The deadlift set-up is easy, says Kelly Starrett: get stiff, load the hips, send the knees forward, pull back, stand up. It’s a strategy athletes should use every time they approach the barbell, and it becomes increasingly important when they’re tired, he says.
“We want to do the same thing every time, particularly when it becomes a complex motor skill and all of a sudden there’s a lot of things going on—I’m breathing hard, I’m almost in the pain cave, I really can’t see anything, but there’s 150,000 people cheering for me and everything’s getting small,” Starrett says.
He adds: “I need to be able to walk up to the bar and get stiff and pull without having to make this a very conscious move. And so I want my default patterning to be safe and effective and efficient and the same every time.”
In his Movement and Mobility Trainer Course, Starrett advises the class to tighten up the belly and squeeze the butt. The priority should be on spinal mechanics first, then loading from the hip and hamstring down.
13min 18sec
Additional reading: The Forgotten Part of the Deadlift by John Zimmer, published Dec. 7, 2011.
Download
Comment
Related Articles
Box jumps are mainly about jumping onto a box. Simple, right? But like any CrossFit movement, you can always add a good dose of virtuosity for increased speed, efficiency and grace.
In this video, movement and mobility expert Kelly Starrett talks about lengthening the muscle via proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, or PNF.
To illustrate, he has class participants get into… Continue Reading
Externally rotating the ankles not only creates the right tension, but it also stabilizes the back and forces the torso upright. Mobility guru Kelly Starrett says the movement is important for… Continue Reading
At Kelly Starrett’s box, San Francisco CrossFit, ring dips are an intermediate skill.
The key to the movement is external rotation of the arms for the best efficiency and mechanics, says the… Continue Reading
15 Comments on “The Deadlift Set-Up”
1
wrote …
Best deadlift in the world: Correction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4jO21-a2W0
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
2
wrote …
Finally! Kelly covered this during lunch at the Mob cert in Chicago and we, well, went to lunch. When we got back they were just finishing this and I was bummed we missed it. Fantastic stuff. DL tomorrow! Bam.
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
3
wrote …
Great stuff Chupacabra!!!
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
4
wrote …
Best part of this video: it ends on a cliffhanger! Can't wait for the next part. Thanks again Kelly for sharing this knowledge with everyone.
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
5
wrote …
Said it before, and I will say it again: Kelly is the best resource CrossFit has. He is an amazing well spring of knowledge. I feel that he has lived more than one life already...
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
6
wrote …
Looks like you've created a word, pervation, and repurposed 2 (bias, triage) in one video. Well done
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
7
wrote …
Wow! A Bill Starr article and a K-Starr video in the same week? Awesome! More of this, less of the feel good stuff please.
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
8
wrote …
Great video as always, Kelly! I was wondering if we could make a clarification though. He mentioned that instantaneous overextension that occurs in the back when we initiate the squat. Is this something that is supposed to occur to ensure that the athlete maintains an upright torso for the squat? Or do we keep the back neutral (while 'closing the car door' with our hips) during the squat? Any clarification here would be super--thanks!
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
9
wrote …
Ok this might be a little off the subject but I'm new to CrossFit, I've been abosrbing myself with everything CF for the last two months. Will somebody plese tell me what a Met Con is?
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
10
replied to comment from Jose Quintana…
MetCon is short for Metabolic Conditioning. I don't have the scientific explanation for it, but you can think of it as CrossFit's version of "cardio" exercise. For example, the Fran WOD is a MetCon.
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
11
replied to comment from Talon Bradford…
Thanks for the information Talon!
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
12
wrote …
Oh Man! Do I wish I had watched this before this morning's mysterious deadlift debacle... Mystery solved.
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
13
wrote …
Man is a genius, a genius I tell you!
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
14
replied to comment from Ryan Tyler…
Ryan. He said perturbations, not pervation. And he used triage correctly... when you're in a bad situation and you have to decide what (or who) to sacrifice in order to save something or someone else. In his example: you're in a lousy deadlift position, you have to sacrifice one thing (hamstring tension?) to save something else (lumbar curve?)
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
15
wrote …
Awesome content! Where can we view the rest of this clinic? Is there a part 2 somewhere?
Login to reply to this comment
Permalink
Leave a comment