Jefferson Curls?

Training
1

Has anyone heard of, or done Jefferson Curls? The exercise looks as dodgy as hell to me but can’t deny I’m interested by it. Hoping to get the perspective of someone who has done them before I decide to blow out all my vertebrae at once.

2

I have seen a lanky, skinny 123lb powerlifter unwind a 450lb deadlift in what might best be described as a Jefferson Curl. I would always advise those learning to deadlift to never pull with their spine rounded like that. Maybe for a max deadlift in a meet would be an exception.

With light controlled weight I believe there is a benefit doing a Jefferson Curl. I never did it though, with the exception of unwinding one vertebrae at a time with no weight every once in a while.

3

It really doesn’t seem like an intelligent exercise to use.

Low weight, low stimulus, fatiguing (if your lower back cramps up like mine does), and medium-high risk?
I wouldn’t bother. There are other exercises that are more stimulating with less risk.
Traditional Deadlifts or deficit deads
Hyperextensions
RDLs

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4

I don’t think most people are doing it with the intent of it being a heavily-loaded movement for strength/growth, though. It seems more like a prehab/stretching thing, at least at the entry level.

Granted, I’ve never done one in my life.

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5

I could understand that, but I’m still at a loss as to why this is the exercise chosen for this purpose when there are others that do the same thing.
Maybe I’m just not seeing it.

6

Start with no weight, go slow, don’t bend over too far. You’ll be fine.

Awesome deadlifters know how to flex and extend their upper backs during the deadlift. With Jeff curls you can practice that motion, and get it figured out, without crushing your back under weight.

If you’re worried about fucking yourself up you can also get some less intense spinal motion with basic stuff like this, first.
image

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7

Juice isn’t worth the squeeze. To many better options out there.

Do you EVER see anyone doing them?

Not that I am a follow the crowd type but success leaves clues.

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8

This should not be discounted, especially if you have never seen some powerful men who deadlift with a bit of the Jefferson Curl method incorporated.

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9

I love them

All biologic structures (including the lumbar muscles and discs) are adaptive - they grow bigger and stronger with time, with reasonable progressive overload.

Jefferson curls performed with appropriate progression principles are a great way to help prepare the lumbar tissues for “worst case scenarios,” and build up what I’d describe as a “buffer” for low back injury.

Despite McGill’s chokehold on lifting culture (especially in North America), we must remember that:

  • The spinal stabilisation approach has not been shown to outperform other interventions
  • His research is founded in dead pig spines
  • Even with the external appearance of a neutral spine, the lumbar spine is flexed to ~70 degrees of maximum in the bottom of a deadlift, and around 90% in the bottom of a barbell back squat
  • Flexed-spine lifting has not been shown to consistently cause lumbar injuries more than “neutral” spine lifting
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10

I’ve often done something similar with no weight for a bit of a stretch and usually feels pretty good. To me it seems similar in practice to loading 60-80kg on a bar and easing into a deep back squat for a loaded stretch, which also feels very nice IMO.
I’ll give them a go in the morning and report back. If you don’t hear from me it’s because I’ve turned myself into a tetraplegic and can’t type.

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11

So, I tried it at the end of my workout out because I forgot to use it as a prehab style exercise and found it gave an excellent stretch in my hamstrings. Didn’t notice much effect on my back muscles but guess I could have gone heavier. The issue was that when your bent like that, your lungs get compressed and the blood rushes to your head even worse than if you’re holding a handstand position for time. This would be fine at the start of a workout but doing several sets of breathing squats as a finisher and then trying sent me rather lightheaded.
Not something I’ll put in my routine as there are more practical/safer stretches but rather keep up my sleeve if/when I need to do some rehab.

12

My response would have been to blow them off, but if @FlatsFarmer and @j4gga2 think they have value, I’m now inclined to give them a serious look.

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