Based on your experience and your question, it seems like you're placing your emphasis on the weight you're performing, not how you're performing it. A good lift for a 180 lb dude is one he can perform properly; a shitty lift is one he performs improperly. More weight will come naturally when you do lifts correctly. If you shoot for a certain weight you'll tend to do what it takes to move it, meaning you'll likely compensate. Unfortunately compensation leads either to you hitting a plateau or you getting injured. That's just the way it is.
jackbquick:
Trainers are like mechanics, it's tricky finding one who both understands how the body works and who you can trust. Too many awful trainers out there because there's no real regulation or standards within the industry. There are certifications and degrees though that (generally) mean more than others. Not that I'm a company man but I'm a firm believer in the NASM certification's philosophy and instruction. If you're a member of gym look to see if anyone has that cert, and ideally he/she abides by its principles (some with the cert still don't unfortunately).
So if you find someone who seems legit maybe get a session or three and try to absorb the verbal/visual/tactile cues you're given.... "turn your feet inwards," "straighten your back," "tuck your chin in," etc. Regarding technique, trainers are valuable because he/she can see you move in countless more what in which you can and make adjustment accordingly. If you're TRAINED the right way then you'll MOVE the right way on your own.
So from there, when you work on your own, try to concentrate on the cues you've learned and try to perform exercises as crisply as possible. If at a gym, use its mirrors as much as possible to observe your form. Don't go out of your way obviously. Like training wheels mirrors are a learning tool, and you should eventually progress from relying on them.
O yeah, NSCA and ACSM are also solid certs to look out for in potential trainers. I'm taking NSCA-CSCS at the moment, so it's not like I think NASM alone is the end of the rainbow; it's just that from what I understand, NASM provides the best base for any given trainer to work from. Again it's his/her job to use it in practice though
2x body weight in the squat and Dead. 1.5x body weight in the bench.
That's considered good by most accounts I have read.
There is a really good article on the Deadlift by Dave Tate on Elite lifts website and another great resource for all kinds of information regarding exercises is www.t-nation.com you can use the search function and look up the deadlift.
Ruledogg, as regards a coach to learn the lift properly, I was thinking of a university strength and conditioning coach, or a coach/trainer at a serious lifting gym, rather than going to a regular gym where probably hardly anyone deadlifts, and the staff is probably not that experienced.
At a lot of run of the mill gyms, my feeling is that some of the trainers might not know any more than you do. Like going to Circuit City and asking for information from the staff, sometimes I realize that I'm better informed on the subject than they are.
So for that reason I was trying to figure out where to find a good coach who REALLY knows their stuff regarding serious lifting, like a university lifting coach or something.
Drive with your heels in the ground. Once you get it down good you can start adding on weight but you will plateau. I went from 315 to 485 pretty quickly once I started doing them on a regular basis. But cant seem to get past 485 and messed up my back laying down of all things so they are out right now, cant wait to start them back.
Hands down one of the best lifts you can do period.
I have a bad back, and deadlifts have helped tremendously. Arch your lower back and 'lock it' and look at the ceiling the whole time you perform the lift. That keeps your spine 'locked' in a very strong position. If you feel that posture 'break', the weights too heavy and you should just drop the bar. That's what worked for me anyway.
"I have a bad back, and deadlifts have helped tremendously. Arch your lower back and 'lock it' and look at the ceiling the whole time you perform the lift. That keeps your spine 'locked' in a very strong position. If you feel that posture 'break', the weights too heavy and you should just drop the bar. That's what worked for me anyway."
But cant seem to get past 485 and messed up my back laying down of all things so they are out right now, cant wait to start them back."
When you begin lifting again, keep in mind that you messed up your back doing flawed 485 lb deadlifts, not from the act of laying down. The human body is designed to plateau doing the same exercises indefinitely so it's the exercises that need to change in order to progress.
On that note, when most people lift there's too much emphasis on sagittal plane movement, not enough on frontal or transverse. Properly performed deadlifts are excellent exercises but they're also 100% sagittal.
"On that note, when most people lift there's too much emphasis on sagittal plane movement, not enough on frontal or transverse. Properly performed deadlifts are excellent exercises but they're also 100% sagittal."
Thanks for clearing that up, because we all know exactly what you're talking about :P
Sagittal movements confined to a front/back plane, and usually involve extension/flexion of joint. Pressing, Squating (deadlifts), running, curls, etc are sagittal
Frontal movements are side to side in nature, usually involved abduction and adduction. Ski hops, Tube walking, Jumping jacks, etc
Transverse movements involve rotational paths across the body's midline. General swinging, throwing, twisting, etc
Athletes constantly rely on frontal and transverse movements but traditionally they are ignored; in turn, most injuries occur during motions in the transverse plane while decelerating force. Anything from dodging a tackler to laying down on a sofa would be an example of this motion
"in turn, most injuries occur during motions in the transverse plane while decelerating force."
LOL. I believe that! I was on my way to training one evening, carrying a bag over my shoulder, I went to turn around to close the door on the way out.. Well, my bag got momentum and spun the the upper half of my body the opposite direction.. Caused a tear on my right trapezius, and I near collapsed.. Was SO embarressing.
This lift really seems to be helping my back pain. Every time I do it my back feels much better afterwards and the next day. The cool thing is I've only been doing it with the bar plus 20 pounds, working on my technique. Can't wait to work into bigger numbers, I think I'm going to feel great then.
I think the pain and discomfort I'm experiencing and have been experiencing in my low back for a few years is mostly due to weak back muscles. I think that's why doing this deadlift appears to be helping so much.
Thank you Pavel Tsatsouline! If the deadlift eventually completely eliminates my back problems I will be the happiest person, and I will be very grateful to you.
I agree with the helping with lower back problems....have recently had some prolems, past eight months, and doing dead lifts along with other back strenghteners has help tremendously...i do straight leg dead's (actual slight bend in knees), these seem to work fine for me...would love to try full out deads and other olympic lifts, once my back is completely healed...
Gorilla, awesome. Do you have any links, etc. for straight leg deadlifts? What got you doing those instead of traditionals? What other "back strenghteners" do you do?