Out of the three types of deadlift -- conventional, stiff-legged and sumo -- in only one of them do your shoulders ever wind up in front of the bar. Your shoulders never start in front of the bar. While the deadlift works your back, you should deadlift in the manner that produces the least strain on your spine, which means keeping your hips low whenever possible. Consult a health-care practitioner before beginning any strength training program.
Shoulder Position
Your back is subjected to two types of force when deadlifting -- compressive and shearing. Compressive force runs up and down your spine in a straight line and remains well tolerated by the discs of your spinal column. Shearing force gets directed at your spine at an angle, and your spine does not tolerate this as well. The further your shoulders go forward, the more shearing force your lower spine is subjected to. When pulling a deadlift from the floor, if your shoulders are forward you not only subject your spine to more shearing force, you do so from a dead stop, which makes the muscles work even harder in a position of poor leverage.
Conventional Deadlift
While it can sometimes be difficult to start with your shoulders behind the bar, in a conventional deadlift this requires you to push your hips back. By sitting back with your hips and bending at your knees, your shoulders wind up behind the bar; if they do not, push your hips down and back more. This also allows you to generate more power from your legs, further easing the strain on your lower back.
Sumo
The sumo deadlift requires you to start with your shoulders behind the barbell. If you do not do this, you are not performing the lift correctly. With your feet wide, possibly even close to the plates on an Olympic barbell, push your knees out and your hips straight down. To pull the bar off of the floor, your knees go out farther and your hips come forward until your torso gets vertical. You then push with your legs and drive the bar off of the floor.
Stiff-legged Deadlift
The stiff-legged deadlift starts out like a conventional deadlift. You pull it from the floor in the same manner, with your shoulders behind the bar. At the top, bend your knees slightly, then lean forward to the limit of your flexibility without allowing your back to round. During the lift, your shoulders will go in front of the bar. If they do not, you are allowing the barbell to swing out from your body, which also increases the strain on your lower back. You must use less weight on this exercise than on the conventional deadlift.
References
- "Neuromechanics of Human Movement -- Fourth Edition"; Roger M. Enoka; 2008
- "The Westside Barbell Book of Methods"; Louie Simmons; 2008
Member Comments