What exactly do deadlifts do?

[ultrafastboy]

I did them very briefly when I was starting out in the gym a few years ago. Gave up quite quickly as didn't enjoy them. Think my form was a bit off.

However, assuming i did them in good form, where are the main gains seen? Is it purely hamstrings? I've heard conflicting answers to this from friends.

[okgo]

Its probably the best overall lift there is.

What it will give big gains to..

Forearms
Grip
Traps (this is a big one)
General back muscles


I am sure it does work the legs, but the biggest work IMO is the traps, great excersise, do it heavy and eat the food you will see traps come out of nowhere..

[ultrafastboy]

Interesting. I have big traps actually from shrugs. They seemed one of the easiest muscle groups to gain (at least for me)

[Mr_Good]

Deadlifts are a good general exercise, the are primarily for strengthening the Erector Spinae (the lower back to most people.) I suggest doing them as it hits multiple muscle groups, the only part to be wary of is correct technique as injuries are quiet common.

[okgo]

ultrafastboy said:

Interesting. I have big traps actually from shrugs. They seemed one of the easiest muscle groups to gain (at least for me)

Deadlift works THE most muscles at any one time out of any excersise.. So its worth doing

[Digger]

If you have a slightly weak lower back and slightly 'weak' knees should deadlifts be avoided until these joints 'feel' stronger again?

I am guessing that the answer for me will be No, dont do them, but was just wondering if I start very light and with correct technique that the inherent weaknesses may be negated by being strengthened by doing the desdlifts?

As an example i have to be wary of my knees when doing lunges with light weights and also eg when rowing i need to be thoroughly warmed up and have perfect technique to avoid straining my lower back any further.

[Animal]

okgo said:

ultrafastboy said:

Interesting. I have big traps actually from shrugs. They seemed one of the easiest muscle groups to gain (at least for me)

Deadlift works THE most muscles at any one time out of any excersise.. So its worth doing

Except maybe squats?

As Jon Pall Sigmarsson once said "What is the point of being alive if you cnnot deadlift?!"

[okgo]

Animal said:

okgo said:

ultrafastboy said:

Interesting. I have big traps actually from shrugs. They seemed one of the easiest muscle groups to gain (at least for me)

Deadlift works THE most muscles at any one time out of any excersise.. So its worth doing

Except maybe squats?

As Jon Pall Sigmarsson once said "What is the point of being alive if you cnnot deadlift?!"

Nah, apparently they do even more than sqauts.

Strong quote there

[raebomb]

Deadlifts are probably my favourite lift i do at the gym, works so many muscle groups, back, legs, arms. If you don't do them i suggest you do. Invest in a set of wraps and bang the weight on. Best compound movement you can do, I'd say squats come second.

As mentioned above, use good form, back straight, a**e sticking out, head up, to avoid injury.

[Hammerwerfer]

For a bit of variety work in some cleans, clean pulls and hang cleans. Same muscle groups but more coordination required. Great builder of explosive strenght.

Johnathan Edwards is a great believer in the clean.

[Animal]

Hammerwerfer said:

Johnathan Edwards is a great believer in the clean.

His 1rm was something like 140kg-plus!

[okgo]

Animal said:

Hammerwerfer said:

Johnathan Edwards is a great believer in the clean.

His 1rm was something like 140kg-plus!

Is that impressive? Doesn't sound heavy..

Edit just realised you meant clean, not dead

Edited by okgo on Wednesday 7th October 16:09

[M400 NBL]

I've just started doing them myself since my new training partner (for around 4 months) doesn't avoid difficult exercises like I used to. The bugger keeps chaning the program just as i'm starting to enjoy an exercise

You'll never lift more weight than when you are deadlifting, which can only help when handling much smaller weights for all other exercises.

I actually look forward to them now. Of the dozens of muscle bound Polish chaps that train at my gym, not many train legs at anywhere near the intensity of every other body part. Hardly any do deadlifts.

[triggersbroom]

ultrafastboy said:

Interesting. I have big traps actually from shrugs. They seemed one of the easiest muscle groups to gain (at least for me)

Do you naturally have a sort of hanging shoulder look? I do, and as a result it doesn't take much for my traps to come out either.

[okgo]

triggersbroom said:

ultrafastboy said:

Interesting. I have big traps actually from shrugs. They seemed one of the easiest muscle groups to gain (at least for me)

Do you naturally have a sort of hanging shoulder look? I do, and as a result it doesn't take much for my traps to come out either.

The 'ape' look?

[triggersbroom]

okgo said:

triggersbroom said:

ultrafastboy said:

Interesting. I have big traps actually from shrugs. They seemed one of the easiest muscle groups to gain (at least for me)

Do you naturally have a sort of hanging shoulder look? I do, and as a result it doesn't take much for my traps to come out either.

The 'ape' look?

Not quite!

Some call them droopy shoulders - they are not naturally square. Arnold Schwarzenegger had the same issue.

[Animal]

okgo said:

Animal said:

Hammerwerfer said:

Johnathan Edwards is a great believer in the clean.

His 1rm was something like 140kg-plus!

Is that impressive? Doesn't sound heavy..

Edit just realised you meant clean, not dead

Edited by okgo on Wednesday 7th October 16:09

At a bodyweight of c.70kg...

[ApexJimi]

Well, I've just quit my local gym because the wazzoks are refusing to get in a deadlift bar

No other decent gyms locally, so I've found a barn owned by a local farmer, which is full of weights and machines - absolutely everything I could want. £1 per session (no limits on time)

It's a bit hardcore tho, Rocky style

Edited by ApexJimi on Thursday 8th October 10:13

[markh1]

ApexJimi said:

Well, I've just quit my local gym because the wazzoks are refusing to get in a deadlift bar

No other decent gyms locally, so I've found a barn owned by a local farmer, which is full of weights and machines - absolutely everything I could want. £1 per session (no limits on time)

It's a bit hardcore tho, Rocky style

Edited by ApexJimi on Thursday 8th October 10:13

Sounds perfect! All you need for a strength/size routine is a squat rack, bench, olympic bar and some plates.

I wrote quite a lot in the thread linked below. On the 3rd page of the thread I describe how to deadlift and link a video on it.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[ultrafastboy]

triggersbroom said:

ultrafastboy said:

Interesting. I have big traps actually from shrugs. They seemed one of the easiest muscle groups to gain (at least for me)

Do you naturally have a sort of hanging shoulder look? I do, and as a result it doesn't take much for my traps to come out either.

Not particularly, they are not highly square or highly sloped, somewhere in between. I think it's just an area that's responded well to workouts, or maybe I have just performed the exercise well.

Funny you mention the subject of natural differences in shoulder shape though. It's something that seems to vary a lot and gets overlooked. I noticed recently that the shoulders of a friend of mine who is the same height as me (but has a smaller head and shorter neck and his shoulders are more straight-across), seem to be about 3 or 4 inches higher up than my shoulders. It might be partly that his shoulders are narrower so any downward slope has less space to provide vertical drop (to use a skiing term)