Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The Deadlift... some observations

I have noticed something interesting when I do deadlifts (my favourite exercise of all time).  When I first started deadlifting I did a few things wrong,  namely:
  1. Not making sure the bar sticks to the shin 
  2. Using too much lower back and not enough leg drive (coaching cue: pressing your legs into the earth as you lift) - which left my lower back very sore the next few days post training
  3. Not using straps
Nowadays when I train deads I realize that:
  1. After making sure I use more leg drive, I no longer feel any low back pain post-training sessions which translates into faster recovery time.
  2. I activate the lats much more... this makes my lifting more solid.  I don't know how I came to activate the lats more, it just happened.  Previously I had trouble feeling my lats.
  3. Using straps ensure that I don't burn out my CNS and it enables me to lift a whole lot more without feeling exhausted.  Some purists would balk at my using straps.  But straps have their benefits.  If your grip is the only thing that is keeping you from lifting big then why should you deny your body from getting bigger and stronger by refusing to aid your grip by using straps?


1 comment:

Mohd Shahril said...

dadlift is my favorite lift too hahaha..

one more thing,when you are on the bar to pull dont take too much time to do it.
if you want to psyche your self up (if its a new weight or PR) do it BOFORE you approach the bar. After that just go to the bar, fix the strap then BAM! pull! A lot of my missed lift happened when im taking my time on the bar before a lift.