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hroughout the history of powerlifting, there have been probably dozens of differing philosophies and, ergo, training programs for this lift. Consider the range: one world record holder in the 1970s deadlifted three times a week and used a barrage of supplementary exercises, while another world record holder in the 1980s trained the deadlift by actually not deadlifting throughout his entire 12-week cycle for the worlds. As a deadlifter might say, different strokes for different folks, which on the surface might seem valid, but, considering the developments in the sports sciences, is too simplistic and actually not correct. You see, over the years, research in exercise physiology has been able to determine how a muscle adapts best to strength training. These basic, science-based principles hold true for every athlete, albeit certain minor adjustments (e.g., three sets instead of four sets; five minutes rest between sets as opposed to three, etc.) ought to be considered.
capability than before. In plain English, after full recovery from your training session, youll be able to lift more weight than before. Whats tricky is that the peak of supercompensation is fleeting, because involution is the next biological phase, meaning that your body slowly (or quickly in some cases) returns to the initial biological statethe one that you started with. But with a new stimulus (training session) while your body is at its peak of supercompensation, youll start the cycle over again with even further strength gains. What complicates this process, however, is that as you continue to lift heavier and heavier weights, your body will start to
From this scientific position, then, your training sessions must result in whats called supercompensation: the relationship between training and regeneration that produces strength. When you train, a series of stimuli disturb your normal biological state, so that by the end of the training session youre simply not able to lift as much weight as in the beginning of the session. Then, during the first several hours after training, your body replenishes the biochemical resources of energy during a phase of acute replenishment. Your return to the normal pre-training biological state, and beyond, and full recovery is achieved within several days. During recovery, youll find that your body not only replenishes energy sources, but also resynthesizes disturbed tissues (e.g., muscle) to a higher level. This is the process of supercompensation, which means that your body actually recovers to a greater performance
reinterpret the training stimulus as something potentially destructive and will therefore become more re-active than pro-active, meaning that your gains will stop and that you enter a state of overtraining. There are many markers of overtraining (see sidebar on page XX ), but the one thatll stand out the most is that you get weaker. This process is a biological fact that applies to every human, athlete or not, and can be avoided only by proper cycling of your training. Proper cycling means manipulating training variables (see sidebar on page XX) in a manner to allow for maximal recuperation and therefore maximal gains. Though this procedure is recognized by many athletes and coaches, it is one open to a great many uneducated assumptions, such as deadlifting only once a week, not deadlifting for 10 days prior to a meet, deadlifting twice a week, doing only one set of max singles or max triples, etc., etc., etc. Its this area where youll find guruism thriving. The problem is, most gurus are self-proclaimed and can only provide you with their own personal experiences. That, however, isnt good enough for the athlete seeking to maximize gains.
spinal muscles underneath the erectors are prime movers and the hamstrings are more accentuated as hip Power Note extensors. For a detailed list of Then you have the overtraining symptoms, go to ransversospinalis group and the www.purepowermag.com. hamstrings acting as important antigravity muscles, meaning theyre designed more for postural endurance than for strength and power. That said, squat training doesnt wallop them nearly as much as deadlift training. And since the erectors and the small spinal muscles deep to the erectors are the prime
Abdominal Caveat
A very important factor is that your trunk must always be trained in order to control pelvic tilt (natural forward or backward rotation of the pelvis on the hip joints), so that a natural position of the pelvis is maintained. This natural position allows for an appropriate lumbar arch (lordotic curve) so spinal nerves have room to enter and exit the spinal column. Its imperative, therefore, that you train your abdominals. Strong abdominals will be able to counter a forward tilt of your pelvis and thus keep your back healthy. What you should realize, however, is that unless your back rounds off in ab training, youre mainly working your hip flexors, not your abs. The best exercises for you to do are bent-knee sit-ups with weight, incline crunches, upright crunches with a pull-down machine, and so forth, while in each rep you should round off your back to maximally contract your abs. If you do regular sit-ups, leg raises, etc., your back will remain straight and therefore your hip flexors will be doing most of the work and not giving you the desired training effect.
ERECTOR CAVEAT
A major consideration for deadlift training is that basically all of the muscle groups used in the squat are also used in the deadlift. This means that intricate planning of your program is essential if you want to derive simultaneous positive results. Though the prime movers of the squat and deadlift are basically the same (hip extensors: gluteus group, hamstrings, adductor magnus; knee extensors: quadriceps, gastrocnemius; spinal extensors: erector spinae), the lifts are very different. With the bar stabilized above your center of gravity during the squat, the erectors arent a real prime mover; theyre stabilizers of the spine. But in the deadlift, with the bar below your center of gravity and unstable, the erectors and the small
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protectors of the spinal nerves passing to and from the spinal cord between the vertebrae, too much stress can quickly result in overtraining and hence weaken this muscle group, setting you up for failure and injury. What this means is that you need to consider the biology of the muscles involved in the deadlift and the Power Note fact that if youre a powerlifter, or any other type of athlete For tips and who squats a lot, you need to tricks on gripping the bar design your program with this with power, go to in mind: dont overdo it. www.purepowermag.com.
