New at strength training. Deadlifts!

tingutz

Everyone says deadlifts are great for you. I am pretty new to strength training so I have been watching a million videos on how to do deadlifts. Keep the back straight, shoulder back, knees behind the toes, no over extending when lifting up, keep the bar close to shins. I think I'm doing it right but it just doesn't feel like it after. My back aches weird. How can you tell the difference between Normal soreness and bad form- pain? Like I said, I'm new to this exercise so it's kind of hard to distinguish.

jimmmer

"back aches weird" is hard to get a handle on. It could be anything from mild DOMS in your erectors to something being compressed.

Any discussion like this is probably best prefaced with a video showing you performing the lift. In the absence of that, generally speaking it's important to brace correctly in the core/obliques/etc and also maximally engage your lats and take the slack out of the bar before you pull. You should be using your legs to push the ground away and your glutes should be firing to hinge the hips properly. It seems a simple move, but the more you do it, the more nuance you'll find.

Also, it's important to start out light with a load that you can handle with good form and increase slowly.

tingutz

Sounds like great advice. I'll think about your tips next time I try this again. Thank you!

jimmmer

tingutz wrote: »

Sounds like great advice. I'll think about your tips next time I try this again. Thank you!

No problem!

It's best to think of these lifts as skills. If you take the mindset that there's always something more to learn, do better or finesse you'll end up getting more out of it in the end.

One thing you didn't mention was what programme you're running. Generally you'll want to do a programme that puts the deadlift first on the day you're asked to perform it, keeps the amount of reps per set you're asked to do as beginner on the lower side (DL form can get really ugly as you fatigue in a high rep set) and gives you an adequate number of days to recover between DL attempts (and other low back fatiguing activities/lifts).

ETA: check out a guy called "Chris Duffin" - he has breathing/bracing videos online that deal with squatting and deadlifting. The short version:

1) You'll want to learn how to try to compress the distance between your diaphragm and pelvic floor on an exhale and then abdominal breath to inflate the low back, obliques and deep core on the next inhale. Then you'll be tight and braced.

2) Couple this with proper lat engagement and you'll be solid and be able to transmit force efficiently between the bar in your hands and the floor. On the lat engagement you could try to squeeze oranges in your armpits - sounds weird, but a lot of people find it helps align the shoulder and engage the lat.

Sumiblue

I recommend watching Alan Thrall's video on deadlifting in YouTube. He really breaks it down and shows how to engage the hamstrings. I've been lifting for a while but felt my DLs weren't right. I always had back pain (def not DOMS) after DL day. I also started doing different DLs to get the feel for using the right muscles: Romanian DLs & Dimel DLs, mostly.

Sumiblue

http://youtu.be/jEy_czb3RKA

tingutz

Definitely didn't think there was so much that goes into deadlifts. Thanks for this and the video.

whmscll

I love Alan Thrall's video. One of my form problems is straightening my knees and then my hips, instead of both together. My back definitely hurts when I don't do it right. This may be your issue.

AdrianChr92

The most sore thing after deadlifts for me are my traps. I can't really talk about the rest of my body cause it's kinda dead. Traps just scream the loudest

rileyes

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