will never touch the deadlift until they get decent with basic exercises that train major muscle groups: abs, lats and glutes. Plus all kinds of deep squatting to train their leg drive.

Post: #97

Lol asking about squats in a deadlift thread. My bad, tired as fuck!

Post: #98

For deads, I do a bunch of heavy singles (10-20), generally limiting myself to one session per week. Any more frequency that that and I feel it in my lower back. Other days tend to be filled with power cleans so the pulls are still getting worked.

My arms are crazy long so deadlifting has always been one of my better lifts. As has been mentioned, the challenge is to prevent it from degrading into an ego lift. For some reason, I can't help maxing out though.

On the other hand, I totally suck at pressing movements. Not surprising when you consider that my ROM to lockout is almost double that of other guys. It all balances out.

Post: #99

(08-13-2014 09:31 PM)PHC19 Wrote:  

(08-13-2014 09:25 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  Rippetoe's Practical Programming has a picture of a 70+ year old guy pulling 405.

If you use correct form and work up to it slowly, where is the issue? I never do sets beyond my 5RM, unless I'm going up by 5lbs from the last week. That's around 85%.

This.

And then there is this guy, and Rip himself:
Strength Training for People My Age

Post: #100