Deads

[the People's Champ]

when performing deads, do you let the weight touch the floor while keeping resistance on your back or do you let it go all the way down so the stress is off your back for a quick second?

also, I have seen a video clip of ronnie coleman doing deads, and at the top of the motion, he would pull his shoulders back. what do you think of this? do any of you guys do this?

 

[gymtime]

I let the bar down close to the floor, but I don't let it touch. You want to keep it as one fluid movement, not two separate ones. And yes, I pull my shoulders back at the top of the motion. I think doing this puts less stress on the lower back.

 

[frorider6]

I'm still learning and trying to perfect the deadlift.

I started to roll my shoulders back and get a good lower trap squeeze after my physical therapist told me my lower traps were underdeveloped in relation to my uppers. The motion of squeezing the blades together should help that.

Also, I'd imagine that NOT letting the weight touch the floor would be best as long as there was no jerking motion with the back or bouncing motion with the knees. However, I don't know if I have the guts to do a set of deads and not let it touch the ground.

 

[needsize]

Not letting the plates touch the floor can be dangerous if you're using a lot of weight, as the point where you reverse the motion will put a ton of extra stress on the lower back. I think it is harder and a much truer test of strength to set the bar down for a second between reps, it will also build up your 1 rep max strength.

 

[the People's Champ]

from what needsize said, this is the way I have been doing deads. adter I saw that ronnie coleman clip, I started bringing my shoulder blades together. I have also heard about shrugging at the top of the movement. what are your takes on this?

 

[endpoint]

I prefer to let the weight touch the floor. and then re-set the lift
to me stoping it would be like finishing a bicep curl an inch short of the bottom.

dont know how much of a role the strech shortening cycle takes in a dead lift......but i reckon a complete stop is harder to lift from.

depends on your goals i guess.


the extra shrug is to ad more trap work into the lift (they get used alot though) something he carried over from his powerlifting years?

 

[javaguru]

If I plan on doing less than five reps then I always let it touch and re-set before pulling the next rep, main purpose is injury prevention.

 

[OMEGA]

I like to momentarily tap the weight on the floor, I use it as part of the rep, no tap equals no rep for me.

also about Ronnie shrugging on top, I do the same, I try to imagine after all the grewling work of the deadlift itself performing a shrug at the end just gives you more development