PULLING BIG
Your training should be structured in cycles, which depend upon your competitive cycle and goals. Periodization of training, which incorporates cycling, is a process that divides a training year into cycles as first described by the Russian sports scientist Matveyev in 1965 and since researched and improved upon by many Western sports scientists. At its core, a finely tuned periodized training regimen allows you to maximize supercompensation while minimizing the risks associated with overtraining. Planning a periodized program requires a great deal of intelligence, so athletes who feel that I must work harder than my opponents must come to understand that some of that work must be done between the ears. You must realize, however, that although some basic principles apply to all periodized programs, they have to vary according to the nature of the sport youre active in. Even the most unrefined form of periodization (such as the deadlift program discussed here) has obvious
distinctions between stages of the training program. The three classifications of cycles are the microcycle, the mesocycle, and the macrocycle. For the deadlifting program described below, the microcycle is the basic building block of the training structure, in this case the training week (one deadlift workout incorporated). The mesocycle consists of a distinct set of microcycles and, in the described program, two to three weeks. The macrocycle is the incorporation of the entire set of mesocycles plus a transition period (typically a period of active rest and regeneration). For the sport of powerlifting, or just to increase your deadlift pulling power, its relatively easy to construct a yearly training program. However, two factors must be considered. One is volume, the quantity of your work. The other factor is intensity, or the qualitative component and/or amount of weight you lift (see sidebar on page XX). Here, for the most part, you should observe a pattern in which at the beginning of the training cycle or year you train with high volume and low intensity and then slowly increase the intensity while slowly lowering the volume. In other words, you should plan your program so your
training intensity is highest and your volume lowest just prior to competition.
STRENGTH PERFECTION
When you train an exercise like the deadlift, you need to keep anatomy in mind and understand that this exercise involves some of the largest muscle groups in your body. Published research that I conducted, along with that of other sport scientists, has found that the number of pounds you can add to the bar is heavily dependent on the number of heavy sets you can perform and the rest periods between your sets. To illustrate, significantly more anabolic hormones are released while performing three heavy sets as compared to only one heavy set, and over a training cycle youll gain more strength with longer rest periods than with shorter ones. These research results translate to three sets with about five minutes rest between them being very productive for max strength gains. This is great for the powerlifter, but a strongman competitor or athlete in other sports that require more endurance should consider shorter rest periods with less weight. Obviously, the less you rest, the less weight you can lift in successive sets. By training in this manner, youll stress your bodys tolerance for increased blood and muscle acid levels, causing whats
termed a buffering effect. In essence, your body will become more used to the pain of fatigue, allowing you to work through it longer. So if youre a strongman competitor, wrestler, etc., you may benefit from a deadlift program designed with reverse factors compared to the program designed for pure strength: periodized Published research progression from long to short rest periods and from lower to that I conducted, higher sets.
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DID YOU KNOW...
along with that of other sport scientists, has found that the number of pounds you can add to the bar is heavily dependent on the number of heavy sets you can perform and the rest periods between your sets.
RESOURCES
Bompa, T. Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training. 4th ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1999. Busso, T, et al. A systems model of training responses and its relationship to hormonal responses in elite weightlifters. European Journal of Applied Physiology 61:48-54, 1990. Fleck, S. Periodization of training. In: Strength Training for Sport, ed. W.J. Kraemer and K. Hakkinen. Oxford, Great Britain: Blackwell Science, 2002. Gotshalk, L.A., et al. Hormonal responses of multiset versus single-set heavy-resistance exercise protocols. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology 22:244-255, 1997. Granhed, H., et al. The loads on the lumbar spine during extreme weightlifting. Spine 12:146-149, 1987. Herre, D. The formulation of the standard of athletic performance. In: Principles of Sports Training, ed. D. Herre. Berlin: Sportsverlag, 1982. Kraemer, W.J., et al. A review: Factors in exercise prescription of resistance training. National Strength and Conditioning Association Journal 10:36-41, 1988. Kraemer, W.J., et al. Physiologic responses to heavy-resistance exercise with short rest periods. International Journal of Sports Medicine 6:247-252, 1987. Kuipers, H., and H.A. Keizer. Overtraining in elite athletes: Review and directions for the future. Sports Medicine 6:79-92, 1988. Lander, J.E., et al. The effectiveness of weight belts during the squat exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 22:117-126, 1990. Lander, J.E., et al. Biomechanics of the squat exercise using a modified center of mass bar. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 18:469-478, 1986. Matveyev, L., et al. Characteristics of athletic shape and methods of rationalizing the structure of the competitive phase. Scientific Research Collection (Moscow): 4-23, 1974. Matveyev, L. Periodization of Sports Training. Moscow: Fizkultura I Sport, 1965. McGuigan, M.R.M., and B.D. Wilson. Biomechanical analysis of the deadlift. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 10:250-255, 1996. Nisell R., and J. Ekholm. Joint load during the parallel squat in powerlifting and force analysis of in vivo bilateral quadriceps tendon rupture. Scandinavian Journal of Sports Science 8:63-70, 1986. Robinson, J.M., et al. Effects of different weight training exercise/rest intervals on strength, power, and high intensity exercise endurance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 9:216-221, 1995. Rowbottom, D.G., et al. The emerging role of glutamine as an indicator of exercise stress and overtraining. Sports Medicine 21:80-97, 1996. Selye, H. The Stress of Life. London: Longmans Green, 1957. Zatsiorsky, V.M. Science and Practice of Strength Training. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1995.
