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MyFitnessPal Community

Seeking Advice: Girl has just deadlifted 132lbs (60kg)

BakingMadGymAddict

Hello Fit Friends!

I have just started deadlifting and would love if someone could please let me have some advice on my form. I have posted up a 1 minute video of me deadlifting 132lbs on my facebook page "The Baking Mad Gym Addict".

The video should give you an idea of how I deadlift. The olympic bar bell and plates weigh 132lbs in total which is roughly my body weight.

The next day I felt a dull ache in my lower back - I can't differentiate whether this is a good pain because I have worked my lower back or a bad pain because I have dodgy form.

Any advice from other lifters out there??!!

Remember to 'LIKE' my facebook page if you would like to keep in touch!

Thanks for your time!! Have a fantastic day! x x x

Replies

PaleoChocolateBear

Dead lift is one of my favorite lifts, I normally have the bar go all the way back to the ground. Form looked pretty good I think you could probably do more weight I'm only saying that because it seemed like you were getting that up pretty easy. Keep it up though and watch out for guys doing arm curls by your butt. I do love the dead lift though my single rep max on dead lift is 415

Huffdogg

Please post an actual link and I'll be happy to check it out.

BakingMadGymAddict

Thanks for the advice! I will defintely mix it up and try going heavier with less reps! Yeah! That guy was super close to my butt! haha! It's quite a busy gym I train at! Wow - you can lift super heavy - well done!!!

BakingMadGymAddict

Thanks Huffdog - I posted the link to your email!

kaithebb720

Okay everything looks good but once the weight starts to go down past your knees you can just let it fall down. No need to focus on a negative while deadlifting. Just puts straining on your back. Try to get a front angle next time but to me that looked pretty good.

Here's me a few months ago after only deadlifting for about a year. I love this exercise too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70koVw6eXVU

Keep on kickin butt though. I saw a girl deadlift 500lbs & she was around your body weight hahaha

Huffdogg

I have to say I disagree with kaithebb720. The negative in the deadlift is a really useful part of training the muscles important for the lift, and if done properly, doesn't strain your back any more than the pull itself. Also, it's great for grip training to just keep the bar in your hands that extra time.

Shawshankcan

You need more leg drive. What you are doing is closer to a stuff legged deadlift or a Romanian depending in the rep.

Lyadeia

I didn't look at the video, I just wanted to comment on the pain...

I felt the same kind of thing when I first started doing deadlifts and good mornings! But, for me anyway, it wasn't a "bad" pain from bad form. I was feeling DOMS in a place that I had never had before, because I never worked those lower back muscles with weights before. I had done things like hyperextensions and "supermans" and never had the pain, but adding weight did it. Mine last a couple of days, and the next week when I did those exercises again, the pain was gone.

I think that if it is "bad" pain that you will know it immediately.

dixiewhiskey

Please post an actual link and I'll be happy to check it out.

BakingMadGymAddict

Thank you to everyone here for taking the time to let me have your thoughts - this is the link here - Hopefully it works! x

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=vb.418282054910684&type=2#!/photo.php?v=471588679580021&set=vb.418282054910684&type=3&theater

jasminetoi

bump - ill check it out when im not on my work computer haha

erinsueburns

It looks like you are halving the difference between a romaninan and a standard dead lift. IMO, and granted I'm not the most expert of people, but if you are trying to do standard dead lifts there needs to be more angle to the knee bend and more hip drive focusing on driving from the heels. If you are going for romanian you may not need so much knee bend or to go so far down.

Also, when you go to put the bar back on the ground after the end of your set, it is a really good idea to maintain just as good of form as when you are performing the exercise. I've hurt myself more being haphazard about finishing than I have actually performing the exercise.

JulesAlloggio

Seems to me like you're doing just fine. Try not to LOOK DOWN! when you put your head down, it pulls on the spine. I always look up at the ceiling to keep my back straight.

Also if you're lifting too much, it might be putting strain on your lower back as well. I would drop 5 pounds, do a few more reps. Then when your body is ready, bump the weight back up and eventually your back will adjust to the actual weight.

Hope that helps

erinsueburns

Seems to me like you're doing just fine. Try not to LOOK DOWN! when you put your head down, it pulls on the spine. I always look up at the ceiling to keep my back straight.

Also if you're lifting too much, it might be putting strain on your lower back as well. I would drop 5 pounds, do a few more reps. Then when your body is ready, bump the weight back up and eventually your back will adjust to the actual weight.

Hope that helps

Well the looking up thing is true on a standard deadlift, but not really for a romanian. Looking up on a romanian deadlift tends to cause excessive lordosis which can cause extra pressure on the lumbar portion of the spine. Which looking at the video again, may be part of the problem.

LishieFruit89

Bump so I can look later!

I can't give any advice either way though lol

JulesAlloggio

Seems to me like you're doing just fine. Try not to LOOK DOWN! when you put your head down, it pulls on the spine. I always look up at the ceiling to keep my back straight.

Also if you're lifting too much, it might be putting strain on your lower back as well. I would drop 5 pounds, do a few more reps. Then when your body is ready, bump the weight back up and eventually your back will adjust to the actual weight.

