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Milosz
Joined: 21 Nov 2008
Posts: 30
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 Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 5:40 am Post subject: Is the straight-leg deadlift bad for your back? |
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My father always told me not to lift heavy things without bending my knees or else I could hurt my back. Well...are not stiff leg deadlifts doing just this?
I generally like the exercise but it just looks medieval ...need I worry...or are there any good alternatives.
-Milosz  |
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swanso5
Joined: 16 Jan 2006
Posts: 7287
Location: melbourne, australia
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| Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| they are better done with a 20 degree bend in the knee, so a semi stiff legged deadlift |
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Packard
Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 231
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| Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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I always included stiff legged dead lifts in my routine. I also used to do a good bit of "Good morning" exercises. Those are done with a barbell across your shoulders (like you would have it for squats), and then bend forward with your knees locked, then stand up straight again. It works your glutes, femoral biceps and spinal erectors (which we used to call "lumbars").
I've heard people claim that it is bad for your back, but I suspect that notion is a result of muscle pulls when first starting with these exercises. These muscles are easy to ignore and the stiff legged dead lifts and good morning exercises isolate on those muscles. A bad pull in that area can make it difficult to do much in the gym.
Approach it gradually over several weeks. If you have any skeletal problems or soft tissue problems in your back, then I would not do these. |
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Milosz
Joined: 21 Nov 2008
Posts: 30
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| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks guys! |
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swanso5
Joined: 16 Jan 2006
Posts: 7287
Location: melbourne, australia
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| Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:01 am Post subject: |
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| NEVER DO AN EXERCISE WITH LOCKED KNEES |
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Packard
Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 231
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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| swanso5 wrote: | | NEVER DO AN EXERCISE WITH LOCKED KNEES |
Why? |
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Boss Man
Joined: 25 Nov 2006
Posts: 3764
Location: My site, (Steelmuscle), and anywhere else I feel like
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| It might damage the Knees. |
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Packard
Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 231
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Boss Man wrote: | | It might damage the Knees. |
I've never heard that, and I've never felt that stress point when doing stiff legged dead lifts. Are you sure on this point? |
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thekid24
Joined: 27 Aug 2008
Posts: 125
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:52 pm Post subject: |
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| i think he meant if not done correctly. cause alot of people rush on things and really they have bad form. we had 9th graders come in last week in the weight room and they were stacking too much weights on the cables desperately trying to do tricep pushdowns. and some "spotters" were pulling the weights on a smith machine bench press instead of letting the kid push it. again too much weight and bad form. |
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Packard
Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 231
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 7:56 pm Post subject: |
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| thekid24 wrote: | | i think he meant if not done correctly. cause alot of people rush on things and really they have bad form. we had 9th graders come in last week in the weight room and they were stacking too much weights on the cables desperately trying to do tricep pushdowns. and some "spotters" were pulling the weights on a smith machine bench press instead of letting the kid push it. again too much weight and bad form. |
This is a logical response.
I think for most people that the ham string muscles and spinal erector muscles are not sufficiently strong to overload the knees. If you rush into stiff legged deadlifts (or Good Morning exercises) you are at risk of pulling a back muscle. But all lifts should be approached slowly with low weights until you have acclimatized your muscles to the movement. |
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swanso5
Joined: 16 Jan 2006
Posts: 7287
Location: melbourne, australia
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:26 pm Post subject: |
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why?
why would you?? you hit glutes more with a semi bent leg, center of gravity is more "medial" so decreases low back strain, incorporates hip ext which is what EVERYONE needs (along with the glute thing) and doesn't risk hyperextention of the knee...just to mention a few
in that case i repeat..
NEVER DO AN EXERCISE WITH LOCKED KNEES!!!!! |
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Packard
Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 231
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| Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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| swanso5 wrote: | why?
why would you?? you hit glutes more with a semi bent leg, center of gravity is more "medial" so decreases low back strain, incorporates hip ext which is what EVERYONE needs (along with the glute thing) and doesn't risk hyperextension of the knee...just to mention a few
in that case i repeat..
NEVER DO AN EXERCISE WITH LOCKED KNEES!!!!! |
This must be a southern hemisphere thing.
Lower back strain is the result of overworking the lower back before it is ready for the loading. By training with locked knees you will build up the lower back and that will prevent lower back strain.
The only time I ever experienced hyper extension of the knees was when working on a Universal Gym (stacked plates) on leg presses. Between reps the pin fell out and I extended my legs with full force with no resistance.
Other than that, the only time I've seen hyper extended knees were football related injuries.
Hyper extended elbows are largely a myth too. In almost all cases of "hyper extended elbow", it is actually another injury that is causing the elbow problem.
I used to do Good Morning exercises with a barbell loaded to body weight (at that time 165 lbs.). I found it developed my spinal erectors, hips and femoral biceps. I never had any related injuries. This is highly anecdotal as I don't know anyone else who did that exercise with heavy weights--so the experience is related to my body. |
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Boss Man
Joined: 25 Nov 2006
Posts: 3764
Location: My site, (Steelmuscle), and anywhere else I feel like
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| Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Well no I can't be 100% certain about the Locked Knees thing, but it makes sense, its the same when you Box, you never lock the Elbow, because of the impact on the Elbow from vibration. |
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Packard
Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 231
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| Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Boss Man wrote: | | Well no I can't be 100% certain about the Locked Knees thing, but it makes sense, its the same when you Box, you never lock the Elbow, because of the impact on the Elbow from vibration. |
This is the same effect as when the pin fell from the stack while I was doing the leg presses. A lot of speed and no buffer at the end to protect the joint.
The kind of hyper extension that was being discussed was when you simply put extra pressure on the joint attempting to move the joint past full extension. From my experience this almost never happens in weightlifting, only in some contact sports such as football, wrestling, basketball etc.
The risk of not working your arms or legs to the full extension is that you will shorten the muscle and get a high peak with a truncated mass.
You see this mostly in curls where the lifter does not go to full lock at the bottom of the lift and they end up with short, high peaks instead of long full biceps. |
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swanso5
Joined: 16 Jan 2006
Posts: 7287
Location: melbourne, australia
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