I love deadlifts. It is no secret. . . When I talk to people about lifting weights or bodybuilding, at some point, I will start talking about deadlifts. There’s a reason why I love them– It’s not just because it is my most impressive lift, though that certainly helps. Before I give my thoughts, here are some quotes relating to Deadlifts:
“There is no easy way to do a deadlift – no way to cheat, which explains their lack or popularity in most gyms around the world.” – Mark Rippetoe
I really enjoy this quote, because it’s true. I was squatting 365 lbs., but had to take most of it off because I found out that not all of my reps were parallel. Now, I started them “ATG,” and I’m down to 245 lbs. That’s a big difference when you’re not cheating, and luckily, I can’t cheat with my deads.
“Half the movements you see people doing in gyms these days are movements you’d never do in the “real world”. Deadlifting has a basic, straight forward, real world application… picking heavy things up off the ground!”
This is a fun one just because you’ll often hear the phrase, “Just pick up some heavy weights and put them down” in the bodybuilding world.
“Your back doesn’t hurt because of deadlifting. Your back hurts because you DO NOT deadlift.” – Mark Bell (Here’s the Article this is from)
Someone told me recently that, after my suggestion, they tried deadlifting but didn’t like it because it hurt their back. I responded with this quote.
Anyway! I have been struggling with my goal for a while now. My goal is to accomplish a “four plate deadlift,” (The amount of plates, when referenced like this, speak only of 45 lb. Olympic plates on one side. . . This is 8 plates total, or 405 lbs.) I don’t just want my one rep maximum to be four plates– I’m looking for a working weight, where I can do 1 set of 5 repetitions. I’ve been steadily working my way toward this goal, until I got to 375 lbs. It was supremely difficult to complete 375 lbs., and when I moved up to 380, I could barely do two reps. But last Monday, I hammered out 3 strong reps, and the fourth was one of the greatest physical struggles I’ve encountered. I eventually locked it out, but it was so taxing. Until you do this, you can’t explain how this feels. . . This feeling of complete exhaustion with the euphoria of lifting two times your body weight off the ground multiple times. It goes along with another quote regarding deadlifts:
“Our bodies are designed to work this way, and when you lock out a heavy deadlift, there is some kind of primal satisfaction you feel because of this.”
The ultimate struggle, and the ultimate satisfaction that comes with it. On top of that, it’s an exercise that works almost your entire body in one movement; It’s so effective, that most bodybuilders agree that all you need is 1 set of 5 reps for it to be most effective. Anything more and you’re not lifting enough weight. Above all, though, it’s the ultimate judge of how strong you are. I’ve had people ask me how much I can bicep curl, and I laugh, because it’s a useless exercise practiced by vanity muscle warriors.
“[Everybody] dies, but not [everybody] really deadlifts.”