ERCISES FOR A BETTER DEADLIFT

TOPIC: STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

How many reps should you do for muscle growth? How can
you get a better pump from a movement that usually doesn’t
make you sore? Tweaking your program to include high-
volume and tempo sets is sure to get you the kind of size and
strength you want from your training.
For anyone dedicated to building strength, a top belief is that
incorporating compound movements like the squat, bench,
and deadlift are essential. Among these exercises, aka the
“big three”, the deadlift emerges as one of the most
challenging lifts of all. The deadlift demands you to pull a
motionless bar (“dead” weight) to a locked-out upright
position. This action finds its roots in Newton’s First Law of
Motion:
“An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion
remains in motion unless acted upon by an external force.”

In this case, that external force is you. If you lack the strength
to defy these fundamental laws of physics, you’re left
stranded without a paddle. And, a very heavy barbell.
Mastery of the deadlift holds immense significance, whether
you’re a sprinter propelling from the blocks or a powerlifter
engaging in competition. The art of mastering the deadlift
parallels to several domains of life, too. Let’s dive into the
anatomy of the deadlift, its distinctive attributes, and the top
five exercises that contribute to a superior deadlifting
performance!

The Anatomy of the Deadlift

The deadlift is a compound exercise that engages multiple
muscle groups throughout your body. Here’s an overview of
the key muscle groups involved in the deadlift, along with
their locations and functions:
Hamstrings:

The hamstrings are located at the back of the thigh. Your hamstrings play a crucial role in extending
and flexing your hips, aiding in the upward phase of the deadlift. They contribute to the initial pull
off the ground.

Glutes:
The glutes are the butt muscles, the biggest and strongest muscles of the body. Glutes are known as
the powerful hip extensors of the body. They are heavily engaged during the deadlift to help you lift
your torso and hips from a bent position to an upright position.

Erector Spinae:

These muscles run vertically on either side of your spine. The erector spinae muscles help you
maintain an upright posture by extending your spine. They work to keep your back straight and
stable during the deadlift.

Quadriceps:

The quadriceps are on the fronts of your thighs. The quads straighten your knees during the lifting
phase. They play a role in pushing your hips forward and locking out your deadlift.

Latissimus Dorsi (Lats):

The lats are the large muscles that span from your upper shoulder blade to your mid-back. The lats
keep the barbell close to your body as you lift, providing stability and preventing the bar from
drifting away from your center of gravity.

Trapezius (Traps):

The traps are the muscles in your upper back and neck. Your traps help stabilize the shoulder girdle
and upper back, especially during the initial pull off the ground.

Top Five Exercises for a Better Deadlift

Below are the top five exercises for growing your deadlift! Not all exercises are a deadlift variation.
However, these lifts have been proven to aid your performance in pulling bigger weights off the
floor.

Trap Bar Deadlift

I absolutely love the trap bar deadlift. Think about this, if you are to do a traditional barbell deadlift,
the weight is displaced in front of you 100% of the time. Biomechanically, the lift puts a ton of
engagement on your postural muscles. In competition there is no escaping this characteristic of the
deadlift, but for those who are struggling to maintain proper posture and better leg drive, using the
trap bar deadlift helps put 100% of the resistance in the middle of your body.
This helps you learn better pulling mechanics. With the trap bar deadlift, you learn to stack your
shoulders, knees, and ankles in order to lift with more leg drive.

It might not be ideal to do trap bar deadlifts RIGHT before a deadlift maxout, but plan to do the trap
bar deadlift for the first 4-6 weeks of an offseason program to improve your mechanics for a vicious
lift.

Farmer’s Walks

Most people who powerlift believe the farmer’s walk is ideal for training grip. However, farmers
work way more than just simply grip. With the farmer walk, you need to have grip, back, and glute
strength to take on the demands of carrying something heavy. Although you’re carrying a weight
and not performing multiple reps as you would with a traditional deadlift, you do have to have the
strength to maintain and support heavier loads. This is a great stimulus to change the pace of
programming and break up the monotony.

