All in agreement! The deadlift is a fucked up movement from a biomechanical standpoint, and a representation of skeletal strength. I still do it though, as it brings me to fatigue. Squats though, is a different beast with a purpose!
How many strong deadlifting trainees actually manage to lift the same weight in squats?
Hereās my hot take:
2)Any [top 5]bodybuilder with a truly wide, thick, massive back does, or has done, heavy deadlifts at some point in their training (or still does). I guess you can also include rack pull with this, as they are ALMOST the same.
Are you referring to the online one trick pony scrawny guys with the massive deads with their perfect bio mechanics ?
I guess you can also include rack pull with this, as they are ALMOST the same.
I draw an incredibly thick line in the sand here to say theyāre NOT the same, because the rack pull is 100% superior, as is the deficit deadlift. Basically, any chance you have to change the starting position of the deadlift makes it superior, because the starting position of a deadlift is entirely arbitrary and determined purely by plate diameter. The idea that it would magically be EXACTLY the right height for everyone is ridiculous.
For any machine, we have the option to change the angles and positioning to suit the trainee. We can do this with most free weight movements as well. But the deadlift always starts at the same height, and we conform our bodies around IT. Same is true of atlas stones, sandbags, and other odd object lifts, and we consider THOSE to be tests of strength themselves (hence āManhood stonesā). I see a deadlift no differently.
Dammit, I just KNEW an exercise kinesiologist was going to find fault with my postā¦.. I just meant either you can pick up the weight or you cannot, in terms of test of strength, and I also meant that it works a large amount of muscles in the body. Besides a sumo deadlift (and dammit, donāt attack this, you know what I mean), on a regular traditional deadlift, you cannot use momentum, angles, body positioning, etc to gain an advantage like you can with a bench press. What really makes me laugh is the guys with those insanely tight bench shirts on, wrist wraps, elbow wraps, then the exaggerated back arch on the bench, etc. who then only take the bar down to their raised chest (via the scrunched back, which pushes the chest up, as does the feet hooked underneath the body and pressing up) and push up, performing a 2 inch movement.
And when I spoke of back development, I just meant what I said, building your back with deadlifts, deficit deads, rack pulls, or whatever produces a much different yet ābetterā quality of back muscular development vs. NOT performing them/leaving them out of a routine. Perhaps I should have specified it is my subjective observation via multiple years involved in BBāing and time in the gym, but anyone I knew or saw who had a ācrazyā back performed deads (via my informal conversations).
Dammit, I just KNEW an exercise kinesiologist
Hah! Iām a political scientist. I got straight Ds in high school science while cheating.
Which shows how obvious the issue is, haha.
Well, I tend to think of you as an exercise kinesiologist based upon various posts of yours where you went crazy deep into biomechanics and all sorts of sciency stuff 
@T3hPwnisher christ you sounded like my oldest son on the above post.
this opens up the deep spirtial conversation regarding what a true and proper deadlift is.
I mean unless its done off the floor using only the preordained stance at the sacramental height its sacrilege against the Holy word.
Yeah, Iām old school I guess because to me, a deadlift is: load up a bar with heavy ass weight, walk up to the bar, feet shoulder width apart, bend down and grasp the bar in a mixed over/under grip, stand the fuck up and lock it out. Then drop the weight a let out a blood-curdling scream. As a member of the 12-plate club, I have to say itās a pretty badass feeling locking out that kinda weight, feeling the bar start to bend at the ends, like the caricature dude in the World gym logo.
Yeahā¦ it seems anymore. Thereās too many ā*ā anymore in some camps regarding records online.
I find this is easy to discuss.
Are we talking about A deadlift or THE deadlift?
Take your pickā¦ my view anymore is did the weight come off the ground and did the hips lock out. The rest anymore in my view point is semantics. I guess seeing too many arguments about conventional vs sumoā¦ we wont even mention when you include the Deadlift in Strongman.
There is but only ONEā¦as described above. NO, the sumo doesnāt count as you reduce the range of motion way too much. Yes, youāre lifting the same amount of weight but much less distance.
Take your pick
But thatās what Iām saying: what weāre discussing determines what weāre discussing.
When Rob Oberst was talking about deadlifting, he was talking about THE deadlift. But the issue is: people wanted him to be talking about A deadlift, and crucified him for it.
Words mean things. A vast majority of disagreements are the result of two people both using the same term and having it mean different things. Operationalizaion of terms is crucial in productive dialog.
NO, the sumo doesnāt count
Iām 100% inclined to agree. Powerlifting will claim otherwise, but Iām ok with that. As a steno symbol goes, I find that, if I say āthe deadliftā, we tend to think conventional UNLESS clarified to be sumo. In a similar way that, when I say āhoofbeatsā, we tend to think horses instead of Zebras.
I get what your saying and agree.
For the record i do lean toward just your old school shoulder ( area) width apart for definition of a dead.
To a certain degree , if we want to get technical. They are almost two different lifts. Much in the same way a clean and jerk and a snatch is in a sense.
Meathead! No!
As an ex Costco employee, having worked there almost a decade, Iāll let you know right now, that whatever is in the air of Costco warehouses, it hates the workers there. A good 2/3 of the old workforce I was with was like 10 years younger than what they looked.
