Are deadlifts dead in your current workout routine?
If so I think we need to take a closer look because I might be able to change your mind
today.
What's up everybody?
Jeff Cavaliere, ATHLEANX.COM.
As we started last week a little series here that I have put together for Men's Fitness
magazine, the November issue.
We talked about some of the exercises that are maybe relegated to the, what I call the
Iron Graveyard, meaning, they are not good for us, or people perceive it to be dangerous.
And it was up to me to determine, 'Do they belong there or are there ways we can make
them a viable option in the workouts that we do'?
Last week we talked about the Upright Row.
This week I want to talk about one of the biggest back injury exercises out there, the
deadlift.
Now hold on a second, I know I have a lot of deadlift fans out there that are going
to say 'Wait, you are totally off base.'
And you know what?
I am, because the deadlift itself is not a dangerous exercise, it's not one that we should
get rid of in our programs.
I'm going to explain why as I start to demonstrate.
The fact of the matter is the deadlift - done wrong - belongs in the Iron Graveyard.
Because it will destroy your low back.
The shearing forces that you put on your lumbar spine, the compressive forces that you put
on your discs are terrible if you do it incorrectly.
So, there's one thing I think that takes this exercise and it flips a switch and it makes
us think about it differently to take it out of the Iron Graveyard and put it back where
it belongs.
Which is in your program as a great posterior chain strengthening exercise, as a power exercise,
as pretty much everything we need in a lower body exercise, ok, and upper body.
It's a total body exercise.
Now here's what we're going to do.
The first thing we have to do is look at what happens when we get into the deadlift position.
The wrong thing you're doing is disengaging the lumbar extensors, disengaging the...we
call them the paraspinal muscles...along the spine because that's where you go from having
very little force, shearing force directed out from the spine to all the shearing forces
when you let that go.
And I've talked about it before, presetting the back.
So, when we get down into this position for a deadlift, the preset is getting into this
natural lumbar curve down here, getting the shoulder blades back, the shoulders pulled
back and the head looking up because if you don't look up, the first problem is if you
start to look down the body usually follows where the head goes.
So, if I start looking this way, it tends to roll my shoulders forward and tends to
bring the rest of my spine with me which is going to go down into the low back.
And now I've lost all the stabilization which again is the difference between whether you
experience the shearing forces or not.
So, when we get down into this position, we want to have the flexibility through the hamstrings,
the hinge in the hips, to be able to get down into this position here and then initiate.
Now, here's your second key.
The deadlift, for it not to be an exercise that belongs in that Iron Graveyard, but one
that belongs in your program, needs to be a pushing exercise, and not a pulling exercise.
I want you guys to make sure you get that straight.
Ok.
The deadlift should be a pushing exercise, and not a pulling exercise, not primarily,
at least, not initially.
Initially, it's got to be a pushing exercise.
So, let me explain.
When we're in this position here, when we get down, you're going to see that obviously
to get from this position and come out of that, come out of the hole, the mistake is
trying to pull too much because as soon as you try to pull and you hit resistance, what
happens even if I have a perfectly set back.
I pull, I hit resistance, phew, I blow out the back, right?
I have to pull this way to kind of cheat it up.
Don't make it a pulling exercise.
The pulling comes at the end.
What we want to do is make it a pushing exercise.
So, as you see here, the base is through the leg.
Ok.
The base is going to be through the leg.
Got a good strong foundation here from the leg so that when we come down, the first thing
is pushing through the leg.
So, once I have this, my head's up, my back is set, I push through the legs and then drive
through pulling back my upper back and my low back together at the same time.
Reverse the direction.
Ok.
As I come up, I push through my heels.
It's a leg exercise, and then I pull up at the top.
Push and then pull.
It's a completely different sensation.
We don't even feel that strain through the back.
Again, I can load that bar up as I need to, as I get stronger, but the fact is you won't
feel that strain through the back if you're initiating with a push and if you're setting
yourself up correctly in the beginning by getting the stabilizers of your back set,
the low back set, and getting your head up and pushing with your legs.
Guys, it's changes like this to certain exercises that can take and exercises that you had long
ago relegated to one that you're not going to do because even if you haven't gotten hurt,
some of your buddies have.
And believe me, one of the biggest exercises to cause people to get hurt on the gym floor
when they're doing it, is the deadlift, but that's because most guys aren't doing the
deadlift correctly.
At AthleanX, I try to show you guys how to do things correctly.
Again, a priority of mine as a physical therapist is to show you guys how to strength train
and condition and get you in the best shape of your life, but to do it safely so you can
continue to come back and do your workouts.
AhtleanX is a program that you do for life, not just for 90 days, but you do it for life
because you are capable of working out for life because you are getting stronger every
day.
Guys, I'll see you over at AthleanX.com.
In the meantime, if you haven't already, come join us on Team Athlean, grab the 90-day training
program.
See what it's like to train smart, to train with the right exercises, and to do them in
the right way so that you get the most out of them and you don't forego things that really
could help increase your gains in the gym.
Guys, I'll see you back here in 7 days.
In the meantime, have a great week.
Make sure you leave your comments below.
I'll talk to you soon.