Article: Deadlift's Dirty Little Secret (T-nation)

[ChrisLindsay9]

Here's an article about the deadlift, "Deadlift's Dirty Little Secret" that is somewhat interesting (despite the stupid title). But T-nation really needs to stop using the "dirty little secret" in its titles. It's played out.

Anyways, I bring it up because it was referenced by someone at my gym about a conversation regarding deadlifting and powerlifting competitions. He's an older guy who used to compete, and he made the argument that the deadlift is unlike the squat and bench because the repetition isn't a "fair" lift - due to the fact that the starting point of the lift is fixed (approximately 8.75" off the floor) that doesn't take into account body type. When you bench and squat, your starting point is going to be based on your body type (your arms and chest in bench, your back and legs in squat). But the deadlift is always starting 8.75" off the floor - no matter if you're 5'0" or 6"0".

He admits that body type will produce certain advantages and disadvantages, but some of those can be resolved through training - such as how some people are going to build arches for bench, improve hip mobility to enhance leg drive, widen or shorten their hand grip; and there's high-bar and low-bar squatters, variances in stance, etc. But, he argued, those things can be learned through training in regard to their body type and mechanics.

But with powerlifting, the fixed starting position of the deadlift creates an unfairness that's built into the rules itself. No amount of training will allow you to change the fact that your rep's start is always going to be 8.75" off the floor.

Curious if anyone has any thoughts/opinions? I don't think he's saying that deadlift needs to be eliminated, but he thought it was just pointing out the inconsistency.

Does Sumo style pulling help to minimize the disadvantages, or make it more fair?

 

[BrotherIron]

If someone's going to start whining about fair and unfair then next thing you know they'll whine about how tendon insertion points in the body.

No one is built for all 3 lifts. We all excel at one and if lucky maybe two. So suck it up, quit making excuses, and work harder.... that's what I'd tell the writer.

 

[porky little keg]

1st off - it was great to see you this weekend and I absolutely loved meeting your little brother. That speaks volumes about you.


Mathematically it seems unfair when you look at ROM.... ( same with taller squatters, long armed benchers etc...)..... BUT I really believe that it's about more than that.
Short sumo pullers should be at an advantage, but when you compare a short sumo puller like Henry Thomason to a tall conventional puller it starts to look like less of an issue.

We were just talking about this at the gym the other day. Me being so tall should be a disadvantage, but when you look at the list of guys who have pulled over 900 they're mostly tall conventional pullers.

 

[IronCore]

and I thought this thread was about that thieving piece of shit DeadWeight... sorry... carry on

 

[schultz1]

I think he is over thinking it....just lift.

 

[flpl88]

I've always thought deads to be the most fair out of the 3 lifts

 

[Turbolag]

I've always thought deads to be the most fair out of the 3 lifts

Me too because it's the one lift you can't cheat on.

You can't cut it short like on squat and you can't not touch your chest like on bench.

You start from the same position as everyone else.

So when you make a pull, no one can say, "you didn't touch your chest!", or "you weren't parallel!".

And in equipped lifting, the dead lift suit doesn't have much carry over to your pull like squat and bench.

You can't get 400 pounds from a dead lift suit.

When I put my dead lift suit on I pulled LESS than raw. The suit made me wanna fold over, I have no clue how that's supposed to help your spring out from the starting point on dead lifts.

 

[ChrisLindsay9]

1st off - it was great to see you this weekend and I absolutely loved meeting your little brother. That speaks volumes about you.

Thanks man! It was great seeing you lift as well. Me and my lil' bro from Big Brothers/Big Sisters were just blown away at the 1000lb squats. He just started ninth grade and I told him if he does well in school, I'd get him a beginner weight lifting set for next summer and do some training with him. *fingers crossed* Those grades have got to come up though!

You can't cut it short like on squat and you can't not touch your chest like on bench.

You start from the same position as everyone else.

So when you make a pull, no one can say, "you didn't touch your chest!", or "you weren't parallel!".

There is some controversy in the deadlift, because you can get people arguing about whether someone locked out their legs, hitched or not hitched, rode up the leg, etc.

I guess another way of determining the fairness of this lift would be to consider the adjusments made in the other two lifts that accommodate a lifter. You can raise/lower the rack pins (or monolift) and raise/lower the bench press posts to accommodate the size of the lifter. But there is no adjustment for the deadlift. It's always the same height off the ground.

I agree that it's not a big deal. But I just thought it was a somewhat-interesting article, but even more interesting how this guy at my gym read the article and made the determination that it's inherently "unfair." As someone who's proficient in deadlift, I certainly would not want to see any changes with it. And it does seem like pulling sumo does eliminate accommodate some of the "perceived unfairness."

 

[Turbolag]

There is some controversy in the deadlift, because you can get people arguing about whether someone locked out their legs, hitched or not hitched, rode up the leg, etc.

Definitely man, I think you made a great point.