Pulls Superfeature (Deadlift, Clean, Snatch)

[Justin Hurley]

PULLING ANATOMY
By Lincoln Allan Gotshalk, PhD

http://www.ukmuscle.co.uk/forum/files/pullingmuscles.jpg

Pulling a barbell from the floor in its various forms (deadlift, clean, snatch) constitutes a basic human movement and the ultimate total-body exercise. Once you understand the scientific facts of this basic movement, you’ll be armed with the ammunition you need to reject common myths and effectively analyze your training approach and technique.

All these pulls primarily develop your back from the traps on down, your glutes, and your quads. Unlike in most other exercises, there’s no feel for the weight before you explode, and there’s no negative, or eccentric movement before you explode, either. Pulls have only an ascent movement: you simply walk up to the bar, which is in front of you and below your centre of gravity, position yourself, bend down, take an appropriate grip, and pull. The most important consideration is to flex your back muscles, thereby creating what’s called neutral spine and preventing a rounding of your back. If your back rounds off during a pull, you’re creating a dangerous situation for your spine, your muscles, and the connective tissues (called fascia) that hold muscles and tendons together, and your ability to lift heavy weights decreases. From the starting position, the movement is to extend at the hips, knees, and torso in an effort to achieve an upright position with the hips and knees fully extended. Sounds simple enough, but let’s take a closer look at the biomechanics and muscles involved.

A close-up view of your body in action

BIOMECHANICS
Back Position

In all pulls, you should always try to keep the bar close to your body as you lift it. Research has shown that even the smallest difference in moment arm (the perpendicular distance between your lower back and the vertical line of action of the bar) can amount to a Iarge difference in compression on your lower back. For example, Raphael Escamilla, PhD, CSCS, now at California State University in Sacramento, and colleagues showed that two lifters who lifted the same amount of weight (285 kilograms, or 628 pounds) had a 10,000-newton (2,200-pound) difference in lower back (lumbar) compressive forces because of a 6.3-inch difference in the moment arm.3

Research has also presented some interesting points to ponder concerning lower back position during heavy deadlifting. A study in the Journal of Bone Surgery looked at the angular positions and range of motion of the lower back joints (lumbar intervertebral joints) during flexion with and without maximal loads.1 The researchers found that the lower back has a safety margin in flexion while under load, but that achieving full lumbar flexion with maximum loads increases the risk of lumbar injury.
Similarly, a study of lumbar stress during national-caliber powerlifting competition versus full lumbar flexion trials without resistance found that full lumbar flexion wasn’t achieved during the lifting trials, but that the spinal column remained moderately flexed and fairly rigid throughout the motion until lockout.2 What this means is that most of the lifting occurs at the hips and knees. What this also means is that compared to the fully extended and rigid or the fully flexed and non-rigid spine, the moderately flexed and semi-rigid spine may be an advantageous lifting position since your lower back is stronger under compressive loads when it’s moderately flexed)

Another reason why the moderately flexed position seems to be more effective is based on muscle physiology. Your erectors, the muscles that start at your neck and go all the way down your spine to your hips, are more effective in generating force when the lower back is partially flexed due to the slightly lengthened muscle tissue. The reason is that the contractile units within the muscle are at a more optimal position to generate force. Also, the isometric contraction of the erectors needed to maintain rigidity during the toughest part of the lift (the sticking point where the plates are on average a little less than 30 centimetres, or 1 foot, above the ground) is more effective in generating force than a concentric contraction, which occurs to extend the spine during the lockout of the lift.3 A moderately flexed spine in the initial position of the deadlift allows for slightly more extended hips and knees than are seen in the typical weightlifting lift-off position, resulting in better hip and knee extension initial leverage during the deadlift. As you can see, technique is everything.


PRESSURE TO THE CORE

During the 1983 Powerlifting World Championships, the Swedish competitors were studied while performing the deadlift (with the average pull being 628 pounds). The researchers developed mathematical models that allowed them to calculate the loads on the lower backs of the lifters.8, 9 The results showed that peak compressive loads on the lower back ranged from 18,800 Newton's (4,136 pounds) to 36,400 Newton's (8,008 pounds) at the peak point of stress at 30 centimetres (about 1 foot) of bar movement.4 But other scientists had determined that the ultimate compressive strength of the lumbar spine was less than 11,000 Newton's (2,420 pounds).5 So why didn’t any of the Swedish lifters break their backs? The answer is provided by three lower back protective factors. The first factor is that all the lifters studied wore a layered lifting belt 10 centimetres (4 inches) wide. It has been noted that intra-abdominal pressure due to the wearing of a lifting belt can be increased by 12 to 200/0 during a heavy deadlift compared to lifting without one.6, 10
This intra-abdominal pressure helps, in a way, to unload the spine and decrease spinal compressive loads. The second factor is that abdominal muscle contractions have been shown to increase intra-abdominal pressure while the body’s under stress
and may also decrease compressive loads on the spine.10 Third, forced expiration against a closed glottis—the Valsalva maneuver—has also been shown to increase intrathoracic pressure. Lifters in major competitions have been known to faint at
the end of an extended and laborious deadlift due to held breath (and occluded venous blood return to the heart and, ergo, to the brain) and upon regaining consciousness ask if they made the lift!

The efficient use of the tools to dissipate spinal pressure during a maximum pull would be to wear a wide lifting belt as seen in powerlifting and to tighten the belt as much as possible just before an attempt. Then, take a deep breath and close the glottis to increase intrathoracic pressure and stabilize the spine; tighten the abdominal muscles and push against the weight belt throughout the attempt. Raise the weight under control and begin to exhale slowly after passing through the most difficult part of the lift to ensure you don’t pass out before you receive white lights for a successful attempt.

Though all three factors are important for stabilizing your spine, you should not always employ the first one, the belt. If you always train with a belt, you can cause a detraining effect on the muscles and supportive structures responsible for spine stability. Therefore, do most of your training without a belt and wear one only during competition or during the heaviest parts of your training cycle.


ANATOMY: ON MUSCLES AND STRUCTURES
Now that you have a greater understanding of some of the biomechanical basics, it’s time to move on to the actual muscles that are involved in your pulling exercises. Starting with the upper back and working down, this list includes the role of your abs and arms, too.


THE TRAPS
Traps is short for trapezius, a large, triangular muscle that originates at the base of your skull and stretches down to the twelfth thoracic vertebra. Due to its fiber arrangements, this large muscle is usually categorized from top to bottom into Trap I, Trap II, Trap III, and Trap IV. During pulls (throughout the deadlift, and during the first pull of the clean and the snatch), its main function is to keep your shoulder girdle tight so it doesn’t produce much, if any, movement at all, regardless of what many athletes and coaches think. However, under the enormous stress of maximum pulls, these fibers subtly support the shoulder girdle by eccentrically, or negatively, contracting very slowly, letting out only millimetres at a time. This creates a mechanical advantage for the contractile components of the muscle, since muscle can control much more resistance eccentrically than concentrically.

