The "Do You Even Deadlift" Clinic

You already have the answers: stretch your psoas and sit down less.

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I think it might be overtraining as well. I'm doing psoas stretching, foam rolling, and tons of back stretches. Still sore. So I was looking at that no deadlift post. That link mentions good mornings, but I thought those were out of favor, and quite risky to do. RDLs may be a good weekly replacement. I do want to keep my lower back strong, but not over trained. And the RDL stretches the hams which mine are always tight. I will add that when the soreness goes away.

Currently I will replace them with more squats, farmers walk, kettlebell swings (holding the kbell closer to my groin, but not close enough to ram it, that seems to help the back), and lunges.
Also do lunges help at all?

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Hoisting a goodmorning with 135lbs. is how Bruce Lee zinged his back - after which he maintained that the movement should not be done with anymore load than solely the bar. As for lunges, if you're seriously hitting the squats, then the proper territory is being adequately addressed.

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I put Good Morning in the post because it works for some people, but personally I don't do it anymore. Used to work up to about 200lb x5. I find SLDL and heavy KB Swings superior.

Lunges are ok if you want to do it. I only do bodyweight variations mostly for mobility.

Also, don't forget other back works: BB / DB / Cable rows, pullups, lat pulldowns etc.

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Seated good mornings are pretty brutal on the hamstrings.

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Anyone interested in a sumo deadlift datasheet?

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^ I'm always up for trying out new variations.

I had to take a little brake from regular deadlifting.
My lower back started to feel tired. When I was walking around my back started to bend inwards and my ass outwards. I had to stop and stretch every now and then.

Now I'm okay again but I guess this is due to inproper form. I don't now if this is a taller guy problem or if it's just me but when I deadlift it feels like I can't activate my hamstrings enough.
I think my back and upper body are doing most of the work.

Just by looking on people doing sumo deadlifts it seems like it's a more hamstring focused exercise.
However I would be interested to see a datasheet as I would like to try the sumo deadlift.

And I'm not taller than 6'3.
Would be nice to hear some input from guys at the same height.

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Sumo deadlift please. I tried them this week with light weights and it felt alot better than doing regular ones. My deadlift form became much better with your data sheet. So another one is more than welcome

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Cool I'll write something up soon.

Chaos, I've never particularly cared about hamstrings, and I don't think they are that important in the sumo. Quads and glutes are prime movers, for me. Pretty sure Bret Contreras had some EMG studies which show very low hamstring activation in regular deadlift, sumo deadlift and squat, vs a whole lot of other exercises.

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^I must admit I'm a little bit concerned about my posture during deadlifts. The last thing I want to do is to fuck my back up.

Would you mind if I snap a video and PM you?
It would be interesting to hear your opinion.

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Yeah sure mate, I can have a look.

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I've been following Joe DeFranco's tips and they worked great for me:

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I do light squats & banded good mornings on bench days . It helps move the lactic acid through my legs from squatting 2 days prior.

The bands allow to add resistance without the risk of weight over your head/back and does great for strengthening my posterior chain.

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I'm one of those who for some reason can't wait to deadlift again. I love it. Nothing shocks and shakes my whole body as 3-5 reps of heavy deadlift. Even lifting the bar and just standing there holding it pumps whole body up.

Question: why so few guys do it regularly? I barely see anyone deadlifting. And when I finally see one it's always typical slim guy lifting, not buff one. I never see big guys doing it. It's weird cause from what I know it's one of key exercises next to bench press, squat and chins/pullups.

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(10-21-2015 01:47 PM)XXL Wrote:  Question: why so few guys do it regularly? I barely see anyone deadlifting. And when I finally see one it's always typical slim guy lifting, not buff one. I never see big guys doing it. It's weird cause from what I know it's one of key exercises next to bench press, squat and chins/pullups.

Well if I have to throw an explanation out there.. it's because the deadlift has the potential to really embarrass a big bro.

The deadlift's hardest sticking point for most people is right off the floor. When you fail a squat or bench, or any other lift, usually at least you'd be moving for some distance (even just the eccentric part) before hitting failure. With the deadlift, many times failure is right at the start, so you can look like an idiot trying to tug on a weight that refuses to bulge. Might as well load up a ton on the bar.

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Hmm i heard that many of them are afraid of back injuries so they avoid it. but it's stupid cause they could easily start small figure out what good form looks like and go hard froim there.

second place for least popular exercise goes for chins/pullups :-)

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^^ if they're already big, ego can stop them from going back to small weights. See it all the time with jacked but not very strong guys trying out powerlifting.

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I'm having an issue with the deadlift I can't put the bar back on the ground without losing my form. It feels like my arms are too short or something. Is this a common problem, or is there a modification I can try?

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You probably just need to lower your hips more, churros.

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Your arms are too short to drop the bar?

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To get low enough for solid grip, even when starting, my form is already shot. Then I have to spring into form during the lift, which is obviously wrong.

As for dropping the bar. I'm talking mainly about doing reps. I was under the impression a full rep is when the bar touches the ground, though maybe I'm wrong about that.

Somebody mentioned doing deadlifts in the squat rack, with the help of the lower rung. But I feel like that's frowned upon? Not sure of the gym etiquette here.

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(06-14-2017 09:32 PM)churros Wrote:  I'm having an issue with the deadlift I can't put the bar back on the ground without losing my form. It feels like my arms are too short or something. Is this a common problem, or is there a modification I can try?

Sounds like you are doing touch and goes. Try resetting every rep like shown in the video.

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I'd rarely do more than 5 reps with conventional deadlifts, so I haven't really found it to be a problem to slam it down, pause and adjust between each rep.

Have you tried doing Romanian deadlifts? It would focus on the part of the movement you're having a problem with, so maybe substitute that variation into your next deadlift session.

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After about 2 years now I've finally noticed the correlation between me doing deadlifts/squats & me having a horrible pain from my lower back all the way down my left leg. (sciatic nerve)

No more deadlifts /squats for me.

What other exercises do y'all recommend I begin to slowly implement that will work the muscles that deadlifts /squats work?

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King Bast also has a good point doing RDL's. You start with the weight in the lockout position and the movement is basically a controlled negative: slowly lower the bar as far as your hips/hamstrings will let you. Don't be afraid to use straps as doing the movement here is the focus so it's best to take grip out of it.

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