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Deadlifting 101
“What do you mean your back hurts?!?”
The deadlift is as much an art form as it is a lift. It is a combining of muscles, tendons, and ligaments, working as one unit to move a massive weight from a dead stop to lockout. It requires tremendous total body strength, from the traps to the calves. You have to have a back of steel, hands like talons, and a mind of solid granite. It isn’t a lift
for everyone. Throw open the doors on any commercial gym and take a look around. See anyone deadlifting? But, one must face the very simple facts about the taboo exercise known as the deadlift: Nothing is better at adding muscle and strength to the entire body!
Take a look at a good deadlifter. They will be as thick as an old oak. They will have huge traps, big lats, and a massive set of spinal erectors. Their hips will be wide and boxy, and they will have legs the size of tree trunks. They didn’t get this way doing pulldowns
and leg presses. They got this way slinging around heavy iron!
Franco Columbo: Bodybuilder & Deadlift Master
Take a look at those physiques, and the massive amount of weight they are capable of deadlifting. Next time you think to yourself, “The deadlift can’t be that hard!” Better think again.
Keep in mind; you won’t develop those kinds of physiques slinging around 200 pounds! You have to pull until your eyes bleed. You have to make a conscious effort to add weight to the bar each and every time you deadlift. Yes, there will be times you will want to vomit. If you tell yourself that right now, and accept it, it will be much easier when you are banging out sets of 10 with 500 pounds and your Fruity Pebbles© spew out
onto your t-shirt.
A look inside the deadlift
Though the deadlift appears to be an easy lift to execute, nothing could be further from the truth. When watching people deadlift, the same mistakes always stand out. Not using the legs enough, bowing the back, bending the arms, etc. All of these mistakes are easy
to correct. Nine times out of ten, you have to swallow your pride, take a couple plates off the bar, and start at the beginning.
Start the lift by setting up in front of the loaded bar. It is my belief that in order to maximize pulling, you should not have the shins tight against the bar from the start, but rather line up the first knuckles of the toes with the bar. When you squat down to grasp
the bar, you will now have contact with the bar and be in the right position.
The width of your set-up is dependent on a lot of scientific jargon: length of the torso versus the length of the legs, length of the arms in comparison to the body, bla, bla, bla. I say experiment, and see what works the best for you. You will either be one of three
types of deadlifters: conventional, semi-sumo, or sumo. See which one maximizes your strengths and body type, and go with it! More on this later.
Once in front of the bar, suck in a deep breath of air, squat down, keeping the hips and butt low, and grasp the bar. You should feel compressed like a giant spring waiting to pop. Get the hips as low as humanly possible for your build and flexibility. You should still be holding that breath in order to maintain tightness. At this point, I like to keep my head up to help keep my back straight and tight. Looking forward, or down, tends to make me hunch forward at the
start of the pull.
Now that you are in the start position, it is time to initiate the lift. Most people think you pull on the bar to start the lift. WRONG ANSWER! Pulling up tends to make you lose your tightness and hunch you over. Instead, concentrate hard on driving your feet into
the platform and squatting the weight up. This will bring the hips, glutes, and legs into the movement. As you do this, the arms stay straight. They are merely hooks and play no part in lifting the weight. Bending them is not only a good way to miss the lift, but a
great way to tear a bicep! As the bar leaves the platform, it should be on the shins. Continue to drive the platform as you glide the bar up over the shins and knees and onto the thighs. At this point, you will drive the hips forward into the movement to put the bar into the locked out position.
That’s it! Now that you know HOW to do it right, lets look at a couple of common
mistakes that lifters make when deadlifting. The biggest problem I encounter with beginning and seasoned lifters alike is the hips shooting up without the weight. Instead of driving into the floor with the feet, the lifter will initiate the lift by pulling. More often
then not, this will make the hips pop up first, taking the hips, glutes, and legs almost entirely out of the movement. This will also bow the back and increase the chances of a back injury from deadlifting! When someone tells me they hurt their back deadlifting, all
I have to do is watch their form. Do their hips shoot up first?
