My deadlift form is probably really bad. I would be able to tell if I had any idea what I was doing.

Main problem is that I cannot tell if I am engaging my hamstrings and glutes properly or at all. I do feel a little bit of exertion in my thighs so that is a res flag.

There are a million videos about this on YouTube but it creates a choice paralysis situation for me. Plus the “trainers” at my gym are unqualified and terrible. They have given me advice like “the barbell should touch the nipples during bench press” and “the eyes should be looking down during deadlift”.

  • rando895@lemmygrad.ml
    4·
    2 days ago

    Two good resources:

    Strongerbyscience.com (There is a how to dead lift guide)

    And the Australian strength coach (Coaches one of the best deadlifters in the world, Hafthor Byjornsson)

    After reading/watching, video your lift. It makes a world of difference when learning

  • CriticalResist8@lemmygrad.ml
    2·
    2 days ago

    Find someone who knows what they’re doing at the gym (look at their deadlift) and ask if they can give you some tips. I think most people would love to. I have to say the trainers’ advice seems sound though, what’s your impression of it?

    • loathsome dongeater@lemmygrad.mlOPEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      The trainers advice:

      1. barbell touching the nips feels too far up. Causes strain on the shoulder joints. I like them touching just below the nips.

      2. I have just never seen anyone looking down while deadlifting. Everyone looks straight ahead. I have come across many videos on it like tutorials and competitive but they just never look down.

      • CriticalResist8@lemmygrad.ml
        3·
        2 days ago

        Yeah just below is generally better, for beginners it’s good advice because they tend to get the bar moving everywhere otherwise. I also get the shoulder strain sometimes and I need to get my shoulders locked a certain way to avoid it. I think it’s having the join pinched too high up that causes it or something like that, when I lock them in place I try to also bring them down the length of the bench, like get them relaxed and then lock the shoulderplates.

        It depends what they mean with “looking down” but your head should follow along with the progression of the movement.

        The spine extends into the cervicals and they shouldn’t have to do any work when the lumbar is already extending effort during the deadlift. So it looks something like this:

        If that’s what you mean by looking straight ahead.

        • loathsome dongeater@lemmygrad.mlOPEnglish
          1·
          6 hours ago

          Alright this picture is the first time I am noticing this gaze. To be completely honest it looks fine. But the trainer wanted me to look at the same point on the ground throughout which was roughly where this guy is looking at the moment the picture is taken.

          When fully extended I think it is natural to look straight ahead rather than downwards.

          Maybe I am dissing him too much but my gut tells me to not trust him. The main problem is that the trainers do not deadlift themselves. Almost no one does the regular barbell deadlifts in Indian gyms ever. It is a strange phoenomenon because barring the risk of injury, something that can be mitigated by caution and expertise, it is an excellent exercise.

          • CriticalResist8@lemmygrad.ml
            1·
            5 hours ago

            It’s sort of the basic beginner tips for people just getting into it, I received them as well and imo they’re helpful in that you want to focus on so many things the first time you’re lifting that it helps take away some of the doubts. Don’t worry about what your head is doing, just look down etc. Of course advice should be suited to one’s own level of progress.

            Your head should follow the curvature of the spine but because our eyes have a tendency to linger on specific points (this is actually how they work), you might subconsciously start to fixate on a point and try to keep your head in line with that point (this is also how our vision works, we move our head towards the thing we look at so that we can center our eye on it). I actually do that with squats, look up at the speaker at my gym and stay on it because on the downward path it helps me keep my posture.

            Ideally your cervicals follow your spine and your head itself always looks to the perpendicular. Roughly:

            You have a 90° angle between the torso and the gaze. But that’s in ideal conditions of course. It’s just a rough model to illustrate how your head should naturally move during the lift. With experience it becomes easier to let your eyes naturally do their thing (your eyes dictate where your head moves) and not focus on them.

            edit: If I make a quick edit of the spine model, “incorrect” head positioning looks like this:

            The red line shows how the spine should naturally fall, in a straight or mostly straight line. But in this case with an upward head tilt we can see the cervicals (the green line) are not at all in line with the spine.

  • rescue_toaster@lemm.ee
    3·
    3 days ago

    Hmm. I would consider both of those statements good advice for beginners. Many people bench with the bar too far up the chest with elbows flared out and don’t go low enough. Touching the nipples is an easy reference for positioning and full range of motion. I’ve also seen people deadlift with crazy neck bends as they try to look up when bending forward for deadlift start.

    I won’t be able to explain any better than all the youtubers but i think what helped me was concentrating on the hip hinge for the second half of motion. Completely push with your legs until bar passes your knees than also drive butt forward.

    You could also take a video of yourself doing a rep and try to judge your form.

    Also supplement with romanian deadlifts for hamstrings. I do them slightly elevated so I can go really low and really work the hamstrings.