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(Martin Levac @ Oct. 28 2007,21:26)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">The deadlift is a fundamental lift that we perform every day of our lives. It's best to learn to do it properly. For the deadlift, the back serves to transmit force from the legs to the arms. It must be stabilized by inhaling and holding the breath to create internal abdominal pressure. The pelvis must be tilted forward. The buttocks must be pushed back. The head must be held back to promote a straight back. Caution, straight does not mean vertical. The lower back must especially be kept straight or slightly arched (concave) since that's where the greatest load is focused. The object we lift must be as close to the body as possible without interfering with the movement of the body. It takes practice but once we learn how to do it properly, we can lift very heavy objects with very little risk of injury.</div>
I quote myself to put the text in the proper perspective and to consider everything that must be done to lift and lower the bar safely. Mark Rippetoe defined the starting position with these three requirements:
- Back straight
- Shoulder blades over the bar with arms fully extended
- Shins touching the bar
He defined these requirements because it's the safest, easiest and most efficient starting position. This means that any other starting position can be considered less safe. If it's the safest starting position, it must be equally safe when we lower the weight. So we should try to lower the weight to finish in the starting position. Right?
Let's see what must be done to lift the bar safely and see if we can do it when we lower the bar.
- The back serves to transmit force from the legs to the arms
- The back must be stabilized by inhaling and holding breath to create internal abdominal pressure
- The pelvis must be tilted forward
- The buttocks must be pushed back
- The head must be held back to promote a straight back
- The lower back must especially be kept straight since that's where the greatest load is focused
- The bar must be as close to the body without interfering with the movement of the body
- The deadlift is a legs movement, we must push down with the legs
Now add one more requirement to lower the bar slowly
- We must lift the bar first
Like Quadancer and LOL wrote, it's not easy to re-pressurize the abdomen to stabilize the back (actually it's to stabilize the entire torso) especially after having lifted the bar and while still holding it at the top. I think it's downright impossible to achieve the same internal pressure when we're holding 100kg+. I think it's very difficult if not impossible to do everything listed above when we lower the bar slowly. I think it's safer to lower the bar as quickly as we can.
Flexibility
It just occurred to me that maybe you have some difficulty making your back straight. Maybe it's a problem with flexibility in the hamstrings. The hamstrings pull down on the pelvis so it tilts backward. When we're flexible in the hamstrings, we can tilt the pelvis forward more easily. A simple test is to stand with your legs straight, bend at the hips and try to touch the floor with your hands without bending the knees. (from Mark Rippetoe) To stretch the hamstrings, squat down, put your fingertips under your toes, make your back as straight as you can, push your buttocks as high as you can, hold for 30 seconds. Do that 3 times a week for the rest of your life. He says it takes about 3 weeks to see a major improvement in flexibility.
