Form Check Deadlift

[AdamP]

I'm on week for 4 of the Beginner template this was the last set of deadlifts. 145x8x1 @ RPE8.

The bar path is definitely not straight, but overall I think I've got decent form. May be hard to tell back flexion since I am in double layers (25 degrees in the garage)

Thanks in advance!

[Nate B]

Hey Adam,

These look great! Your starting position is good as well as your bar path and back angle. If I really wanted to nitpick, I would advise you to be sure you keep pulling the bar into you with your lats as you pull. Also, try to load your posterior chain and pull yourself into the bar a little bit more before you start to push the floor away - I feel like we can all afford to get a little tighter and pull more slack out of the bar

I try to not question individual's RPE ratings since there is certainly a "feel" element to it, but these looked waaayyy too easy to be an RPE 8 based on the bar speed. In an RPE 8 set, there should typically be an easily discernible (as in a completely untrained eye would notice it) slowdown in bar speed from the first rep to the last, and all these reps looked the same speed to me. I'm not completely familiar with the beginner template, but it has you choose loads based on prescribed RPE targets, correct? This is my one real gripe with BBM's programming philosophy (I tend to agree with pretty much everything else they do). IMO, it's unrealistic and unproductive to ask a beginner to choose their training loads based on RPE targets. It's nearly impossible for beginners to assess RPE even remotely accurately since they are both still learning the movements and have presumably never pushed themselves to failure before - how are you supposed to know if you have roughly 2 reps in the tank when you have no frame of reference?

Sorry for ranting a bit. Basically, your technique looks very solid. Feel free to get a little more aggressive with your load selections since your technique is good and you seem to be drastically undershooting your RPE targets.

[AdamP]

Thanks Nate appreciate the feedback. The one thing I think I could fix after watching the video more is my hips might be a bit high.

You make a great point about bar speed. I may be getting in my own head about what a "hard" set feels like, but that I could really be doing more. I've been thinking that since I have had zero DOMS since the first workout 3 weeks ago (which has definitely been nice, but is making me think that I am taking it too easy on my weight progression).

That said, I have started to fail some reps on the bench and overhead press. I could use to post some videos of those probably.

Your feedback was very motivating, especially since I have had very low energy going into my last couple training sessions. Going to hit it extra hard tomorrow!

[Nate B]

It’s possible your hips may be a tad high, and fixing this could help you get a little more leg drive off the floor. You could remedy that by simply bringing your knees a little more forward. A good rule of thumb that I’ve used in the past is to align the front of your knees flush with the front of your arms. This almost always produces the desired hip height and body position in general. I don’t think you’re horribly out of position right now or anything, though, but maybe as the loads get heavier it might expose some flaws. Otherwise, you’re great!

DOMS will start to become less severe as your body gets more accustomed to training. Not experiencing them after a while is totally normal. Feel free to post some vids of your bench and press. I will say that it’s entirely possible that your “feel” for upper body vs lower body movements is different and that you’re overshooting your presses while undershooting your deads. I’m actually the same way. I tend to overshoot my RPE on bench way more often than I will for squat or deadlift, and will actually bias toward undershooting for deadlift. Probably something to do with the size of the muscles involved and how that relates to the margin for error with technique, but who knows for sure.

Glad you found some motivation! I’d personally find it quite difficult to get hyped up to train in a 25 degree garage, too haha. Take some caffeine, turn on the space heater, and get out there and crush it!