Main Function

The main function of Trap I and II is to elevate your shoulder blade; the main function of Trap III is to retract it, and of Trap IV to depress and upwardly rotate it.

Trapezius (upper fibers)

Function: For movement, elevation of the outside angle of the shoulder blades (scapulae); with the scapulae fixed in position, they extend and hyperextend the neck and head.
Origin: The external occipital protuberance of the skull, and the ligamentum nuchae (ligament of the back of the neck) running to the sixth
cervical vertebra (C6)
Insertion: These fibers run downward and toward the outside (lateral) aspect of your body to the last third of your collarbone (clavicle) and the back, upper side of your shoulder blade (the acromion process).

Trapezius (middle fibers)

Function: Adduction or retraction of the scapulae Origin: From the lower portions of the cervical spine (ligamentum nuchae) down to the prominent spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebra (C7) and the first through fourth thoracic vertebrae (T1-T4) spinous processes, and down to T12. Insertion: These fibers run horizontally to the upper portion of the acromion process, the inner margin of the acromion process, and along a part of the shoulder blade called the scapular spine.


THE ERECTORS
The musculature of your back, along both sides of your spine, is complex. There are many muscles of similar ilk that may originally have been distinctively separate, running from one vertebra to another. But the course of human developmental history has blurred the distinction between most of these muscles, so that the muscles of the back have formed minimally separated layers of muscles running from the sacrum (end of your spine) to the skull. However, distinctions do remain. The shortest muscles lie deepest and attach closely against the vertebrae. The next layer lies over the deepest layer and runs longer. The outermost layer (superficial muscles) consists of the longest muscles. These muscles can also be divided into the layer closest to the spine (medial), a middle layer, and the outermost layer (lateral), with all layers overlapping to some degree. These muscles are commonly referred to as the erectors and typically come immediately to mind whenever you think of pulling muscles. However, to be anatomically correct, only the outermost layer of three big and long muscles constitutes the category of erector spinae muscles. The deeper layers are identified by their individual names and can be considered suberectors.

The thickest and most superficial of the spinal back muscles are the erector spinae muscles (“extensors of the spine”). As these muscles run from the top of the sacrum, they split off into three vertical tracts, with each muscle consisting of overlapping segments that all run up toward the base of the skull. Each division of the columns is also composed of a number of fascicles or fingerlike parts that overlap each other.

The erectors, for short, do most of their work resisting the forces of gravity. Along with a series of sub-erectors underneath them, they keep you upright. Your spine, however, is curved and the first function of the erectors is to stabilize your spine and resist deformation of the posture that could be caused by gravity. But when you’re pulling, the erectors become more actively involved in helping you make a successful lift. They do so by keeping your spine in alignment, by allowing you to keep the bar close to your body, and by aiding in balance throughout the execution of a pull. To give you a sense of the importance of spinal alignment, consider that while lifting just a 45-pound bar, the added force registered on the disks between your vertebrae while leaning 20 degrees forward is over 230 pounds.11 Now imagine what’s registered during a 700-pound deadlift! So you can see how important it is for the erectors to maintain as much normal positioning of the spine as possible in order to avoid injury and in order not to pinch, compress, or otherwise compromise the function of the spinal nerves that exit the spine.

The Erectors

Since these muscles essentially span the entire spinal column, and since the spinal column is divided into three sections called the cervical (neck), thoracic (trunk), and lumbar (low back) regions, the erectors have adopted this nomenclature as well. The cervical section of your spine has eight vertebrae identified as Cl to C8; your thoracic section has 12 vertebrae identified as Ti to T12, and your lumbar section has five vertebrae identified as Li to L5.

Spinalis: The most inner column of the erector muscles, closest to your spine.

Spinalis thoracis

Function: Erects and extends the thoracic area of the spine.
Origin: L2 and Li, and T12 and T11.
Insertion: T8 to T1.

Pinalis cervicis

Function: Extends the cervical spine.
Origin: A thick ligament area called the ligamentum nuchae and CS to C7.
Insertion: C2 and often C3 and C4.

Spinalis capitis

Function: Extension and rotation of the head and neck.
Origin: Lower part of the ligamentum nuchae and C7 to CS, T4 to T1.
Insertion: Blends with the semispinalis capitis and spinalis cervicis to the base of the skull.

Longissimus: Middle column of the erectors Longissimus thoracis

Function: Extension of thoracic area of the spine.
Origin: Musculotendinous mass from the top part of the sacrum and lower lumbars.
Insertion: All thoracic vertebrae and the lower and inner surface of the lower 10 ribs.

Longissimus cervicis

Function: Extension of cervical vertebrae and some sideway (lateral) flexion of the neck.
Origin: T5 to T1.
Insertion: C6 to C2.

Longissimus capitis

Function: Keeping the head erect; extension, rotation, and sideways bending of the head and neck.
Origin: T5 to T1.
Insertion: Base of the skull.

Iliocostalis: Outer column of the erectors

Iliocostalis lumborum

Function: Extension 0f the lumbar spine.
Origin: Upper portion of the sacrum and hip.
Insertion: Back and lower borders of the lower six (often more) ribs.

liocostalis thoracis

Function: Extension of the thoracic spine and keeping thorax erect.
Origin: Back and upper borders or angles of the 7th to 12th ribs.
Insertion: Back and lower borders or the angles of the 1st to 6th ribs.

lliiocostalis cervicis

Function: Extension and lateral flexion of the cervical spine.
Origin: Back and upper borders of the angles of the 1st to 6th ribs.
Insertion: C6 to C4.


THE SUB-ERECTORS

Quadratus lumborum

Function: If your pelvis is fixed. sideways bending your vertebral column to one side. It both sides are involved, as in pulling, assistance in extension of the lumbar vertebral column.
Origin: Back half of the top of your hip. thoracolumbar fascia, and the iliolumbar licament.
Insertion: Inferior two-thirds of the 12th rib and L1 to L5.

Intertransverarii

Function: Aid in support of the spinal column and sideways bending (lateral fiexion) of the spine.
Origin: Cervical, lumbar vertebrae to include T10 to T12.
Insertion: Transverse process above the origin.

Interspinales

Function: Extension of the spine and aid in the support of the spinal column.
Origin: All cervical and lumbar vertebrae top including T1 to T2 and T11 to T12.
Insertion: Spinous processes of vertebrae directly above the origin.

Transversospinales muscles
Rotatores
Function: Extension and support of the spine, including rotation of the spine to the opposite side.
Origin: Transverse processes of all vertebrae.
Insertion: Body of the vertebra directly above its origin.

Multifidi

Function: Extension of the spinal column and rotation of vertebrae to opposite side.
Origin: top of hip and sacrum, sacroiliac ligament and the transverse processes of all vertebrae.
Insertion: Spinous processes of all vertebrae with insertions being two to four vertebrae above the origins.

Semispinalis

Function of the thoracic fibers: Extend and rotate upper thoracic and lower cervical vertebrae.
Origin: T10 to T6.
Insertion: T4 to Ti and C7 to C6.