For programming purposes, the farmer’s walk might not be necessary for the later stages of a peak,
but this could be a secondary or a primary movement in your early offseason programming. Imagine
using a trap bar for the farmer’s walk as well. Early in the offseason you could choose one week to
do a heavy walk and speed trap bar deadlift, then the next week go heavy trap bar deadlift and do
trap farmer walk for speed and endurance as well. So if you want to become a dangerous deadlifter,
start doing some farmer’s walks!

Speed Deadlifts

I am more than sure that every person reading this article at some point has trained their deadlift
with massive volume. I bet you have followed rep schemes of 3×6, 4×8, or something in that range.
But instead of 3×6, why not 6×3? In this case, you hit the same volume, but redistribute the reps to
help focus more on “fresh reps” and less on fatiguing movement.

Let’s face it, deadlift is an intense movement and very exhausting on the body. Many people who
deadlift heavily begin to discuss their friend CNS and needing to go get IV therapy and some
kinesiology tape before their next training session. Sometimes it’s not an exhausted nervous system,
though. Sometimes you might just be physically exhausted, period. But have no fear! Let’s make this
easier on you.

I believe to have a massive deadlift, try focusing on more sets and less reps. So instead of 4 sets of 8
reps, go 8 sets of 4 reps. And even better, why not drop the intensity. Instead of using the normal
percentages that would go with a 4-rep scheme, go lighter in percentage. Now for your 8 sets of 4
reps, you can focus on submaximal weight for massive power, speed, and rate of force development.
When I began deadlifting, I could barely squeeze out a 100kg deadlift. After 12 weeks of only doing
speed deficit deadlifts for 6×3…my deadlift jumped from 100kg to 150kg, and I was only using 60kg
for training! It’s true what they say, Speed kills.

Isometric Deadlifts (No, Not Pause Deadlifts!)

I am not against pause deadlifts. However, I do think there are some other variations of the deadlift
that should be explored and recognized. One of those is the isometric deadlift, a high-intensity
variation that strengthens a specific range of motion that could very well be your sticking point.

To do the isometric deadlift, you need to be in a power rack. Set up the safety pins or J-hooks so that
when you grab a barbell from the floor, you pull the bar up and hook it under the safety pins. Once
you set up the isometric deadlift, you pull against the pins and try to move the entire power rack off
the floor. Warning! This only works if you have a power rack or rig setup that is heavy enough or is
bolted to the floor.

The idea is that the isometric deadlift is a strong, motionless contraction against the pins. You should
aim to hold it as hard as you can for about 8 seconds. Set the hooks/pins in a position where you are
the weakest for your deadlift. The idea is that because the barbell is motionless, you focus your
strength in the part of your deadlift that needs the most work.

I would recommend doing the isometric deadlift the last 4-6 weeks of a peak, for about 5 sets of 8
seconds. Do it before your speed sets. That way, the isometrics provide a max effort stimulus and
the speed sets provide a chance to practice your mechanics and break through that sticking point.

Sandbag and or Stone Training

Whether it’s a sandbag and atlas stone, we are basically looking for the same end result —
improving hip strength. The sandbag and stone require a more flexed spine, which might make some
people nervous. But when you deadlift heavy, there are times you lose your technique and begin to
lift with a flexed spine. Either way, the idea of implementing strongman event training with a stone
or a sandbag helps us prepare for potential breakdowns in technique that would occur in a max
effort deadlift.

Some movements I like are sandbag or atlas stone box squats where the athlete sits, weight in lap,
then stands up and pushes their hips through to finish. Another lift that could be more rigorous is
the “sandbag over bar” in which you pick up the sandbag, hold it in your lap, then drive your hips
through completely to get the load over a tall bar or onto a tall platform. Whatever the lift may be,
using the sandbag and stone in these instances requires hip strength, hip mobility, and the courage
to try loading your spine in a flexed position.

Give some of these movements a try in your next pulling session and see how they translate to a
stronger, more stable deadlift!