Confused over deadlifts...

**Terinox** · 01-23-2002, 03:43 PM

I'm not sure I got this right. But do you bend your legs when doing deadlifts? Are there different ways of doing it? When I did them, a while back, I would bend my legs and bring the bar down to my toes. I've seen guys do it at the gym where they keep their legs straight.

Could someone plz tell me exactly how to do it...step by step, in detail?

Thnx
Terinox

**KeyMastur** · 01-23-2002, 04:11 PM

I bend my legs just slightly, but keep the back straight and look forward when I go down. Here's a small "video" from Men's Health that shows dumbell deadlifts :

http://www.menshealth.com/personaltr..._deadlift.html

**gorilla** · 01-23-2002, 04:56 PM

you may be confusing two different movements

1 stiff legged dead lifts=hams
2. romanian/traditional deadlifts=lower back, traps, legs, and about 100000 assesory muscles

either one you must keep your back straight and chest stuck out

gorilla

**Terinox** · 01-23-2002, 05:27 PM

Hay Keymaster, thnx for the vid...so from what I saw, you keep your legs straight (the guy did) and just bend over straight, keeping back straight.

Terinox

**Billy Boy** · 01-24-2002, 06:23 AM

Do stiff legged deadlifts for your legs i find this one great for stretching and building hams

Romanian Deadlifts work the lower back and everything else as secondary.This is a fantastic excercise and one you can pack some serious weight on the bar.Keep the knees slightly bent.

Sumo this is the same type of dead lift but with the legs in a sumo stance again great for legs and works back as secondary muscle.

Overall IMO the deadlift is a great mass gainer and I do it at least once a week.Makesure you use good form though.I hurt my back quite bad and it has been about 5mths since I done them but last night was the first time but I only managed 170kg before the back started to ache

Remember technique is better than weight.

**gorilla** · 01-24-2002, 06:48 AM

Ill second BILLY BOYS comment..for mass its a must

**KeyMastur** · 01-24-2002, 07:02 AM

oh, and Ter. - you want a good leg / low back workout ? this goes for everyone....know who Adam Archuletta is (US residents should). drafted by the Ram's last year, 5th pick overall or something like that. Anyways, they showed some videos of his workouts and I tried one the other day with some buddies. Here's how it goes :

you lay on the floor (on a mat for comfort), face down. have someone hold your ankles down. now you try to pull yourself up (backwards), bending at the knee. you can give yourself a push by doing a push-up to help you get started. try to go slow on the way back down. you want to try to keep everything from your knee to your head straight as you come up.

if you need, i'll post pics showing how to do it. it's very hard to do w/o an assisted push-up for the first time, and it'll make your hammies tight as a rock for a few days - but feels great. we followed this up with deadlifts and i was hurting like a mofo the the next day.

**Terinox** · 01-24-2002, 10:38 AM

Sounds good Key, but I think I'm interested in lower back exercises, for I get a lot of pains when standing up in some positions (like doing the dishes, brushing teeth) sometimes the lower back begins to ache. Can you gimme suggested exercises for the lower back? We do have a machine, you sit on, and push backwards with your back (well duh), and so I'm going to give that a shot on my Back workout day, which is Friday. But any other good exercises will help me out a lot, thnx.

Terinox

**KeyMastur** · 01-24-2002, 12:02 PM

as for low-back exercises, i'd say one of the better things is the Theraband Balls. i'd tell you some exercises, but they are very hard to explain. i know they come with a poster that shows how to do them, which is good. i strained / pinched a nerve last year and was doing low back exercises that my trainer (not personal trainer, like medical trainer) showed me. anyways, they have different variations of stuff to do and work very well. i know of the machine you're speaking of and i hate it. is yours a Cybex ?

here's the site's page

http://www.thera-band.com/exercise_ball.html

but i'm sure your gym has the balls. i use the blue and green ones.

you can also use these for ab work too, and they put a hurtin on ya.

**GhostFace** · 01-24-2002, 03:36 PM

Don´t laugh at me but....tomorrow I will do my very first deadlifts ever.
After I´ve read some of your posts and some more on some other discussionboards, I think I´ve come to the conclusion that deadlifts are a "must-do" exercise in my training to make some progress in my leg development.

I´ll begin slow and with light weights, probably raise a few eyebrows in the gym, but what the hell...we´re all beginners in some exercises, sometime in our training lifestyles anyway...

It´s a high risk exercise for the back if it´s done wrong, what I´ve heard?

**Socio** · 01-28-2002, 05:11 AM

SOrry i didnt like that video of the deadlifts from Mens Health dont forget to keep the back tight and arched. .... wehn ur doing deads with over 300lbs it makes it a bit harder but if u dont do it ... that lower back loves to get hurt!

**bex** · 01-28-2002, 05:30 AM

If you have never done deadlifts before just start with the bar only untill you have mastered the technique ...I have seen so many injuries with people who have got bad form ....

**GhostFace** · 01-28-2002, 08:06 AM

Yeah, I did deadlifts yesterday, 4-5 sets with 15 reps with some really light weights...
Of all of my bodyparts, deadlifts kicked my lower back severe...I had a tremendous pump in my lower back. The quads did get some pump as well.
Next time I´ll do more deadlifts, but at the same weight, as mentioned before; progress takes time. And I don´t need a back injury either...so, the longer time it takes to make the exercise perfect, the better. For myself.