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Training Developments
Remember, its easy for you to overtrain these muscles despite the diminished training weight youll be using. Also, from a higher stance, the biomechanics of the deadlift are very different than from coming off the floor. This difference involves what sports scientists refer to as training specificity. Training specificity means that, in order for you to gain the greatest benefit, your training needs to be similar to your actual event. Whenever your specificity is lost, your training gains are diminished. So once you start pulling from a raised position, you can actually change the biomechanics so much that youll actually get better pulling off the block, but it wont translate to a better pull off the floor. B o t t o m l i n e Approach this type of training cautiously. If you do employ this strategy, do so with much lighter weights and allow plenty of time for regular deadlifts off the floor if you need to demonstrate max strength. rience a sticking point high in the deadlift, by loading up the bar and pulling from this raised position, youll increase your strength at the sticking point. Anecdotally speaking, there does seem to be some beneficial carry-over from the gained strength in the rack to pulling off the ground. However, since this observation is based only on anecdote, we have no real way of knowing. Although you may be lifting through the sticking point with more weight, youre actually able to do so because of the changed mechanics of the lift compared to pulling from the ground (hence the more weight you can pull). In other words, your muscles are working to different degrees, at different sequences and rates, than when you hit the sticking point coming off the ground. And the mechanics continue to change as the height changes, that is, from right at the knee, to right above the knee, to anywhere halfway up your thigh. So the strength gain may not be a true representation of your deadlift strength at the sticking point while coming off the ground but rather the result of enhanced biomechanics while coming off a higher position.
PULLING FROM DIFFERENT HEIGHTS CAN ADD STRENGTH FOR VARIOUS TASKS.
Since the goal of the game is increased strength, there have been many recommendations made as to what sort of assistance work you should do to maximize your deadlifting prowess. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that exercise physiologists havent to date investigated most of them to any depth. So what youre left with is basically conjecture. However, by evaluating these concepts via known anatomical and biological facts, you can tease out information that would be effective compared to that which would prove worthless.
BLOCKS
Deadlifting while standing on a block, several rubber mats, or plates is employed to increase the range of motion you need to go through in order to complete the lift. Typically, the height ranges between one and four inches. The purported, yet scientifically unproven benefit of training on blocks is that much hard work can be accomplished without using extremely heavy weights. More work is performed (work being force x distance) with medium weights. A typical training routine includes starting at the four-inch height and training for several weeks. Subsequently, you lower the blocks (three inches, two inches, and finally, with a couple of weeks left before competition, one inch) while increasing the resistance symbiotically. Another purported benefit is that if your sticking point is coming off the ground, deadlifting off a block will increase your strength when you return to pulling off the ground. Indeed, you might find an alluring psychological benefit when lifting in a meet with feet on the floor for the first time after a training program of block deadlifts. The downside to this approach is that in order to start the weight off the floor you put greater stress on the transversospinalis group of muscle fibers than they may be used to.
RACK
At the other end of the spectrum is pulling in a rack with the bar raised off the ground at varying heights. The rationale for this is that since many lifters expe-
Another concern goes back to the endurance-type muscles that youre training now with much heavier weight. This type of training, therefore, could constitute a prime overtraining. B o t t o m l i n e Though you can move more weight, its likely due to enhanced biomechanics that may not translate to greater pulls off the ground. Since youre moving a lot more weight, use rack pulls only for a few sets in your training.
CHAINS
A WICKED COMBINATION: CHAINS AND BLOCK.
