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Comment by 40acres | Hacker News Reader

Anyone who's performed a deadlift knows the hip hinge. I recently was testing my one rep max and due to fatigue my back arched instead of doing a proper hip hinge. The pain stayed with me for days and was pretty agonizing. This was about 5-6 weeks ago. Since then I've been deadlifting perfectly w/o pain.

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I second this and would add that powerlifting, done right, would fix your posture and you'll naturally get into the proper pose for everyday things (picking something off the floor).

Yup I can't believe how much lifting heavy things improved my posture and reduced lower back pain!

I no longer perform the conventional deadlift as a part of my routine (due to several injuries) but I completely agree with this. In my opinion the best ways to learn how to hip hinge are the deadlift and kettlebell swing.

I've recently switched to the RDL (Romanian Deadlift) with significantly reduced weight and higher reps and I personally prefer it for my lower back and hamstring training. The conventional deadlift is a great movement though if you can perform it correctly.

I also recently incorporated RDL's into my routine. Mainly to hit the hamstrings with more weight as the hamstring curl machine has a pretty low max weight and in general is annoying to perform.

I was just recently thinking that the deadlift is probably the lift I enjoy the most. There is a rawness to it that just makes it so satisfying. Also it's usually the lift where you can lift the most so that adds an extra touch.

The deadlift is killing my hands though. My callouses are starting to become a bother and my hands are pretty raw for any other lifts later in my session.

callouses should never be a problem in weightlifting, it’s a matter of grip, here’s Mark Rippetoe: https://youtu.be/_ZBmiQm4MF4

I love my callouses. My girlfriend will touch them and complain, which just makes me feel more manly lol. Plus there's something satisfying about grabbing onto one of my wooden tools (don't make this gross) and having that grain-on-grain feeling that I didn't get when my hands were softer.

> My callouses are starting to become a bother

You can always do what climbers do, and trim them with a razor and a steady hand.

My callouses are starting to become a bother and my hands are pretty raw for any other lifts later in my session.

In gymnastics and archery, there are special gloves and stuff. In archery, I had a leather worker make me a custom grieves when I could not find one at any store (back before online shopping was a thing).

Hoping you can find something that helps.

I had this problem too once the weight got up there. liquid chalk really helps, it's cheap! Also (I think someone else posted a link) I realized that I was gripping the bar wrong. It should really be mostly your fingers that hold your bar and not the "meaty" part of the edge of the palm. It seems weird at first but it helps.

http://www.832crossfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/grab-t...

// I'm making the assumption here that you're _relatively_ new to strength sports. If I've misjudged that, sorry!

> My callouses are starting to become a bother and my hands are pretty raw for any other lifts later in my session.

Calluses hurting late into your training session but not the beginning is typically a sign that you're not taking very good care of the skin on your hands.

Donny Shankle, a very accomplished weightlifter, has a really good video on hand care here[1]. It's sport specific for weightlifting, but it applies pretty well to strength training in general.

In addition to what he says, I've had really good success with a combination of a corn/callus shaver[2] and a dremel tool. The goal is to take the peaks off the calluses such that they're more or less flat to the rest of your hands. My typical routine for palm callus care, performed every few days, is to shower so that my skin is relatively soft, shave off any parts of the calluses on my palm that are protruding above the plane of the rest of my palms, and then smooth it out with the dremel's grinder tip set to low speed.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otorSGl3sG0

[2] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CYC4BG

>RDL

Why not both? Reddit's favorite PPL routine has both. RDL on leg day, Deadlift on Pull 1.

You may want to try out pulling sumo instead of conventional. It's a bit easier on your body and is the preferred method of most power lifters.

Training Hip hinging (in my case with kettelbell swings and deadlifts) has helped me a lot with lower back pain. I definitively am more aware of my back when picking up things.

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