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Deadlift form check for my son

L

Lazarus52980

Senior member
Sorry, another form check request, but this time for deadlift. I actually think this one is decent, but since I am pretty new at coaching, and its my son we are talking about, I am always looking for extra help

The video is here



As always, thank you in advance for any advice or validation.
 
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When I follow the link, I get the video labelled "Timmy Squat 3X11X30lbs 1 6 2013".

I think that's what the confusion is. If you then click the link to all your videos, there's no deadlift videos.
 
dammit, I had a whole thing typed up and accidently hit the back button on my stupid mouse, I'll try this again.

The bar doesn't seem to be making contact with his legs on the way up, as can be seen at ~45 seconds. I'm not sure if he's able to do this and keep good form because of his size, it there isn't a physical limitation try to get him to keep the bar making contact with his leg all the way up.

He also seems to be dropping the bar far away from him, the path up and down should be that same or very similar.

He is also doing what my Oly coach calls stripper lifting. His hips are coming up before his shoulders. Try to have him pull the weight back instead of focusing on lifting the weight up. It sounds counter intuitive but I still have to focus on this, I pull the weight up my shins allowing my shoulder and hips to raise at the same rate rather than breaking the weight off the ground with my legs and keeping that gap between the bar and my legs. Pulling back allows the shoulder to be involved in breaking the bar off the ground and makes the ascent more upright and puts less strain on his lower back.

this is a bit paraphrased and shorter than my original response that was lost but I think you get the general idea.
 
Pantlegz said:
He is also doing what my Oly coach calls stripper lifting. His hips are coming up before his shoulders.
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And when he does that, on some of those lifts his back also gets rounded for an eyeblink before he starts straightening up, which I guess is kind of a separate problem (insufficient tension, or insufficient attention to the back), but is revealed by the mismatch of the movement.

I quite often do a rep split into two parts, first straightening the legs while exactly maintaining the angle of the back (bar still travels touching shins and knees, but separates from the legs before touching thighs), stop for a fraction of a second when legs are locked out, and only then lever the back up which brings the bar back into contact with legs. Doing this seems to carry over into normal reps so that I remember to maintain full tension and a straight back.

Mind you, I'm a complete amateur, so take that with a grain of salt. Actually, I wouldn't mind getting feedback of whether this practice technique makes sense / is nonsense / is dangerous or what.
 
How do you guys avoiding killing your kneecaps? Every time I roll the bar against my shins, I slam my kneecaps to clear my legs to get to my thighs.
 
Lazarus52980 said:
He is 7 years old, and has been lifting for about a year to get to this point... (We have had some tough times getting the form down).

What makes you say he is too young?
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I have been lifting for many years. At my peak I did 585 on the deadlift and after only 4 weeks back dead lifting again after many years not, easily pulled 455 with very little trouble. I am very good dead lifter, but I also lost 4 YEARS because of it. At his age, I would avoid deadlifts and squats. I over developed my lower back muscles to the point I couldn't do anything. I went to chiropractor for about 2 years to get myself straightened out.

Deadlifts and squats are great exercises, but also are two of the exercises where you could sustain lifelong injury. Those movements should be left to when he is a teen, 15 or 16, where he is capable of understanding his own body. No I am not making any waves, but I think he is too young. I could be wrong, but after 25 plus years, at 7, I think you are really playing a tough game, where the risks are greater than the reward.

His form is okay, but you want to keep that bar as close as possible to your body all the way up. So your legs can help you power you through locking it out. Most people allow the weight to drift to far in front of them causing them to involve their lower back more than they should.

Good luck, but be very careful here. Make sure you are getting good guidance with him.
 
classy said:
I have been lifting for many years. At my peak I did 585 on the deadlift and after only 4 weeks back dead lifting again after many years not, easily pulled 455 with very little trouble. I am very good dead lifter, but I also lost 4 YEARS because of it. At his age, I would avoid deadlifts and squats. I over developed my lower back muscles to the point I couldn't do anything. I went to chiropractor for about 2 years to get myself straightened out.

Deadlifts and squats are great exercises, but also are two of the exercises where you could sustain lifelong injury. Those movements should be left to when he is a teen, 15 or 16, where he is capable of understanding his own body. No I am not making any waves, but I think he is too young. I could be wrong, but after 25 plus years, at 7, I think you are really playing a tough game, where the risks are greater than the reward.

His form is okay, but you want to keep that bar as close as possible to your body all the way up. So your legs can help you power you through locking it out. Most people allow the weight to drift to far in front of them causing them to involve their lower back more than they should.

Good luck, but be very careful here. Make sure you are getting good guidance with him.
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I can find the research article, but strength training and weightlifting can be beneficial for child development. The main problem you had was likely due to excessive load. With children, you need to stress form and higher reps until they initiate puberty. With that strategy, lifting weights actually leads to better gross motor skill, coordination, strength, body awareness, etc. Form is paramount though.
 
I can't believe he lifting like that at 6/7 years old. I don't see how it could be beneficial... seems really pointless unless... you want him to be mr. universe.
 
SociallyChallenged said:
I can find the research article, but strength training and weightlifting can be beneficial for child development. The main problem you had was likely due to excessive load. With children, you need to stress form and higher reps until they initiate puberty. With that strategy, lifting weights actually leads to better gross motor skill, coordination, strength, body awareness, etc. Form is paramount though.
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I care a LOT about helping him do the work right. Since I know only so much, I come here (and other places sometimes too) for help checking his form. I learn what I can from the advice I get here, and from others at my church.

If it matters, we do a lot of this kind of work in my home. Timmy is my oldest of 5. I have my 6 year old daughter doing a lot of BW work (she can do 5 pull-ups) and my 4 year old son doing some front squats with dumb bells (he can currently do 3 sets of 11 with 8 lbs with pretty solid form).

My children are home schooled. Lifting and other physical work is part of their schooling.
 
Insomniator said:
I can't believe he lifting like that at 6/7 years old. I don't see how it could be beneficial... seems really pointless unless... you want him to be mr. universe.
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I want him to learn to be disciplined, and to help him to be strong. I don't care if he ever gets big muscles, and even the physical strength is secondary. You have to be disciplined and mentally tough to do this sort of work, and if he learns that at a young age, he will go much further in life.
 
SociallyChallenged said:
I can find the research article, but strength training and weightlifting can be beneficial for child development. The main problem you had was likely due to excessive load. With children, you need to stress form and higher reps until they initiate puberty. With that strategy, lifting weights actually leads to better gross motor skill, coordination, strength, body awareness, etc. Form is paramount though.
Click to expand...

I did not say the little guy shouldn't use weights, I said he shouldn't squat or deadlift at that age. Those excercises should be left to when the kid is in his teens and even then controlled to a point. A 7 year old has way to much development left to risk injuring their back or knees. I am not criticizing Laz at all, if it seems that way I am not. But after years of experience and working out with many many very good lifters, I think 7 is too young for deadlifting or squatting.
 
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