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this manner: since you want to train the lockout portion of the deadlift with natural biomechanical movements, you attach heavy chains around each end of the bar (loaded with a weight not close to maximum for the repetitions desired for that set) so that as you lift the bar through the normal range of motion, more and more of the links of the chains arise from the platform, causing a steady increase in bar weight throughout the lift. Like the original Nautilus machines, which had oblong cams to change resistance arms throughout the range of motion of a lifting exercise, the object of the chain deadlifting training is to create maximum resistance during the lockout phase of the repetition, when many lifters find the usual repetition fairly easy. In this manner, the pull from the floorat the point of greatest anatomical stressis trained with the least resistance throughout the pull, and the lockout (the point of the lift where anatomical stress decreases) becomes the hardest. The problem with this approach is that it falls into
PUTTING CHAINS TO WORK TO STRENGTHEN THE LOCKOUT. A NOVEL APPROACH WORTH THE EFFORT?
BANDS (LOCKOUT)
Bands are nothing more than large rubber bands that can create increasing resistance as they stretch. They can be looped under part of the platform and then around the ends of the bar. Their action is similar to that of chains, and therefore the same considerations come into play. However, one additional aspect deserves mention. While the chains allow for a natural range of motion because they just hang off the end of the bar, the bands will likely not allow for a natural range of motion since theyre attached to the platform.
tually weightless at the floor. As you approach lockout, the lightening effect of the bands diminishes until its gone. There is no scientific data on this approach. B o t t o m l i n e Doing lockouts during deadlift training, lifting more weight beyond the sticking pointthe weakest point through a full range of motionthan you can possibly lift through the sticking point, is of minimum or no use to the training of the hip and back extensors. It doesnt take overmaximum amounts of weight to effectively train the body, so this technique is probably more of a psychological aid than a physiological or biomechanical one. Doing heavy reps with a full range of motion through the sticking point is the most effective training stimulant of the muscle groups whose biomechanical disadvantages along their strength curves create the sticking point in the first place. Development of maximal force throughout the full range of joint motion is not natural for human movements, including sport movements, so this method really just amounts to a novel training approach with limited benefits.
BANDS (LIGHTENING)
In contrast to using bands to increase lockout resistance, bands can be used to lighten the weight at the platform and decrease the lightening effect as you lift the bar through the repetition. The bar is placed on the floor within a lifting rack and bands are attached to the end of the bar and then at the top of the rack. The height of the attachment on each side of the rack determines how much lighter the bar is at the start. With light weight, the bar can feel vir-
the category of variable resistance. I mentioned Nautilus as a similar approach because these types of machines have been researched. Specifically, researchers at the University of Kansas found no benefits in using the Nautilus variable resistance approach compared to the regular approach. Researchers who have contemplated the reasons for these results have suggested that our physiology is not built to adapt to variable resistance. B o t t o m l i n e Though the use of chains for the deadlift can add an interesting and exciting dimension to your training, the actual benefit is questionable.
MODEL ID: POWERLIFTER AND STRONGMAN COMPETITOR DANE KELLEY AT COLORADO SPRINGS TEMPLE OF POWER FLEX GYM AND FITNESS.
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Gear Up?
In the sport of powerlifting, athletes are allowed to wear all sorts of gear that allows them to artificially lift more weight than they could handle otherwise. Mainly what youve got are groove briefs, deadlift suits, belts, and wraps. The question is, is this gear helpful for all athletes or just for powerlifters? Moreover, how will the gear affect the powerlifters training? Should the gear always be used because it changes technique so dramatically or should it be used only before competition to take advantage of the ergogenic effects?
Exercise , the tighter the belt, the more supportive stress it dissipates, given, of course, that you wear it properly, above the iliac crest and below the ribcage.
suit without help), the suit aids in the increase of intra-abdominal pressure but also resists hip flexion. The groove brief is basically like a tough pair of underwear made out of the same material as the suit; but it acts only upon the hip. Its probably not 100% accurate to call the material anti-stretch since it does give a bit. However, its tough properties essentially provide a recoil effect and thereby allow you to lift more weight. Like the belt, the suit has obvious performance-enhancing properties. Equally obvious should be the change in biomechanics and muscular action that would warrant you balancing your training time without the suit and then with the suit. An additional consideration for the powerlifter is that the suit may actually do more harm than good. You see, unlike with the squat, where you get a feel for the weight as you set up, you dont enjoy that benefit with the deadlift. As a consequence, you may find it difficult to get into the correct pulling position with a tight suit and that may throw off your biomechanics considerably. So a super-tight suit may be counterproductive to lifting maximal weights.
grees and 113 degrees for the hips, and 53 degrees and 60 degrees for the knees, respectively. Compare that to the squat values reported in Scandinavian Journal of Sports Science of 147 degrees for the hip and 135 degrees for the knee in a deep squat position. Based on the lesser angles in the deadlift, its clear that youd get much less rebound from a suit and wraps in the deadlift as compared to the squat.
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