I’ve been going ot the gym for a little while, using GZCLP on Perseus.
Been making steady progress (besides a longer dip after a nasty cold) but I still struggle with deadlifts, especially now that they’re getting a bit heavier.

  1. I got a shit back and inherent anterior pelvic tilt, it’s easy to tweak the lower back for me. I put a lot of emphasis on keeping it straight, neutralizing the tilt and bracing the core to support it.
    Still, sometimes I feel the pinch near the sides of the lumba spine. Any advice to help with that would be phenomenal.

  2. I got stupid knees. They’re not injury prone or anything, but they stick out. Several times now I bruised them pretty severely, mostly on the way down. The bar slides down the quads - as I learned it should - and then bonk into the tissue just above the patella before continuing around the knee.
    What am I doing wrong?

Here’s my form at the moment of impact
Here's my form at the moment of impact

This is roughly where I hit and bruise
This is roughly where I hit and bruise

  • howrar
    5·
    1 year ago

    I can’t help for #1. As for #2, you want the bar to slide against the quads on the way up, but on the way down, you want to bend at the hips first to clear the way for the bar such that you can safely just drop it. The bar should ideally not touch your legs at all on the descent.

    • shapesandstuff@feddit.deOP
      1·
      1 year ago

      The bar should ideally not touch your legs at all on the descent

      hm definitely seeing conflicting advice about this.
      Either way, it seems I’m bending my knees too early. Thanks for the advice to bend at the hips first!

      • Carnelian@lemmy.world
        3·
        1 year ago

        It depends on if you want to do the eccentric/controlled descent or not. You don’t need to for powerlifting so people often don’t. It can be really good for training though.

        If you’re just dropping it then get your legs out of the way, if you’re supporting the load and letting it down slowly then you definitely DO NOT want to suddenly shift the center of mass away from you. If that makes sense

          • Carnelian@lemmy.world
            3·
            1 year ago

            Yeah. It’s a little contentious on the deadlift for some reason. I guess because it tires you out and makes the next rep harder, and people are often training it near their max. Plus stuff like RDLs exist which arguably are better in this context. This is just speculation tho

          • howrar
            3·
            1 year ago

            Slow eccentrics are indeed very good, but you already gain a lot from pulling the weight up, so if a controlled descent leads to injury, you’re going to be making less gains in the long term by doing them. If you can’t do it without hurting yourself and you don’t care about that specific movement, then the best thing you can do is to not do it.

            In any case, you don’t want the bar against your leg on the way down even with a controlled eccentric because then your thigh is supporting a good chunk of the weight instead of having the target muscles take all the load. You don’t need to move very far out to clear your knees.

  • toiletwhole@feddit.de
    5·
    1 year ago

    Yeah a clip would be better. See it all in motion.

    I would already recommend to use different shoes. Something with a flat and hard sole or barefoot.

    • shapesandstuff@feddit.deOP
      1·
      1 year ago

      Thanks! Yeah these are generic ‘training shoes’ that I use for fencing and gym.

      I’ll have to remember to take a better clip next time, there were far too many people in the background of this one.

  • Delphia@lemmy.world
    2·
    1 year ago

    Neoprene knee sleeves and a decent width weight belt will probably provide some benefit to both.

    You can brace your core much better with a belt and neoprene sleeves will atleast provide some cushioning from the accidental impacts.

    Its hard to comment on form from one pic, especially mid lift. Id be more interested to see your setup.

    • shapesandstuff@feddit.deOP
      1·
      1 year ago

      Thanks for the gear advice!
      Here’s another snap:

      Setup

      Sorry bout the messy crop, there were a lot of people moving about.

      • Delphia@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 year ago

        Now its kind of hard to tell with the dark pants and dark weight plates but I’m no expert but it looks to me like your shins are just a little too far out from the bar, your ass needs to come up a bit more loading your hamstrings just a little more and your shoulders need to come a little further forward over the bar.

        • shapesandstuff@feddit.deOP
          1·
          1 year ago

          From the tutorial vid linked in the thread I’d say you’re right! Thanks for taking the time, I got some good pointers to work on.

          • Delphia@lemmy.world
            2·
            1 year ago

            No problem. Gear isnt a cure for bad form but I have shit knees and Im almost 40 so I worry about my back too. I dont have a back injury, but I dont want one either.

            Once I started wearing them for heavier lifts it took a bit of the stress out of it for me. “Im belted up and I’ve got my sleeves on, short of not lifting I’m doing everything I can to prevent injury… now focus.”

  • theunfounded@lemmy.oneEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    I’m not a doctor.

    Try adding a good full body warmup by rowing/jump rope etc for 5-10 minutes followed by a light weighted mobility drill like this https://youtu.be/liuvRkaVGhk?feature=shared

    Do the warmup and mobility drills everyday. Your focus needs to be on having good form, its not about speed or strength its about the motion. Do an extra set of 20 slow, easy good mornings opposite your daily mobility work, ie if you work out in the evening do the good mornings in the morning. You will increase that hinging motion by hundreds of reps every week and that will improve your ability to DL.

    Changing up your style of DLs after a progression cycle will help keep you from getting bored and incorporate different little muscles.