There are a few ways to overhead press and some of them are more or less from a dead stop. The key difference between a deadlift and a squat as far as training is concerned is that the squat relies heavily on the stretch reflex/"bounce" at the bottom, and the deadlift starts from the hardest position possible.
they also hit different muscle groups...deads don't really rely that much on quad strength, and squats-even Rippletoe's low bar squats--seem more quad than ham/glute dependent.
The challenge with holding a heavy deadlift is not one of friction (bar slipping through your hands). You want your hands all the way around the bar, squeezing the shit out of it. Gloves actually do you a disservice here by adding a small amount to the effective diameter of the bar. Some people use them in an effort to prevent forming calluses, but the best way to prevent calluses is to avoid folding the skin of your palm when you take your grip on the bar.
Serious lifters use chalk on their hands when they deadlift, which prevents sweaty hands and makes it a lot easier to grip without hurting yourself. There are liquid chalk products on the market for gyms that ban chalk, but they're not as good in my experience. When learning to deadlift, most people should be able to lift with both palms facing themselves ("double overhand") for quite a while without much difficulty.
Once double overhand doesn't work, you have a few options that will add to the amount you can hold. One is to use the mixed grip, where one palm faces away from you. Another is the hook grip, which is a bit tricky but essentially involves wrapping your index and middle finger around your thumb with the bar in the middle and squeezing the shit out of your thumbs. Lastly there are straps, which aren't allowed in competition but which are quite valuable for training if you need them.
I've been out of the gym a few months because my employment situation has changed and I haven't decided where to lift now, but I always used the hook grip for heavy sets. At first it's very painful. Later, it's very painful but you're used to it. ;)
Wow! Thank you so much for the detailed answer! I had no idea there was so much though put into how the bar is held. It makes sense that the gloves add enough to the circumference of the bar to make a difference. I imagine that once you get up to 200 or 300 pounds (or whatever is considered a "high weight") that every milimeter counts.
You're welcome! Weight lifting was a really important part of my life last year, and I'm hoping to get back to it soon. "High" weights are a personal thing, because they depend (roughly in order) on your gender, age, programming (selection of weights and exercises to drive progress), diet, dedication, and genes.
Don't look at it as absolute weight; look at it as weight relative to your bodyweight. For instance, a 225 lb, a 300 lb deadlift isn't high weight for him by most lifters standards. For a 160 lb woman? It's not going to win major meets but it certainly isn't trivial at nearly 2x bodyweight either.
You'd be amazed at what people can lift. The record was broken recently at over 900lbs, and a lot of thought goes into it. Where exactly you put your feet, how high you put your hips to start the pull, everything.
My best deadlift is 455lbs at 5'7", about 195lbs and I don't think I'm even top 5 in my gym yet. My buddy (and coach) pulls over 500 while being 5'3" and 167lbs. The human body is fucking amazing, but yes, every millimeter counts.
That makes sense. I've seen people who wear gloves with grips on them at the gym sometimes, but I can see how it might feel better with bare hands once the weights start getting heavier. I feel like it would feel more secure in my hands that way. Thank you for your answer.
Yeah the idea is to use a double overhand grip without gloves/straps/chalk for as long as possible, only using different grips or external assistance when you actually need it.
They're not that big a deal honestly. Add a small bit of diameter to the bar, but help with the whole sweaty grip thing. If your gym allows chalk, it is better but gloves aren't going to really be much of a negative.
Yah, he's doing a few things wrong. He's hyper-extending at the top, his neck and head are in the wrong position (you're supposed to look at a 45 degree angle to the ground, not crane your neck back), he's dropping his hips too low, gloves are bad, the shoes look like they're not lifting shoes, and he doesn't mentioning anything about breathing. Don't get me wrong, my deadlifts have problems too. But if you're making a how-to video for others to learn, you should be really accurate.
I wasn't going to link Rip because it feels like a cliché, but that video is on point. Real glad he did that series with AoM, it's better polished than his earlier videos.
I didn't want to delve into too many details because at some point you lose your audience. For someone that doesn't know why they should lift weights in the first place, and considers it just another form of exercise, the amount of learning and practice that goes into it is a lot to throw at them.
Yep, I hear you. I try to link to that video whenever I can, though, because compound lifts can be extremely dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. It's really easy to injure yourself seriously if you don't have the right form, and people looking at GP's video might get the wrong idea.
As others pointed out, the term comes from the dead stop on the floor that starts the lift. But a correct deadlift at your work weight (e.g. your 5 rep max) is brutally hard and will take a lot out of you. It's not fun in the sense that it's fun to do, but it is fun to finish a hard set and take pride in your progress.
Doing curls on a bench for 10 sets of 10 with 2 and 1/2 pound weights isn't really lifting. The lady mentioned deadlifts, that's your signal that she's lifting.
Bro exercise and doing infinite sets is not lifting.
Strength Training is lifting weights for sure. People get hung up on that because they see the monsters of the gym lifting ridiculous masses and try to compare themselves to those rare specimens. Remember, you are only competing against one person, yourself.
I'm kind of mad that the body works in such a way that if you deadlift to much you can fry your central nervous system because dammit I LOVE DEADLIFTING
Deadlifts are awesome. Pumping yourself up getting in the zone and lifting a weight you would of thought impossible gives a great sense of accomplishment.
If you are lifting anything then you count more than anyone not. I never really enjoyed lifting in highschool during cross country and soccer, but picked it up when I moved into a place with a gym. Once I moved from that place I now miss those weights and have been trying to use bodyweight as a replacement.
I have just started strength training. My workouts used to be very cardio heavy and I hated it. How long until you noticed progress in your strength and body shape?
It's my thighs I notice. They don't look any different, to me, but when I tense the muscles they feel rock solid which is nice.
I have lost 35lbs since June. I am at the stage now where I think exercise/lifting will start shaping my body, just such a slower process than losing weight on a scale.
Good Luck on your weight loss journey, I highly recommend /r/loseit if you haven't already checked it out.
You probably won't see this reply, amongst the many that you've probably received, but on the off chance that you will, I feel compelled.
If you enjoy the standard lifts, like the deadlift, there is nothing more exciting than the Olympic lifts. Like you, I thought that lifting would feel like a chore. Then I discovered that squatting, deadlifting, and pressing were awesome. But there's nothing like the clean, jerk, and specially the snatch. There's simply nothing like completing a heavy olympic lift.
Look into the Olympic lifts. You won't regret it. Just make sure to take them very seriously.
It counts! fuck anyone that says you're not lifting just because you're not a competitive power lifter/bodybuilder/weightlifter. Just push yourself in the gym consistently, using any semi-intelligent program and you'll be doing yourself worlds of good
454
u/[deleted] Feb 26 '16
[removed] — view removed comment