well from what i see like others is your hips and legs lockout and then you have your back left to lift the weight which is probabbly why your back is so sore. your legs and back should be straight at the same time.which is cause by the too much raising of the hips at the begining.

ok ill study the Gm and see what I can do. Also what GHS said, I lock my knees it looks like but my hips lock at the same time as I am done with the lifting. And as I see it I think that is what I am supossed to do. THis is a hip-dominant excercise so thats what I am doing. Maybe I am wrong, so please let me know.

If I am wrong, what should I change. Should i pull the weight with my arms up to my shins then pull the rest up by using the hips and back?

also from what I was told, I should flex my core so my back is strong. I try to do this but sometimes its really hard. is this bad?

let me know

your hips and shoulders should raise at the same pace until the bar passes your knees. So the angle between your trunk and the floor shouldn't change in that period. When the bar passes the knees you lock out by using your glutes to drive the hips through the bar. As if you're trying to pootang it

i see. Do any of you guys have any videos you can show me? I dont trust the other youtube videos.

So how can I fix my error. I still dont understand that. I have the basics down now its just the order I go up in.

check the technique articles sticky. In particular the "mastering the deadlift" series by Eric Cressey. Those are awsome

Here is a video of textbook deadlift form. The guy is my training partner. Watch how the movement starts with his shoulders, not his hips.

Hardcore Deadlift Video.

one thing I have noticed is that most people have their hips really high compared to me. My hips are really low because I always wanted deadlifts to be a leg dominant excercise and I beleive when someone has hips high they use most of their back.

Goergon, in your movie of your fried, I saw his hips to be very high compared to mine. So should i bring my hips higher, or stay at the same?

doesnt keeping the hips low change the lift in technique completly?

It does. If your goal is to start the lift with your hips low to use more legs, don't pop your hips up before the bar leaves the ground. All that is happening there is you start, then move your hips up into a higher position, then start the lift.

No matter what your goal is with the lift, the movement of the deadlift must start with the head and shoulders, not the hips.

All lifts have countless ways of being done. Deadlifting with the hips low and the hips high are two different types of deadlifts.

If the goal is lifting the most weight possible, you want to start in the position where you are strongest. It will be different for each person. It will not be with the hips really low.

Why??? There are many lifts better suited to being a leg dominant exercise that may be a better choice than the deadlift.

Starting with the hips higher allows better use of the much stronger glutes and hamstrings. Yes back is used during the deadlift, but it is not the muscles that are responsible for completing the lift. The back, no matter how the deadlift is done, is only an avenue to transfer of strength from the hips and hamstrings, through the upper body, to the bar. So it is very important, but again, not what is causing the movement in the deadlift.

This decision must be made by you. I would say yes, because you are not starting in the strongest position possible.

Though if your goal for the deadlift is not to lift the most weight possible, then other types of deadlifts will be useful.

well of course I want to be able to lift high weights, but I dont want to do it wrong. I have done the deadlifts the way I do it for the past 6 mos and even more but not as consistent.

IF I keep doing it the way I do it, will I activate all the muscles a deadlift should hit?
If I were to put my hips higher, is that all I would have to do? Can i just put my hips higher and do it or would I need practice?

So the issue with my hips comming up first, is that whats causing my pain in my back sometimes? If thats the case I think I should start at a high hip position.


Out of deadlifting, I have been doing HANG cleans for the past couple of months now. Should I start doing power cleans? I can do a hang clean at a 160 x 3 with good form. If I were to switch to power cleans, would that number be higher?

Is there any different learning curve to power and hang? Isnt it just a deadlift and then a clean?

The reason your hips pop up is because your body wants to put your hams in an optimal position for DLing. The position your hips pop up into is probably the position you will be able to lift more weight from.

The first pull (off the floor) in a clean is different from a deadlift, and is often said to be the hardest part of the lift to teach. I'm sure G can help you more with that than I can, if you decide to go from the ground.

thanks karky.

So ya that makes sense about the hip thing. When I had my hips lower I never felt any stretch in my hammies, maybe I will now.

So all I have to do is start my hips higher, go up with my shoulder and head, then bring it up with a nice arched back.

As for the cleans, what will help me the most the power on or the hang for the best results? I would like to power clean but if there is a big learning curve then not right now.

Yes, though they are activated differently than they would be otherwise.

It will take a little tinkering. Like anything you change, there will be a time where you have to get used to it.

1. Hang cleans are power cleans. A "traditional" clean would be when you get under the weight using a full front squat.

The terms you are looking for are, power cleans from a hang and power cleans from the floor.

2. on to your actual question. should you start doing cleans off the floor??? YES.

Not necessarily. Like any changes in an exercise, there will be a time of adjustment.

Sort of. You have been doing the cleans from a hang, which means you know where your second pull starts. All you do is pull the weight from the floor, when the bar gets to your hang clean height, explode with your hips and clean the weight. (there is a little more to it, but that is the basics)

One is not better than the other. You will benefit more from doing both than you would only doing one or the other.

I am going to take video of my power clean so you guys can critique it. Ill post it tommorow. On wednesday, ill take pics of a side view of the better deadlift and see what you guys think. I think my squat is good so I dont need to post it.
Other than that, tommorow.

did power cleans today. I did them pretty good. I loaded the bar up with 165 and did it 3 times. Broke my max. I couldn't get a video because my camera ran our of batteries when i got there . Ill get a video on wednesday, and friday for you guys.

I have another question: should i squat and catch the weight on power cleans?

I did them with just going down a couple inches or so to cushion the weight but nothing signifigicant.

My other questions is: When I do my leg excercise for the day that either being bulg squats lunges, or squats afterwards I feel like ****. I dont feel like doing any other excercise. I eat the alot leading up to the time I lift so I dont think food is a problem. why do you think this happens to me?

On power cleans you drop down no more than into a quarter squat to catch the weight after the explosive pull. It's the same for all power oly pulls.