No im working out at home. only got videos on pics on internet to show me. I really enjoyed doing them as well, just my back didnt agree lol. I wont scrap them then. I'll just be more careful.
No im working out at home. only got videos on pics on internet to show me. I really enjoyed doing them as well, just my back didnt agree lol. I wont scrap them then. I'll just be more careful.
Get an ebook called 'Starting Strength' it's the bible for deadlifts/squats. It changed my life....
Thanks mate. Like i say going up is fine, it's the coming down again i mess up on.
I have much more problem lowering weight too. I've read that you're supposed to lower bar to knee level by pushing butt out and lowering back before you begin bending knees, but for me, the bar is nowhere near knees unless I completely lower back or I start bending knees much earlier.
Keep practicing deadlifts until you get it right, Lath! It will be worth it in the end. If you give up now you'll find it much slower going on youir goals.
SETUP
- Feet hip width apart
- Hands gripping the bar wide enough apart so that when the bar is on the ground you can lock your elbows and the inside of your elbows should NOT touch the outside of your knees.
- When viewed from the side, your hips should be slightly higher than your knees, not parallel.
- Keep your black flat in a straight line from your pelvis to your head.
- The bar should be over the middle of your feet. That's the bit where you ties the laces up on your shoes. The bar should also be direct under your shoulder blades.
- Keep your shoulder blades pulled back.
You don't want them all the way like in the contracted position of a rowing movement, but you definitely want them pulled back. You want to keep them tight otherwise your shoulder joints will be pulled out of their sockets when you work up to decent weights.
Imagine you're standing up straight with no equipment or anything. Arms by sides. Think about puffing your chest out to give the impression of bigger pecs than you have when relaxed. Note the effect this has on your shoulder blades? They go back quite a long way but not all the way. That's how you want yours to be.
Stand up straight with your knees locked and stretch down and try and touch the floor in front of your feet with the tips of your fingers. Now come back up to a point where your hands are somewhere in front of your knees.
You'll notice that your upper back is totally relaxed and your shoulders are slumped forward and "loose". This is not what you want. Pull the shoulders back a little until they are tight. It will protect the shoulder joint, by using the muscles of your upper back to take the stress, rather than yanking the ball out of the socket.
JUST BEFORE THE LIFT
- Straighten your legs a bit to take up the slack.You want tension on the bar before you start the lift.
- Make sure those shoulder blades are tight. Again, tension on the bar.
- Keep your elbows locked. The elbows should not straighten as you yank at the bar. They should be locked a long time before you lift. And you should NOT yank at the bar.
- Flatten your stomach.
- Squeeze your glutes (arse cheeks) together. This is where all the power comes from. This is what gets the bar off the floor.
- Feel the weight through your heels. You should be able to wiggle your toes. You do not want the weight going through the middle of your foot, and definitely not through your toes.
FIRST PULL, FROM FLOOR TO JUST ABOVE THE KNEES
- Straighten your legs be using your glutes (which should be squeezed together hard) to push your heels through the floor. You want your heels to go into the ground.
- As your legs extend, your torso and hips should remain at or near the same angle as they were when the bar was on the floor. Your shoulders and hips should move toward the ceiling at the same time, and at the same speed. Lack of compliance with this bit is what causes an awful lot of deadlifting injuries.
- The torso should remain locked in the position it is in, and you should basically just leg press the floor away from you.
- The bar should stay in contact with your body at all times.
SECOND PULL, FROM JUST ABOVE KNEES TO MID THIGHS (TOP POSITION)
- The bar should now be on your knee caps or just above
- The hard work is over. This is the easy bit providing you stay focused.
- Make a conscious effort to keep your shoulder blades pulled back. Keep them tight, not loose. This is the point where they will want to go loose.
- Keep your shoulders rising. As soon as the bar has cleared your knees, push your hips forward.
- Not a pelvic thrust like you're on the dance floor, but but a smooth controlled movement, powered by your glutes, which should still be squeezed together. You should really feel the contraction in your glutes at this point.
- Finish in an upright posture, with chest inflated, shoulders back and tight, stomach flat.
- Your hips should be under your shoulders at this point, not in front of them.
- The bar should have stayed in contact with your body the whole way through the lift.
LOWERING
- Slide the bar down your thighs and your shins to the floor.
- This does have to be the exact reverse of the technique you used to raise the bar.
- You're not trying to develop muscle and strength here, just get the bar back to floor safely and without making too much noise when it touches the deck again.
- Shoulder blades must remain tight. The last thing you want is al tha weight tugging at two very delicate ball and socket joints.
- Begin to push your bum backwards.
- As you do so, let the bar slide down your thighs. Keep it contact with your thighs.
- Your back should be flat, just like it was on the way up.
- Keep going until the bar is just passed your knee caps. Once you're at this point you can bend at the knees and let the bar go down to the floor.
- If the bar hits the floor with any sort of a bang or clang, you were moving too fast.
BETWEEN REPS
- Let the bar go "dead" on the floor between reps. The floor should take them entire weight of the bar. This is why it's called the deadlift. None of that "touch and go crap".
- When the bar is back on the floor keep your shoulders tight (think big puffed up chest), and keep your elbow joints locked. You should never bend at the elbows during any part of the deadlift.
You'll see plenty of videos on YouTube of some nobber pretending to yank at the bar as he psyches himself up before a shitty 1 rep max. As he yanks, you'll notice his arms bend and then straighten as he yanks on the bar. These people are using all back. The deadlift is a lift performed by the legs, glutes, hips and lower back together as a team. Don't yank. Elbows locked.
- I find that as long as I pull my stomach in, it's fine. When I squeeze my glutes together my stomach goes rock hard at the same time.
-Take in a big breath and let it out smoothly between pursed lips as you lift the bar. At the top, , on the way down, and back on the deck, you can breathe however you want to. And I suggest you do breathe!
wow thanks for that gary much appreciated!!! Cheers mate.
I start my bulk again oficially on monday now that my back is better and I have finally recieved my dumbells!!!!!!!!!!!!! They look amazing and there is plenty of weight to play around with. here is a pic of them.
Plus with deadlifts i'm going to be smart about it and start with a low weight until i get comfortable with the technique. Maybe this exercise will become a more dominant one in a future bulk, but I definatly want to carry on with them.
