Reasons to Deadlift by Eric Cressey

[Adam H.]

Here is an excerpt from a T-Nation interview with strength coach Eric Cressey.

Full article found here

T-Nation: Yep. Speaking of deadlifts, there used to be a running joke on the forum about them. Whenever someone posted their pic, a dozen people would jump on and say "You need to deadlift!" Funny thing is, you never see anyone doing it in the gym. Like you mentioned above, the average person thinks the deadlift is just for football players and powerlifters. So, why exactly should the recreational gym-goer (even females) be pulling big iron?

EC: There are several reasons that come to mind. Here goes…

1. You can train hip and knee extension together, but without the technical learning curve of Olympic lifts. I'm not trying to start an argument on the value of Olympic lifting; it's pretty obvious that the O-lifts work quite well. Unfortunately, they aren't as easily taught as the deadlift, so the deadlift (which is actually an early stage in the progression to O-lifts) is a great option for most individuals who are looking to train double extension, which is a common movement scheme.

2. Absolute load is very high. You're going to be able to lift a lot more weight on deadlifts than you are on some silly attempt at isolation, so the overall muscle mass recruited will be greater. Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) will be greater with more muscle mass recruited, and as a result, your metabolic rate after the session will be higher than with isolation exercises.

3. Deadlifts offer a lot of wiggle room in terms of training for various goals. You can pull very light (~30% 1RM) with high velocity for speed-strength, in the middle range (45-70% 1RM) for strength-speed, or with heavy weights for maximal strength. You can add bands, chain, and weight releasers, and do any of a number of variations (various grips, stance widths, pulls from deficits, pulls from blocks/pins, etc.)

4. Deadlifts offer a greater functional carryover than leg curls. While knee flexion is certainly an important movement in daily activities and in sport, leg curls on machines that restrict you to a fixed line of motion always leave a bit to be desired. Training hip extension tends to give you the best carryover in the shortest amount of time.

5. Pulling heavy deadlifts will make your upper back beeeeeeg. The upper back musculature tends to respond to heavy isometric work (as in deadlifting) more than any other location in the body.

6. Dip, grip, and rip. Has there ever been a more eloquent way of expressing efficiency in training? Variations of the deadlift will allow you to get in and out of the gym in a short amount of time while still allowing you to optimize your progress.

7. Women dig calluses…or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

For those of you who don't know, Cressey is a deadlift machine. He mentions in the interview that he has pulled 556.5 lbs in the 165 lb weight class!

Any other reasons you can think of?

Happy Deadlifting!
Adam

[igunick]

Originally posted by Adam H.:
For those of you who don't know, Cressey is a deadlift machine. He mentions in the interview that he has pulled 556.5 lbs in the 165 lb weight class!

If he can do it, so can I
230lbs in the weight 150lbs class (if that exists)

[Ogedei]

Cause Deadlifts are badass!

Unlike lunges..

Og.

[Adam H.]

Originally posted by igunick:
If he can do it, so can I

I like that attitude!

Originally posted by Ogedei:
Cause Deadlifts are badass!

Unlike lunges..

And that one!

[OldGuy]

Deadlifts....followed by lunges....the ultimate leg workout.

Just do it. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[igunick]

WHAT?? NO SQUATS???

[Simon.]

Because even if you're a little skinny sissy boy you can load the bar up with 45's PLUS and start moving it around Nothing lifting a bar loaded with 45's to make stick-boy feel manly.

[Jimbo]

Cause Deadlifts are badass!

Unlike lunges..

Og.

LOL - Will the madness never end...

[Kevin T.]

Uhhhhh...let's see i only got 281.5 pounds to go till i catch him in the same weight class!!! sweet...i will do that one day-that's no lie.

[Three]

quote:
-------------------------------------------------
Funny thing is, you never see anyone doing it in the gym.
-------------------------------------------------

That's a true statement. I have gone to the gym 3 times a week for more than a year and a half and have NEVER seen anyone other than myself doing deadlifts.

[Three]

Originally posted by OldGuy:
Deadlifts....followed by lunges....the ultimate leg workout.

Just do it. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

And....

I have only seen one or two other men doing lunges other than myself. I find that hard to believe.

[chris_f]

Originally posted by igunick:

quote:

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Originally posted by Adam H.:
For those of you who don't know, Cressey is a deadlift machine. He mentions in the interview that he has pulled 556.5 lbs in the 165 lb weight class!

If he can do it, so can I
230lbs in the weight 150lbs class (if that exists) [/quote]YES!! We're neck and neck!

[igunick]

Originally posted by sharkbait:

quote:

---

Originally posted by igunick:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Adam H.:
For those of you who don't know, Cressey is a deadlift machine. He mentions in the interview that he has pulled 556.5 lbs in the 165 lb weight class!

If he can do it, so can I
230lbs in the weight 150lbs class (if that exists) [/quote]YES!! We're neck and neck! [/quote]Wanna race to 300lbs?
I've got some grip problems so you'll have a head start [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Simon.]

Hey I'll race y'all !!! I'm not quite there yet cuz I've barely been deadlifting for a month but I can probably grind out 170 for 4 reps so... [img]tongue.gif[/img] Don't have much of a shot but it could still be good motivation to race! We could start a skinny bastard deadlift race thread

[igunick]

okay

[Kevin T.]

I'll race you guys. We can race to pulling twice our bodyweights. I'll go to 320 (2x my weight-160) while you guys go to 300. Deal?

I'm at 250 for multiple reps at the moment. Hopefull around a 260 1RM

So, are we set?

[Simon.]

JP...? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

- edit -
Ouch Kev, just saw your post... that's gonna be a tough one. Right now I'm just aiming to load the bar up with 4 plates and look all manly. From there, the possibilites are endless

[igunick]

yeah so uh... for how many reps?