Function of the cervical fibers: Extend and rotate cervical vertebrae.
Origin: T5 to T1.
Insertion: C5 to C2.

Function of the capitis fibers: Extend and rotate the neck and head.
Origin: C7 to C4 and T4 to T1.
Insertion: Occipital bone of skull.


THE HIP JOINT
The head of the femur, your thighbone, is held within the acetabulum of the pelvis primarily by the shape of its structure and by the reinforcement of three prominent ligaments, which make up the joint capsule. We have to start this section off with the iliofemoral ligament, an important ligament which provides a great deal of function during a lockout in the deadlift and when you stand erect during the more complex moves of a clean and snatch. During pulls, the iliofemoral ligament reinforces lockout termination, which is the locking mechanism upon maximum hip extension, that is, when you’re standing completely erect. The attachments of this ligament form the shape of an inverted Y, which is why it’s sometimes called the “Y ligament of Bigelow.”

The fibers of the ligament spiral inward as they descend (this twisting form is maintained by the other two hip ligaments as well). The attachment and shape of the iliofemoral ligament allow for hip flexion (loosening as the hip bends forward) but prevent undue hip extension or locking the hip beyond maximum extension. Like the ligaments of a bird’s perching limbs, which support the bird’s weight without the need of undue muscular action, the iliofemoral ligament allows your body to maintain a locked hip position during an erect standing posture without using constant muscle tension. And as you complete a pull and lock your hip, such as in a deadlift, the iliofemoral ligament winds tightly so as to prevent unnatural hyperextension with no muscular checking action needed. Because of this mechanism, you can hold a very heavy weight without the hip joints being the weak link (they actually are the strong link).

Moving on to muscle, the gluteus maximus (meaning “greatest rump”) is the largest muscle of the human body. It can be as much as four inches thick in muscular athletes, though it’s usually one to two inches. This muscle is the main extensor of the hip, powering the main move your body uses to winch a bar from the floor to a standing position. The gluteus maximus displays its greatest force for the body when your hip is forcefully extended from a full-squat position. The muscle is a prime mover any time the hip is extended through a significant range of motion, but it becomes less of a prime mover and more of a synergist during movements of limited range of motion. At about 70 degrees short of full hip extension (lockout), the gluteus maximus shows diminishment of force, lessening further as the hip fully extends. Narrow-stance deadlifters with lean legs and long arms don’t rely on the gluteus maximus greatly as the prime hip extensor, whereas wide-stance lifters often use a deep squat position to initiate the pull, relying on that muscle as the prime hip extensor.

Gluteus maximus

Function: Extension of the hip; abduction and lateral rotation of the femur.
Origin: Iliac line and back crest including back part of the coccyx
Insertion: Lower deeper fibers: gluteal tuberosity of the femur, below the greater trochanter. Upper fibers: iliotibial tract of the fascia lata, which inserts anterolaterally to the femoral epicondyle and lateral tibial condyle.

The next muscle to consider is the adductor magnus, the deepest adductor, meaning that this muscle forces your thigh inward and that the muscle lies below others. The adductor magnus is ,a great deal larger than the other two adductor muscles put together (the adductor brevis and adductor longus, muscles that don’t have much role in hip extension). The front portion has fibers that run sideways and outward from your pelvis, providing strong hip adduction. But the back fibers run directly downward, making them a necessary muscle bundle for the deadlift because of their ability to not only provide stability to your joints, but also influence lifting the weight due to their ability to generate a lot of hip extension force. In other words, the adductor magnus is probably the main muscle at work during lockout in a deadlift and for maximal power production in a clean or snatch when your body becomes fully erect.

This back portion of the adductor magnus is a strong extensor of the hip and also causes some inward rotation of the hip. Since the back portion doesn’t cross the knee where it inserts, knee position has no bearing on the tension of the back part of this muscle. It does, however, apply a great deal force throughout the entire range of motion of a pull.

Adductor magnus

Function: The whole muscle is an adductor of the hip. The front part of this muscle aids in the flexion and outward rotation of the hip. The back part (sometimes called the sciatic portion) extends the hip and adducts and internally rotates the hip.
Origin: Front portion originates from the lower components of your hip. The back portion originates from the central part of your pelvis.
Insertion: The front part inserts at the top, back part of your thigh and the back portion at the middle part of the thigh.


THE HAMSTRINGS
The hamstrings constitute the main muscles in the back of your thigh. They cross both your knee and hip joints and are heavily involved in the movements of both, especially during exercises such as pulls. Unfortunately, in lifting circles the hamstrings are considered mainly as muscles that help bend the knee. That’s a mistake because these muscles are strong extensors of the hip, and hip extension is precisely what you’re doing when you’re attempting to lift a loaded bar off the ground.

However, because the hamstrings are flexors of the knee, their function at the hip varies according to the angle and action at the knee. If the knee is bent, the hamstrings are limited in how much force they can apply at the hip, basically because there’s some slack in the muscle. But the hamstrings are very active during eccentric and concentric extension at the hip when the knee is stabilized at or near an extended position, an important factor throughout the deadlift and other pulls.

Biceps femoris

Function: Extension of the hip (long head only); flexion and outward rotation of the knee.
Origin: Long head, bottom part of the pubis; short head, center and back part of the thigh.
Insertion: Both heads at the back top part of the fibula.

Semitendinosus

Function: Extension of the hip; flexion and inward rotation of the knee.
Origin: Back part of pubis, just inside of the biceps femoris.
Insertion: Upper, inside part of the tibia.

Semimembranosus

Function: Extension of the hip; flexion and inward rotation of the knee.
Origin: Outer part of the pubis.
Insertion: Top, inside and back part of the tibia.


THE QUADS
Full knee extension is a critical part of all pulls. Though many lifters rely on hip and spinal extension for deadlift success, all successful lifters need strong knee extensors to lock out a deadlift and to generate as much speed and power as possible in the clean and snatch.

Your knee is the largest and certainly a complex joint because it does more than just straighten out your leg; it also rotates, locks, and unlocks by special muscular action. Though the hamstrings are seemingly antagonistic to knee extension, they actually use knee extension as leverage in order to create hip extension force, since they cross the hip joint.

Rectus femoris

Function: Extension of the knee; aids in flexion of the hip.
Origin: Lower, outer part of the hip.
Insertion: Top, upper and front part of the leg (tibia).

Vastus Zateralis

Function: Extension of the knee.
Origin: Front, upper part of the thigh.
Insertion: Top, upper and front part of the leg (tibia).

Vastus medialis

Function: Extension of the knee
Origin: Top, inside part of the thigh
Insertion: Top, upper and front part of the leg (tibia)

Vastus intermedius

Function: Extension of the knee
Origin: Upper, outside part of the thigh on down to the last third of the thigh
Insertion: Top, upper and front part of the leg (tibia).


