If I am looking ot gain lean muscle mass, what should I eat and how should I lift… just kidding. My real question is, and a truly apologize if htis question is elementary, what do soreness tell you about a workout. My back never gets sore, so I worry that I didn’t do enough, although that is the bodypart that I use the most exercises for. My chest always gets sore, mostly for days. I only do three exercises for ches (flat bench, dumbell incline and dips). Ironically, my back developes faster than my chest. Are there any theories regarding soreness and effecient of your workout. If the answer is in an article, I would be more than happy to read it.
This is something that will vary from person to person. Some feel that if you don’t get sore, then you’re workout wasn’t very good. This isn’t always true.
T-Mag has published a few articles on this. One that comes to mind is Muscle Masochism by Lonnie Lowery. There’s others, but that’s the only one I can think of right now.
I have the same problem. I used to only do two exercises for chest and would be sore for days but no matter what I did for my back it never got sore. But my chest grew and my back didn’t do much. I have only trained my chest a dozen or so times in the last 5 years and it is still one of my better body parts. If only I could gain like that in every other bodypart. My upper back would get sore sometimes from deadlifts, but that is about it. Am also interested in hearing about back not getting doms.
I am going to do deadlifts for the first time tomorrow. Does anyone have any tips. I was always hesitant to do powerlifts because I am scared my form will be all wrong. I have been on some websites that were suggested by other poster. It seems like the movement is basic. Is the technique as easy as it seems?
weird how you hate everybody (except patricia of course) and continue to want answers.
if strength is your goal, as long as your lifts are going up & not down then however you are feeling is ok (in my opinion).
sometimes i’m not sore at all, and sometimes i can’t move for three days (for example this week my back/erectors are VERY sore since tuesday, more so than my previous DL workout).
as for soreness i get, chest/tri’s (only rotator/tendonitis a little) are never sore, back/hams/quads/trapz/abs(obliques)/bi’s are usually murdered.
dl lockouts always seem to F me, thats probably the worst of any soreness i get.
CYA GROWING FAST (dont hate, coooordinate)
first time deadlifting: start out light, prepare ice packs for day after 
read dave tate’s deadlifting article on here, on common mistakes
i’d buy a book on olympic lifts, im currently practicing doing them in ‘pieces’ to learn the actual lift, alot goes in to learning them correctly… if you try to do them just from looking at a video etc, you might miss some key parts of the lifts, like how the bar travels is very important…
Yes they are. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Deadlifts are SOOO easy. Ya just grab the bar and it practically flies up there all by itself!
OK, all April 1st stuff aside, deadlifts will make a man outta ya. Enjoy!
I meant the form looks easy. Obviously, the exercise is not.
Oh, and I don’t hate anyone. I just hate some of those wiseass responses. The reality is, I wish everyone the best of luck. The majority of you guys have been quit helpful.
form is the exercise…
its alot harder than it looks (cleans/jerks/snatches).
i think ct’s black book has oly progression/common mistakes in it…
Okay pal, if you’re going to be so serious (sigh), the form can be tricky when you start getting into a very challenging weight. I always start a deadlift session (like tomorrow will be for me) with the olympic bar and a 45lb wheel on each side. 135lbs is very light, but still enough to give you a feel for the weight in your hands and lets you kinda get “in the groove” for moving bigger weight. Just take your time and go slow, get your whole posterior chain involved, ya know? Then, throw some more weight on the bar and get that shit off the damn floor. And then more weight. Off the damn floor. Repeat.
When I started deadlifting, the weak link in the chain was my grip, so I got a hold of some lifting straps to focus more on deadlifting and less on whether or not I was going to drop the bar. I haven’t got a “weight belt” though because I feel that it would defeat the purpose of building a strong lower back if I were to wear one. You can do barbell holds with a butt-load of weight to develop your grip strength after you deadlift. This is how I plan on getting away from using straps someday. For now though, I gotta use 'em when I’m in the 300’s or I just can’t get the damn bar off the floor. Oh well. Have fun tomorrow. I know I will.
growingfast,
Try to keep your head up when deadlifting. Since it will be your first time tomorrow, you may have an inclination to look down to see if you are dowing them right. Best of luck.
Good God. More questions. Soreness and deadlifting are two of the most oft-coverd topics in the magazine and on the forum. What’s next? Have you read the back issues at all? Any of them?
DL are just like any other exercise. They are fairly simple, but I constantly see people doing them wrong. Do not round your back over. Keep it straight, lift straight up. You don’t want to feel any strain in your lower back. That will lead to really painful back injuries eventually. You should deffinetly feel the weight though, and pressure on your back and quads. It’s an awesome exercise, I love it.