A Note On The Deadlift

[Anthrax Invasion]

A note about the dead lift, from Dr. Stuart McGill:

"Power in the torso is typically associated with power lifting - and the dead lift. But the dead lift is not actually a power movement given the slowness of the task. Too many power lifters train slowly attempting close to maximum lifts but find very constrained progress. Instead, many see better performance gains by adopting true power training approached. One example of power training for the dead lift would be to reduce the weight and lift at much higher speed. This approach recruits a new population of motor units. The pull from the floor is problematic for many athletes, particularly for those who train with dead lifts but are not competitive power lifters. For these athletes safety can be enhanced by raising the bar and weights onto blocks for the initial pull. Then the athlete concentrates on the initial set position, imaging the motion and muscle recruitment. Focus is also on the lumbar spine locked into a neutral position and the extensor stress is felt in the hips. Then on cue (or self initiated by the athlete) an exploding hip extension occurs giving perfect vertical projection of force on the bar. The hip hinge is a power imaging task for many athletes.

 

[Protobuilder]

Nice.

 

[RipStone]

Good quote. For the past few weeks I have omitted deadlifts from the floor in my 5x5 program and have been doing rack pulls and GM instead(in efforts to strengthen my lower back and bring up my squats). With rack pulls, I am really able to sinc up the pull from both my upper back, lower back, and lower body. I would struggle to do this with deadlifts off the floor, especially getting the feeling that I was pulling from my upper back. Hopefully when I go back to deadlifts from the floor I will be able to sinc up my entire body now that I have learned what it feels like.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

From what I'm getting from Dr. McGill, there's not even a need to pull all the way from the floor for non-powerlifters. If you're not a powerlifter, but an athlete, then you'd be better served by pulling with lighter weights explosively from the floor - essentially, the first pull of a clean.

This makes enough sense to me for me to criticize it, not to mention the lack of risk to the lower back involved with pulling from just below the knee (typically where his pictures show the deadlift being done, raised on a bunch of stacked plates). That extra ROM you lose seems useless to me. Nothing squats couldn't hit anyway.

This will be debated, I'm sure. Just my personal feel on the lift.

 

[Kane Fan]

I have trouble pulling fast from the floor with any weight really

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

That's why you should pull from a higher place. Bar below the knees.

 

[coolcolj]

I never pull explosively from the floor, I pull under control the first few inches and then explode hard

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Do you even see a reason to pull heavy (to a point it slows speed) or from the floor, CCJ? To me, the part from the floor seems almost pointless, unless you're in need of pulling from the floor (as a PLer or olylifter).

 

[coolcolj]

depends on the kind of deadlift I suppose. But it's hard to pull heavy without form breakdown etc

if it's strict and you want strength then it's all good. The floor is the hardest part of the lift

that's why people do things like snatch grip deads to increase the ROM, get even closer to the floor. You end up using less weight, so it balances things out

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Do you see any problem with pulling the bar from a higher position, raised off the floor?