REFERENCES
1. Adams, M.A., and W.C. litton. The effect of posture on the lumbar spine. Journal of Bone Surgery 678:625-629, 1985.
2. Cholewicki, J., et aI. Lumbar spine loads during the lifting of extremely beam weights. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 23:11791186, 1991.
3. Escamilla, R.F., et al. Biomechanics of powerl;fting and weightlifting exercises. In: Exercise and Sport Science, ed. WE. Garrett and D.T. Kirkendall, 585615. Philadelphia: Lippiecott, Williams & Wi,kins, 2000.
4. Granhed, h., et al. The loads on the lumbar spine during extreme weightlrfting. Spine 12:146.149, 1987.
5. Hansson, T., et al. Tne bone mineral content and ultimate cnmpresorne strength of lumbar oertebrae. Spine 5:46.55, 1980.
6. Harmon, E.A., et al. Effects of a belt on intra-abdominal pressure during weightlifting. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise 21:186-190, 1989.
7. McGuigan, M.R.M., and B.D. Wilson. Biomechanical analysis of the deadlift. Journal of Strength and Coxdihonrng Research 10:250.255, 1996.
8. Schultz, A.B., and G.B. Andersson. Analysis of oads on the lumbar spine. Spine 6:76-82,1981.
9. Schultz, A.B., et al. Loads on the lumbar spine: Validation of a biomechan,cal analysis by measurements of intradiscal pressures and myoelectric signals. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 64151:713-720, 1982.
10. Tesh, K.M., et al. The abdominal muscles and vertebral stability. Spine 12:501-508, 1987.
11. Zatsiorsky, V.M. Science and Prachce of Strength Training, 177-181. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1995.

Compliments - Pure Power Mag (www.purepowermag.com)

[Justin Hurley]

Training Variables

The most significant aspect of training for sport is the discovery of training variables and how manipulating them can affect your training in a positive way, when done in accordance with scientific fact, or in a negative way, when based on unscientifically derived notions. When it comes to your training, there’s more to consider than the sets and reps you do...

Density: If you shorten the rime of rest you take between sets, but still perform the same total amount of work (sets and reps), your training session becomes more dense. By increasing the density of your training. you’re also increasing the intensity of your training.

Duration: Principally, this refers to the Length of your set or the Length of your training session. By increasing or decreasing the duration of your training, you can decrease or increase the intensity of your training, respectively.

Frequency: How often you train a particular exercise or body part constitutes Frequency. You can obviously manipulate the training effect by training with more or less Frequency.

Intensity: This term refers to the amount of power or force you generate. You can increase your power in a rep by moving the same amount of weight quicker or by moving a greater amount of weight at the same speed as a Lighter weight. In terms of force, or strength, you typically calculate your training intensity based on a percent of your 1-rep max. Therefore, training with 8o pounds when your max is 100 pounds constitutes a training intensity of 80% 1-rep max. You can record your training intensity based on the average you do For a given exercise or over an entire training session, week, month, etc. However, you need to be aware that many of the other variables discussed in this sidebar can also impact your training intensity.

Repetitions: A repetition is the performance of a given exercise through a given range of motion. When you add several repetitions before you rest, you ye completed a set. This variable is closely related to volume, but intensity as well.

Rest: Though rest can be defined as resting time between sets, we believe that definition is related to density. Therefore, our interpretation of rest refers to the time you take between repeating a given exercise or training a particular body part again. In that context, we re talking about days or weeks, and by increasing or decreasing rest you can manipulate training gains and recovery.

Sets: A set is composed of several repetitions of a given exercise, and you can perform any number of sets for a given exercise or body part. This variable is closely related to volume, but intensity as well.

Velocity: Velocity is the speed at which you move a given weight through the beginning to the end of the range of motion. The more speed you use, the more intense is the action. Also, depending on your type of sport, the speed of your reps could become a primary training consideration.

Volume: This is the total, amount of work that you do in a training session, in a week, in a month, or in any other period that you might determine. You can estimate your training volume by adding up all the repetitions that you do (~ exercises for 3 sets and 5 reps each 45 total reps) or the total amount of weight that you Lift (i.e. reps with 100 pounds 1,000 pounds x 3 sets 3,000 pounds). Determining your training volume is important in order to figure out the total training stress that you place on yourself in order to adjust it upward or downward or to maintain it. Therefore, training volume is also related to training intensity.

RELATIONSHIPS
As you can see by the variables and their definitions, they’re all related in one way or another. In particular, they’re all related to your training intensity. In fact, all of them can impact your training intensity. What’s critical for you to realize is that training intensity is the key to making improvements and meeting your goals. However, too much intensity—or not enough—can prevent you from reaching your goals. Although science indicates Fairly clearly how you should approach your training for maximal gains (see the training programs elsewhere in this issue), training probably enters the realm of an art form when it comes to finding the exact intensity combinations for you—and what’ll work this cycle will Likely not work the next. This is where your training becomes a real challenge, and we would Like to think—fun.

RESOURCES

• Bonnpa T and L Cornaccia. Serious Strength Training. Champaign. IL: Human Kinetics 2002.
• Fleck, S., and W. Kraemer. Designing Resistance Training Programs. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2003.
• Komi, R, ed. Strength and Power in Sport. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Science, 2002.
• Stone, M, and H. 0’Bryant. Weight Training: A Scientific Approach. Edina MN: Burgess International Group, 1987.
• Ward, P., and R. Ward. Encyclopaedia of Weight Training. Laguna Hills, CA: QPT Publications, 1997.


Compliments - Pure Power Mag (www.purepowermag.com)

[Justin Hurley]

MEET THE KING OF STRENGTH

With popularity, however, comes a great amount of myth and conjecture. Google search for “deadlift,” for example, will yield over 115,000 hits. And nearly all of them amount to nothing but personal opinions about this lift and how to train it. You’re inundated with advice from every conceivable direction. The problem is that opinions aren’t sufficient when you’re looking to maximize your performance. When it comes to your sport, only the best is good enough and the best means scientific research. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much solid research conducted and published on the deadlift. However, whatever there is, is included in this article. Moreover, I’ve been collecting hard data on the deadlift myself and analyzing it in my laboratory, and I’m sharing this information with you. Suffice to say, the bull stops here.
Performing the deadlift is considered a total-body exercise because you’re recruiting all the major muscles of your body
Besides its huge appeal, the deadlift is the last of the three lifts contested in the sport of powerlifting. The rules for performing this lift state that the barbell must be lifted upward in a continuous motion until the lifter is standing erect with the knees locked and shoulders thrust back. Causes for disqualification include the following: 1) failure to wait for the referee’s “down” signal when the lift is completed, 2) any stopping or downward movement of the bar once the bar has been lifted from the floor, 3) failure to stand erect with knees locked and shoulders back, and 4) any hitching, bouncing, or resting of the bar against the thighs during the lift. And this is the way every repetition should be performed, whether you’re a powerlifter or not, whether you’re competitive or not. Only a strict lift counts. Only a strict lift will avert injury. Only a
strict lift will yield maximum strength gains. But in your effort to raise the barbell off the ground, you have two choices in technique: the conventional or the sumo style. With the conventional style you use a narrow stance (about hip width) with your arms outside the legs as you grip the bar. The sumo style uses a very wide stance while you grip the bar on the inside of your legs. The reasons to date for choosing one style over the other seem unclear and are often based only on personal preference (though the data I’ve been collecting will change that—read on). You also have a choice between several variations of the deadlift that are used as assistance exercises in an effort to improve the king of the pulls.

