I have NEVER seen a big, heavyweight powerlifter that had a big deadlift# not possess a wide, thick 3-D back. If you study any top bodybuilders with big, thick backs you will find that all have this lift in their routines, or at least at some point.
Also, to the OP @Enwar , you mentioned the bench press for chest, the squat for legs, so I nominate the deadlift because it also is THE truest test of strength for a human being.
On a bench, you can use momentum, bounce, shirts, etc. Even “raw”, you can still use momentum/bounce. For squats, again you can use momentum/bounce as well as squat suits, etc. But with a deadlift, you literally walk up to a barbell with heavy plates on it, sitting on the ground where gravity has a firm hold on it, and you have to use almost every fiber in your body to bend down, grab hold of the weight[barbell], and pick it up as you attempt to stand fully upright. You either can fully stand up with the weight or you cannot. Period. Now that I think of it, I have never witnessed anyone “cheating” up a deadlift, it just is not possible.
Obviously people will say barbell rows, pull ups, etc but the true “bench press” of the back is the deadlift.
I have seen a fair number of powerlifters given credit (two white lights) for a deadlift that was clearly hitched, and in some cases, not even reasonably erect. I suppose you could call it a deadlift, if you didn’t care about any rules.
I hate to inform you that dirty cheaters have introduced a method they call “sumo” and seek to give people the impression that their feats stand on equal footing with real deadlifts.
Muscles will grow by using them differently, harder or more, but I’ve found that a stretch goes a long way for hypertrophy. By forcing a stretch, I personally get much better muscle activation and ensure range of motion, especially in the lats. If I’m not careful, my traps will take over pulls.
To be fair, while sumo makes your length of pull shorter, it shifts emphasis to your back more and becomes difficult in its own right for lockout and white lights.
I think training both is the best, imo. 90% of the time, Conventional for the off-season and peak with sumo if your stronger and more proficient in that stance (keywords: if your strong and proficient). Sumo doesn’t really seem to build a good conventional but conventional definitely builds a good sumo.
I don’t have a definitive answer. You need three exercise variations to have all or nearly all development (some need isolation exercises for the final small percentage of development) of the back.
Row variation
Vertical pull variation
Hip hinge (weighted back extension and/or deadlift variation)
I prefer weighted chinups or pullups (my favorite is neutral grip), dumbbell and supported rows (includes HS machines), and stiff-legged deadlifts or RDL’s.
I have not done a standard deadlift in ages and I don’t plan on doing them again. I feel considerably more stimulation in my hamstrings, erectors, lats, traps, and even rear delts from stiff-legged deadlifts and RDL’s. Plus they don’t give me workout hangovers.
Perhaps in terms of test, but bodybuilders are going to be using a wider variety of gear specifically for the purpose of supporting muscle growth compared to powerlifters. Matt Wenning has discussed this, along with Dave Tate, Jim Wendler, etc. With powerlifting being a weight class based sport, there’s not much incentive for a powerlifter to grow out of their weight class if they don’t have the numbers to match it.
But that said, I concur with your sentiments on the deadlift. Deadlifts don’t build big backs; big backs build big deadlifts.
Brother… Lats do not need stretch to grow and training them at length only adds more fatigue / damage. The stretch stuff has been largely debunked … only certain groups grow from stretch. Lats isn’t one of them. Above 120 degrees they lose a lot of activation anyway
Muscles grow from experiencing mechanical tension and being progressively overloaded.
I feel like the big issue is we have, what Dan John refers to as, Frankenstein’s Monster training. People break everything down into muscle groups rather than movements, and then you HAVE to assign a muscle TO a movement. “Hip hinge” isn’t a muscle, so no one knows what the hell it trains…but that’s because it trains the hip hinge. Deadlift is a loaded hip hinge, as is the clean and the snatch. And yeah, doing those movements will also DEVELOP some muscles, but we tend to, instead develop the muscles to DO these movements.
Stretching directly increases mechanical tension, and this is objectively proven.
There may be some coaches/influencers out there who poopoo the idea as an angle to sell their platform but they’re wrong.
And unless they prescribe 100% isolation holds they incorporate stretched muscles in their routines too, and even iso holds have muscle in a stretched position.
There may be a question around how much stretch is necessary, but I doubt anyone knows the answer 100%.
In general though, we agree. Mechanical tension is necessary.