Doug LarsonEvery lift begins with the back.
It’s the bridge between the barbell and the ground under your feet, and usually the first thing to fail when the load gets too heavy.
The key to moving safer, better, and faster is getting into the best possible position. It’s about identifying the real cause of your bent back and then removing those restrictions, starting from the ground up.
Learn to stand-up tall and straight, because that’s when you’ll begin to lift without limitation.
We hope you enjoy the show. Watch and share with a friend who could use this training advice!
Cheers,
Chris
I’m only half way through the video – just cos i’m at work and have to keep heading in and out, but what was the 1 stretch that Mike had to do for a month/couple of months to get his hip ROM back to where it needed to be.
-I’m a chronic rounder, my back gets set in a semi rounded position generally despite loading, it doesn’t deviate further unless the load is super heavy. I just can’t seem to reach the barbell with a flat back. I’m married so it won’t help me get laid anyway, but i gotta get this right.
I’d have to check back with him. don’t recall.
In order to keep lifting, I decided to try DL from the blocks, recorded it and just went to end ROM with some weight. To my horror, I was struggling to maintain a flat back when initiating the lift with anything above ~80kg. Blocks were at an awkward height but still… I tried 120kg thinking it should be easy, it’s not even a full DL, I couldn’t lift it without compromising slightly – smashed my ego in the face with a barbell.
What I have learned: I NEED to get stronger in the back, the correct muscles are now sore from that lesson – it was low volume too – and I still need to get that mobility sussed out.
In short – thanks for reducing my DL loading BS 😉 I just have to take the long term view that this will help me break through plateaus in the future.
I’d love to hear what that stretch was as well!
Did you check with Mike?
I may be too little too late, but I got a moderate back injury about a year ago in crossfit doing a WOD with too heavy weight on my deadlifts, (not a slipped disc or anything), took a couple months off to heal.. but even now when I do a WOD w/deadlifts, my back still bothers me afterwards (soreness, tension), more with deadlifts than cleans or anything else. I’ve lowered my weights and focus on form of course, but what can you recommend for strengthening the lower back so I can stop the pain afterwards? Specific workouts maybe? Thanks guys 🙂
I think you probably just do too much each time you deadlift. Try making good form and speed your goal. Lift moderate loads…60-80%, for sets of 1-5 reps. Pull perfectly, and keep the weight light. Also, avoid high repetition WOD’s with pulling movements. It’s too hard to recover from usually.
Great episode guys. I love how even the garage door opener is a “LiftMaster-Professional”!
🙂
why no comments about the crossfire games or Grid .. Would like to hear what you guys think about both. Max Shank would be a great interview.
We did a BUNCH of NPGL/Grid stuff when it launched. Did you miss that?
Episodes 191 and 192 were posted to iTunes but not to Stitcher. Please tell me you haven’t given up on Stitcher. Have you?
I noticed that as well! I have an android phone and listen to my other podcasts on stitcher. I noticed barbell shrugged didn’t load last week and I figured it was a fluke. Please let us know what the deal is. If you are done with stitcher, let us know what android podcast service you guys use. Thanks!
We submit the show to one podcast service, which then pumps it out to all hosts, including iTunes and Stitcher. It’s not our doing. Something’s wrong on the Stitcher side…Working on it.
i love Stitcher too! 🙂
I commented on insta about this and had a follow up question. You mentioned technical maxs instead of trying to PR everything with poor technique. Being a hockey player, I think it’s critcal to be as technical as possible in the gym because the game can be so taxing on the body where most sports gyms look at how much weight you can put up rather then form. Was wondering if you guys have something or are coming up with a testing protocal for strength which have guidelines for specific lifts so that accurate testing can be done to see where an athlete is actually at physically? This can also lead into weaknesses that need to be addressed.
Thanks for talking about ankle mobility and the squat. I talk to people about this all the time and about how ankle mobility can effect so many positions when it come to squats, deadlifts and more; good points made!
It’s missed all the time. Cheers 🙂
This was easily the most eye opening episode I have watched. I played basketball through college. Although I am only 6’3″ I still struggle with positioning in certain lifts. It’s not as obvious with my squat but as soon as I tried overhead squat it was pretty obvious my ankles are the issue. Thanks for the help and can’t wait for some fresh episodes!
Thanks for watching, Zac. Glad you dug the episode. 🙂
[…] Quit Rounding Your Back, Or You’ll Lose All Your Friends by Barbell […]