|
Are Deadlifts A Dead Lift?: Part 1
If you ask many coaches what one of the overall best strength training exercises is, many of them will answer that it’s the Deadlift. And at first, it makes sense why:
Strength coaches, especially ones who are into “functional strength”, often like the fact that the Deadlift strengthens the “hinge” movement. Hinging is basically flexing and extending at the hips such as when you reach down to pick something up off the ground. It’s a movement you probably use multiple times a day without even noticing it. And the fact that Deadlifts strengthen this movement appeals to many strength coaches.
Many bodybuilding type coaches also like the Deadlift for the sheer number of muscle groups it works. It trains your legs. It trains your lower back. It trains your upper back. It trains your forearms. Nearly every muscle in the body is trained by doing Deadlifts.
For that same reason, some body composition coaches also like the Deadlift. They reason that if Deadlifts train THAT many body parts at once, it’s a great tool for fat loss.
With all these coaches supporting the Deadlift, it probably going to seem a little crazy at first or us to say that we’re not big fans of the Deadlift and that we don’t think it’s worth many trainees time. But before you come to the conclusion of: “Phil has officially lost his mind”, hear me out. If you do, I think you’ll find some compelling reasons why the Deadlift isn’t an exercise you need to feel any FOMO (fear of missing out) about if you don’t have it in your training routine! In fact, you may even experience better gains in your training as a result of what we’re going to go over in this newsletter!
First, A Disclaimer
Let’s start by getting the first part out of the way: This newsletter is NOT meant to say that Deadlifts are a weak or ineffective exercise. As you go through life, you will see and experience many things. And I cannot guarantee what you’re going to see over the course of your entire lifespan.
But I can guarantee something you will NEVER see: Me walking up to someone who Deadlifts 3-4 times their bodyweight and telling them that they’re weak!
That’s because someone who Deadlifts that much is definitely NOT weak. They have a strong posterior chain, a strong upper back, and if they aren’t using straps, a strong grip! So you’ll never hear me say that someone who Deadlifts heavy loads like that is a weak person.
I’m also not saying that the Deadlift is COMPLETELY useless in every situation. If you are a Powerlifter and compete in the Deadlift, then you should Deadlift. In fact, if I ever became a Powerlifter and winning Powerlifting competitions became the way I paid the bills and put food on the table, then I’d definitely be Deadlifting. And if Warren Buffet ever approaches me and offers me 1,000,000 USD for every pound I add to my Deadlift during 2023, guess what lift I will be doing? If you guessed “Deadlifts”, you are absolutely correct!
The points I’m making here are that 1, this newsletter is not to say that Deadlifts will make you weak or that someone who Deadlifts heavy IS weak. And 2, if you compete in the Deadlift, want to have a massive Deadlift, or receive that offer from Warren Buffet, you should definitely do the Deadlift…
…And now that I’m done being nuanced and balanced, let’s get to the fun part: why we don’t think the Deadlift worth your time outside of the earlier mentioned situations.
Free Gains
Reason number one that we don’t think the Deadlift is very worth your time is that it’s a free gain from OTHER exercises. When I say “free gain”, what I mean is that by doing OTHER exercises, your Deadlift will increase for free WITHOUT doing direct work on it.
In fact, there was a time when I focused ONLY on doing bodyweight leg strength exercises. It was during a time where I was afraid that my legs would get too big and it would prevent me from accomplishing certain upper body strength exercises. I know… please don’t shame me for my previous skipping of leg day. I already feel ashamed.
But during that time, I worked on bodyweight leg exercises like unloaded Single Leg Squats, Step-Ups, Nordic Leg Curls, Single Leg Back Extensions, and Sprints. And while working on those, I decided to try doing a Deadlift. So with a little bit of coaching from a coworker at the gym I worked at, and some pretty dicey form that probably severely limited how much I could have lifted, I easily pulled double my bodyweight.
Now that lift won’t win me a powerlifting competition, but it was enough to show me that my deadlift was improving in the background without direct work.
Later, when I began to ditch my fear of my legs growing too big and started Back Squatting, I discovered this effect was even greater. As my Back Squat went up, I could always count on my Deadlift to be even higher. The Deadlift was clearly a free gain.
The fact that the Deadlift is gaining for free leads me to thinking this: “If I’m gaining on the Deadlift without direct work, is there any point in doing direct work on it?”
“How I feel when I think about doing Deadlifts”
Well, that brings us to point number two.
Limited Carryover
While the Deadlift RECEIVES a lot of free gains, does it GIVE a lot of free gains? Sadly, the answer seems to be “no”. The Deadlift doesn’t seem to have learned the powerful truth that there is more happiness in GIVING than RECEIVING.
Personally, I noticed that when I tried to do direct Deadlift work to increase my Squat strength, the carryover was very limited. A huge increase in my Deadlift didn’t improve my Squat the same way that a huge increase in my Squat would increase my Deadlift.
I’m sure the carryover wasn’t absolutely zero. If you take an untrained beginner and have them Deadlift, their Back Squat will probably increase. But the carryover from Deadlift to Squat doesn’t seem to be as potent as the carryover from Squat to Deadlift. If I had to guess why, I’d assume it’s because the Squat goes through a bigger range of motion in knees than the Deadlift does.
The fact that the Deadlift receives free gains and that you can gain on it without doing direct training on it COMBINED with the fact that it doesn’t give a lot of free gains both lead to the conclusion that it’s not as worth the time as other lifts unless you’re in one of those earlier situations.
And as much as I’d REALLY like for Warren Buffet to make that earlier offer, I don’t see that happening for me any time soon. I’ll keep waiting and hoping for it to happen, but until then the Deadlift will stay a free gain rather than direct exercise in my program.
Especially because of point number three…
RECOVERY
The next reason I don’t directly train the Deadlift is because of recovery. This may just be my personal experience, although I have heard it repeated by many others, but Deadlifts are pretty taxing on the recovery.
In fact, I’ve noticed that in the past when I’ve added Deadlifts directly to my program, it was hard to recover and progressively increase my strength on all my other lifts at the same time. Especially my upper body pulling lifts.
Exercises like the One Arm Chin-Up and the Front Lever would hit a slow down or a plateau in gains if the Deadlift was trained too often. And “too often”, when it came to the Deadlift, wasn’t very much. Removing it allowed for much more sustainable progress for me.
And again, I’ve heard others have a similar experience. Of course, everyone is different so as the saying goes: “Your mileage may vary” and your experience may be different, but the recovery issues, combined with the fact that the Deadlift is a free gain exercise that doesn’t give much free gains when directly worked on has lead to me not doing direct work on it.
Is The Deadlift Dead To You?
Based on those factors, YOU can decide what you think about the Deadlift.
Do you think it’s a lift that deserves a place in your training?
Or do you think it deserves to be in the background, gaining silently in the “quiet section” of the Gain Train?
If you have time, you can reply to this newsletter and let us know what you think!
And then, stay tuned for Part Two of this newsletter where we’ll go over ways work around the flaws we listed here about the Deadlift.
Train smart, friends
- Phil
_____________________________________________________ Website: https://mindfulmover.com/online-coaching/
Youtube: Mindful Mover Instagram: @The_Mindful_Mover Facebook: Mindful Mover
|