Because of the huge strength component associated with the deadlift, it plays a significant role in athletic development. If your sport requires you to use your back, hips, thighs, and legs, the deadlift must be part of your training. Also, specific variations of the deadlift, such as the Romanian deadlift, can increase hamstring strength to improve performance in jumping and sprinting. Performing the deadlift is also considered a total-body exercise because you’re recruiting all the major muscles of your body. As a result, your energy expenditure will be quite high, making it also an important conditioning exercise throughout your training cycle.

Because the deadlift is considered a closed kinetic chain exercise (an exercise where you’re planted on the ground or a platform), it can also be used in knee rehabilitation programs, such as after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.6 This is probably due to the high hamstring activity reported in this lift, which helps stabilize the knee.


THE KING’S SCIENCE

As I already stated, there’s a huge amount written about the deadlift. But opinions simply aren’t good enough. Why? Because personal experiences lack the rigors 0f controlling for other variables that may affect the outcome. In other words, if some guru tells you that his training program will raise your deadlift by 50 pounds, how do you know for sure he even experimented with that program at any level? And if he did, how do you know what else may have contributed to the results? And if he tells you that “his athlete” lifted big because of the guru’s training secrets, how do you know that this athlete may not be excelling at this lift for any number of other reasons?

What I’m trying to tell you is that there’s a higher level of understanding and information that you should expect. And in doing so you have to exclude everything that hasn’t stood up to the rigors of scientific processes of investigation. With that in mind, my next search identified 33 research articles discussing the deadlift. Twenty-one of the 33 articles pertained to utilizing the deadlift and its variations in strength training for athletics, with six of the 21 comparing biomechanical parameters between sumo and conventional deadlifts. Four of the 21 studies examined strength predictions based on different variables, such as body mass and categories of somatotyping (comparisons of percentage of body fat, limb lengths, etc.).

Lincoln Gotshalk, PhD, currently at the University of Hawaii and a contributor to this issue, reviewed technique performance for each style of deadlift.’ Gotshalk stated that top-rated deadlifters are identified by well-developed trapezius, erectors, and hamstring muscles. He reviewed other anatomical features that offer biomechanical advantages, such as long arms, a short trunk, and medium-length legs, and defined a person with such features as a natural deadlifter. He learned that lifters with short arms, a long trunk, and short legs have decreased biomechanical leverage, reducing the amount 0f weight they can lift. This is mainly because locking out your hips is more efficient with a shorter trunk and longer arms. Here’s why: A long trunk with short arms affects the angle of the trunk when lifting the bar from the floor. This body type essentially causes the lifter to have a trunk angle closer to parallel with the floor as well as thigh and leg angles moving toward 90 degrees or closer to vertical. The closer the trunk angle is to being parallel to the floor, the greater the distance the bar is from the trunk’s pivot point (the hip), which makes it more difficult to lift the weight. In other words, the farther the weight or bar is from the body, the more mechanically inefficient the lift becomes. This mechanical inefficiency requires more muscle action from the hamstrings, glutes, and upper back, with substantial increases in stress
the lower back. At the same time, there’s a decrease in quad involvement, which in turn decreases the ability to get the bar off the floor. On the other hand, a lifter with a short trunk and long arms starts the movement from a more vertical position, thereby having greater mechanical efficiency to pull the bar off the ground, all with less strain on the lower back.

Interestingly, Gotshalk explained the reasons why lifters with certain body types may choose either the conventional or sumo style. Lifters with long arms, a short trunk, and medium-length legs normally use the conventional style due to an efficient starting position. Lifters with short arms, a long trunk, and short legs are more successful in the deadlift using the sumo technique.

Eugene W. Brown from the Youth Sports Institute at Michigan State University investigated kinetic and kinematic characteristics of the deadlift in skilled and unskilled teenage powerlifters in the Michigan Teenage Powerlifting Championship.1 Results indicate significant differences in body part movements: the more skilled lifters had a more upright position at lift-off and more bar speed. The less skilled lifters demonstrated more variability in how the bar moved. However, this study didn’t differentiate between sumo and conventional styles, which can differentially affect the execution and mechanics of the deadlift.

T.S. Horn from the Biodynamics Laboratory at the University of Kentucky compared the differences in back musculature involvement between the conventional and sumo styles.9 He used electromyography (EMG) to measure the electrical activity of the muscles and a force plate measure force output throughout the range of motion. The results showed that the erectors were as much as twice as active in the conventional style versus the sumo style. This is probably because of the greater range of motion the hips go through in a conventional deadlift.

The obvious implication is that the different styles of deadlifting affect your body—and your training—differently. Since the conventional style stresses the erectors greatly, you’ll have to pay particular attention to not overtraining this important muscle group. Conversely, if you’re a sumo-style deadlifter, you should be aware that your erectors are probably not getting as much work as they should. Since these muscles are critical to your ability to keep your back straight, you should include conventional pulls or similar movements in your training in order to strengthen your erectors.

Research published in Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise set out to quantify the loads experienced on the lower back, hip, and knee joints.2 The researchers, gathering their data during a national powerlifting championship, found significantly greater lumbar vertebrae shear forces (when two bones slide across each other as two vertebrae can) in the starting position of a conventional pull and more forces acting upon that area as well. The forces acting on the hip and knee joints, however, weren’t significantly different between the two styles. The implication is similar to that already stated: if you’re a conventional-style deadlifter, you must train accordingly to avoid excessive stress on your lower back.

Here’s an important note that I should address at this point. You should not equate the findings of the last two studies with increased injury potential. These studies measured what’s going on between a conventional and sumo-style deadlift; just because one shows more stress on certain areas than another does not mean it’s an unhealthy lift or that your risk of injury is greater. But all of this information does add up and become important in your decision as to what style of deadlift to use. To illustrate, if you’re an athlete who requires a lot of back strength, the conventional style should be your choice of deadlift.

Michael McGuigan and colleague from the University of Otago, New Zealand, investigated the differences in movement patterns and time and space factors related to limb angles (kinematics) between the sumo and conventional styles.13 They concluded that lifters using the sumo style maintained a more upright posture at lift-off compared to lifters using the conventional style. The distance required to lift the bar to completion was significantly reduced in the sumo style. No significant difference was found between the two styles as to where the sticking point occurred. What this means is that if you have a squat-dominant body type, you use a wide stance and upright body due to short arms and legs and a long trunk, so you could substantially benefit by using the’ sumo style. This, because your leverage advantages are better for both the squat and a sumo-style deadlift and because you’d be using your “pulling muscles” in a similar manner to what you do in your squat.

