Sumo deadlifting technique

I'm thinking that no matter how long you have been training powerlifting, or weightlifting, or just lifting really heavy weights, it never hurts to take an honest look at your technique, and check if you are (still) doing it right.

Since I have been focusing on squatting the last six months, my deadlift training has gone into maintenance mode. I must admit, I have even skipped some deadlift workouts!

But, although it is not that much fun to deadlift "light weights" if you can talk about deadlifting "light", it can be a good opportunity to check your technique, and perhaps adjust it so you can deadlift even heavier and better after that maintenance period is over.

Youtube is a great and seamingly endless source if powerlifting technique videos. Some videos are better than others.
Today I stumbled upon one of the better sumo deadlift videos, so I thought I'll share, and build it in here so I can remember to check my technique again from time to time.

My biggest challenge in the deadlift, sumo or conventional, is that my setup is getting lost during those really heavy lifts, that is, around my trainig 1RM.

My upper back is not really that upright, and when you'd look at family pictures with family members from my father's side gathered around the dinner table, you would see what I mean - the people are hunched over quite a bit, shoulders rounded forward.

So - that is my biggest challenge - although both my brother and me happily got away with not that heavily rounded upper back (my brother has an athletic lean build, and wide shoulders), for me it kind of feels natural to go let my upper back go round when lifting really heavy, since it just feels natural and stable.

But I assume that something that feels "natural" could as easily mean "normal" "being used to" and not necessarily optimal or right (or safe).

So, I some more technique tweaks to consider in my next deadlift session, whenever that will be!

Have a nice sunday!

And lift heavy and happily! 😊

Squats, squats and more squats...

I am so much looking forward to my squat training today.
That is...not so much high expectations as for being stronger than I was last week, but I finally left my frustration about squatting behind.

Three sets of three reps at 90% of 1RM (=68kg). Depth reached!

I joined this faboulous Facebook group sometimes ago, "Powerlifting Women", and with all those fantastic, strong, honest and inspiring ladies, I finally calmed down and realized: I am not alone with those mobility and technique challenges in my squats.

Honestly, I believe some of us are made for squatting, some are not.
That is to say, I will not use my anatomy or construction as an excuse for bad squatting, but torso-femur length relationship has definitely a lot to say for the way one will be squatting under heavy weight (especially when the weight/the bar is placed on the back and not in front).

So - I know today a lot of work is waiting for me at the gym - my training plan suggests 5x5 at 80% of 1RM, but I may turn that into fewer sets, depending on form.
My current 80% of 1RM would be around 60kg, and evcen though that is not that heavy in itself, it is enough weight to challenge my mobility and stability. And stamina.

Also, I am still waiting for my new weighlifting shoes.
I ordered almost two weeks ago, I guess since they are being stopped at customs, they will eventually arrive, only much later than orders that just go through.

Sunday I was trying to do a "light" squat session, but that didn't go well, so I deadlifted instead, 90%x3x3, for me that was 100kg, calculating from my current theoretical training max at 120kg (and not my PB ever, which was 130kg some months ago).

For the session today, I don't have that much expectations, to be honest, 80% of my 1RM is the weight I like THE LEAST! That is, for 5x5. Both on the bench, when deadlifting or squatting, I almost "hate" 5x5 at 80%.
That particular weight is too "light" to get a kick our of lifting heavy, but at the same time too "heavy" to be performed with five reps, and then do that four more times.

But we'll see how that goes today 🙂

I ordered a belt!

I finally decided to order an ipf-approved powerlifting belt.
A leverbelt.
In pink.
Soooo cute, right?

I finally found out that a solid belt gives more stable and larger surface to press my belly against.
And I think one of my weakest points in my three leifts (actually, especially bench and squat) is keeping a tight body - and pressure around my waist/spine.

I did some benching with my rather soft and narrow belt from Better Bodies, and it helped a lot to hold a stabil position and pressure in my belly.
It felt much more stable and strong!
I also think using a belt while squatting will help me focus on holding my breath and keeping a tight body and better position.

This is 64kg 3x3 - 64kg would be appr 90% of my 1RM.
Beltless.

The belt I ordered was not in stock though, but was about to be ordered from the Norwegian dealer (Kappi). So I'll have to wait, but that's fine!

Pull-ups!

Last spring/summer I had a big goal: to be able to do a wide-grip pull-up.
Bodyweight.

It doesn't sound like a big goal to those who can do several pull-ups, but I have always struggled with them.
I could do chin-ups with a neutral grip, about two or three, and "bicep-focused" chin-ups, that is, with an underhand grip, but not an overhand wide-grip pull-up.

But - I set myself a goal and I made it! I think I even managed two pull-ups with good form, slowly and controlled, no jerking.

Pull-ups on a wide-grip bar summer 2016.

Then I closed the project and focused on deadlifts (so much more fun) and other lifts (baby bench?) - also, for a while in the winter, me and favoritegymbuddy challenged each other for a series of neutral grip chin-ups - both of us had issues with a shoulder, so neutral grips were our choice.

Favoritegymbuddy would suggest a number, and I would do half of those.
Well, he might be almost twice as heavy as me, but he for sure is a heck lot stronger than me (let
's say I can bench 30kg for ten reps - he could bench 200kg for ten reps - so he is almost seven times stronger. Not in the deadlift though, btw)

Well now my left shoulder is completely fine - and I can hang on a straight bar without pain or problems - and doing pull-ups between low bar squats feels so good, it's as though my compressed shoulders and arms and wrists are getting stretched out and decompressed again!

