Deadlifts and The Importance of Video

I've started deadlifting for the first time. Bought a 300 lb. Olympic weight set from Dick's, and dove right in. After a couple weeks I'd worked myself up to 330 lbs. (strapped another 30 lbs. onto the bar) and was feeling all proud of myself. I mean, at a bodyweight of 200 lbs. I know I'm not even approaching respectability until I get to 2xBW (400 lbs. for me) but I was still pleased since I'd never done anything but dumbbell work before, working at much smaller loads.

Then I did what I should have done in the first place. I re-read these three fantastic articles on the deadlift by Eric Cressey:

• Mastering the Deadlift: Part I
• Part II
• Part III

... and I shot some video of myself.

Holy crap, MY BACK! Slightly rounded at the bottom, very rounded at the top, and my shoulders were practically hanging from their sockets. Humiliating. I'm going back to 135 lbs., going to video every session, and only move up as good form allows. I consider myself lucky I didn't hurt myself over the past couple weeks.

I know I've read somewhere that you really can't coach yourself when it comes to lifting, and after this experience I can see why. If you're lifting without feedback it's really hard to know what your body is really doing. However, I do think the combination of excellent freely available information on the Internet and home video get your pretty darn close. I can look at a good deadlift and compare it to my deadlift and see quite clearly where I'm lacking, and what adjustments I have to make. The video was such a stark contrast to the picture in my mind. Really essential, I think, if you aren't being coached.

So, a couple quick equipment recommendations:

• Flip Video Camcorder. That's the basic 30-minute version for under $100, or you can spring for one of the newer versions. This has got to be one of my favorite gadgets of all time, purely for its simplicity. There's just a couple buttons, the USB connection is integrated into the unit, and the software for managing your videos is stored on the camcorder itself, so there's nothing to install. You literally buy it, put in batteries, and throw away everything else in the box. Beautiful.
• Joby Gorillapod. Set your camera up anywhere. For my video I set it up on the wheel of my rower, and it was totally secure. Great tool. There's also the Monsterpod, which looks very cool, but I've never tried it myself.