Training Tip of the Week

I didn't read the long article yet but I have found bent-over rows have helped keep my back flat when deadlifting, just keep your back flat when rowing and don't let the bar go below your kneecaps. Also pull the bar into your low ab region not high or to the chest as this will greatly reduce the weight and effectiveness of the rows. J Hack. ULTIMATE SIZE, STRENGTH, AND STAMINA www.fitstep.com www.extremeselfprotection.com

The notion that you can have the bar in the deadlift move in a straight line, and that you can best do so via setting up the barbell over the bridge of your foot, is false. The barbell movement will be curved as you execute the lift, regardless. It will not necessarily be more curved if you start the pull with the barbell farther away from you, but you would be increasing the moment arm of the lift, thereby decreasing the amount of weight you can lift and necessitating your body to go through greater corrective action in trying to execute the lift. The reason the barbell will show a curved pattern of movement, which, by the way, cannot be seen with the naked eye but has been found via biomechanical analysis, is that during the execution of the lift different muscle groups are involved at different levels throughout the range of motion. With the above in mind, if you were to try to force your body to move the barbell in a straight line during the execution of this lift, you'd be compromising how much strength you can demonstrate in this lift. Dan Wagman, Ph.D., C.S.C.S. Publisher/Editor in Chief Journal of Pure Power "Where Science = Peak Performance" Consultant Body Intellect Sports Performance Enhancement Consortium "Propel Yourself Into Excellence"

Hi Dan! Not trying to speak for Myles, but I have worked with him a fair bit. I understand what you're saying and don't disagree with you. But you and Myles seem to be approaching the problem from two fundamentally different perspectives. If you look at Gillingham's pull, Bolton's pull and so on, there is no visible horizontal movement of the bar when viewed from the side. Myles is taking the perspective of practical application, giving advice that is readily coachable. While it may be true that there is minute horizontal movement that can be measured, both measuring and coaching based on this is not practical for a common powerlifter. "Hook," as Myles calls it, can be readily seen from side video and it is the elimination of this that has produced notable increases in the pulls for some that Myles has worked with. At risk of sounding like a new-age-hippie type, I don't think either of you are wrong in this case -- simply approaching the problem from different perspectives. Have a good one! Mike Tuchscherer Reactive Training Systems

I see what you're saying, Dan. We're fundamentally in agreement. There is one reality and the more realistic you look at things, the better off you'll be in the long run. I'm not suggesting self-delusion for anybody. However, there are times when over-stating something or phrasing something in an unrealistic manner can be helpful to the athlete. For example, I was having trouble keeping my knees out in the bottom of my squat. When I started using the cue "point" my knees out, it immediately improved. Based on your 3rd paragraph, you might ask how I know that it was the cue that helped. "Ways of knowing" can actually be a big topic, I'm sure you already are aware, but in this case it was pretty obvious. But before I digress too much, the main point is that there is little to no functional difference in what I'm doing, but the mental cue is one that, while it is technically less accurate, produces a more mechanically sound positioning for me. The truth is with science or not, we'll never know many things with 100% certainty. Now, that's certainly not a good reason to stop pursuing science. I'm just saying that just because it doesn't come from a science background doesn't mean it won't work. That much I'm sure we can agree on. If Eric wants to chime in here about how the bar path changes have helped him, he can do so. But I'll give you an example from my training. Consider the following video (starts around 1:23). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRou0WJvaMM To just watch with the naked eye, the bar path looks nearly vertical except at the very top when my hips come through and push the bar out. This is what Myles was talking about. The mental cues I'm using have nothing to do with "pulling vertical" and I don't think that would be recommended either. It's just a video critique method. If I had watched my video and noticed that there was, say, a visible "hook" when the bar broke off the floor, that would tell me my positioning needs to change so my natural pull had less horizontal movement. I agree with you that if someone were to get caught up in thinking "pull it straight up" then they could develop inefficiencies. But it's more a method of examining bar path from a coach's perspective. As far as my "ways of knowing" for how this is efficient... reps that move straight up and down are easier and faster than reps that have a lateral component. Can I say it with 100% certainty? No, but I am sure enough about it to stake my potential for gains on it. Mike Tuchscherer Reactive Training Systems