Rafael Escamilla, PhD, and colleagues performed a three-dimensional analysis of the deadlift during a national masters powerlifting championship and during the Special Olympics.~ Several significant differences in joint angles, mechanical work, and ankle, knee, and hip actions were found between the two styles of deadlifts. The researchers’ conclusion was that biomechanical differences between styles of lifting result from technique variations between these exercises.

In a different study, Escamilla and colleagues examined muscle activity between the sumo and conventional deadlifts and between belt and no-belt conditions.~ They concluded that an athlete should choose a particular style depending on which muscles should be emphasized in a particular training protocol. Also, due to moderate to high co-contractions in the quads. hamstrings, and calves, using the deadlift as part of knee rehabilitation after surgery would be an important consideration.

In terms of belt use, data analysis established that wearing a belt increases intra-abdominal activity and actually increases the activity of your abs while requiring less external oblique activity. Look at it this way: your abdominal area is a large balloon and you cinch a belt around it while you keep filling it with air. The internal pressure increases and pushes out against the belt. This is essentially what happens when you use a weight belt. The pressure will stabilize your trunk, enabling you to generate more strength and lift more weight.


DECISIONS, DECISIONS

All of these studies have laid the groundwork for research that’ll actually allow you to make an educated decision as to which deadlift style to choose based on your body type. At California State University, I’m currently analyzing data that I collected at the AAU American Invitational powerlifting championships held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.~This study was designed to investigate trunk, leg, and arm length ratios and their effects on the initial lift-off and pull-through of the deadlift. First I separated the athletes into either a conventional or sumo style group. Then I took measurements of arm length, leg length, trunk length, and the distance from shoulder to floor, hip to knee, and knee to floor. The ratios I calculated were for trunk length to total leg length, total arm length to trunk length, and total arm length to shoulder to floor length.

Using an Ariel Performance Analysis System, I also made a two-dimensional video analysis to determine joint angles of the trunk, thigh, and leg at the first instant that the barbell left the ground and then at knee level. Though there’s a lot of information to be gleamed from the data I collected, I can share some preliminary findings.

1. Significant differences were found in trunk angles between the two styles of lifting

2. Lifters maintained a more upright position at lilt-off with the sumo style

3. No significant differences were found in the ratios of arm to torso, trunk to total leg length, or arm to shoulder to floor distances between the two styles of deadlift.

4. While no significant differences were found for segment length ratios between the two groups, this data indicates that similar body types may be common among powerlifters.

5. Ratios for trunk length to arm length range from 0.76 to 0.92 for the conventional pull while the ratio for the sumo technique ranges from 0.8 to 1, suggesting that the lifters in this study have trunk lengths close to arm length (a 1:1 ratio means that the trunk is the same length as the arm; a 0.76 ratio means the trunk is approximately 0.76 long as total arm length).

From a practical standpoint, this new research indicates that powerlifters seem to possess similar body structures. Also, since the trunk lengths are approximately the same as arm lengths, the finishing height of the conventional deadlift would be approximately where the thigh inserts into the hip. For the sumo-style deadlifter, then, this means the lifting height of the barbell is less and that can be decreased further by increasing the width of the foot stance. At the same time, in doing so you’d be increasing your trunk angle at lift-off and therefore require more quad involvement. The opposite would hold true for the conventional style, albeit you’d find an increase in erector activity instead.

This data also suggests that if you use the style of deadlifting, you should squat close to or slightly wider than your deadlift stance, and vice versa. Of course, this doesn’t help much if you use the conventional style.

THE KING’S TECHNIQUE

Your choice of which style of deadlift to use depends primarily on your body type and body measurements. A secondary factor to consider is the muscles that are used and to what degree they’re used in either style. Here, you should ask yourself what muscle groups you need to improve upon and for what reason; just strength, in reference to your primary sport, etc. The third factor in your decision is personal choice. Although your body type and sport requirements may dictate that you should choose the conventional style, you may absolutely hate the way this movement feels, even after several months of giving it a good ride. In that case, you might have to consider the sumo instead. Although you might be giving up on maximal training effect and poundage, you’ll still realize some benefits.


Conventional Style

Position yourself about two inches from the bar, with your stance at about shoulder width and feet pointed straight ahead.
One way to tell if you’re in the right position is to stand erect in front of the bar and look down to see if the bar is over the bridge of your feet.

Once the stance has been set, take a deep breath, pull your shoulders back, arch your back, pinch your shoulder blades, and reach down to grasp the bar just outside of your legs. Another approach is to grasp the bar first and then work on shoulders back, chest out, arched back. This choice is merely personal preference: the key is that you have to obtain this position before you pull, but how and at what point before you pull you get into this position is less critical.

Grip the bar with an opposing or alternating grip, with one palm facing forward and the other backward. Which hand points in which direction should be based on personal preference. The purpose for using this type of grip is to prevent the bar from rolling out of your hands. Another method is to use an overhand hook grip with both palms facing back and your fingers wrapped around your thumbs to prevent the bar from slipping out of your hands. This method is used primarily by weightlifters, who don’t lift as much weight in a snatch or a clean and jerk as powerlifters typically pull in a deadlift. Therefore, this method may not be the best choice for most powerlifters.

Your hands should be positioned just outside your legs. If your hands are too far apart, you have to bend down more, losing leverage due to poor trunk angles and increasing the distance the bar has to move, reducing efficiency. Once you’re in position, inhale a bit more if you can in an effort to increase intra-abdominal pressure and trunk stabilization, pull slightly on the bar to set the arms straight, raise your head slightly (looking down can force the hips to rise prematurely), lower your buttocks to a position near parallel, and then push your feet into the floor as you pull on the bar. This pushing will cause knee extension, plantar flexion (the calf muscles will contract), and hip extension, which results in lift-off.

You should note that your trunk, thigh, and leg angles at the moment of barbell separation from the floor will vary based on your trunk, leg, and arm lengths (segment lengths), so it’s difficult to give precise angles to look for. What’s most critical from the moment the barbell leaves the ground to lockout is that you maintain a tight back, meaning an arched back. There may be some very slight rounding in the lower back area, but it should only be very slight.

The bar should travel upward in a straight line close to your shins with your hips and shoulders rising at the same time. In fact, your hips should not move upward at all until the bar also moves. Some disagreement seems to exist as to whether you should drag the bar up your shins or not. Biomechanics would suggest two things: 1) doing so might cause too much friction, increasing the force you have to generate, and 2) your segment lengths may dictate the most natural approach for you. Regardless, you should definitely strive to keep the bar as close to your body as possible in order to decrease the moment arm between your arms and hip joint. Any excessive drifting of the bar away from your body increases shear forces on your lower back and decreases mechanical efficiency, thus reducing the amount of weight you can lift.

