Deadlifts? Talk me down?

cnbbnc

I decided to give ice cream fitness a shot, and did workout A on Monday. I loved it. Tomorrow is workout B, which has deadlifting. I don't know why I am good with every other weightlifting thing I've tried, but I'm scared to death of trying deadlifts!

I really do want to try them though. I've been reading and watching videos on different types, both watching form and trying to figure which would be best/easiest for me as a noobie. Is one better to start with?

I'm determined to myself get over this and start doing them!

JenAndSome

I was the same way when I started. It took me a good year after starting to lift to even try, but I was psyching myself out for nothing. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I think you should just start with a conventional deadlift. Do your research like you have been and start super light to get your form down. Ask for help on form if you feel like you are doing it wrong, but do definitely give it a go. There is a reason so many people say that it is their favorite lift.

jemhh

I wouldn't say that one is better than the other (assuming you mean conventional vs. sumo.) I'd just try them and see. Once you do them I think they'll be less scary to you. It's a pretty natural movement, meaning that it is easy to see how it is useful in everyday life. Moreso than many of the other big lifts, IMO.

quiksylver296

I love deads. I agree with the above. Start light, confirm your form before you add more weight.

cnbbnc

jemhh wrote: »

I wouldn't say that one is better than the other (assuming you mean conventional vs. sumo.) I'd just try them and see. Once you do them I think they'll be less scary to you. It's a pretty natural movement, meaning that it is easy to see how it is useful in everyday life. Moreso than many of the other big lifts, IMO.

I guess I meant straight leg vs Romanian which looked like more knee bend. It does seem like it would be a natural move. "Don't lift with your back" and all.... Thanks guys. I've stayed away from strong lifts 5x5 because it's full of deadlifts, but I will watch medhi today.

I'm coming back here tomorrow and reporting that I've done this! LOL!

jemhh

cnbbnc wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

I wouldn't say that one is better than the other (assuming you mean conventional vs. sumo.) I'd just try them and see. Once you do them I think they'll be less scary to you. It's a pretty natural movement, meaning that it is easy to see how it is useful in everyday life. Moreso than many of the other big lifts, IMO.

I guess I meant straight leg vs Romanian which looked like more knee bend. It does seem like it would be a natural move. "Don't lift with your back" and all.... Thanks guys. I've stayed away from strong lifts 5x5 because it's full of deadlifts, but I will watch medhi today.

I'm coming back here tomorrow and reporting that I've done this! LOL!

Oh! I prefer Romanian but both are good. I like this video from Bret Contreras that covers them. I guess I actually do American DL not RDLs because I focus on my glutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CleNQoKSb0

DaddieCat

Don't both ICF and SL start you at just the bar, anyway? The point of that is to allow focus on form, or variations like sumo as you progress.

jacksonpt

You can only anticipate so much... at some point you have to do the lift and see how you respond. As others have said, start with just the bar (or a piece of PVC pipe, even) and work on the movement. Once you have the movement down, then you can start lifting weight.

_Bropollo_

One of the tricks with dead to keep you from trying to lift with your back is to "get tight" before you start the pull. Flex your hamstrings, your quads, your glutes, get rid of any "slack" in your arms so you don't jerk the weight up. Starting with your legs already tight, and focusing on keeping your back straight, you will almost always feel the posterior chain lifting the majority of the load vs. your spinal erectors.

I will note that empty bar might not be a good idea. If you have Olympic bumper plates, start with the lightest you can get on each side, because having plates on the bar raises the bar about 4-6 inches off the floor. Starting with the bar right on the floor (empty) is not an accurate representation of the lift.

Also, if you find your mobility is lacking, or you are tall/have long legs compared to your arms, and you struggle to do them from the floor without breaking proper form, you can always elevate the bar putting boxes under each side of the barbell, or use the special j-hook platform rests on an Olympic rack.

senecarr

BecomingBane wrote: »

Don't both ICF and SL start you at just the bar, anyway? The point of that is to allow focus on form, or variations like sumo as you progress.

ICF doesn't have prescribed starting numbers.

stealthq

You can do it. Like everyone else says, start light, get the form down - which means check the mirror, post a video of yourself for a form check, and/or find someone who knows what they're doing to watch you and give pointers.

