Deadlifts are about as functional as weightlifting gets. You are learning how to properly pick something up off the floor which we can all benefit from. They are very effective for developing explosive power and improving sports performance.
Taking into consideration the above and the fact they work virtually every muscle in your body you can easily see why Deadlifts are consider King.
If you are going to do them, they need to be done right so let look at some fundamentals that will hopefully help you with your Deadlifts.
Switch on. Get serious.
Deadlifts demand you focus and respect. It’s time to put the phone down and switch on.
Find your stance
For most it is either your take off point of a jump or your landing position if you jump off a box.
You need to start right
There is a sweat spot to where you start. Your legs should not be straight but at the same time your not supposed to squat the bar either. It will depend on your levers but an angle of around 30 degrees is a good starting point
Grip it.
The tighter you grab the bar the greater the central nervous system and more muscles are involved. Given the nature of the exercise, the more muscles activated the better.
Lifting Sequence
Your hips should not come up any faster than your shoulders. Brace your body as you drive through the platform then when the bar reaches your knees you should be starting to stand up and drive with the hips.
Training
Remember there is a difference between training for strength and testing strength and how you train the Deadlift is just as important as how you do the Deadlift.
As we get older this is especially important. Bear in mind the Deadlift is one of the most neurologically demanding exercises and when trained hard will take longer to recover than any other exercise.
Two of the best methods I therefore like use are as follows:
C.A.T. or Compensatory Acceleration Training.
This refers to lifting sum maximal weight with maximal force as in, doing each rep as explosively as possible. Remember to stay tight so as to not break form. Lift like a machine my old coach would say where each rep is exactly the same as the last. It is like it is on rails.
Rest Pause
Here I will do 60% of my reps in one hit then pause as I do the remaining reps as 1’s or 2’s depending on the program.
So, 5 reps become 3 reps, rest 15 sec then 1 rep, rest 15 sec, then the final rep.
10 reps might become 6, then 2, the 2 singles.
There are a number of reasons why I like it so maybe an article is in order but mainly I like it as it allows me to reset, refocus and not let bad form creep in given I’m tighter and not a supple as I used to be.
Key point is, as we get older good programming is essential as it is so important to train smart.
Train for Life! Both for what it throws at us and a for the entirety of it.
Cheers Marty