finally deadlifted w/o pain the next day

[sharkbait13]

It's not much, but I'm a beginner anyway, I was able to do 5 sets @ 225 (which is roughly my currently ~20lb overweight body weight)

The core stability and other work I think has paid off - single arm carries, step ups, lunges, belt squat.

I warmed up on kettlebell swings, read through my cues (tripod foot, external rotate hips, shoulders down, engage lats, weight over midfoot) and lifted with my shoes off.

Was a bit worried when I went to sleep since I could feel a bit of tightness in the muscles of the lower back, but slept nice and flat, without any issues. I also don't need to sleep with a pillow under my knees nowadays.

Going to add deadlifts into my routine (which is the basic Nuckol's linear progression) at just once a week (which is not what I did yesterday, Nuckol's is 1x10, then 3x5 on Week 1)

 

[steve126]

@sharkbait13 If you are having lower back pain in your deadlift you are likely not hinging correctly. Took me a very long time to get the hinge pattern down correctly. Prior to that I always tweaked my back.

 

[sharkbait13]

@steve126 That is a problem, yes. I think deadlifting is using your back muscles regardless of technique. What I was experiencing before I think was a combination of things:

• compensatory over-reliance on weak back muscles
• the over-reliance is/was related to weak glutes
• poor core stability and side-to-side imbalances
• and yes, hinge technique

Generally I don't think it is usually just one thing but a series of interconnected things which lead to problems

 

[japharish]

@sharkbait13 Yep, you have to learn to drive forward with your glutes rather than 'pulling' the weight. I think of the deadlift as an upright weighted hip-thrust.

I had to drop the weight considerably to find a weight that my glutes could handle without starting to bring my lower back into the equation.

 

[mikeb34]

@sharkbait13 I highly recommend using/warming up with fairly high effort isometric DL from your lowest point in the range of motion/plates on the floor. Once you've hit a max effort, shrug your shoulders back a little to increase the tension yet again. Drive up through your collarbone.

This will allow you to stabilize your skeleton relative to the resistance and get a solid feel for what muscles should start out doing most of the work.

Push your feet down and your hips forward. If you had dots on your greater trochantor, viewed from the side it would slide up and forward in nearly a straight line, at about a 45⁰ angle. Lower back/erector muscles are almost entirely isometric - the alignment of your spine to your sacrum shouldn't change much if at all.

Don't rush the weight.

 

[sharkbait13]

@mikeb34 I think I understand what you're saying - so put the barbell under the safety bars e.g in the power rack? Like 50% or so of 1RM? Drive up, hits into the bars and just keep pulling? I see people talk about doing that for nervous system activation.

I like the idea, because the initial pull is by far the hardest. Once I tap the ground it's never as hard on each subsequent rep. That to me means I don't have the initial liftoff perfect yet.

 

[mikeb34]

@sharkbait13 That'll work, or use an empty bar and hit the stops right at your start point. No need to drive it quick, just pull up and exert for a couple breaths. Exert hard on exhale, maintain good tension on inhale. It'll take two or three exhales to really dig in, then terminate the effort. Pay attention to what's firing hard on that third breath.

This being to cue for a better pull, take a minute or two before doing your set.

You could also do this for 8-10 breaths, roll out from under the pins and immediately do a dozen-15 reps with a 60-75% load a la dropset. Two sets of that will do ya.

 

[sharkbait13]

@mikeb34 Will 100% do this, thank you

 

[steve_yavli]

@sharkbait13 Why do you feel you need to say "Its not much"? 225lbs is great. More than I can deadlift. Even if it was 40lbs, you should be celebrating this. You are in their lifting, which puts you ahead of 90% of the population. Well done. Congrats. Enjoy your successes.

 

[sharkbait13]

@steve_yavli Thank you, yeah you're right, whatever the weight is, it is. Maybe the reason is I've looked up "strength standards" which note that a male beginner should be able to lift 1x body weight (https://strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/deadlift/lb). So "not much" by that standard.

It also, to your points, notes: "...which is still impressive compared to the general population."

 

[janiesdad]

@sharkbait13 Don't worry about strength standards when you're a novice they can seem unattainable and discouraging, just try to get your form down and the weight will come quickly. I deadlift a decent amount and still think a decent deadlift is another plate each side away.

 

[borisv]

@sharkbait13 If you look at my recent post in this forum, it's taken me (38F) over a year to lift my bodyweight. It's okay to go slow. Work on your form and build up your muscles at your own pace.

 

[sharkbait13]

@borisv I saw your post! Congrats on getting there!

I'm a big dude and have been fairly athletic in my life, so I've some expectations of myself that I need to adjust.

I hear you though. I'm not trying to ego lift, my goal is to not get hurt.

 

[hilbrand]

@sharkbait13 One exercise that tremendously helps me deadlift without pain is reverse hypers, you could try adding that into your workout as well.

 

[sharkbait13]

@hilbrand Yes! I do them, it's a bit odd since i have to use random pieces of equipment to do them (I suppose I could use a bench). It's supposed to be every gym visit and funny enough I skipped them yesterday.

Do you do them before or after deadlift?

I just do 2 sets of 10. It is so simple I can't believe how much of a difference it makes.

 

[hilbrand]

@sharkbait13 I like to do 3 sets of 12 at the end of workouts. I heard about them from Alex Bromley though, he prefers doing them before.

 

[sharkbait13]

@hilbrand Yeah! I'm a fan of Alex Bromley, his explanations of different programs have been very helpful. Saw he does them as well, forgot about it. Learned about it from Joe Rogan years and years ago but I never put them into action because I was deluding myself into thinking I needed to have a proper reverse hyper machine in order to them. Def. not the case.