Deadlifts with NO ankle mobility?

[jimt91]

So due to an injury/surgery I have pretty much 0 degree ankle flexibility. My knees can barely if all move forward without my heels coming off the ground, I'm currently in PT for this, but it has improved minimally if at all and the doctor and physical therapist are not sure if my ankles will ever be back to normal. I am allowed to lift though there's no pain really just severe restriction. When I do deadlifts it's pretty much impossible for my shins to be touching the bar while my shoulders are behind it(proper form from what I've read). I'm not really sure what the best way to go would be for deadlifting so I'm hoping someone can give me some suggestions. I could either have my shins farther back or my shoulders past the bar? I'm not able to squat either because of this so I've replaced squats with zercher squats and havae been considering front squats. Anyway let me know what you guys think. Thanks

[DavidUnderhand]

Work on getting your mobility and health back to normal before you get back to heavy lifting. In the meantime, your squat variations will keep your legs (and core for that matter) maintained if not growing. Rack pulls are a nice change-up and require very little mobility below the knees.

[jimt91]

I don't think my mobility will ever get better. I've never had close to decent ankle mobility for as long as i remember and no matter how much work I put into them (countless hours and months) nothing changes. The doctors say it is the shape of my foot or something I'm not entirely sure why... Either way this is extremely frustrating and I'm tired of spending all this time trying to improve something that is going no where, it's a hopeless effort. I just want to start working on my strength and with that I need to do deadlifts in some form.

[aman88]

So due to an injury/surgery I have pretty much 0 degree ankle flexibility. My knees can barely if all move forward without my heels coming off the ground, I'm currently in PT for this, but it has improved minimally if at all and the doctor and physical therapist are not sure if my ankles will ever be back to normal. I am allowed to lift though there's no pain really just severe restriction. When I do deadlifts it's pretty much impossible for my shins to be touching the bar while my shoulders are behind it(proper form from what I've read). I'm not really sure what the best way to go would be for deadlifting so I'm hoping someone can give me some suggestions. I could either have my shins farther back or my shoulders past the bar? I'm not able to squat either because of this so I've replaced squats with zercher squats and havae been considering front squats. Anyway let me know what you guys think. Thanks

Your PT would be better to ask than anyone on here (Or another PT who may also be ATC or CSCS certified also).

[jimt91]

He says it's fine that I lift heavy I've talked to him about it. Basically they said if something hurts too much to do obviously don't do it, but other than that I'm good to go. I just have restrictive issues. My main concern is deadlift form and how I should do it safely. If I crowd the bar I can have it against my shins, but I'm not able tokeep my shoulders behind it in that position. So basically move back from the bar where my shins aren't touching it in the starting position or move closer and have my shoulders over the bar. I don't want to be doing anything dangerous and I want to make the most out of my deadlifts. If there is another variation of deadlifting that may suit me better I'd be open to that as well.

[BombDonald]

Olympic lifting shoes might help.

[jimt91]

Most likely, but people always say deadlift with no shoes, think I should use them?

[jimt91]

bump

[davisj3537]

If you have no mobility then you'll never be able to deadlift or squat. Maybe a box squat if you sit all the way back. You should look into deadlift variations that don't require movement below the knee. If you do an RDL correctly your ankle won't move much if at all. SLDL is another option. You'll be limited to a high back leg press and extensions for quad exercises.

[BombDonald]

Most likely, but people always say deadlift with no shoes, think I should use them?

Yes you should use them. Flat or no soles simply improve leverages most of the time, and with your condition, I'd be more concerned with actually being able to perform the movement than anything else.

[jimt91]

If you have no mobility then you'll never be able to deadlift or squat. Maybe a box squat if you sit all the way back. You should look into deadlift variations that don't require movement below the knee. If you do an RDL correctly your ankle won't move much if at all. SLDL is another option. You'll be limited to a high back leg press and extensions for quad exercises.

I can do a clean Deadlift (shoulders over bar I believe?) and regular with shoes. Since the bar is in front of me, when I grip it I can hold my balance instead of falling backward from lack of ankle mobility. So why can't I deadlift? I definitely can't back squat with proper form, but zercher squats work nicely and feels like they hit the legs and core pretty well too.

[davisj3537]

I can do a clean Deadlift (shoulders over bar I believe?) and regular with shoes. Since the bar is in front of me, when I grip it I can hold my balance instead of falling backward from lack of ankle mobility. So why can't I deadlift? I definitely can't back squat with proper form, but zercher squats work nicely and feels like they hit the legs and core pretty well too.

I guess I overestimated your lack of mobility.

[jimt91]

well my mobility issue is just in my ankles, so I can still drop my hips back I'd just fall backwards with no weight in front of me

[paulzee]

What mobility drills are doing to gain flexibility in your ankles? My ankle mobility isnt the best and have recently started doing flexibility drills and has helped only found out due to my squat stalling however my deadlift hasnt had a problem. Your ankle do not have to touch the bar watch this for what im talking about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ5rY_beDLY

[LostLlama]

He says it's fine that I lift heavy I've talked to him about it. Basically they said if something hurts too much to do obviously don't do it, but other than that I'm good to go. I just have restrictive issues. My main concern is deadlift form and how I should do it safely. If I crowd the bar I can have it against my shins, but I'm not able tokeep my shoulders behind it in that position. So basically move back from the bar where my shins aren't touching it in the starting position or move closer and have my shoulders over the bar. I don't want to be doing anything dangerous and I want to make the most out of my deadlifts. If there is another variation of deadlifting that may suit me better I'd be open to that as well.

Your (almost every person's I've ever seen anyway) body is designed to have your shoulders slightly IN FRONT of the bar when deadlifting - not behind. The leverage position becomes much more natural this way and also takes the "squat" element out of the lift. The deadlift is not a squat and it is definitely the most common error I see with people at the gym doing deads. Hell, I used to do it this way myself until I tried this "new" way. Much easier and feels LOADS better.

More importantly, the higher your hips are before you start pulling the weight, the less flexible your ankles will have to be...as others have alluded to.

[jimt91]

What mobility drills are doing to gain flexibility in your ankles? My ankle mobility isnt the best and have recently started doing flexibility drills and has helped only found out due to my squat stalling however my deadlift hasnt had a problem. Your ankle do not have to touch the bar watch this for what im talking about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ5rY_beDLY

I've been doing a ton of different things my physical therapist gave me a list. Been getting kind of lazy with it lately though because it's very hard to motivate yourself to do something that doesn't produce results week after for hours a day. I mean I don't expect it to happen overnight, but you'd think 10-15 hours a week on your ankle for a couple weeks would give you a couple degrees of flexibility, I've gotten nothing. Pretty much any ankle and calf exercise you can think of I've done.

That video is also very interesting, seems to go against a lot of things I've read and seen, but it also looks like it may suit me better. I plan on trying that today.