I video tape almost all my deadlift workouts from two angles. The weight consistently moves much faster if I start with my arms closer to vertical in the sagittal plane (side view) versus having my shoulders more in front of bar and the arms angled back. In the latter case, the bar swings forward a bit and I have to try to bring it back to finish the lift. If I miss a heavy attempt, video review typically shows that my arms were angled back too much at the start and the bar swung forward during the pull and "hung" in front. I used to focus on getting my hips as close as I could to the bar (which resulted in shoulders in front of bar) and could only pull about 625 raw at 195. Now I don't worry so much if my hips are more behind the bar but focus on my shoulders being over the bar at the start and then pulling my shoulders behind the bar during the pull. I have since done 670 raw at 198. Am I stronger now? Maybe a little, but I think a lot of it is technique. I am by no means an elite lifter, but I think there are "cues" that are helpful even if they are not 100% consistent with what happens during the lift. For example, I find it helpful to focus on flexing into the ground so that I am pushing the platform down and rather than lifting the bar. Of course, this is not what actually occurs but I find it to be a helpful cue with heavy weights. Same thing with the staight line pull. Maybe there is still some horizontal movement of the bar, but for some lifters they may find they lift more if they think of this cue. If you set a PR the first time you really apply this cue, it is probably more efficient for you (i.e., such an occurence is not confounded by getting stronger over time because it made an immediate difference).

I love the idea of these training tips but man do they got to be so friggin complicated. Just a simple explanation would do, I mean how hard can it be, touch your shins to the bar, turn your toes out a bit, grab the bar lean back until you feel your toes come up slightly, take the biggest breath possible and allow your spine to come to the neutral position and when you can't take in any more air, pull. Now if you can't keep your back flat find exercises that will help like; rows, rack deadlifts , partial squats, power cleans, etc. I know this article is about pulling in a strait line, so if you lean back a bit before you pull it will come up strait. Having the head and shoulders to far forward allows the bar to travel out and away from the body causing guys to readjust midstream or miss the lift altogether. I see this happen a lot when guys get so amped up before their pull that they forget proper form. I think consistent practice with heavy singles will allow the lifter to pull properly with all out agression against the bar. But once bar path is cleaned up I think keeping the back flat is most important for performance and injury prevention. It doesn't matter where the hips start as this differs with leg and body length just as long as the back stays flat. Jeff Hackett. ULTIMATE SIZE, STRENGTH, AND STAMINA www.fitstep.com www.extremeselfprotection.com

Thanks to all for your interest in this subject. Along the lines of my recommendation, in his deadlift video Ed Coan talks about setting up close to the bar so as to keep the weight in line with one's center of gravity. If a person starts with the bar three inches from his shins when standing straight, at PR weights that becomes an enormous and hazardous inefficiency. Simply giving more focus to foot position in relation to the bar can yield a fast carryover. We want to the deadlift to go up, not sideways. Myles

Dan, There is so much wrong with what you stated here that I don’t know where to start… - Discerning training gains from advice is no different than discerning training gains from “science”. How can you know how much was due to the advice given based on observation as opposed to the advice you give based on science. - “at the end of the day…” doing something that makes sense isn’t conjecture and guesswork, it’s common sense. Doing something that feels intuitively right and makes logical sense isn’t insignificant, it’s smart training. - “in research there’s only a 5% chance” Where are you getting this 5% from? 95% chance of success if you use science? Seriously? I have never, in all my years of research in biomechanics, come across this 5% chance. You’re oversimplifying something that can’t even be quantified. First off, there are too many factors in any form of research, let alone biomechanics, to ever be able to pinpoint your level of uncertainty, and further, it will vary GREATLY from experiment to experiment, and even from result to result. There’s a 97.283% chance that you just made this 5% number up. - You talk about how a curve has to exist that can only be seen upon analysis. I don’t disagree here, but you’re talking about minutia details that won’t affect lifting, and further, are out of our control If you extrapolate an analysis enough, even pressing in a smith machine elicits a curved bar path, nothing is ever perfectly straight, there are only levels of straightness. Going from a visible curve, to a minimal curve, can make a big difference in terms of leverage. However, you talk about how a curve in bar path exists as though it’s existence justifies it’s presence. Just because something exists doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try to minimize it. My point here is that science is no better than qualified advice in this sport. There is research out there that shows that 3 sets of 10 reps is optimal for strength and hypertrophy, and science that says that the conjugate method shouldn’t work. Science is every bit as fallible as human reasoning, because in the end, science relies on human reasoning and application. You act like you can measure this sport like total training load is quantifiable, like you can apply some study or biomechanical analysis to something and get a 37.65% improvement. The only time I see numbers like this in the iron game is when someone is trying to sell something (ie “This supplement will increase your bench 45% and jack your GH levels by 3005X!”).

[quote]...rub two sticks together...[/quote] Great tip! Something I haven't tried yet. I'll let you know if it works ;)