As the bar reaches your knees, hip extension becomes the primary lockout movement. When the bar is past your knees, it must be in contact with your thighs, and you should tilt your head upward to stimulate further trap activity and push your hips forward as hard as you can. Again, it’s critical that you maintain a tight back with next to no rounding at all. You can accomplish this by coordinating joint actions properly and keeping your shoulder blades together. The final lockout is accomplished with knee, hip, and trunk extension finishing simultaneously with your body erect and shoulders slightly behind the bar.


Sumo Style

If the sumo is your choice, consider it a squat with the bar in your hands. But realize that if you knees end up locking out first and then you move the bar, you’re probably in the most inefficient pulling position possible. If you can’t overcome this, consider the conventional style instead.

You have the same grip style decisions to make as in the conventional style, although your grip will be slightly narrower and on the inside of your thighs. Despite the comparative narrowness of your grip, make sure that your hands are not beyond the knurling or you’ll lose control of the bar due to its smoothness.

You should address the bar in the same fashion as in the conventional style except that your foot stance is substantially wider. The width of your stance varies from just wider than shoulder width to extremely wide with the feet turned out. And just as in the conventional style, you want to ensure that you set your back in a manner that allows for tightness and an arch. You may obtain this position first and then squat down to the bar and grip it, or you may grip it first and then pull your hips down into position and set your back.

The protocol for a sumo lift-off is the same as for the conventional style; however, when you grip the bar your hips are lower and your back is more erect. Initial lift-off from the floor requires substantial quad involvement, with your back simply trying to maintain an upright posture. Again, your main objective is to keep the bar close to your body throughout the lift. As the bar passes your knees, you’ll emphasize a coordinated sequence of hip, knee, and trunk extension.

Once you complete the rep, in both sumo and conventional style, you can return the bar to the ground in a controlled fashion but need not concentrate on doing the pull in reverse. However, before you start the next rep, be sure that you observe all set-up points.


ASSISTANCE WORK

Whether your deadlift style is conventional or sumo, your body requires a great deal of strength to successfully complete the lift. The muscles involved in either style of the deadlift move primarily in an active or stabilizing fashion. So in your choice of assistance work, you need to consider how closely the exercise mimics the actual lift and how the assistance exercise uses the deadlift muscles. Here’s a short list of assistance exercises:

• Partial pull from varying heights

• Romanian deadlift

• One-arm deadlift

• Good morning

• Partial pull to the knee

• Single-leg deadlift

• Cable pull-through

• Stiff-back extensions

• Glute-ham raise

Choosing an auxiliary exercise is dictated by experience level, anatomical considerations, your particular strengths and challenge areas, training age, and equipment available. Equipment, such as the reverse hyper and glute-ham machines, and a power rack can be costly. If you’re a novice or intermediate athlete, you can learn basic movements related to the deadlift effectively with low-cost equipment. As you gain experience and increase your poundage, you may need more specialized equipment in order to improve further.


NOVICE

If you’re new to the deadlift, you should approach training relative to your current level of fitness and lifting experience. Elsewhere in this thread you’ll find a discussion of training parameters and programming. Suffice to say, as a novice you have to learn the lifts first and only when you’ve learned proper technique should you consider adding weight and increasing your training volume. That said, your approach should follow four tenets: analyze, optimize, maximize, minimize.

In short, the first step is to analyze your body with the use of specific tests (identified later in this article). Such testing will identify any weaknesses within your body. Identifying what needs to be addressed immediately or first along with the basic techniques of the lifts will optimize training accordingly. If you optimize training through analysis, performance can be optimized as well as maximized for further improvements. This in turn will minimize both your risk of injury and any training that inhibits improvement.

Regarding analysis, you should allow for a review of your musculoskeletal system. This type of analysis identifies discrepancies, or weak points, within your body. Identifying weak links within the body’s structural system (kinetic chain) guides you to select the appropriate exercises and training protocols necessary to correct these discrepancies. This approach can be compared to the “weakest link” theory. If a chain has one link with a structural weakness, then the chain is only as strong as that weakest link. Therefore, identifying any weak link or part of your body’s musculoskeletal system and making that part stronger with analysis and optimal training can improve training and performance.

I refer you to Bill Foran’s book, listed in the references at the end of this article 6, to find the Functional Movement Screen to help in your analysis. This screen was developed to quantify movement quality and fulfill the first requirements of baseline testing, mobility and stability. The movements tested represent the basic forms of human movement (squatting, stepping, lunging, reaching, striding along with movements that require trunk stability for pushing movements). Each test is scored from 0 to 3, with scores added together for a final score. These tests provide you with a wealth of knowledge that can guide your training to decrease any strength deficit you may possess.

Once you have this information, you can work on optimizing your training based on the data collected. You can address any deficits that you’ve uncovered in conjunction with your technique training. As an example, if the analysis reveals hamstring inflexibility (mobility) as well as trunk weakness (stability) in the upper and lower back area, you can choose exercises to strengthen these areas. As you adjust your training specifically to your needs, your body will adapt accordingly, thereby allowing you to expect maximal learning and strength gains in the deadlift while at the same time minimizing your risk of injury.

If for some reason you’re not able to address your naming approach in this scientific manner, consider the following. Learn the basic deadlift movement by naming the movement itself. Next, use assistance exercises for beginners that target the musculature of your back chain including the erectors, traps, lats, glues hamstrings, and calves. The front chain necessary for improving strength includes the abs, obliques, and transverse abs as well as quads.

Here are some examples of assistance movements for the back chain:

• Shrugs: upper and middle traps

• Rowing (wide and low): upper back and lats

• Pulldowns: lats

• Back extensions (pelvis supported): dynamic training for the erectors

• Stiff back extensions: glutes and hamstrings (dynamic) with erectors (static)


Examples for the front chain include the following:

• Neuromuscular stabilization: static core training such as static holds in the supine and lateral position, pelvic tilts, bridging

• Pelvic raise

• Crunch with twist: obliques

• Crunch: abs

• Squat and variations: quads


INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED

Analysis is an ongoing process. Therefore, even if you’re an intermediate or advanced lifter, you would get a lot of important information from the above-described analysis process. And you must always attend to proper technique in the deadlift, no matter how advanced an athlete you are. And don’t fall into the trap of thinking that because you got stronger, or because you can deadlift a lot, you don’t have to look at improving technique.

The choice of assistance exercises is, again, a process depending on data. You can’t just haphazardly pick an exercise. Also, of the long list of exercises that you can choose from, it’s important for you to learn a motion in a stable environment before advancing to a movement requiring substantial stabilization strength. For example, perform stiff-back extensions on a glute-ham machine; then change to a Romanian deadlift. The former exercise is stabilized by the equipment used; the latter is more challenging because of the increased need for stabilization since all you have to stabilize you is your feet—a very small base of support.

As you advance in your training, you should consider additional exercises that emphasize your upper back musculature. This is important because while the hip, thigh, and trunk extensors are dynamically working, your upper back musculature plays an important role in stabilizing the trunk during lift-off as well as the pull-through to finish of the deadlift. And now that you’ve become stronger in the pull, getting the upper back muscles even stronger can help you move even more weight.

