Thread: Proper form for deads

Most people put them on leg day since they're a ham/hip dominant movement, but you could also put them on pull/upper/back day if you like.

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...BDeadlift.html

Is a pretty good description of how to do them.

Make sure you do them light for a while untill you have the form really solid.

Originally Posted by Gazhole

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...BDeadlift.html

I stand on an aerobic step when I do those so I can go down further. Fortuntely I can't lift all that much, so the plastic step can handle the weight.

Ok good motion and such I see the grip should be shoulder width apart. What about the hands, should they be palms towards me or palms away, or a combo of both?

Your grip can be whatever feels best to you but I find a mixed grip works best for me.

There are lots of dl-variations.

Originally Posted by Uthinkso

Ok good motion and such I see the grip should be shoulder width apart. What about the hands, should they be palms towards me or palms away, or a combo of both?

Most use an over/under grip, where one hand is over and the other is under the bar. This helps prevent the bar from rolling out of your hands when you start using heavier weights.

The important thing to remember about deads is to keep your back straight or a little arched. (Stick your chest out and it arches your back.) When you roll your shoulders forward and let your back roll forward too, you set yourself up for serious back injury. I've found the best way to prevent this is to do deads in front of a mirror. Look yourself in the eye during 100% of the lift. This will keep your head up and thus keep your back straight.

Has everything you need to know

http://www.aceathlete.com/hatch/video.htm

nacho

There are so many ways to do deadlifts -

but some good things to keep in mind -
-keep your back neutral
-keep the bar close to your body at the initiation and duration of the pull
- head and chest up
- keep the weight distributed generally evenly on the foot, try not to come up on your toes
- continued from the last one: you may want to use flat soled shoes to help that
- don't twist your spine or head
- don't go to failure, the degeneration of form on this lift can result in some serious injuries.
- while bad form can result in injury, good form can help strengthen your body in a very functional manner making yourself less prone to injuries in the sense of this movement.
- try to use a double over hand grip as far as your grip strength takes you

Good luck.

Originally Posted by NordicNacho

Has everything you need to know

http://www.aceathlete.com/hatch/video.htm

nacho

I looked through there and even watched a few videos. I didn't see one for dead lift though.

Thanks for all of the information here everybody. Tommorrow is leg day for me so I am going to give it a go. I'll do them after squats and before leg press, I'll start with one plate and see how it feels from there.

Ok update on this. I started with a plate on each side to get a feel for it, and did that 10 reps palms towards me and then 10 reps with one hand towards me and one away. I feel more comfortable with both hands the same way, at least for now.

I ended up at 275x6 full well feeling I could have done more, but being my first time I wanted to feel out the movement and then see how I felt after. Thanks for all of the tips boys and girls, keeping that back straight is key indeed. I just made sure I was looking myself in the eye in the mirror which is nicely placed right in front of me.

Another thing to keep in mind: try to keep your hips down while pulling, rather than letting them shoot up, then basically stiff legging it. Trying to keep the weight back on the heels helps this a bit. That's usually only an issue near maximal weights though.

Originally Posted by Seanp156

Another thing to keep in mind: try to keep your hips down while pulling, rather than letting them shoot up, then basically stiff legging it. Trying to keep the weight back on the heels helps this a bit. That's usually only an issue near maximal weights though.

Yeah I had read that as well on another page and try to put as much to practice as I could. I feel great as the day goes on here. The quads are sore, but thats really it. Back and shoulders tommorrow and the week starts all over for me.

I'm pretty confident I could do 315x6 or more I just don't want to push it and sacrifice form for higher weight.

this guy has excellent form.

wide stance is not bad either.

Originally Posted by zl214

this guy has excellent form.

wide stance is not bad either.

Man moving that much weight, I have to wonder if you aren't doing more harm than good. Obviously thats for competition purposes to move that much weight. I'm just thinking of the load it must put on the knees, ligaments (sp), etc.

That being said, his stance is very wide and it looks like he stands up and straightens his back as he goes. Looks like a lot of back lifting to me, unless I am seeing this wrong. Not a lot of vertical movement out of the legs, but a ton of stability by the wide stance.

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Most people put them on leg day since they're a ham/hip dominant movement, but you could also put them on pull/upper/back day if you like.

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...BDeadlift.html

Is a pretty good description of how to do them.

Make sure you do them light for a while untill you have the form really solid.

I have just watched the Back Squat video on the Gayle Hatch site.. and he said that Matt has the strongest legs in the nation for 18 year olds. This cannot be true.. I have a 16 year old friend that squats 400+ for 6-8 reps... If he supposedly has the strongest legs of any 18 year old in the nation, he either wasn't doing much weight at all or my friend is a true beast..

Originally Posted by Uthinkso

Man moving that much weight, I have to wonder if you aren't doing more harm than good. Obviously thats for competition purposes to move that much weight. I'm just thinking of the load it must put on the knees, ligaments (sp), etc.

That being said, his stance is very wide and it looks like he stands up and straightens his back as he goes. Looks like a lot of back lifting to me, unless I am seeing this wrong. Not a lot of vertical movement out of the legs, but a ton of stability by the wide stance.

yes, thats the thing with wide stance tho. you just dont have as much vertical movement.

i posted the link because this guy has maintain excellent form with a large amount of weight, which is very hard to do.

of course, you dont have to use that much weight during training.

Originally Posted by zl214

yes, thats the thing with wide stance tho. you just dont have as much vertical movement.

i posted the link because this guy has maintain excellent form with a large amount of weight, which is very hard to do.

of course, you dont have to use that much weight during training.

I agree with the lift being impressive, but from the link above in this thread and everything else I have looked at since. I really can't say the lifter in your video has excellent form. It looks like he throghs his upper body a lot with his back.

Originally Posted by Uthinkso

Ok update on this. I started with a plate on each side to get a feel for it, and did that 10 reps palms towards me and then 10 reps with one hand towards me and one away. I feel more comfortable with both hands the same way, at least for now.

I ended up at 275x6 full well feeling I could have done more, but being my first time I wanted to feel out the movement and then see how I felt after. Thanks for all of the tips boys and girls, keeping that back straight is key indeed. I just made sure I was looking myself in the eye in the mirror which is nicely placed right in front of me.

So you started with 135lbs then went up to 275lbs? Jesus, post that whole deadlift routine if you can remember, please.

Originally Posted by Uthinkso

I agree with the lift being impressive, but from the link above in this thread and everything else I have looked at since. I really can't say the lifter in your video has excellent form. It looks like he throghs his upper body a lot with his back.

The style is called sumo deads.It incorpoates a larger portion of glutes in the beginninng and its actaully a less range of motion.Just keep in mind that when pulling heavier weights its alot harder to keep in perfect form.Thats why perfect form is stressed throughout but 90% of the time when someones pulling at a tremendous effort form slightly breaks down,all and all good fast smooth pull and strong kid.

Originally Posted by LT81

The style is called sumo deads.It incorpoates a larger portion of glutes in the beginninng and its actaully a less range of motion.Just keep in mind that when pulling heavier weights its alot harder to keep in perfect form.Thats why perfect form is stressed throughout but 90% of the time when someones pulling at a tremendous effort form slightly breaks down,all and all good fast smooth pull and strong kid.

Very sound advice.

I'll add to this by saying that if you're not a competitor, why not stop at technical failure instead of absolute muscle failure? Either way, your body gives you a point to stop at; and with technical failure, you're less likely to injure yourself.