Deadlift Training - Part 1 - Primal Fitness Systems, LLC.

Deadlift Training - Part 1

March 9, 2010
by Stephen R. Santangelo

http://www.primalfitness-systems.com/articles/archives/2010/exercises/deadlift-training-part1.html

The deadlift is one of my favorites for all athletes and fitness enthusiasts to use. It is one of the 7 Primal Movements, lifting/picking up.

Everyday you pick up objects; your shoes, a grocery bag, toddlers, boxes or any number of objects around the house or work place.

The 2 most common complaints are “deadlifts are too hard” and “Oh, I can’t do that, I’ll hurt my back.”

First of all get over it because it’s too hard. If you do not train hard with great intensity you’ll never improve fitness and strength.

Secondly, if you think you’re going to hurt your back, you will, because you don’t train it to strengthen the muscles or train the natural function of the back. Weak muscle function means injury!

The back is designed for lifting. Learn to lift with your back not your legs. You only initiate the movement with your legs and help support the body with the legs.

When introducing the deadlift into your training regimen, you must understand the exercise is designed for maximum effort, meaning concentrate on heavy weights performed for many sets and low reps. When you perform high reps and minimal sets (3-4) you are wasting your time and just pretending to be putting out effort. The only time light weight and high reps need to be performed is for restoration and rehab.

The DL is a concentric movement. There is no lowering of the weight, meaning the eccentric force is eliminated. This makes it even more demanding because you’re starting the lift in a bent over or bottom position. This makes the dead lift very taxing on the body. Keep in mind you should never dead lift more than once per week.

When you train hard and heavy, the deadlift is one of the few exercises which release testosterone, a big advantage for any athlete. The more testosterone you have the faster you recover from training and the quicker strength and muscle gains become, which everyone wants, men and women.

In Part 2, I will discuss the variations of the dead lift for the fastest gains and how to enhance performance.

Continue to Part 2


Questions/Comments Testimonials

Recent Articles

Strengthen Those Quads

The Power of Vodka

How Much Lipstick is Used in a Lifetime?

How Many Americans Use Prescription Drugs?

Mortality & Medical Care

Air Pollution & Detox