Hope that helps

Well the looking up thing is true on a standard deadlift, but not really for a romanian. Looking up on a romanian deadlift tends to cause excessive lordosis which can cause extra pressure on the lumbar portion of the spine. Which looking at the video again, may be part of the problem.

No matter what, you should never look down..

mountaingirl1961

You need to get your hips quite a bit lower, and your head in a more neutral position (not looking up or down... look at a space on the floor about 20' in front of you.)

Right now all the strain is on your back, and deadlifts done properly are more of a leg exercise than a back exercise.

Start with your toes under the bar, your hips lower, hands wide enough on the bar so that when you stand up the bar is about at the crease between your legs and torso. Toes pointed slightly out, hands gripping opposite directions. Weight is towards your heels. Lift with your legs by pushing them into ground, not with your back, and give your hips a little pop right at the end to finish the lift.

Start with a lighter weight and get the form right before going heavier. This one can and will hurt you if you do it wrong.

Here's a decent demo video. Note her head position, the position of her body relative to the bar, her hips relative to her body. Her grip isn't textbook but otherwise her form looks good.

bizco

Seems to me like you're doing just fine. Try not to LOOK DOWN! when you put your head down, it pulls on the spine. I always look up at the ceiling to keep my back straight.

This is the total opposite of what experts recommend.

Here is one expert's video on how deadlift form. I've seen the same advice from other coaches, powerlifters, trainers, authors, etc.

It's worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDmWMrKT7U4&list=PL4CE51ED9E54AA7C3&index=23

j75j75

You never put the weight down or fully lock out, so you are putting constant pressure on your lower back. That "might" be what caused the pain. And I wouldn't look too much up or down, stay neutral.

Hello Fit Friends!

I have just started deadlifting and would love if someone could please let me have some advice on my form. I have posted up a 1 minute video of me deadlifting 132lbs on my facebook page "The Baking Mad Gym Addict".

The video should give you an idea of how I deadlift. The olympic bar bell and plates weigh 132lbs in total which is roughly my body weight.

The next day I felt a dull ache in my lower back - I can't differentiate whether this is a good pain because I have worked my lower back or a bad pain because I have dodgy form.

Any advice from other lifters out there??!!

Remember to 'LIKE' my facebook page if you would like to keep in touch!

Thanks for your time!! Have a fantastic day! x x x

DopeItUp

Hello Fit Friends!

I have just started deadlifting and would love if someone could please let me have some advice on my form. I have posted up a 1 minute video of me deadlifting 132lbs on my facebook page "The Baking Mad Gym Addict".

The video should give you an idea of how I deadlift. The olympic bar bell and plates weigh 132lbs in total which is roughly my body weight.

The next day I felt a dull ache in my lower back - I can't differentiate whether this is a good pain because I have worked my lower back or a bad pain because I have dodgy form.

Any advice from other lifters out there??!!

Remember to 'LIKE' my facebook page if you would like to keep in touch!

Thanks for your time!! Have a fantastic day! x x x

You never put the weight down or fully lock out, so you are putting constant pressure on your lower back. That "might" be what caused the pain.

Yeah, this. A deadlift is named as such because each rep starts and stops on the floor. Dead weight. And as mentioned, you're not locking out at the top of the movement either. You have to push your hips out to stand up straight at the top of the movement. "Hump the bar" is a common cue for this.

Watch some rippetoe videos or go buy Starting Strength 3rd edition for proper instruction on exercises like this, IMO.

mulsas

I would agree with the comments from DopeItUp and MountainGirl1. I don't claim to be an expert, but I have read Starting Strength, and have watched Marc Rippetoe's videos on youtube to help me with my own form. He was a power lifter, and has also coached US olympic lifters, so he is very well regarded. I would strongly recommend watching some of his videos. It does appear that you are doing only a partial deadlift, and your back is doing most of the work. A full deadlift will have you take it all the way up, then all the way down. The result is that it really isn't a "pull" exercise like you would think, but a "push" exercise that engages the legs and hips.

As a side note, you want to consider full length pants on dead lift days. The bar is supposed to be traveling up and down the front of your legs. So you may scrape up your shins, but that is a sign you are doing it right!

yummy_

The negative in the deadlift is a really useful part of training the muscles important for the lift, and if done properly, doesn't strain your back any more than the pull itself.

I agree 100% on the value of the negative movement (unless you are going for PRs or something extremely taxing).

And yeah, my shins are a lil tattered from deads. Knee socks help with this

stormieweather

I love deadlifting! My favorite lift.

My advice is similar to those above. Start with the bar across the top of your feet/toes. Bend your knees more, get your butt lower. The bar should touch your shins when you are in the proper position to start the lift. Push up with your legs, don't pull up with your back. Keep your head in line with your back. Go all the way up, until standing straight with shoulders back, then slowly bend back down to the ground.

Mehdi from Stronglifts demonstrates:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69TY7ui3Uhs

http://stronglifts.com/how-to-deadlift-with-proper-technique/

LeelaLosing

You need to go heavier, you are not locking out at the top of the movement and yes, your hips generally come forward a bit, and you need to drop the bar once it's past your knees and pick it up again with each lift. You are not completing the movement. Try the correct form and then see if your back feels better. Lifting heavy is sexy!! My PR lift is 225 lbs!