CategoriesExercise Technique Strength Training

3 (Not So Common) Mistakes People Make (That Many Don’t Think About) When Trying to Improve Their Deadlift

I don’t claim to know everything.

Sure I can regurgitate all the muscles that attach to the scapulae, list all the muscles involved with posterior pelvic tilt, name all the members of the starting line-up for the 1990 Oakland Athletics, recite line-for-line the “I will find, and I will kill you” monologue Liam Neeson uses in the movie Taken, and, on a good day I can crush my multiplication table.

I know stuff, but I don’t know everything.

One of the exceptions, however, is the deadlift. I know the deadlift. As a strength coach it makes sense. I mean, it’s my job to help get people freaky strong, and it’s kinda hard to do so without at least a casual relationship with the deadlift. Don’t worry I always buy it dinner first….;o)

Moreover, most serious weightlifters recognize that the deadlift is what often separates the men from the boys.

As an example here’s Cressey Sports Performance athlete, Dave Stanton, deadlifting 600 lbs for an easy set of three.  With no belt (at a bodyweight of 192 lbs).

Yes, we recognize he’s bouncing the weight off the floor a little bit.  Relax, internet.

David is a bit of an outlier. A freak if you will. We often joke at the facility that he’s a deadlifting savant because he’s always been good at it. It’s as if he was built to deadlift – look at those leverages!

But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t had to work his ass off in order to get to this point.

He’s been training with us for over four years, and has spent a lot of time working with us under our supervision.

Using David as our inspiration and model, I wanted to discuss what I feel are some things that a lot of trainees overlook when it comes to their approach to the deadlift.

1. Not Placing a Premium on Technique, Technique, Technique

Playing the Captain Obvious card, it goes without saying that in order to get better at the deadlift, you need to deadlift. It’s the Law of Specificity played to it’s most specific tune.

Quarterbacks don’t get better at throwing a football by playing Madden.

Chefs don’t get better at food preparation by watching Top Chef.

And you don’t get better at deadlifting by watching Youtube videos or by just “showing up” at the gym and doing leg curls.  YOU NEED TO DEADLIFT!!!!

More to the point, you need to hone technique. Technique trumps everything.

Not all deadlift variations are created equal. When most people think of a deadlift they automatically leap to the conventional deadlift, which, by all accounts, can be argued as the most advanced variation.

Not everyone can show up on day #1, walk up to a bar, pick it up off the ground, and make it look passable. I.e., not make me want to pour battery acid into my eyes.

Which is why it’s important to regress the movement to fit the current ability level and needs of the lifter. Learning the hip hinge pattern is vital and serves as a precursor more advanced exercises down the road.

There are a million and one different ways to regress the deadlift to help someone learn to hip hinge, which is why I feel it’s such an invaluable exercise.

At the lowest level we have drills which help engrain the motor pattern we’re looking for and to teach “neutral” spine:

Wall Tap Hip Hinge

KB Behind the Head Hip Hinge

Band Lat Activation w/ Hip Hinge

Once we’re confident they’re able to groove the hip hinge and control their spine, we can then start adding load with more rudimentary deadlift exercises like kettlebell deadlifts, suitcase deadlifts,  and “potato sack” or DB deadlifts.

From there, when we want to start adding more appreciable load the order we typically use at Cressey Sports Performance is Trap Bar Deadlift —> Sumo Deadlift —> Conventional Deadlift —> Dude, you’re like Han Solo now.

And, to be honest, it’s not until someone has a good 1-2 years of solid, legit training that we start implementing more superfluous things like chains, bands, and the like.

There’s plenty we can do with JUST a barbell.

Below is a video I originally shot for the release of Mike Robertson’s Bulletproof Athlete, which goes into more detail on some of the ways I progress (and cue) the main deadlift variations.

So to reiterate – TECHNIQUE is kind of important.  Learn it. Also, take into account the importance of properly placed progressions. Not everyone is Gandalf and can walk into a gym on day one and crush a perfect deadlift.

Also, if you want to read something that will give you a deadlifting boner I’d suggest reading THIS magnum opus by Mike Robertson, or check out any of THESE 22 articles listed by T-Nation as the best deadlifting articles on their site.

2. Speed Work? Technique, Technique, Technique (Part II)

Listen, most people who train don’t need to worry about “speed work.” Yes, getting faster and honing bar speed is a factor in improving strength, but for most people, most of the time, it’s a complete waste of time.

Let me explain.

First off, unless you’re pulling (at least) 2x bodyweight I don’t feel adding in speed work or a dynamic speed day – or any other connotation you use to pretend like you train at Westside Barbell – into your training repertoire is going to serve as the x-factor.

