1. rotate your video. You can do this on youtube.
2. chest up before you pull to set your back all the way down.
3. you can lower the bar more quickly.

Wtf I did rotate the video before I posted it, somehow it went back. I'll repost in a sec.

Thanks for the comments; I thought I had my chest up enough but obviously not; something to work on for next time.

Re: DL video

When you start your first rep, the bar is too far forward on your foot (should be in the middle). However, after your first pull, it magically ends up over the middle as you brought it down in contact with your legs (compare :05 with :13 to see this). But then again at other points it's not really over the middle completely, which leads me to believe your pull could be straighter and more consistent.

Also, to expand on what HalfSlant said:

Your upper back doesn't seem set or tight on any reps, but maybe it's just kyphosis or w/e that is called. Your lower back is maybe set on some of the later reps. You really need to concentrate on getting everything tight before your pull. The fact that things don't look super tight or straight before you're pulling is a sign doing this will really help.

Definitely lower the bar faster. You're lowering it more slowly that you're pulling it. Just keep your breath and your back tight and lower it down. Don't be careful, just do it and get on to the next pull.

(I have/had all of these issues when DLing the last few months, except not rotating videos on YouTube )

Unfortunately I was concentrating on keeping everything tight; I guess I need to concentrate harder. Maybe I should start DL'ing 2 times a week for a while in place of press so I can get some extra work on the movement in.

I've been slow at lowering the bar because I finally figured out how to do it semi-correctly, without rounding my lower back, and it's not a totally ingrained movement yet.

I think maybe I am going to ditch curls and do Pendlay rows instead; obviously my upper back needs some work if I can't physically keep it extended throughout the lift. Do people think this is an ok idea?

You gotta get your back straight and tight imo. I didn't know (and still don't apparently) what this really felt like when I started. Getting the kinesthetic sense of what your back is doing while you're lifting heavy weights takes a lot of time (imo) or you get lucky maybe and can feel it to begin with. Just "concentrating harder" likely won't help completely as you need to learn what bad back vs. good back feels like to have a chance of recognizing what's happening on a heavy lift.

Try taping the DL motion with just the bar or with your much lighter set and see how your back looks right after you've done it when you can remember how it felt.

Also, you don't really learn how to put down a bar on DL imo, you just do it or don't do it. Your back stays tight not b/c you are comfortable with the movement, but b/c you are good at keeping your back tight b/c you know how that feels. So putting it down faster is fine, just don't let up on your tightness or let out your breath until the bottom and my guess is your back will stay as it was (good or bad) almost every time.

Ditching curls can't hurt anything imo. I stopped curling and have done very few pullups since April and my arms look as sexy or sexier than they ever have. A bit less "pump" to them when I leave the gym I suppose maybe, but it's not like I do anything but go home and watch TV after the gym anyway, .

Thanks man. One point I have to dispute is the "learning to put the bar down" part -- I absolutely did. When I first started I hinged from under my lats when I was putting the weight down, and had to watch a lot of videos with form cues to get the movement semi-right. I realize proper setup and just keeping everything tight solves that problem but obv I am not quite there yet lol.

I'll be sure to post more videos soon. Thanks Yugo and HS.

Yeah, it's taken me months to realize what "keep everything tight" means. It's so weird but I still can't 100% feel how tight I am when pulling or pressing my work stuff. I mean, it always *seems* like I'm tight. But I need to actually be tight. But imo movement isn't what does that for the DL, it's the setup (foot over mid-foot) and just getting tight.

Well, it's good to hear I'm not the only one having issues; hopefully going back to 2x DL per week at the low weight I am doing will allow me to groove form a bit faster.

Going out of town from this afternoon until Sunday evening, so it will be nice to have a few days off from the gym.

9/30

Ended up working out with my friend when I was away:

Bench
wu + 5/5/8 x 235

Hit the support on the way up or I think I could have gotten another rep or two.

Pendlay rows

wu + 3 x 5 x 135

Trying to get a little more back into my workout to balance things out; these felt pretty good.

Squat

wu + 5/5/7 x 150

RDL

3 x 5 x 135

10/1

Played squash for the first time in 6 months wearing my lifting shoes (probably the worst possible squash shoes); needless to say I got destroyed. Even though I've been playing for less than a year and my friend played college squash, losing by that much hurt. Obv I need to start practicing more and get some lessons . . . It is great cardio though.

10/3

Press
wu + 5/5/7 x 105

Had a few more reps at 105 in, but didn't want to push it. Left shoulder/arm feels better/looser but still not 100%

Chins
8/6/5 x bw + 10 (+1 rep)

Squats
wu + 5/5/8 x 150 (+ 1 rep)

RDL
3 x 5 x 135

Squats felt alright, though my hip flexors and glutes were more than a little sore from squash on Saturday; I am still trying to work out my form. There were a few reps today where I really concentrated on sitting back on the way down, and driving first with my hips while simultaneously keeping my weight on my heels on the way up (which I have had trouble with in the past) and those reps felt great. I was a little loose with a few reps though. Any comments on my first squat vid (posted in the 9/30 workout) are appreciated.

