How much are you deadlifting?

GordonWayneWatts

Male - 6'4" - 190 lbs - DL 335x6 which projects out to 389

I feel at a disadvantage because of my height. Is it wrong for me to feel better in a wider stance?

I usually do better with a sumo stance, since I'm a bit tall. (Oddly enough my 1RM for the floor DL is 295 conventional but only 285 sumo, but I feel this will change if I get back in the gym more regularly: The sumo, while hard on the hips due to the "gymnastics split" physics, lets you get closer to the bar, so it is preferred for taller lifters in many cases, especially if you've got real short arms.) Stats: M/120-lbs/5'9"

PS: It is always good to train both conv. and sumo -- and do a little deficit dead-lifting too for variety. Good luck, here.

Where do you get that 5 9" is tall?

The average height for a guy in the US is 5' 9 1/2".

you obviously haven't been keeping up w/ posts, Sara: I already answered that -but because u asked:

People in my weight class (123-lbs or 52-kg) are generally VERY much shorter than me -- both men and women.

Anyone who is 5'9" and my weight is generally thought of as a statistical anomaly - e.g., skinny.

GordonWayneWatts

Do you even MFP brah?

not usually: I am new to this social network.

PikaKnight

GordonWayneWatts

6'3"
210 lbs

I'm at 355lbs, but having problems gaining because of a joint disease that is also effecting my tendons in my shoulder/elbow/hands. My hands are about half strength right now and finding it hard to hold the weight.

Not sure if this has been mentioned by our resident expert, but have you tried straps or is that not a good idea with your medical issues?

Also, you might make sure you're using a "mixed grip" for the deadlift (you can Google that) - one hand over and one under: That way the bar doesn't roll out your hand, due to the cross-torque cancellation here. Furthermore, you can do real heavy rack pulls to exercise your grip - like I do in my video, which link is in my MFP profile.

michellekicks

Maybe we can get MrsBigMack to kick the snot outta GordonWayneWatts, and end his trolling???
Oh, BTW, I pulled a 430 lb. deadlift tonight at 54 years old, 5'9"(darn close to average) and 225 lbs..
Just in case that's what this thread is still about.

Flattered you noticed :bigsmile:

Gordon, I have commentary about your deadlift. Serious.

You're breaking the movement in two parts, first you're extending your legs to stand up, and then you're pulling with your back. This is incorrect, and you're going to pull your back this way. The movement should be one fluid drive where your back stabilizes the weight and your legs and glutes drive the weight up. Your back still does plenty of work, but it's not pulling the weight alone. You will probably be able to beat your current maxes comfortably once you get the form down.

And, IMO, you should just drop all the corrections you're making for your height and armspan, etc. Ditch the leverage blocks. Every sport has rules that are disadvantageous to certain body types, but to participate you have to play by the rules. You can use the blocks for training, but to compare anything to any other person, you MUST use the same rules everybody plays by. Maybe your rules are better, maybe not....but what about the next guy who figures a different way to "correct" the rules to his advantage? And the next guy with his own rules?

I have boobs. They're disadvantageous for some lifts, but I would get laughed out of the gym if I started comparing my stats to someone else but applying a boob coefficient to my lifts. Though, I'm tempted to try, because it would be funny.

Bean... :flowerforyou: for considering a boob coefficient. I would get a negative rating though :ohwell:

GordonWayneWatts

Maybe we can get MrsBigMack to kick the snot outta GordonWayneWatts, and end his trolling???
Oh, BTW, I pulled a 430 lb. deadlift tonight at 54 years old, 5'9"(darn close to average) and 225 lbs..
Just in case that's what this thread is still about.

Yes - that's what it is still about (no matter how much I try to convince them to take their humour elsewhere -or their discussion of "Gordon's" form, etc.) - but, in all seriousness, Tucker, a few short replies to people asking for advice is not totally out of the question.

LiftAllThePizzas

I started last December. I weigh 178 lbs and my calculated 1RM is just passing 400 lbs now. Also I don't use performance enhancing drugs or anything.

GordonWayneWatts

Gordon, I have commentary about your deadlift. Serious.

You're breaking the movement in two parts, first you're extending your legs to stand up, and then you're pulling with your back. This is incorrect, and you're going to pull your back this way. The movement should be one fluid drive where your back stabilizes the weight and your legs and glutes drive the weight up. Your back still does plenty of work, but it's not pulling the weight alone. You will probably be able to beat your current maxes comfortably once you get the form down.

And, IMO, you should just drop all the corrections you're making for your height and armspan, etc. Ditch the leverage blocks. Every sport has rules that are disadvantageous to certain body types, but to participate you have to play by the rules. You can use the blocks for training, but to compare anything to any other person, you MUST use the same rules everybody plays by. Maybe your rules are better, maybe not....but what about the next guy who figures a different way to "correct" the rules to his advantage? And the next guy with his own rules?

I have boobs. They're disadvantageous for some lifts, but I would get laughed out of the gym if I started comparing my stats to someone else but applying a boob coefficient to my lifts. Though, I'm tempted to try, because it would be funny.

Oh, that's right -- there WAS one more thing I had been doing wrong early on:

Nia looked at my video(*) and said my butt was shooting up into the air too soon, making this kind of like a stiff-legged deadlift.

ETA: (*) An old video -probably even before the 320-vid -- and I think I've improved here, but apparently not as much as I thought...?

That is NOT good form on my part!

While I think I've gotten better, still a stiff-legged deadlift is *still* a legal lift -- I sometimes find I have to do this if my back is stronger at the moment than my legs, but I think you've got a point, Sara: I should prob. work on both variations here: Both butt down AND butt up deadlifts...

Actually, your larger chest size (the 'boob factor' as you seem to call it), HELPS you in the bench press, as you've got less distance down to the chest and up...

Lastly, while people can hide behind leverage advantages for powerlifts, this is not possible in the Yoke Lift, since the rules actually do allow for the height to be adjusted (in StrongMan Competitions: Google that if you doubt me here!) -- both in the lift and also in the Yoke Carry -- now, I'm by far weaker than many lifters out there, but adjusting the deadlift bar (as we do in a rack pull) is really no different -and, thus I think, a more accurate way of gauging strength. Don't you think?