Lets just call it what it is.  TECHNIQUE WORK!!!!

Using sub-maximal loads forces people to dial in their technique, and THAT’S where I feel the true value of “speed work” lies.

Instead of calling it a speed work, I just call it a technique work and I try to implement it into most people’s programs at least once per week (especially if they’re trying to work on a specific movement, like the deadlift).

It may look something like this:

Week 1: 12×1 @ 55% 1RM

Week 2: 10×1 @ 60% 1RM

Week 3: 8×1 @ 65% 1RM

Week 4: 6×1 @ 70% 1RM

I’ll typically allot 30-45s rest between each rep.

Another approach I use (with more intermediate and advance lifters) is to have someone use 70% of the 1RM and to then set a timer for 10-15 minutes and they perform ONE rep every minute, on the minute for the allotted minutes.

Week 1: 65% at 10 Min

Week 2: 65% at 12 Min

Week 3: 70% at 12 Min

Week 4: 70% at 14 Min

Either way the idea is to use lower loads to HAMMER technique (which in turn is going to help with bar speed and overall performance in general).

3. Lack of Upper Back Strength

Like it or not, most people have weak upper backs and they don’t train it enough. I’m a HUGE proponent of adding in some form of dedicated upper back work in every training session.

I think this serves several benefits:

1.  It will undoubtedly help with deadlift technique in the long run.

2. From a posture standpoint, it will help to offset the endless hours we all spend in front of our computers watching LOLCats working.

3.  A thick, wide, upper back just looks badass.

To that end, I feel most trainees should go out of their way to add in some upper back work – both horizontal AND vertical – into their programs.

Now, this doesn’t mean you have to go balls to the wall and load yourself heavy every session, but it stands to reason most people won’t be doing themselves a disservice by incorporating this mindset.

I like to add in some high(er) rep TRX Rows or face pulls on my lower body days, and I’ll sometimes perform heavy chin-up variations too.

On upper body days, I’ll almost always be including some form of heavy barbell row or DB row.

Make no mistake:  a strong upper back will help you deadlift more weight.

Pick Things Up and Put Them Down

And it’s on that note I want to remind everyone that my new Deadlift Specialization Program hits on all the above points (and then some).

It’s a FOUR-month program that will not only turn you into a deadlifting Jedi, but you’ll get hella strong to boot.

What’s more, not only do you get a program written by me, but you also get the advantage of using WeightTraining.com’s user friendly platform to receive workout reminders, track and log your workouts, and watch videos, all by using your smart phone.

I also included a 30% discount that will last for the next 24 hours (through Wednesday, September 10th), because I’m cool like that  All you have to do is type in IncreaseDeadlift30 within the Coupon Code area at checkout.

For more information and to get your deadlifting on go HERE.

CategoriesExercise Technique Exercises You Should Be Doing Rehab/Prehab

Deadbugs: The What, Why, and How

I know what some of you may be thinking:  “Really, Tony, a post on deadbugs?  What’s next….telling us how much you love Twilight or that you’re adopting another cat?  You haven’t gone soft on us now have you?”

<—– LOL, get it??  I actually put a picture of a “dead bug” here, when I’m actually just referring to the exercise.  High five!

Full confession time.  Okay, I admit it: back in 2008 I read the first Twilight book.  But only because I wanted to see what all the hoopla was about and see for myself why so many people were going bat shit crazy over it.

Well that, and it was a dark period in my life. I was single at the time and was going through some existential phase where I was trying to figure out what everything means.  Vampires wasn’t the answer.

I read it, didn’t care for it, and moved on with my life.

As far as the cat thing.  I plead the 5th…..;o)

With regards to deadbugs, however, in many ways I feel they get a bad rap and that they’re one of the more UNDERrated core exercises out there.  Perhaps a more apropos way to explain things would be that deadbugs are almost universally seen as a “sissy” exercise and a waste of time by many trainees, meatheads, and athletes alike.

I couldn’t disagree more.

I was recently asked by MensHealth.com to provide a “hot list” of some of my favorite go to core exercise that I either use with my athletes and clients, or that I pepper into my own training as well.

While I offered the prerequisite favs like Pallof press variations, stir-the-pot, and carry variations, I purposely OMITTED deadbugs for a few reasons:

1.  I didn’t want the incessant eye rolling pointed in my direction.

2.  Despite their perceived “easiness,” deadbugs are actually an exercise that are absolutely butchered by, well, everybody.

