A New, Rather Long Analysis of the Deadlift

Being new to deads, I'm glad I had it pretty much on track. For me, as with squats, I tighten my abs hard as possible just before and through the lift to protect the back. That has made a big difference to me.
I was amazed at how the big dogs just walked up to the bar and yanked it up in those videos! I take almost 30-40 seconds to set up, making sure of my position.
 
thanks. I just started deadlifting in earnest last year & am a little disappointed in my strength on them (about double BW). I'll have to check my form against those guidelines.

I've heard nothing but praise for Rippetoe & was thinking of ordering Starting Strength, but your link points out a new edition is coming so I'll hold off. I also read just today another book from him & Kilgore is coming in spring/summer this year. its target audience is the new weightlifter, not the coach.
 
Great read JV!
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That's a good article by Rip.

I've been following the journal of a guy on bodybuilding.com who has a goal of an 800 lb deadlift (without drugs). Started lifting as a skinny guy in his mid-20s about 4 years ago and now DLs over 650. Also very insightful and has studied the world's best DLers, so well worth listening to.

He believes that deadlifting with a flatter back angle than about 30 degrees risks injury, which is one of the things that's convinced me to stop pushing for higher DLs until I can keep a little more upright. He recently had this post which gives a test for whether one is better suited to sumo or conventional. Followed up by, among others, this one, which discusses his thinking a bit more. I think they're interesting reads. If someone wants the whole discussion in context, the first post I linked starts on page 34 of his journal, a bit more than halfway down the page.
 
I have a really long torso and I naturally found sumo-style to suit me. I did that test and sure enough I am well into the sumo-range since my trunk is so long in ratio to my arms and legs.
 
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(quadancer @ Jan. 22 2007,23:15)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">For me, as with squats, I tighten my abs hard as possible just before and through the lift to protect the back. That has made a big difference to me.</div>

I read an article a while ago that claimed tightening the abs doesn't protect the back during squats and deadlifts and that in fact the stomach should be pushed out to increase inner abdominal pressure.

I have no idea if this is right, need to look into it, but someone else may.

I was tightening my abs before too but now I take a deep breath, don't worry about my stomach, and only exhale at the top of the lift.

Whether that's correct or not I'm not a 100% sure!

Cheers

Rob
 
'First, expand your abdomen as much as possible. When you pull air into your body it should be into the diaphragm, not the chest. Expand you belly and push it out against your belt. This will stabilize and support the lower back and not elongate the spine. If you're having a hard time trying to figure this out, then wear your weight belt one notch loose and push into it with your belly so it becomes tight.

Pushing your belly out goes against what many believe because they feel training this way will cause injuries to the lower back. After 30 years of box squatting Westside has had 23 lifters squat over 800 pounds, six over 900 pounds and one over a grand. Not one of these lifters or any of the others has had lower back problems'

This is from a Dave Tate article so I guess that's the final answer.

Although it occurs to me quad that I may have misunderstood what you meant by tightening the abs. I assumed you meant drawing them in but Tate actually refers to tightening when talking about pushing them out....

Cheers

Rob
 
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(quadancer @ Jan. 22 2007,18:15)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I was amazed at how the big dogs just walked up to the bar and yanked it up in those videos! I take almost 30-40 seconds to set up, making sure of my position.</div>
I love Magnusson's pre-lift routine. Talk about getting psyched up!
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Rob, that's what I meant. I also tighten my belt as tight as possible. Why? Because I saw all the big dogs doing that with the big lifts. No other reason. It seems to help, and when &quot;tightening the abs&quot; with the belt tight...well, you ARE pushing out. Good thought on filling the diaphragm...I'll check myself next week.
I hit 385 for one today after getting my scheduled 365x5. How on EARTH my lil' buddy Slapshot gets 410lbs at 169lbs bodyweight is beyond me. I just hit a bw of 211 today. I've done deads once a week for 6 weeks now, starting day hit 290x5. The noob gains are slowing down now, so I've gotta get my form perfect if there's anything wrong with it.

What is Magnussen doing with the hand? Slinging snot?
 
I can't figure that out, thought maybe he was sniffing ammonia, but I don't see anything in his hand or flying out of his hand.

Either way, he is a complete and total bad ass.
 
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(quadancer @ Jan. 25 2007,19:33)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What is Magnussen doing with the hand? Slinging snot?</div>
LOL.....could be! Maybe he was having trouble breathing....LOL.....
 
I finally got around to reading the article. My deadlifts were almost on par with Rippletoe's method. I tried it out yesterday, and my starting position changed just enough that the lift itself became easier than usual.
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My legs grew another 1/8&quot; I think. Deads at an uncontested 405x5, still coming up. One trick I found was that I've always used my belt over my #4 lumbar, since it's been my problem child for 35 years. Today I experimented with squats and pulled the belt up even with my bellybutton. I may now look more like Erkel than a gunslinger, but I found it better for pushing against the ab muscle. I don't have to have it as tight, and it gave me a little bit of much needed flexibility in the hips.
And for the first time, no bruises from the belt on my hip joints.

By uncontested, I mean that all 5 reps went up smooth, unlike the last rep I strained out the last dead workout. 425 in my sights now.
 
First time I've actually read this entire thread.  First time I saw it I scanned it until I saw Quad's Dan John stuff and got all caught up in that video.  

That test was VERY interesting and somewhat enlightening.  I've always thought I was built for conventional style deadlifts.  Not too many people are able to pull what I do without drugs, or even with drugs, for that matter.  

However, my test results show that sumo is my best bet.  Maybe I just didn't measure correctly.  I'm trying to pull 800 in a couple of weeks when I test my max at the end of this Korte cycle, and then I might do some experimentation with a sumo style.  Kind of surprised me..I've always thought I had long arms, guess they aren't that long after all.

For those of you questioning what Benni is screwing around with, yes...that is ammonia he's sniffing.  He usually keeps a cap over his ear.  I like him but have more respect for Andy because Andy is a true powerlifter in the sense that he works hard on all lifts, not just the deadlift.  Benni messed around some in strongman competitions.  Dont' know if he is still doing that.  

Andy not only has the world record in the dead, but has the second heaviest total ever recorded in powerlifting (unless someone surpassed him already).  It was over 2700 lbs.  Another awesome dude is Konstantin Konstantinov, who, with these skinny legs, walks fearlessly and quietly right up to the bar with a narrow stance, and just yanks the weight up like it's made of wood.  Incredibly strong lower back on him.  Very impressive
 
What ever happened to that big hawiian dude some years back? Did he die? I thought he had the world record there for a while - and I don't even follow PL'ing.

Oh, Steve, watch the knees. I felt some twinges there when I switched to sumo at first, but they got acclimated after about 3 workouts.
 
Andy Bolton is a legend in his own time...unreal squat and deadlift power and his bench ain't bad either.

Recent lifts at the Arnold-
Andy Bolton
Squat-1,213
Bench-671
Deadlift-920
total-2,804

Hercules in the flesh.
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