At 150lbs, it's not a huge deal.

You should get some chucks for DL or just DL in your socks or barefoot.

If you are at all serious about squatting, get a cheap pair of weight lifting shoes. I think I got my first pair for around $45 on sale.

Thanks for the replies.

Earlier this week I deadlifted and squated on socks.
Tried to go a bit lower and face the other way on squats and tried to keep a better angle on the way down on deadlift:

Squat:



Deadlift:



Wondering what are the things I should focus on at first to start improving bit by bit

johnnycarson and BPA234, I am sorry for my late reply, but I want to thank you both for your feedback.

Hi guys, could I get another form check please? It's been a while. After holidays etc.. I really don't know how I should evaluate this

95kg
set 1 (sets are numbered wrong on yt): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cmhzBYyOxU
set 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzNrYmR6bjc
set 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsetxUwmMzM


also, is this how you're supposed to do RDL? I'm doing them as an assitance exercise for lower back control/getting into DL start position
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yudHzhypuM8

Looks like a mobility issue - you start out alright but you get to a certain point and the only way you can get deeper is to round your back. Sitting back a touch more from the start whilst keeping tight might help. Can you film a set from a 45 degree angle from front on?

Thx a lot for the help. I think so too as my squats look pretty much the same @95 or @60kg. I'll get a 45 degree angle vid asap (hopefully tomorrow)

Twitedd,

It looks the bar is too close to your shins. Try setting up just a centimer or two further from it. Can someone confirm?

Also, when things get heavier, your back is going to round starting with ur ass so high. Feel free to lower ur ass just a little to avoid it. For now it's okay tho

Thanks for the reply!
I thought the bar should be really close to my shins?
I always thought I put it too far away, but will try to put it further!

I also try to lift my ass up as much as possible with the arms straight. Will try it lower nexxt time as wel!

Actually looks like the bar is not close enough. It should scrape your shins on the way up.

Regarding set-up, Rippetoe's coaching is I think pretty uncontroversial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpA

Can any experienced sumo deadlifters give me some pointers?

My sumo deads have been shooting up lately, and they might pass my conventional soon. I can't help but feel like I'm using too much back and not enough legs. But the weight doesn't lie...

Thoughts?

You need to pull BACK more on the sumo deadlift. The bar is too far away from you. Can't see your lower back from that angle either

Need help with my deadlift pls:

Last week - Slow/deliberate setup, pulling the slack out of the bar and squeeze off the floor




This week - A hip shoot in an attempt to get better leg drive




Basically, I'm wondering if I should go more in the direction of the first or the second, though I'm sure there are issues to fix with both.

Both are very bad. For the first lift, you don't set your back and never get to neutral, your hips shoot way up at the start and your back not only rounds further but actually leans further forward as the lift starts (angle changes). Your hips stop shooting at the start after the first rep but you stay in SLDL form with your back rounded. At the lockout of each rep, you are leaning way backwards which is a safety issue and can cause lower back problems, etc.

The 2nd looks slightly better but both suffer from the same issues.

You need to work on your setup and your start if you want to keep adding weight- which you shouldn't do with your current form. You need to get your hips way further back and a little further down, your back in neutral, and stop leaning back at the lockout. Try "humping" the bar as you try to lockout, rather than leaning back to bring the hips forward.

How's your core strength? Can you glute bridge without hyperextending your back? Can you do a partial deadlift from the upright position and keep your back in neutral part of the way?

You 100% should not be pulling from the floor until you get your back in check.

I think they look reasonably solid! I think you are like me in that the mobility demands of sumo are just being met. If you could get your knees out more, you'd be able to get your hips in closer to the bar and your shoulders wouldnt be quite so far out over the bar, possibly getting more leg drive and less levering on your back. Worth the squeeze? Up to you.

If you find yourself losing balance at lockout when you simultaneously lock out your knees and hips, you can try locking your knees slightly before you bring your hips through (like Pozdeev). Helped me out a lot in terms of stability.

As far as I can tell, his shins will prevent him from bringing the bar further back.

sorry it took so long, was sick + snowboarding

is this what you meant with sit back? it felt a lot more natural/better. more hip drive too. at least imo

3x5x90kg
set 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMcDbZTGO48
set 2 (45 degree front angle): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moS-9EmfvGQ
set 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ_OLas6iFI

Looks a bit improved for sure. There is still some rounding, you've just got to keep very conscious of it and keep working on it

AJ,

seems kinda harsh. His (lumbar) spine isn't even rounding.

kaby,

looks a lot better imo. Keep working on it

Yeah, I should have clipped out that first rep just so we could spend more productive time discussing what I can fix about the subsequent ones. I've been pretty casual in addressing the back rounding issue up to this point because while my back isn't in perfect extension, it doesn't round further under the load. I definitely get some soreness in the lower back after deadlift day, but it generally goes away quickly and I've never had pain.

Anyway, fix the back during setup, easier said than done but I got the message. Supposing I did so, isn't it possible that I'm proportionally built to deadlift in a way that looks more like a SLDL? I've tried setups that allowed for more knee flexion and leg drive off the floor and it generally doesn't work for me. I guess, specifically, I'm asking how I go about approaching this:



I don't know the answers to any of these questions. I'll probably change up my programming to do rack pulls on deadlift days while I practice pulls from the floor with lower weight on the other days that I train. Maybe I'll bring a rack pull vid to this thread next week.

Thanks a lot for the detailed response, Jeff.

ActionJeff, do you like these any better?

80x3 (no belt)

90x2 (belt)

100x2 (belt)

edit: I didn't devote much attention to the issue of hyperextending at the top but it seems I'm doing it less involuntarily with this setup method. I'm mainly interested in how I can improve my setup on the floor.

Harsh? If you haven't figured out what a rounded lumbar looks like by now i don't know what to tell you. It's that obvious that he's rounded, and if your deadlifts look the same, you are rounding too.

The upper back is particularly egregious, and he's not even working at a heavy weight. Reset weight and learn to do it right is the ONLY good advice. If you can't setup in a proper position you can't deadlift. Add some plates to the floor and work down from there, is what every strength coach says. I'm not going to give faulty feedback because they cared enough to ask for advice. Every single point I made is right.

Looking better!

You still lean back at the top. Back looks closer. You never set your mid back at all, and it stays hunched throughout the movement.

I think you need to work on your setup and lockout. It looks like you just don't have room at the start of the setup, could be flexibility or just form. I would pull from plates to see how the back looks, and see if you can keep some degree of arch and lower back neutrality when the bar starts slightly higher.

I don't see you taking a big breath at the start of each rep. You either need to take the breath and dip and rip, or setup properly, take a big breath, and then start exerting. The breath is critical because you need to use it to push out your core as hard as possible during the pull, which can also assist in keeping the back in proper position

Your back really looks a lot better, whatever you did made a big difference

Yeah, in these sets my primary focus was in keeping my hamstrings loaded and my lumbar flat. It's obvious that I didn't spend enough effort on my upper back. For that matter, it honestly looks like I'm rushing the pull (though it didn't feel that way in the moment).

I think my plan from here will be to program my deadlift day with block pulls and practice from the floor with lower weight on the off days.

Yeah, this is just sloppy and probably a result of me doing a bunch of new technique cues and forgetting to breathe.

Thanks, man. I appreciate your help and I hope you don't mind helping me a bit more over the next week or two. The deadlift is actually my strongest lift and I really want to fix this.

AJ,

You are right, somehow I let my setup get sloppy as hell and didnt even notice it. Dont even know how I went from the first to the second. /cringe

Not sure if I got flexibility issues since then or it's just form that got away from me.