I see it as a loaded hinge myself.
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And the dumb ass that I was, thought it was an erector exercise and pretty much, nothing else that couldnāt be hit better with other exercises.
Anatoly?
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Iām pretty interested here. I always liked these lifts, probably because I was relatively better at them than upper body, but I am finding theyāre starting to take enough out of me that my whole week takes a hit and Iām not even particularly strong anymore.
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Thatās another great discussion entirely on itās own: the opportunity cost. What are you giving up by doing deadlifts.
Iāve limited myself to one set a week, and even THAT has come to get pushed to the wayside with my most current approach.
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I think thatās exactly it. Thereās no āworthlessā exercise, but some of these definitely can run the risk of taking more than they give.
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I was focused on competitive bodybuilding only at this point. If my back was healthy, I would have been doing squats. I wouldnāt have bothered with deadlifts, as I thought they were a poor return on investment at that stage of my physique development.
Fully engaged deadlift training takes the greatest amount of recovery (needs the following day off). I was training 6 days a week at that time. What day would have been best for deadlifting? Obviously, it was the 6th day. By then I was needing a day off, which I did shoulders and arms on the 6th day as that was the least taxing workout.
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I would credit heavy deadlifting for the majority of my back and trap development. Whilst I do other movements like rows for back, these are done as accessory movement and with far less intensity. Heavy deadlifting just gives you a back that people can see is strong.
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Iāve never seen a heavy deadlifter without a thick back. Maybe not perfectly sculpted with carefully selected and emphasized muscle heads, but thick. With a base level of strength to continue building and sculpting from if desired. A 500lb deadlift will allow 250lb and higher barbell rows for reps, for example, and a lifter will get there quicker by deadlifting than by incrementally adding weight to a low starting point on rows themselves.
So while there may be trade-off between volume and heavy work in a given workout that causes some to de-emphasize deadlifts, big picture the guy ripping heavy deads will get big, fast, by playing with the big weights for hypertrophy.
Cue Ronnie Coleman. Light weight!
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Iāve seen plenty but itās likely their neural pathways are really efficient and their fast twitch fibers are a bit lower. Or they program not to add much muscle.
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Those under 40 years old should consider the evolution of the deadlift over the decades.
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In the 1970ās no one EVER did deadlifts except competitive powerlifters. And most all the powerlifters over 200lbs were squatting more than they could deadlift.
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In the 1980ās was about the same as the 1970ās
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In the1990ās was about the same as the 1970ās
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In the 2000ās Cross Fit and Strength contests got significantly more people deadlifting. I could hardly believe my eyes after going through decades where very few deadlifted as part of the lifting program.
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In the 2010ās social media attracted more people deadlifting to post their feats of strength.
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In the 2020ās more people are deadlifting.
From my historical perspective the deadlift is a new training strategy for bodybuilding. I am not saying that deadlifting has no benefit, but I believe it provided the least contribution in the success that I had in bodybuilding.
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My introduction to the deadlift (Iām over 40) was in junior high football strength training, so more inline with sport specific performance than hypertrophy.
The answer to the OPās questions of āhow important are deadlifts for skinny guysā and āwhat are the benefitsā is that theyāll make you thick and give a base level of strength to build from. They absolutely do.
Lots of bodybuilders train deadlifts. Arnold did. Cutler, Coleman and so on. They may not be the ābestā bodybuilding lift but theyāre certainly utilized.
I think this is a pretty fair assessment of training trends over time. know I havenāt competed in bodybuilding like yourself but I have been in gyms and around bodybuilders in the Uk since the late 80ās and early 90ās. Lots of bodybuilders were using deadlifts but I would say not with the intent of doing a heavy single conventional deadlift like we see with powerlifting. Plenty of guys using stiff leg and RDL for leg and lower back development though.
What does āhip hingeā do in regards to bar path?
Does the bar go in a straight line up or does it travel back?
The bar travels in an arc if youāre doing a good morning, it travels in a line if youāre doing a deadlift, it moves in cursive if youāre doing a power clean and it stays in the exact same place if youāre doing a cable pull-through or a kettlebell swing.
Iām just curious what hip hinge means???
Is this a new term or something?
I never heard this one when I first started lifting and the way I saw deadlifting was to kinda squat the weight to get it moving.
Someone tells me, you are squatting the weight, deadlift is a hip hinge. I tried to change my form and it destroyed my lifting and my back.
The guy says, your hips are too low, when you squat the weight, the hips still raise before the weight leaves the floor.
Iām back to squatting the weight up now.
You probably wouldnāt believe me if I told you. I think you should look it up and decide for yourself what a hip hinge is.
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I have looked it up, the lift starts with the hips high but back flat.
I tried this for over 5 years and itās not done anything to help me improve so I went back to my old way.
But the key to deadlifting is the bar needs to travel straight up and down.
So I was asking what hip hinge does as far as bar path?
I explained possible bar paths to you above. It sounds like youāve learned all about it already.
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They are definitely a staple for me. To me they are the exercise that sort of binds the rest of my exercise selection together. Iām not a bodybuilder or powerlifter of course so take it with a grain of salt.
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