So - I'm starting slowly again, with the second strongest tube I could find (a green one), and started five sets of five reps last week, and did five sets of six reps this week - I am planning to switch to the next tube when I reach ten reps pr set and so on... that worked fine for me last year, and by doing reps with relatively low "weight" I can maintain proper form and still exhaust my muscles and make them grow stronger!

Oh nice - there is perfect lightning at the pull-ups bar... Hello nice back :D

I think pull-ups are a nice as accessory work - so and now that I'm switching from four to three workouts pr week, I'll do them three times a week - and that should give results after a while!

My new powerlifting shoes are here!

Finally, they arrived in the mail, my new powerlifting shoes.

I have had powerlifting shoes from adidas before, the same modell, but this is the upgraded version from 2017, the "ADIDAS Powerlift 3.1".

I ordered them from a Norwegian shop to avoid extra costs, and they had them in this color only, silver, gray and black, but I think they look good and I will not have to think too much about if they match they rest of my colors in my outfit.
And this is something I must admit I do... even if I don't want to... I have this weird thing with colors...

Anyway - compared to the adidas shoes I had before, these are wider in the toes, and kind of softer but still stable. They seem a bit roomy for my fit, but they provide enough support, and they do fit tight to a degree that they were a bit constricting and uncomfortable the first time.

But I think my feet will get used to them. At least I hope. And I will only use them for squatting, to get the little bit of extra heel lift I think I need.

I still prefer my Vibram Fivefingers for all other kind of training. They are just so soft and comfortable, and the good contact to the ground makes them secure and stable for all kinds of lifts and movements.
Only for the bench I was thinking that I could use a bit of extra lift under my heel too, but we'll see about that.

I tried them, but I am still not sure about my squatting technique. This is mainly due to the intense discussions I had with the guys at the gym. And some stupid uneducated comments from a chick at the gym.
I like to keep an open mind and I will discuss my technique - but I cannot stand people telling me what or how to do a thing (squatting) when they themselves cannot do this thing better ("Do you even squat???").

I filmed my first attempts with the PL shoes, and took a screenshot in the bottom position:

Not very deep, right? It's just parallel, but barely. I tried to find a depth where I could still maintain an upright torso - so that's where it stopped - even with elevated heels from the powerlifting shoes!

So -  what to do?
Yesterday I did box squats - I chose the height of the "box" so that I was just below parallel - chose 50kg (appr 70% of my current 1RM that would be around 70kg).
But it didn't feel quite right.
Then again, I have been unusually sore and tired and exhausted for the last week - all I wanted to do is work on my technique. But even 50kg felt too much yesterday.

But the angles look alright to me - the next will be to film it and try to see if the bar goes down and up again in a straight line.

I also found some older screenshots of technique films I made a year ago or so, when I compared my squatting with Fivefingers to my adidas shoes (the former modell was narrow in the front and I had 2/3 sizes bigger shoes - they were too big so I sold them after six months).

Those are HIGH bar squats - I am much more upright in my torso - even with the flat Fivefingers. But those squats were hard on my lower back and hips, they didn't FEEL strong, but painful. Even the elevated heel didn't help to me feeling that squatting was a lower-back exercise....
In addition, on the left picture I use only 40kg, and I can squat 40kg relatively easily...

I also think that the back/hip angle on the right, 50kg with Fiverfingers, doesn't look too bad - but still, high bar squatting for me feels like a lower back or even "upper hip" exercise - I feel them neither in the thighs nor in the glutes...

Switching to low bar squatting was a lot better.
But I know.. it may not look that pretty.
But it feels so much stronger...

Squat stance comparison and squat dephths - my squats!

So - I felt creative today and thought I just take pictures of myself bodyweight squatting as low as possible with different stances, without shoes.

My prefered squat stance is about the same as for sumo deadlifts, those are btw more "half sumo" deadlifts - not so very wide stance compared to many others.

So - I took pictures of six different stances:

1a narrow stance - feet pointing forward
1b wider stance - feet pointing forward
1c very wide stance - feet pointing forward

2a narrow stance - feet 45degrees outwards
2b wider stance - feet 45degrees outwards
2c very wide stance - feet 45degrees outwards

For me, "narrow" stance is shoulder width - it feels really narrow for me, although for most exercises, this is the go-to width.
Wider stance is positioning my feet just outside shoulder width, and very wide stance is the widest stance I can manage to squat in (with body weight and no shoes/flat shoes).

Here are the picture for comparison:

Such huge differences in my dephth!
Narrow stance/shoulder width doesn't work at all for me - I feel like falling over.
Wider stance feels natural, although if I don't point my feet out, there is no way I could squat below paralleL!
The best stance is 2b, feet pointed out and a wider stance - this is how I squat.
I could also do a very wide stance with my feet pointed out - especially goblet squats and front squats are quite easy to do like that, and they feel safe and strong.
But both a high-bar and low-bar squat is definitely best with a medium wide stance.

I do have a hip angle that allows for great range of motion turning my feet/legs outwards.
In most situations, when I sit at a table, I prefer to sit in a lotus position since having my feet "straigt forward and down" feels unomfortable.
That could be a genetic/family thing - I can remember both my and my brother sitting at the dinner table as teenagers, in the "lotus position" - I mean who else does that?

Squat biomechanics - the long femur-short torso challenge - part 1

So - I found those videos here really helpful so I will collect them here.
I think I might to watch them again from time to time - especially when hitting a wall in squatting or when frustration hits, or when I get some stupid less-well researched comments from som guy in the gym.

Video nr.1: