Proper Dead Lifting Form

Summer_Lunatic

Dead lifts still leave me with the most back pain I've ever suffered from. I'm not a chronic pain sufferer of any kind thankfully and my back doesn't normally bother me at all. Dead lifts has me stumped bc I've tried a few times to improve the form and there must be something I'm just not doing right. Or is it that I'm starting at too heavy a weight?

*Note - I started with 2 x 25 plates plus the bar. Which seems like nothing to me but my lower back doesn't like it.

Any form tips / links to proper video etc would be appreciated.

Thanks!

SideSteel

Dead lifts still leave me with the most back pain I've ever suffered from. I'm not a chronic pain sufferer of any kind thankfully and my back doesn't normally bother me at all. Dead lifts has me stumped bc I've tried a few times to improve the form and there must be something I'm just not doing right. Or is it that I'm starting at too heavy a weight?

*Note - I started with 2 x 25 plates plus the bar. Which seems like nothing to me but my lower back doesn't like it.

Any form tips / links to proper video etc would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Do you have the means to video tape your deadlifts and submit it to our form critique thread? We fortunately have several people that can review it and comment.

In the meantime, I'd suggest going to youtube and searching for Mark Rippetoe Deadlift. He has an excellent and very methodical deadlift method that I think is a great starting point.

dare2love81

I'm no expert, but when I started deadlifting, it KILLED my lower back and hamstrings for days after deadlifting. My trainer had me do some strengthening exercises for my lower back and hammies and now they rarely bug me past a day or two (and it's the good kind of DOMS now :bigsmile: )

Could be that your form is wrong, or it could be you have a weak lower back that just needs strengthening. It took me a long time to get the proper form down and to keep my shoulders down and lats engaged...if you don't remember to do that, your lower back takes over.

Again, I'm no expert, these are just my thoughts and what has worked for me.

chris1816

Deadlift form demonstration, queues etc:

http://stronglifts.com/how-to-deadlift-with-proper-technique/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8jgCFXYTU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpA


If you started deadlifting at 225lbs, then yes, you got c*cky.


Deload and work up once you feel you have your form iron clad. Tightness in your lower back is expected from deadlifts, like squats you are loading the spine and compressing it as well, but straight up pain and lessening of mobility is bad.

If you feel this may just be a weak point, supplement with Romanian Deadlifts for a while to strengthen the lower back and posterior chain in general:

http://startingstrength.com/index.php/site/platform_the_rdl

Desterknee

If you started deadlifting at 225lbs, then yes, you got c*cky.

No, he started with 2 25# plates and the bar which is 95lbs.


DLs "hurt" by back too. It's not pain though, just soreness. i know I have a weak lumbar. Doing the exercises on this page helped me a lot:


http://www.princeton.edu/uhs/pdfs/Lumbar.pdf

chris1816

If you started deadlifting at 225lbs, then yes, you got c*cky.

No, he started with 2 25# plates and the bar which is 95lbs.


DLs "hurt" by back too. It's not pain though, just soreness. i know I have a weak lumbar. Doing the exercises on this page helped me a lot:


http://www.princeton.edu/uhs/pdfs/Lumbar.pdf

Whoops, my bad misread.

Summer_Lunatic

Thanks guys. I'll watch some more videos and see what I can come up with. I don't want to give up on this exercise but I haven't had my "aha" moment yet.