A conventional style deadlift requires the lifter to have their feet shoulder-length apart and grip the bar outside of their legs. In this style of deadlift there is considerably less leg movement than the sumo deadlift. Characteristics of the conventional style deadlift include a close “vertical jump” width stance, with the hands outside of the legs, and a horizontal back angle. The conventional method requires the feet turned only slightly on the sagittal plane. In the conventional style deadlift, the back joint angle is much greater than the sumo lift, which can create a higher degree of lumbar loading. This may sound detrimental to a novice weightlifter, but a beginning weight lifter can actually benefit from the building …show more content…
In the conventional lift a more erect and upright back alignment is required. If done correctly, the conventional style deadlift builds the muscles of the backside, including spinal erectors, hamstrings and glutes. This causes lifters to struggle to get the weights off the floor, but makes lockout easy. One thing to be cautious of when conducting a conventional style deadlift is shear force from hyper extending the lower back. (Ez) According to a study of two male regional powerlifting champions, research showed that there were greater L4-L5 shear forces and moments in the conventional group. The research also showed that hip and knee moments were not significantly different between the two deadlift styles, showing that one isn’t necessarily better for a lifter’s body than the other. In this lift style it is important to keep a rigid, straight back to optimize performance or else spine flexion can decrease the muscle’s contribution required torque and leaves only a lifter’s ligaments holding the weight, adds to joint shear. Continuation of this can lead to an injury of the lumbar discs. Another potentially detrimental practice is hyperextending the lower back during the lift. This is just as problematic as spine flexion and can also cause joint shear which could lead to hernias. To combat this it’s important to stand tall and keep the chest up during a lift. Another way to prevent this is for the lifter to place their hips below a half-squat position when starting. This practice puts the initial load of pull onto quadriceps and eliminates the stress on the lumbar discs. For good form, the lifter must keep the weight load as close to their body as