Deadlift question

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capriqueen
capriqueen Posts: 974 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
While doing deadlifts, I hinge my back and go all the way down without bending the knees, flexing my butt at the top. I notice in videos that people bend the knees while deadlifting. I don't feel anything at all while deadlifting this way and I don't know which way is right? Where do you feel the burn? What could i be doing wrong?

Replies

  • kganc001
    kganc001 Posts: 317
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    You're setting yourself up for serious injury. You need to lift with your legs, because not doing so you put yourself at serious risk for pulling muscles in your back and ending up incapacitated. When you deadlift, you should get as low as possible and tighten your back muscles so they remain straight and engaged. You'll feel it in your glutes, thighs, shoulders, lats, etc. At least, that's where I feel it the next day. Please bend your knees. Please ask a trainer for appropriate deadlift technique. It sounds to me like you're setting yourself up for a real hurt once you get higher in weight.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nRRlk6264I
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4qRntuXBSc

    Those are both really helpful :)

    ETA: Most gyms have special weights for deadlifting if you ask. My gym has them locked in a room. They have the same diameter as 45-lb plates, but range in weight from 10 lb to 35 lb. because trying to get low enough to properly lift a bar with plates with a small diameter is pretty difficult, speaking from experience.
  • capriqueen
    capriqueen Posts: 974 Member
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    Thanks a lot! I didn't realise I was doing such a grave mistake. I'll check the videos.

    But how much do you bend your knees? Also, I deadlift at home so I don't have a trainer to instruct me.
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    Get the book "starting strength". It's available as an ebook on amazon.

    He explains why "lift with your legs" is bad advice, but he will also explain that you do use your legs. He puts a lot of emphasis on keeping the weight directly over the middle of the foot (not the middle of the arch) at all times, and making sure it moves up and down in a straight line.
  • AnabolicKyle
    AnabolicKyle Posts: 489 Member
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    There is an exercise called straight legged deadlift

    check it out on youtube also




    edit


    Great exercise highly recommend it!
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,026 Member
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    What you are doing is a straight legged deadlift, not a conventional deadlift.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    practice with a broom stick form.

    Form is paramount with a traditional dead.

    and you have to create tension in your posterior chain (essentially your back side- low back through hammy's) When you sit down- feet are UNDER the bar- and you have to pre-tension- which is kind of a feeling you have to develop. It's hard to explain and Id on't have time to get into it- but there are some fabulous videos out there talking about this tension that goes on.

    Feel free to take a form video and send my the link- i'd be happy to help!
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    practice with a broom stick form.

    Form is paramount with a traditional dead.

    and you have to create tension in your posterior chain (essentially your back side- low back through hammy's) When you sit down- feet are UNDER the bar- and you have to pre-tension- which is kind of a feeling you have to develop. It's hard to explain and Id on't have time to get into it- but there are some fabulous videos out there talking about this tension that goes on.

    Feel free to take a form video and send my the link- i'd be happy to help!

    If you lie on your belly with your hands under your head, and lift your legs until you quads are off the floor, you'll get a burn in one of the crucial areas that need tension.
  • crb0077
    crb0077 Posts: 35
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    I was doing traditional deadlifts yesterday (got a new PB of 80kg - so chuffed) and I'm feeling it in my upper and mainly lower back, hamstrings and my glutes....I love it! I also love a straight leg deadlift but as I can't squat due to my form being off (something I'm deseparate to sort out)...I love the glutes workout that traditional gives me! The tension that pcastagner is talking about is difficult to explain but you have to feel strong in that area...so that you don't do yourself an injury...it's almost a locking/strong feeling.
  • Beastmaster50
    Beastmaster50 Posts: 505 Member
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    You are doing stiff leg deadlifts which is great for hamstrings and glutes. There is no danger of serious injury as one uninformed person said. Like all exercises, just use common sense with the weight you use.
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
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    You're setting yourself up for serious injury. You need to lift with your legs, because not doing so you put yourself at serious risk for pulling muscles in your back and ending up incapacitated. When you deadlift, you should get as low as possible and tighten your back muscles so they remain straight and engaged. You'll feel it in your glutes, thighs, shoulders, lats, etc. At least, that's where I feel it the next day. Please bend your knees. Please ask a trainer for appropriate deadlift technique. It sounds to me like you're setting yourself up for a real hurt once you get higher in weight.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nRRlk6264I
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4qRntuXBSc

    Those are both really helpful :)

    ETA: Most gyms have special weights for deadlifting if you ask. My gym has them locked in a room. They have the same diameter as 45-lb plates, but range in weight from 10 lb to 35 lb. because trying to get low enough to properly lift a bar with plates with a small diameter is pretty difficult, speaking from experience.

    OP is just doing stiff legged deads.

    What you talking bout Willis?
  • SuperCrsa
    SuperCrsa Posts: 790 Member
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    There are stiff leg deadlifts and deadlifts.
    Deadlifts you bend your knees, stuff leg deadlift you only keep a slight bend in the knee.

    I love this guy, he helped to really get the difference and get my form right.
    AND here is an explanation of the differences between the two :)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKhhHczuxF0

    Good luck :)
  • juliewatkin
    juliewatkin Posts: 764 Member
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    Like everyone else said, it sounds like you are doing stiff leg deads. I'd be concerned about your description of hinging at the back. I'm not sure what you mean. You should hinge at the hips (which is perhaps what you mean). Your back should be flat with no rounding.

    As for getting as low as you can, don't worry about that. How low you go, how much you bend your legs, depends on your build. I only bend my legs enough that my shins are perpendicular to the floor when the bar leaves the ground. If you go too low and your knees go over the bar, you only end up pulling around your knees and making extra work. Deadlift requires a lot of back. It's not all back but a lot of back. I normally pull sumo (wide stance) but when I pull conventional (legs together, hands outside the legs), it's a lot of erector work for me.

    Keep going.

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