3.  As such, I took the greedy way out, held back, and decided to keep deadbugs to myself and dedicate an entire post on them in an effort to persuade everyone reading that they’re the bees knees (and that they should take the time to pay a little more attention to detail).

Getting the obvious out of the way:  deadbugs are an exercise that, for all intents and purposes, help with motor control and can be seen as a “baseline” exercise to ascertain whether or not someone has any glowing imbalances that need to be addressed.

Let me explain.

While it’s fairly common in the athletic realm, more and more we’re seeing people in the meathead/weekend warrior or what I like to call the “I like to lift heavy things category” present with an overextended posture or anterior pelvic tilt.

While this isn’t necessary anything to write home about – there IS a “range” of acceptable anterior pelvic tilt – it does become problematic when it’s excessive and otherwise leads to other imbalances up and down the kinetic chain.

For starters, those in excessive anterior pelvic tilt will almost always have extension based back pain – where the facet joints, posterior discs, etc are placed in an ungodly amount of stress which can manifest into more profound issues like spondylosis (end plate fracture) down the road.

Mike Robertson has a cool term for this called Flawed Active Stability – whereupon you’re cueing the body to engage the paraspinals and spinal erectors, effectively crushing the spine, in an effort to gain stability.

What’s more, in general, because of the misalignment associated with APT, it’s not uncommon for people to experience chronic pulled hamstrings, anterior knee pain, hip pain, and a myriad of other issues.

All of this to say: it just plain sucks donkey balls and can really mess with one’s training in the long run if not addressed or at least kept under wraps.

But again, I’m just stating the obvious.

Do Your Deadbugs, Yo!

Deadbugs are a fantastic way to teach the body to “encourage” more posterior pelvic tilt while simultaneously enhancing motor control and to engage the lumbo-pelvic-hip stabilizers to do their job.

As note above, most people flat out do a piss poor job when it comes to performing deadbugs correctly.  Here’s a great example.

Upon first glance those don’t look too shabby, right?  Offhand those look pretty good.  But with a closer look we can definitely comb through some common technique flaws that many should be able to appreciate.

1.  Before anyone makes fun of me for tucking my t-shirt into my sweatpants, just know that I did it for a reason. Which was to show how most people perform their deadbugs:  with an excessive arch in their lower back and with their rib cage flared out.

Well that and we had people visiting the facility from Australia yesterday and I didn’t want to make things awkward by walking around with my shirt off.

Admittedly, it’s still hard to see in the video above, but if you were in the video with me (oh, hey, hello!) you would easily be able to fit your hand in between the floor and my lumbar spine.  This shouldn’t happen and essentially defeats the purpose of the entire exercise.

And this is why I tend to lean more towards deadbugs from the get go – rather than birddogs – because the floor provides more stability and kinesthetic feedback to the body.

2. Another mistake is that people tend to rush this exercise.  Many will just haphazardly flail their arms and legs around hightailing it through the set.  While we could make a case that extending the arms and legs may be too much of a progression and we need to REGRESS the exercise – read THIS for more ideas – much of the time it just comes down to slowing people down.

All that said, lets take a look at what PROPER deadbug should look like.

I know it doesn’t look much different than the first video, but I assure you there’s a lot to consider.

1.  My shirt’s still tucked in.

2.  My lower back is flush against the floor – and I’m encouraging more posterior pelvic tilt.

3.  Moreover I’m also taking a massive breath and inhaling THROUGH MY NOSE to focus more on a 360 degree expansion into my torso.  In other words:  I’m not just breathing into my stomach, but also trying to expand sideways and INTO the floor as well as my ribcage (but without allowing it to flare out too much).

4.  From there I lower contralateral limbs – controlled, in an effort to resist extension – while FORCEFULLY exhaling my air through my mouth.  I do this until ALL my air is out.

By doing this a few things happen (and I apologize in advance for all the enumerations in this post):

1. I slow myself down.

2. The diaphragm is better engaged.

3.  Many don’t think of this part, but with all my air exhaled out, I now have nothing to help stabilize my spine except the muscles themselves.

It’s not uncommon for people to literally start shaking as they proceed with their set. This is okay – so long as you maintain proper spinal position – as it just demonstrates that the muscles in the surrounding area are now doing their job more efficiently.

I’ll typically shoot for 2-3 sets of 5-8 repetitions PER SIDE.

And there you have it.  It’s nothing flashy or Earth shattering, but I guarantee that if you go a head and try to perform your deadbugs in this fashion you’ll notice how much MORE challenging they can be, and they’re anything but a sissy exercise.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.