Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below Im not positive my form is correct when doing deadlifts. I just started doing them 2 weeks ago, and they kill me. My concern is when starting the lift, are my legs supposed to be bent or straight. I cant do them without bending my knees. Im not very flexible. Also are your hamstrings supposed to be sore from deadlifts? Mine dont get real sore, but they do feel like Im working them out.
Just started doing deadlifts
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LiftingDukkha
New member
Deadlifts are like Squats, except instead of the bar on your shoulders, it's on the floor in front of you, and you pick it up off the floor until your legs are straight (just like Squats), with your arms still straight. It's hanging down with your arms straight, which is why it's called a "Dead" lift.
Stiffleg Deadlifts are where you bend over, legs straight -- the exact way all jobs tell you NOT to pick things up off the floor. That's not to say you can't train your body that way; after all, the vast majority of people who work menial physical jobs, don't work out or lift weights on a regimen, so they usually screw their bodies up, so their backs, hamstrings, etc. get so out of shape that lumbar disks, etc. burst when they try to perform Stiffleg Deadlift-type activities.
Regular Deadlifts are, as said, just like Squats, except you use your arms & hands to pick the weight up -- just like in real life. How many times in real life do you pick something up like a Squat, with the object already on your back/shoulders? Only maybe in football or in a fight, where you bulldog into somebody. Otherwise, you usually pick stuff up off the ground with your hands. If you do this, then Regular Deadlifts will help you get stronger at it (& vice-versa).
Regular Deadlifts include Conventional and Sumo Deadlifts. Conventional Deadlifts are where your legs & feet are close, and your hands are wider than your feet. Sumo Deadlifts are where your legs & feet are wide apart, and your hands are closer, inside your feet. Sumo Deadlifts mean you don't physically lift the weight as far a distance, because the weight is closer to the ground at the top of your lift, than in Conventional Deadlift. Usually people lift more weight when doing Sumo, therefore, but some people are actually stronger at Conventional Deadlift, due to body leverages. You should probably train at both styles.
Stiffleg Deadlifts are where you bend over, legs straight -- the exact way all jobs tell you NOT to pick things up off the floor. That's not to say you can't train your body that way; after all, the vast majority of people who work menial physical jobs, don't work out or lift weights on a regimen, so they usually screw their bodies up, so their backs, hamstrings, etc. get so out of shape that lumbar disks, etc. burst when they try to perform Stiffleg Deadlift-type activities.
Regular Deadlifts are, as said, just like Squats, except you use your arms & hands to pick the weight up -- just like in real life. How many times in real life do you pick something up like a Squat, with the object already on your back/shoulders? Only maybe in football or in a fight, where you bulldog into somebody. Otherwise, you usually pick stuff up off the ground with your hands. If you do this, then Regular Deadlifts will help you get stronger at it (& vice-versa).
Regular Deadlifts include Conventional and Sumo Deadlifts. Conventional Deadlifts are where your legs & feet are close, and your hands are wider than your feet. Sumo Deadlifts are where your legs & feet are wide apart, and your hands are closer, inside your feet. Sumo Deadlifts mean you don't physically lift the weight as far a distance, because the weight is closer to the ground at the top of your lift, than in Conventional Deadlift. Usually people lift more weight when doing Sumo, therefore, but some people are actually stronger at Conventional Deadlift, due to body leverages. You should probably train at both styles.
Jim Ouini said:For me it really helped to mentally (and I guess physically too) break the lift into 2 stages, especially for conventional style - knee extension til the bar reaches the knees and then hip extension to lockout.
This is an unforgiving exercise if done wrong.
I really like what Jim said. You can hold that picture in your mind and
prevent lower back strain.
LiftingDukkha
New member
Not to flame anybody or anything, but I'm curious what people on this thread so far Deadlift. I'm not great but I'm not totally pathetic either, SQ & DL both around 550. I've always trained DL more or less instinctually, and have always for some reason usually been a little better at it than at SQ, at least until rather recently. And I've always trained it, as I said, more or less "like" a Squat "that I pick up off the floor." But the best single advice I've ever gotten is to "try to drive your feet through the floor" when you begin the DL. (I don't usually have a problem with the lockout, it's always the beginning of the lift that I must focus on.) Thanks.
BTW to the 1st poster, IMO there's a risk of training one's body into bad form if you do too many Stiffleg Deadlifts instead of Regular Deadlifts. I think that's an insidious way of training the body to push the butt up first before the lift begins.
BTW to the 1st poster, IMO there's a risk of training one's body into bad form if you do too many Stiffleg Deadlifts instead of Regular Deadlifts. I think that's an insidious way of training the body to push the butt up first before the lift begins.
BlondBomber
New member
Deadlift PR: 520@205
