Lining up for deadlifts?

[Sam]

How do you line up for a deadlift?

Do you have your shoulders over the bar and shins against the bar like Rippetoe advises, or do have your shoulders behind the bar and the bar away from your shins like Dave Tate advises?

[RagingBull666]

I don't care for the way Dave Tate advises folks to deadlift. I have a lifter I work with and it's taken me two years to get him away from that and he is pulling much better than before.

I have them line up with shins about 1/4" to 1/2" off the bar, shoulders over the bar. We "flex" down to the bar, pulling ourselves down so hard that the bar will just POP right off the floor and almost catch you by surprise. You just carry through on that speed to lockout. SS, RB

[IliekFude]

I walk up to the bar, get my feet the way i like em, do a few practice grabs / grips and just get set and the bar rolls to wherever is optimal for your stance if you let it - then rip.

[Blut Wump]

I'm with 'Fude. I just do what comes naturally.

If you're having trouble finding your comfortable point to pull from, do a rep and then note where you and the bar are as you lower the bar back to the ground. Unless you're trying to invoke a stretch reflex boost by bouncing out of the bottom, that position is likely to be a good one to work around to address the bar with.

I think that learning to flex as you grip the bar and learning to control tension in your abs is a more important part of the setup than any real precision in position, though.

[Beverly McD.]

We set up much like RB does. Note that he says shoulders over the bar, not in front of the bar.

[Pan]

Rippetoe is coaching a deadlift style that is more in line with the pull phase of the olympic lifts, a totally different way of getting the bar off the floor. Generally in a deadlift it goes pretty much as what has been said above.

In an olympic pull the shoulders remain over the bar, the legs straighten first and then the torso whips up at the end of the extension. This style of pulling gives it the S-shaped curve that is touted as the most biomechanically efficient way of cleaning and snatching the barbell.

[GFH]

I get up there, line up to the middle eyes on my chucks, drop down fast, head into the traps and yank.

[Evidence]

Rippetoe is coaching a deadlift style that is more in line with the pull phase of the olympic lifts, a totally different way of getting the bar off the floor. Generally in a deadlift it goes pretty much as what has been said above.

In an olympic pull the shoulders remain over the bar, the legs straighten first and then the torso whips up at the end of the extension. This style of pulling gives it the S-shaped curve that is touted as the most biomechanically efficient way of cleaning and snatching the barbell.


and just keep the bar as close to your body as you possibly can from beginning to end.

[Pixie]

I have them line up with shins about 1/4" to 1/2" off the bar, shoulders over the bar. We "flex" down to the bar, pulling ourselves down so hard that the bar will just POP right off the floor and almost catch you by surprise. You just carry through on that speed to lockout. SS, RB

I tend to do this, but I start with the bar further away than 1/4-1/2" and I don't need to "pull" myself down to the bar. I have more than enough flexibility to get there with my knees straight even. What I do at the initiation of the (conventional) pull is more like a sumo pull where I sit back until I have to stand up or I'll fall. My shoulders are still over the bar (not behind) and as I ascend I gradually pull the bar closer to me, touching my legs at about knee height. I've been told it's quick, but it feels like it takes 3 days to lock the sucker out.

[Sam]

I have them line up with shins about 1/4" to 1/2" off the bar, shoulders over the bar. We "flex" down to the bar, pulling ourselves down so hard that the bar will just POP right off the floor and almost catch you by surprise. You just carry through on that speed to lockout. SS, RB

Do you perhaps have a video of the way you or the people you train deadlift? I think I understand what you mean but a visual would be nice :)

[A L]

Do you perhaps have a video of the way you or the people you train deadlift? I think I understand what you mean but a visual would be nice :)

YouTube - Horrible Form Deadlift - Brokeback Mountain lolz (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0ySblouCKs)

This is one of RB's top lifters

:weightlifter:

[IliekFude]

3 whites!

[RagingBull666]

YouTube - Horrible Form Deadlift - Brokeback Mountain lolz (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0ySblouCKs)

This is one of RB's top lifters

:weightlifter:

That's not nice at all!! LOL!!

[RagingBull666]

Do you perhaps have a video of the way you or the people you train deadlift? I think I understand what you mean but a visual would be nice :)

I'll shoot a video of our next workout and get it posted. SS, RB

[Sam]

Thanks that would be awesome!

[CJB]

I pretty much walk up to bar so my shins are touching it, squat down and pick it up trying to keep the bar as close to my body as possible. I have short legs, a long torso, and sort little t-rex arms. No way in hell I can keep my shoulders behind the bar before I start the pull.