At this stage you should also incorporate more specific analysis of each component of the deadlift itself. One way to identify weak points is to have someone film you doing a lift and then study the different body segments throughout the range of motion. Even if you’re not a biomechanist, you’ll probably be able to identify certain technique deviations and parts of the pull that are more difficult than others.

Since each style of the deadlift emphasizes different muscle groups, they must be trained accordingly. For each technique, you should ask yourself what the primary movers, the secondary movers, and the stabilizers are. Examine the technique chosen, then identify how the muscles associated with that movement are used. Film analysis is an excellent way to see which muscles are working throughout a lift. As you review the film, identify what’s moving (what muscle groups are working dynamically) and what’s stationary.

You can then train those parts to coincide with the actual movement patterns of the lift. Segmental lengths (trunk, arms, thigh, and leg) play an important role in the mechanical aspects of each style. So you could have someone take still pictures of you and use a protractor to calculate the angles of your trunk, thigh, and leg at various points during the lift.

Now you can identify starting angles of the associated limbs, which will not only allow you to make specific technique changes but also help you choose appropriate exercises for those specific angles. Logical analysis can optimize training to maximize performance.

Your choice of deadlift style must be based on science and your anatomy. By taking your particular build into consideration, you can choose a style of deadlifting that you’ll most likely succeed at. And proper technique is always the guiding light. Never sacrifice technique for weight. If your back rounds off during a deadlift, your back simply isn’t strong enough for the weight. So the next step is to lessen the weight and include assistance exercises that will address this deficit. Other forms of analysis are also important. In the end, you want to make training decisions based on hard data as opposed to myth and conjecture. And that translates into maximized performance—what every athlete is after.


REFERENCES
1. Brows E W and K Abani Kinematics and kinetics of the deadlift in adolescent powerlifters. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise 17:534-563, 1985.
2. Cholewicki, J., et aI. Lumbar spine loads during the lifting of extremely hea~t weights. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise 23:1179.1186, 1991.
3. DeLong, I. The effects of frank, thigh, shank and arm lengths on the initial lift-off and pull-through of the deadlift. Master’s thesis in progress, Calitornia State University, Long Beach.
4. Escamilla, R.F., et a(. An electromyognaphic analysis of same and conventional deadlift. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 34:682-688, 2002.
5. Escamilla, R.F., et al. A three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of sumo and conventional style deadlifts. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 32:1265-1275, 2000.
6. Foran, Bill. High-Performance Sports Conditioning: Modern Training for Ultimate Athletic Development, pp. 19-42. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2001.
7. Garhammer, J. Weightlifting and training. In: Biomechanics in Sport, ed. C.L. Vaughn, pp. 169-
211. Rattan, FL: CRC Press, 1989.
8. Gotshalk, L. Analysis at the deadlift. National Strength and Conditioning Journal 616): 4-5,74-76, 78, 1985.
9. Horn, 7.5. A biomechanical comparison of sumo and conventional deadlifting techniques. International Journal of Sports Medicine 9:150, 1988.
10. Kneighbaum, E., and KM. Bartbels. Biomechanics: A Qualitative Approach for Studying Human Movement. 4th ed. New York: Macmillan, 1996.
11. McGuigan, M.R., and B.D. Wilson. Biomechanical analysis of the deadlift. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 10(41:250-255, 1996.
12. Palmittier, BA., etal. Kinetic chain exercise in knee rehabilitation. Sports Medicine 11:402-
413,1991.
13. Wright, G.A., et a). Electromyographic activity of the hamstring during performance ot the leg curl, stiff-leg deadlift, and back squat movements. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 13:168-174, 1999.

[Justin Hurley]

Probably the most important contribution that biomechanical. research offers is the ability for you to determine which deadlift style you should choose based on your specific body type. The research that I’ve been conducting yields such information and I call, it Somatomechanics. And all you need is a tape measure and your training partner...

By the Steps
1. Secure a tape measure to a wall with the zero end at the floor; use the metric side (centimeters).
2. Stand with your back against the wall with the top of your shoulder near the tape and measure the distance from the top of your shoulder to the floor. This is your total body measurement (i.e.. trunk and Leg Length combined).
3. With a straight arm and your hand making a fist, measure From the top of your shoulder to the middle of your fist. This is your total arm length.
4. Raise your thigh to determine where your thigh rotates in your pelvis. Once located, lower your leg to the floor and measure from the top of the shoulder to this point. This is your trunk length. Also, subtract this measurement from your total body measurement to give your lower body length.

Record these measurements and perform the following calculations:

1. Divide trunk length by arm length.

2. Divide trunk length by lower body length.

These resultant numbers will tell you the Following:

1. Arm to trunk Length ratio. Example: If your trunk is 50 centimeters and your arm is 65 centimeters, divide 65 into 50 = 0.77. This indicates that your trunk is 0.77 of your arm Length — that is, your arm is longer than your trunk by 23%. (1 is your reference.)

2. Trunk to Lower body Length. Example: If your trunk is 50 centimeters and your Lower body is 98 centimeters, divide 98 into 50 = 51.

Conventional or Sumo?
These numbers let you choose the appropriate deadlift style based on your measurements.

If your trunk to arm ratio is less than 0.82 and your trunk to lower body length is less than 0.55, you should consider the conventional deadlift. With your arms longer than your trunk, you’ll finish the pull with the bar below your hip joint. This finishing position indicates that the initial starting position of your trunk (trunk angle) will be larger (more upright). This would indicate more activity from the quads as well as the hamstrings and glutes. A more upright trunk angle will also create a larger knee angle at the starting position, making the shift of the shoulders, knee, and hip more uniform—that is, they rotate in a biomechanical correct sequence.

If your ratios are Larger than 0.82 and 0.55, the initial starting angle of your trunk would be smaller (more inclined) and will therefore position you in a biomechanically inefficient position. With your trunk more inclined, the activity of your trunk and hip extension muscles will have to follow a different, inefficient pattern. This will basically result in increased activity from your hamstrings and glutes and decreased activity from the quads. This will also increase stress on your erectors and particularly the lower back and could cause rounding of your upper back. The solution would be the sumo style deadlift.

Your Turn

You should view these recommendations as a critical first step in your decision as to what deadlift style to choose. These recommendations assume that lifting the most weight possible in the deadlift is your goal, but that may not necessarily be your primary concern. As an example, if you want to develop the strongest back possible because you’re a wrestler or strongman competitor, the conventional style should probably be your choice regardless of your body type. On the other hand, if you’re a competitive powerlifters, sumo should be the choice if your measurements indicate that.

And then there’s the matter of personal preference. I can’t tell you that you should stick to a particular style regardless of how it feels to you. If you absolutely hate the sumo style, if you don’t feel that you can develop the requisite quad and hip strength for it, and if deadlift day turns into a serious chore for you and takes away from the fun of your training, then maybe you should go conventional. But you need to use your head and go by the numbers first. Then give it a good ride for several months until you make a final decision.