I have been deadlifting for quite a while. My goal still remains a double body weight deadlift as it has been since last year. So far it has remained elusive. Partly because I've had to manage some injuries/dysfunctions and partly because I lose motivation at times just like everyone else. It's a long time to have a goal that hasn't been achieved. Currently I am aiming at doing some form of deadlifting 5 times a week to get to my goal by the end of this year. This obviously takes a lot of management, as hitting the same muscle group everyday can cause issues the least being that you will always be sore if you're not taking enough time to recover and not being smart with the workload.
Every time I start deadlifting consistently I notice a lot of tightness high in my left hamstring, obviously it is being put under more load than it can handle. I have tried to manage it in the past by taking a break, working on single leg deadlifts, trying to mobilise the hip and strengthen the glute. It clearly hasn't worked as much as I'd like so I have to keep looking for new ways to work on it. I have always been tighter through my left hip than my right and have noticed when I deadlift that my right knee can push out easier than my left.
Sometimes we need to really be conscious of the way we're moving. I like to think I really pay close attention to how I move especially when training but I still haven't noticed what's going in my hamstrings enough to change it. This video is me slowing my deadlifts right down with light weight, both to manage my workload and to really get conscious about what I'm doing.
You can see how much time I take to set up, I make sure my feet are even, grounded and in the right position. Next is the grip, I make sure to press the base of my thumb and palm as far around the bar as I can and wrap my fingers around as far as possible, then lock my thumb across the fingers. Next is to set the hips, sometimes I do this before the grip to work the hip hinge movement on the way down. My focus is to keep the pelvis neutral in relation to the spine so compared to the legs your pelvis will be rotated forward to place the load on the glutes and hamstrings and minimise the load on the lower back. It is at this point that I notice the tension through my left hamstring, right up near my glute.
Now I have to be really aware, my body has created a pattern of movement which keeps the left hip locked up compared to the right. I have to focus on pushing the left knee out and I notice a stretch through the outside of that hamstring, not a feeling I'm used to with deadlifts. That would tell me that I have been subconsciously avoiding moving into the tightness which has created excess load through another part of the hamstring (there are 3 muscles in the hamstring). So by being very conscious and keeping the reps slow I can maintain the new form I'm trying to create.
Then I make sure my back is in neutral or slight extension by creating some tension through my lower back and abs and ensuring my 'tailbone' is pulled away from my ribs . I then lock out my elbows by pushing the inside of my elbows forward, draw my shoulders into my hips by squeezing my lats. I shift my balance so it's even through my whole foot (heel and toes) without losing my hip position and adjust my head and neck into a neutral position.
During the lift I focus on pushing through my feet, maintaining tension through my back and abs so all the movement is coming from the legs and hips. I am pushing down through the floor as though I'm trying to lift off through the ceiling not just leaning back and losing tension through my abs.
Now to go back to what I'm trying to fix at the moment. This is one of 2 main points of this article so I need to reiterate. Your body will resort to subconscious patterns if you are not paying attention, the idea is that by staying conscious while learning a new skill you will make your subconscious patterns effective. However if you just try to push through reps or lift super heavy before building the foundation you are essentially rolling the dice. What your body (muscles, fascia and nervous system) will come up with to lift that weight will be based on what you have wired into it up to that point through the way you have moved previously. If you sit in a flexed spine position most of the day, when deadlifting your spine will automatically go into flexion unless you are consciously extending.
In the short term this will be your strongest position so it may not feel that bad but joints and tissues can only handle so much of one movement before the stress becomes to much and pain and injury occur. Spine flexion is an obvious and common one, it gets far more subtle from there (such as my slight difference in hip rotation from left to right). If we can be more conscious of the way we move at the gym but also throughout the day we can fix a lot of long term pain and joint dysfunction.
The second point to the article is around the intensity of your workout. As I discussed above, I'm trying to deadlift 5 times per week. If I don't manage the workload my nervous system would be fried and I'd be sore all the time. The point is it doesn't have to be an insane push-to-your-limits sweat fest every time you train, you don't have to lift to failure everytime. There is definitely a time and a place for that but it can't be all the time, especially if you need to learn a new skill or correct a dysfunction. It's like taking 1 step back to take 3 steps forward. You can play around with weights, rep ranges, sets and speed of your lift. Allow yourself to learn more about your body. These slow deadlifts I found incredibly valuable, I was able to really feel how I've been unbalanced with the lift and work on strengthening a weakness.
If I start going heavy again straight away it is very likely my body will switch back to the stronger, fixed pattern so I will need to be a little patient and very conscious. Maybe that has been the chink stopping me from lifting any heavier, when the body senses danger the nervous system shuts down. The analogy with my deadlifts is that as I push past my max weight my nervous system feels it's dangerous to put that much load through the tight hamstring muscle and will cut off the signal to the muscles to contract. By strengthening the weakness I will spread the load better across the hamstring muscles and hopefully this was one of the big missing pieces and it helps me get that lift!
You don't have to know all the muscles, you just have to be willing to pay attention. What feels good, what doesn't? Is one side easier, better, stronger than the other. What feels different? Explore your movement. Be conscious.
