Thread: Re-learning the deadlift

I learnt my deadlift off this guy's videos and before every lift i try to go through it in my head. Phineas your one of the good guys, dont worry about the immature comments, still loving the routine you worked out for me

are you guys for real ? are you reading from a book or are you actually lifters. i do deads on my back day right after pullups and guess what ? i feel like a silver back . ya it absolutely hits the glute and ham , but mother of god there is nothing better for my back than this lift . it all works synergistically . my back is one of my greatest attributes and its from the wicked dead . real life stuff baby. and as far as questioning phineas , you too should question him as well . you should question every man . i've trained w/ national ranking power lifters and i didnt agree w/ everything they preached either . nothing against you phin . thats just how it is

Of course I've seen ones form go to the crapper due to over thinking an exercise. Try to remember, you're basically squatting down and picking up heavy shit. How would you go about it doing that effeciently? ..... then do that

Originally Posted by alterntego

are you guys for real ? are you reading from a book or are you actually lifters. i do deads on my back day right after pullups and guess what ? i feel like a silver back . ya it absolutely hits the glute and ham , but mother of god there is nothing better for my back than this lift . it all works synergistically . my back is one of my greatest attributes and its from the wicked dead . real life stuff baby. and as far as questioning phineas , you too should question him as well . you should question every man . i've trained w/ national ranking power lifters and i didnt agree w/ everything they preached either . nothing against you phin . thats just how it is

Yeah, no shit... your back gets hit by a deadlift too. That wasn't the issue. The issue was Phin was being called an idiot for saying the deadlift was a ham/glute dominant exercise. Are you gonna tell us it's not too?
Yeah, we're for real... yeah, we're lifters.. and yeah, we read shit from books too. Just because someone can deadlift, doesn't mean they are doing it correctly. I'll question Phineas, when he says something I disagree with but as for this topic, he was spot on and being insulted for it.
No one was questioning the proper form, or the individuality of how it's performed. Only what the deadlift was dominantly for. It's not a back day exercise. It's a leg movement. Just like Bench press isn't a tricep exercise and bent rows aren't a bicep exercise.

Phineas @ no point said that deads don't work your lower back, he said it's a ham/glute dominate exercise!!!!!!!!! Deads workout your neck, that dosen't make it a neck dominate exercise. Their aren't too many muscles in your body that deads or squats don't workout to some degree. That's why these two lifts are a must, especially for power lifters.

Flathead

Originally Posted by Flathead

Phineas @ no point said that deads don't work your lower back, he said it's a ham/glute dominate exercise!!!!!!!!! Deads workout your neck, that dosen't make it a neck dominate exercise. Their aren't too many muscles in your body that deads or squats don't workout to some degree. That's why these two lifts are a must, especially for power lifters.

Flathead

I said deads work the hams/glutes primarily, because those are the target muscles. The back, traps, delts, forearms, biceps, quads, adductors, calves, abs, etc, are worked indirectly.

Originally Posted by Merkaba

Of course I've seen ones form go to the crapper due to over thinking an exercise. Try to remember, you're basically squatting down and picking up heavy shit. How would you go about it doing that effeciently? ..... then do that

I could maybe see a person pysche themselves out for preparing too long for a deadlift, but as for "overthinking" the lift I can't see that.

I get everyone's point that it's a simple lift in the sense that you're really just squatting down and picking up weight. But, if you were to tell that to a beginner, to just squat down and pick up the barbell, can you imagine what the lift would end up looking like? Just because a lift is simple in concept doesn't mean it can't be complicated in delivery.

The issue with the deadlift versus most lifts is that if a certain position isn't maintained by the lifter (at that position depends on their unique proportions), then the workload will shift from the target hams/glutes to probably the back.

I don't view the deadlift is standing up. If from the squatted starting position I were to just "stand up" my back would probably round badly, as I would push too much with my quads and shift the centre of balance to the front of my body. A deadlift is a pull, and so the posterior chain acts as a pulley system.

gggg.pdf

You might need Adobe to view this pdf. It scanned sideways, so just click "view" and "rotate counterclockwise".

Excuse the terrible artwork.

Originally Posted by Phineas

gggg.pdf

You might need Adobe to view this pdf. It scanned sideways, so just click "view" and "rotate counterclockwise".

Excuse the terrible artwork.

My GOD Phineas, you're a terrible artist!

Originally Posted by FMJ

My GOD Phineas, you're a terrible artist!

You're just jealous that you don't have a lizard tongue and mohawk.

Admit it, FMJ! Just admit it!!!

Originally Posted by Phineas

You're just jealous that you don't have a lizard tongue and mohawk.

Admit it, FMJ! Just admit it!!!

The lizard tongue would make me more popular.

Originally Posted by FMJ

The lizard tongue would make me more popular.

Plus, the ladies LOVE IT.

could you please explain how this 'pulley' system works?? i dont quite get the drawing...lol...you also said that once you understood the mechanics of the deadlift it improved your form...is there something i can read to understand the mechanics behind it?

Originally Posted by qwerty001

could you please explain how this 'pulley' system works?? i dont quite get the drawing...lol...you also said that once you understood the mechanics of the deadlift it improved your form...is there something i can read to understand the mechanics behind it?

Basically, when lifters who don't understand the deadlift view it as simply standing up they put too much emphasis on the front of their feet and wind up shifting their centre of balance forwards. It's as though they're trying to make it a quad-dominant lift like a squat. This is often why lifters round their back; they're not lifting with the proper muscle contraction.

The pulley system is just a name I came up with to explain the proper mechanics of a deadlift. Your posterior chain acts as a pulley system, with the origin of exertion being the hams/glutes.

Imagine a ski chair lift. They start at the bottom of the mountain where there's usually the heaviest, strongest gears and equipment. This would be the hamstrings/glutes -- the dominant muscles in a deadlift. The cable continues up the slope of the mountain (i.e. the back), and usually bends over the top of the slope and flatens out where it drops the skiiers off (i.e. traps).

When a deadlift commences, (ideally) the hamstrings and glutes contract and begin to pull on the entire posterior chain. As this happens, the elongated hams/glutes increasingly shorten from their stretched position and bring the back and shoulders up back to a parallel. The back does no actual pulling; it's simply a carrier for that cable.

While you'll certainly feel the back a great deal in deadlifts, you shouldn't be lifting with it. Let your hams/glutes pull the weight, and take your back out of the equation. It will get its work through isometric tension.

When I fixed my deadlift form last fall it was after reading a book on bodybuilding psychology. It taught me a lot about focussing on target muscles to better understand what you're really doing with your body. If you can visualize all the muscles involved, and how they're assisting each other, you gain a better understand of the muscular system, and it seems to make all lifts flow much better.

Phineas,

Why are there 2 pulleys on the ground?