Zatsiorsky tells us in Science and Practice of Strength Training that the loads on the lumbar intervertebral disks from a mere 50kg load will amount to a whopping 630kg with a bowed back! When the back is held in the arched, tight position, the same 50kg exerts
a load of 380kg, respectively. Is there any wonder people injure their backs?
A second common mistake is the arm bend. I guess from all the years and years of curling and rowing, people automatically think the arms should be bent on the deadlift. To stop this, think of the arms as hooks only, and concentrate on relaxing them through
out the lift. Squeeze the bar tight, but relax the arms.
Training
So how does one build a strong deadlift? What training techniques work? What doesn’t
work? Most importantly, how often does one deadlift?
Although I am fairly young in years as most of you know, I am still “old school” when it comes to training. I am a firm believer that you need to pull at least once a week if you are going to consistently add weight to your power lifts. However, I also believe in using many variations of your lifts, as well as many assistance exercises, in order to make the the weight skyrocket!
Let’s start with a basic assistance exercise. The first I want to mention is the barbell good morning. In my opinion, nothing is better for strengthening the structures
of the lower back for big pulls. This exercise can also be extremely risky if you are not careful. Beginners should start out light, with an empty bar, and strive to add only 5-pounds a week. It is a risky exercise, and you do it at your own risk. To me, the benefits I see in my deadlift, and squat, far outweigh the risks.
Start with the bar on your back like you would if you were performing the barbell back squat. Use the same stance width you use when squatting or deadlifting. Keep the back tight and push the butt back as you lower the weight. Take the weight down to about
waist height, keeping the back tight the entire time. No rounding! Your weight should be on your heals and your butt should be back. The stress should be felt on the low back as well as the hamstrings. No flex the back and hamstrings to return the weight to the
standing position. Throw your ego out the door! Go light, strengthen the back, and reap the benefits of this great exercise!
As Always, Good Luck Bro'
“What do you mean your back hurts?!?”
The deadlift is as much an art form as it is a lift. It is a combining of muscles, tendons, and ligaments, working as one unit to move a massive weight from a dead stop to lockout. It requires tremendous total body strength, from the traps to the calves. You have to have a back of steel, hands like talons, and a mind of solid granite. It isn’t a lift
for everyone. Throw open the doors on any commercial gym and take a look around. See anyone deadlifting? But, one must face the very simple facts about the taboo exercise known as the deadlift: Nothing is better at adding muscle and strength to the entire body!
Take a look at a good deadlifter. They will be as thick as an old oak. They will have huge traps, big lats, and a massive set of spinal erectors. Their hips will be wide and boxy, and they will have legs the size of tree trunks. They didn’t get this way doing pulldowns
and leg presses. They got this way slinging around heavy iron!
Franco Columbo: Bodybuilder & Deadlift Master
Take a look at those physiques, and the massive amount of weight they are capable of deadlifting. Next time you think to yourself, “The deadlift can’t be that hard!” Better think again.
Keep in mind; you won’t develop those kinds of physiques slinging around 200 pounds! You have to pull until your eyes bleed. You have to make a conscious effort to add weight to the bar each and every time you deadlift. Yes, there will be times you will want to vomit. If you tell yourself that right now, and accept it, it will be much easier when you are banging out sets of 10 with 500 pounds and your Fruity Pebbles© spew out
onto your t-shirt.
A look inside the deadlift
Though the deadlift appears to be an easy lift to execute, nothing could be further from the truth. When watching people deadlift, the same mistakes always stand out. Not using the legs enough, bowing the back, bending the arms, etc. All of these mistakes are easy
to correct. Nine times out of ten, you have to swallow your pride, take a couple plates off the bar, and start at the beginning.
Start the lift by setting up in front of the loaded bar. It is my belief that in order to maximize pulling, you should not have the shins tight against the bar from the start, but rather line up the first knuckles of the toes with the bar. When you squat down to grasp
the bar, you will now have contact with the bar and be in the right position.