FWIW, the most common mistake I see is not dropping the hips low enough so the person can grab the bar while keeping their back straight. Results in a rounded mid-back before they even start the lift. Second most common is trying to 'assist' the lift by pulling with the arms.

hill8570

Start with low weights -- if your gym has the large diameter plastic weights (usually around the crossfit / functional training area if your gym has one), you can stick a 10 pounder on either of the bar and have a perfect bar height. Otherwise, you'll have to improvise -- you want the bar about as high off the ground as it would be if it had 45lb plates on either side.

I've always found most deadlift descriptions to be needlessly confusing. Your ending position is fully upright, shoulders back, and bar kissing your thighs. Since you don't want to do extra work, you want that bar to travel in a straight vertical line from where it is on the floor to it's ending position. So you walk up to the bar with your feet about shoulder width apart and get close enough to the bar that your hands in their ending position are directly over the bar (for most people, this means their shoelace ties are under the bar). Keeping your hands the same position apart, bend down and grab the bar. Bend your knees just enough to for your shins to contact the bar. Keep your whole torso (the parts from the hips up) as high off the ground as possible. The first part of the deadlift is actually a push with the legs (a standing leg press) -- the whole weights / arm / upper torso system should be stiff -- until the bar clears the knees on the way up you're just pushing that whole system up with your legs. Once the bar clears the knees, you finish straightening up by thrusting your hips forward until you end up with the bar kissing your thighs, shoulders back, etc. Setting down is the opposite movement -- you thrust the hips back first, let the bar travel down past your knees, then bend the knees enough to get the bar the rest of the way down (if you bounce the bar off your knees on the way down, it's pretty much always because you bent your knees too early).

The hardest part, for me anyway, is keeping everything in my upper torso "tight" -- a big, held breath with abs pushed out, butt tight and sucked in, both upper and lower back tight like a piece of steel. It's really easy to relax that tightness at the top of the lift (hot damn! I made it!), or, when doing multiple reps, not resetting that tightness before starting the next up. And you gotta hold that tightness -- that's what's supporting your spine, as well as efficiently transferring power from your legs to the weights.

Hmmmm. Looking back at my description, it looks as confusing as all the rest. Apologies. I don't know why such a simple lift is so hard to describe. Squats, OHP, bench press all require a certain amount of finesse. Not deadlifts.

cnbbnc

^^
It was a great description.

Thanks all.

kerbeya1

jemhh wrote: »

I wouldn't say that one is better than the other (assuming you mean conventional vs. sumo.) I'd just try them and see. Once you do them I think they'll be less scary to you. It's a pretty natural movement, meaning that it is easy to see how it is useful in everyday life. Moreso than many of the other big lifts, IMO.

Like he said they are more a like than people think. It's about your mobility really I pull conventional due to I can't get in a very good sumo pull position you just have to play around and which works better for you if not both. Typically that pull sumo mainly pull about the same weight conventional and vise Versa. I how ever can come close to the same weight I pull conventional

Cahgetsfit

I started off with Romanian until I got the form right, then moved to normal deadlift.

They rock - you will love it once you start it.

PS - get a trainer/coach to show you weightlifting stuff. No amount of videos can teach you proper form. What you think you are doing right might not be so right. worth getting a GOOD someone to just show you all the basics and then you take it from there

singingflutelady

SL starts at 95lbs

ovidnine

Just got my wife started on 5x5 and to do deadlifts she has 3 of the supports for the aerobics platforms under each side until she gets up to 95lbs or so.

You've gotten good advice here. Deadlifts took me some time to get my form right, but I started light, worked at it until I got it, and now they are my favorite lift because I'm better at them than anything else. lol

You can do it!

juliewatkin

I would start with conventional as sumo is a far more technical lift. I disagree with all the people saying not to lift with your back. That's a fallacy in my opinion and gets too many people freaked out and trying to squat the weight off the floor. We lift with our backs all the time which is apparent by all the muscle we carry on our backs. Conventional deadlifting will incorporate more back than sumo will.

I tell people to bend at the hips, not the waist. The bottom line is that you will just have to do it. You can get a million written descriptions and end up with analysis paralysis.

jacklifts

I really had a breakthrough in understanding proper deadlift form (though I've been deadlifting for several years) after watching this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEy_czb3RKA

Basically, you start out doing a romanian deadlift until you learn how to load the hamstrings.
Once you learn how to load the hamstrings, you'll figure out the deadlift is a combination of a small push with your legs until you hit your RDL depth, then firing your glutes to get the bar up the rest of the way.
Keep the bar against your legs the whole time, and think about squeezing your lats to make that happen.

Good luck!