10/5

Bench

wu + 5/5/7 x 240

Almost got the 8th rep but got a bit of help from the spotter. Nice guy, good spotter, but immediately went over and did 20 minutes of curlz in the squat rack

Pendlay rows

3 x 5 x 135

Still getting the hang of these.

DL

wu + 1 x 6 x 215 (+1 rep)

RDL

3 x 5 x 135

Not sure if I'm going to start microloading bench next week or not; I will probably try 225 on DL though.

10/7

Wasn't really feeling it today . . .

Press
wu + 5/5/7 x 107.5

Chins
8/5 x bw + 10

Squats
wu+ 3 x 5 x 155

RDL

3 x 5 x 145

I tried to start my squat sets with my butt shoved back a little more to make it easier to get a good amount of flexion/arch in my lower back, and I think it helped. Will probably have some videos up on Monday.

10/8

Played an hour of squash with my wife; it was a great workout and a lot of fun -- not sure why we stopped. Of course we both really stunk since we hadn't played for 6 months, but I think we're going to re-institute our weekly game. My legs seem fine so I assume/hope it won't have a negative effect on Monday's lower body workout.

10/10

Bench
wu + 3 x 5 x 245

Pendlay Row

3 x 5 x 135

DL

wu + 1 x 5 x 215

Power rack was taken so we DL'd instead of squatting.

Video upcoming of the DLs, it's still editing on youtube and I'll add it in soon, but I'll ask my questions now. Still having trouble with lower back tightness I think, should I lower my butt a bit to get a better arch in my back?

215 DL 10/10 as referenced above:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3RBLbyQneQ

Says the video is private. You probably still need to switch the video's settings to "unlisted" which will allow you to link to it.

Man I suck at the interwebs; fixed.

Better than sucking at basketball .

Hmm, maybe it's just kyphosis or w/e it's called when your upper back is "hunched", but it doesn't seem all that tight. Are you activating your lats and "pulling" them down to keep your shoulders back & down and your back real tight? It's so hard to tell through a shirt what's actually going on with your back muscles.

I'd recommend trying to lower your butt a little bit when you're getting tight. That may be a mobility issue. I realized I wasn't SMRing my butt and until I did I basically thought I couldn't get my butt lower.

Specifically to get your lower back tight, you also should DEFINITELY try doing this before you DL. The only problem is those muscles will be kinda tired before your DL, but it will for sure help you know whether you're using them or not:

http://startingstrength.com/index.ph...sition_control

I know, I know, it's suuuuuper long. You can skip to ~5mins in (or even 8 mins in) but I dno, it is probably worthwhile to just watch the whole damn thing at least once.

I definitely have a problem keeping my shoulders back throughout the entire lift, especially when lowering the bar (once the weight gets past a certain point I just can't keep my shoulders back anymore); that is something I definitely need to work on. Also I'm not sure I'm flexible enough to keep my shoulders back when I intially set up to the bar; I'll have to look into that next time too.

I am assuming that the problem is that part of my anatomy is just a lot weaker (hence my adding more chins/pendlay rows to my workout). I am just going to keep going on this weight until I get it right I guess.

10/12

Wasn't really feeling it today . . .

Press
wu + 5/5/7 x 110 (+2.5 lbs)

Chins
8/7 x bw + 10 (+ 2 reps)

Squats
wu+ 3 x 5 x 155 (+0)

Glutes/hams were really tight; I don't even know what Yugo's voice sounds like, but I hear him in my head telling me to use a lacrosse ball on them tonight. Will do, SMR Sensei.

Every time I write a post about SMR, I hear cha's voice (which I do know) in my head. So you might as well cut out a step and just imagine his voice. Since you don't know his voice, it can just be the voice you currently use for me, lol.

If I do say so myself, I think "SMR Sensei" would be a great undertitle for you. I imagine your posts in a Charlton Heston voice; that's got to be pretty close, right?

Lol, awesome.

I'm definitely not a sensei (master) - at best I'm a senpai (mentor) but most likely a kohai (student) in Cha's school of the fabled "Thousand-roll Divine SMR Technique."

Although, if he's the head of the school then he's a dai-sensei I think (head grandmaster) and maybe I could wriggle in there as a sensei due to lack of applicants.

All I know is I'm just a Lacrosse Ball Paduwan -- however high up the chain you are is immaterial, as I am at the bottom link.

10/14

Another day of not feeling great -- I need to get more sleep

Bench

wu + 5/5/6 x 245 (+1 rep)

Pendlay Row

3 x 5 x 135

DL

wu + 1 x 5 x 215

Are people fully retracting their scapulae and pulling their shoulders as far back as possible before grabbing the bar on the DL? Because I'm not sure it's possible for me to do that with the setup Rip recommends. I have a video that I need to edit and then I'll post later.