The width of your set-up is dependent on a lot of scientific jargon: length of the torso versus the length of the legs, length of the arms in comparison to the body, bla, bla, bla. I say experiment, and see what works the best for you. You will either be one of three
types of deadlifters: conventional, semi-sumo, or sumo. See which one maximizes your strengths and body type, and go with it! More on this later.
Once in front of the bar, suck in a deep breath of air, squat down, keeping the hips and butt low, and grasp the bar. You should feel compressed like a giant spring waiting to pop. Get the hips as low as humanly possible for your build and flexibility. You should still be holding that breath in order to maintain tightness. At this point, I like to keep my head up to help keep my back straight and tight. Looking forward, or down, tends to make me hunch forward at the
start of the pull.
Now that you are in the start position, it is time to initiate the lift. Most people think you pull on the bar to start the lift. WRONG ANSWER! Pulling up tends to make you lose your tightness and hunch you over. Instead, concentrate hard on driving your feet into
the platform and squatting the weight up. This will bring the hips, glutes, and legs into the movement. As you do this, the arms stay straight. They are merely hooks and play no part in lifting the weight. Bending them is not only a good way to miss the lift, but a
great way to tear a bicep! As the bar leaves the platform, it should be on the shins. Continue to drive the platform as you glide the bar up over the shins and knees and onto the thighs. At this point, you will drive the hips forward into the movement to put the bar into the locked out position.
That’s it! Now that you know HOW to do it right, lets look at a couple of common
mistakes that lifters make when deadlifting. The biggest problem I encounter with beginning and seasoned lifters alike is the hips shooting up without the weight. Instead of driving into the floor with the feet, the lifter will initiate the lift by pulling. More often
then not, this will make the hips pop up first, taking the hips, glutes, and legs almost entirely out of the movement. This will also bow the back and increase the chances of a back injury from deadlifting! When someone tells me they hurt their back deadlifting, all
I have to do is watch their form. Do their hips shoot up first?
Zatsiorsky tells us in Science and Practice of Strength Training that the loads on the lumbar intervertebral disks from a mere 50kg load will amount to a whopping 630kg with a bowed back! When the back is held in the arched, tight position, the same 50kg exerts
a load of 380kg, respectively. Is there any wonder people injure their backs?
A second common mistake is the arm bend. I guess from all the years and years of curling and rowing, people automatically think the arms should be bent on the deadlift. To stop this, think of the arms as hooks only, and concentrate on relaxing them through
out the lift. Squeeze the bar tight, but relax the arms.
Training
So how does one build a strong deadlift? What training techniques work? What doesn’t
work? Most importantly, how often does one deadlift?
Although I am fairly young in years as most of you know, I am still “old school” when it comes to training. I am a firm believer that you need to pull at least once a week if you are going to consistently add weight to your power lifts. However, I also believe in using many variations of your lifts, as well as many assistance exercises, in order to make the the weight skyrocket!
Let’s start with a basic assistance exercise. The first I want to mention is the barbell good morning. In my opinion, nothing is better for strengthening the structures
of the lower back for big pulls. This exercise can also be extremely risky if you are not careful. Beginners should start out light, with an empty bar, and strive to add only 5-pounds a week. It is a risky exercise, and you do it at your own risk. To me, the benefits I see in my deadlift, and squat, far outweigh the risks.
Start with the bar on your back like you would if you were performing the barbell back squat. Use the same stance width you use when squatting or deadlifting. Keep the back tight and push the butt back as you lower the weight. Take the weight down to about
waist height, keeping the back tight the entire time. No rounding! Your weight should be on your heals and your butt should be back. The stress should be felt on the low back as well as the hamstrings. No flex the back and hamstrings to return the weight to the
standing position. Throw your ego out the door! Go light, strengthen the back, and reap the benefits of this great exercise!
As Always, Good Luck Bro'
