T H E M&F DE A DL I F T GU I DE
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M U S C L E & F I T N E S S / M AY 2 0 1 9
THE THREE KINGS When it comes to deadlifting, there’s more than one way to pull heavy weight off the floor. Here are the three best deadlift variations.
CONVENTIONAL DEADLIFT
Because it’s the industry standard for measuring brute strength and power. “It’s the king of lifts,” says Ollie Quinn, a strongman competitor, a former Royal Marine, and the owner of BattleBells personal training in Austin, TX. “No other deadlift variation screams static strength and athleticism like this one.” EXECUTION: Stand in front of a loaded barbell resting on the floor in front of you, feet hip-width apart. Keeping your back flat and head up, bend your knees and hips to grasp the bar with a shoulderwidth grip. This is your start position. Stand up with the bar in one explosive motion by extending your knees and driving your hips forward. FORM TIP: “Fill your belly with air to brace your abs,” Quinn says. “Hinge your upper body, keep a neutral spine, and squeeze the bar—imagine bending it into a horseshoe shape, using your lats, before you pull.”
your glutes and quads are weak in your conventional pull, switching to sumos for a while will build strength in those muscle groups. EXECUTION: With your feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointed out, sink your butt down and grab the bar with your hands just on the inside of your thighs. (You can use a closer grip, as shown on the opening spread, if it’s more comfortable.) Start with your butt down, torso as upright as possible, and core tight. Deadlift the bar off the floor, keeping your back flat and knees pointed outward the entire time. When your hips and knees reach full extension, lower the bar back down. FORM TIP: “Keep as much of your body behind the bar as possible,” says Quinn. “Think about pushing the floor apart hard with your feet to lift the bar off the floor. When you get the bar moving, keep your knees out and finish by driving your hips into the bar.”
SUMO DEADLIFT
TRAP-BAR DEADLIFT
WHY DO IT:
For starters, the wide stance creates a shorter range of motion, which can help relieve lower-back pain. Also, if WHY DO IT:
According to Quinn, trap-bar deadlifts are great for three reasons: 1) They help immobile lifters get into WHY DO IT:
OPE N E R: E D GA R A RT IGA
platform, the deadlift is the great equalizer among competitive lifters and gym rats alike. There’s nothing more telling of a person’s raw strength than whether he can load up a steel barbell with heavy weight and rip it up off the floor. You can’t cheat the deadlift—it either goes up, or it doesn’t. It’s also good for you. Pulling weight from the floor is about as basic (read: necessary) of a movement that exists. Anytime you pick up your kid or bend over to retrieve a fallen wallet, you’re technically doing a deadlift, so strengthening and reinforcing this movement pattern will only benefit you as you get older. From a gym standpoint, deadlifts engage your entire posterior chain—that is, your hamstrings, glutes, and every muscle in your back—along with your core, shoulders, and arms. So if you want to get bigger and stronger...deadlift. It’ll also test your grit. And this year’s Arnold Strongman Classic winner, Hafþór Björnsson, knows all about that. Last year, Björnsson, aka Game of Thrones’ “the Mountain,” set a record on the Rogue Elephant Bar—a longer, unstable bar that moves as you pull it—by lifting 1,041 pounds. Then, at this year’s Arnold, Björnsson put four more pounds onto his already otherworldly total. Four pounds may not seem like a lot, but when you’re pulling more than a halfton of weight, every ounce counts. In the spirit of strong men lifting big weight, we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide to help you become a better deadlifter. We can’t promise you’ll be pulling weight like Björnsson (in fact, we can almost guarantee you won’t), but follow the advice and you’ll be setting new PRs in no time.