Deadlift - the Most Beneficial Exercise, Not the "meat-head" Favorite

The Deadlift - the exercise that has received a bunch of unfair criticism, judgment, and reputation, Even the spell checker underlines it as if it wasn't a word. In fact half of the people that I ask "How Much Can you Deadlift unless they are in a power-lifting sport or an Olympic lifting sport have no clue what I'm talking about. Even my martial arts friends say:"Deadlift, is that kinda like Squatting?" Some people that I show a video of me doing a Deadlift ask me "What is this exercise, and how is it beneficial? Doesn't it hurt your back?" And my answer is always this - "No it doesn't, in fact it make my BACK, LEGS, HIPS stronger, my shoulders broader, my traps bigger and overall gives me the biggest muscle gains, in fact you should do it".
This article will explain of why people think bad things of deadlift, why they ask questions about injuries and why I answer them they way I answer(see above) and most importantly why is deadlift the most beneficial exercise for everyone!


The reason why people ask a question doesn't it hurt your back is asked mainly due to them knowing someone or experiencing a back injury from pulling a lot of weight with their back, blowing a knee, dislocating a shoulder and even ripping calluses. All are injuries that can happen but only if one doesn't exercise proper form. Most chiropractors would agree that if you examined the backs of middle Aged Americans in 2011 they would probably find some kind of spinal problem whether it is central cord system damage or inner-vertebral disks falling out or whatever. And the fact of the matter is that everyone is lifting something off the floor constantly, but because of the improper lift people injure their back. So I think most people that are reading this article would agree that if we had stronger back we would have less injuries, and proper deadlift is the single most useful exercise to strengthen your back especially your lower back, which is the most susceptible to injuries!

FORM - STYLE
There are two ways to perform a deadlift. The standard way, which is when you place your feet narrower than the shoulders, and the sumo way(sumo-wrestler) where your feet are very wide, wider than shoulders. Each way has its benefits, I will focus on a standard one in this article just because I'm trying to prove to everyone that this is the best exercise out there!

FORM - HAND GRIP
The safest and most popular grip is grasping the bar with under/over grip with hand placement slightly wider than the shoulders. If you are doing a sumo wrestler style than sometimes you want to grip over the bar.

FORM - Head and chest, shoulders, legs and feet position
Your head should be looking forward, straight in front of you. Chest should be forward as well not down over the bar.
Your feet should be placed narrower then shoulder width with toes slightly turned outward. The best way to determine feet placement is to hang from a pull up bar then release hands and pay attention to how you land. The landing width would tell you the deadlift width.
When you stand up your ankles should be touching the bar in front of you and when you squat down there should be about 4-6 inches in front of you. The starting position is sitting down with knees bent and then your position of power where the meat of the pull takes place is when your knees are about 60% from the vertical and hips being lower than shoulders.

PERFORMING THE DEADLIFT

The best step by step description that I read to this day is by Mark Phillipi - one of the strongest man in the world.
Here is the excerpt:
"
The deadlift when executed correctly is a push from the floor followed by a pull to a locked out position. The force distribution on the feet places the force on the balls of the feet during the initial push off the ground followed by a transfer to the heel as the bar passes the knees and into lockout. As the bar breaks the ground, the hips must be in the power position although before starting the lift, they can be anywhere that is comfortable. This means there must be a focus on bending the knees and using the legs to drive. Do not let the legs lock out prematurely thereby placing more strain on the back. Always keep the chest above the hips. The bar should just brush the shins when leaving the ground. Try to accelerate the bar from the ground. The faster the bar moves past the knees, the easier the lockout. As the bar passes the knees, drive the head back helping your hip lockout as well. Do not hyperextend the back at lockout. Upon completion of the deadlift, return the bar to the platform slowly and under control. Do not slam the weights off the ground. Be in good position to start another rep, maintaining tightness throughout the body. Pause before starting the next rep, allow the reps to be momentum free. Do not bounce off of the ground."

THE DIFFERENT ROUTINES:
The deadlift can be used to develop the work capacity, burn fat, build muscle mass, get a wider back or create bigger strength, but whatever the goal your core strength will significantly increase.
I believe for most people, keeping routines basic is the best way. I myself deadlift once a week and think that it is sufficient to build strength. If you deadlift 2 or 3 times a week those other workouts should be kept as supplemental only and should be done using lesser weight (60% of your max weight) and higher reps. The reason is that your muscles need to properly recover and grow.
The progression should always be work capacity-->strength-->muscle mass. The reason for that is if you warm up your muscle then it prevents injury and gets the muscle used to the exercise thus resulting in quicker recovery. Then you develop strength so that you can lift heavier weights, sorta like conditioning the muscle, and once it is conditioned you go for building the muscle mass with that strength that you have acquired. If you want to be like Arnold Schwarzenegger or you are preparing for a powerlifting competition you can also add the peak phase and that is when you basically lift one time your max or above!

If you are just trying to look better, then I would do the capacity --> strength-->shortMuscleMass (one two weeks) and back to capacity, with suplemental capacity (loading phase) workout second time a week.

The bottom line is Deadlift should be a regular routine in your workout. It works out the core which is the most important group of bones and muscles because everything is connected to it. You just need to do it property and than the devil becomes your best friend.


Here is the sample workout that was also published by Mark Phillipi in Peakhealth.com.

It is the workout I use myself and so far have went from 295-380lbs in 6 month

Week Phase Sets/Reps Rest Interval
1 Work Capacity 10*3 Sets @ 55% 60 Seconds

2 Work Capacity 8*3 Sets @ 65% 60 Seconds

3 Strength Phase 5*3 Sets @ 75% 3 minutes

4 Strength Phase 5*3 Sets @ 80% 3 minutes

5 Strength Phase 3*3 Sets @ 83%, 8*1 Set @ 70% 3 minutes

6 Strenght Phase 3*3 Sets @ 86%, 8*1 Set @ 70% 3 minutes

7 Strength Phase 2*3 Sets @ 89%, 6*1 Set @ 75% 3 minutes

8 Peaking Phase 2*2 Sets @ 92%, 6*1 Set @ 75% 3-5 minutes

9 Peaking Phase 2*2 Sets @ 95%, 5*1 Set @ 80% 3-5 minutes

10 Peaking Phase 1*2 Sets @ 98%, 5*1 Set @ 80% 3-5 minutes
11 Peaking Phase Test or Competition

As always please leave your positive and negative comments. I appreciate it!
Thanks!
Yuriy Nagorny