Dissecting The Deadlift
10 Variations of The Best Bodybuilding Exercise
by Christian Thibaudeau


I've always preferred to read books written by (or about)
strongmen and weightlifters from the early 1900s to the '60s. Back
then, they didn't have the Internet or any pre-formed lifting
dogma; everybody who trained with weights was basically left to
themselves.
They found out what worked and what didn't through
experimentation. They weren't inhibited by any pre-conception or
fear of going against the grain. They tried everything. If
it worked, they kept it. If it didn't work, they dropped
it.


There's a reason this isn't the most popular exercise in your
gym.
A lot of times, people today are afraid of trying something
different, because they're afraid of looking foolish in the eyes of
others, or because they have pre-conceived notions that prevent
experimentation and learning. This article will deal with something
you might have been considering for a while, but always refrained
from experimenting with... the deadlift and its
variations!
Why isn't it more often used in gyms? Well, if it's even
"allowed" at your gym, most guys don't include it because if they
even bother to train their lower body at all, they stick with a few
sets of leg extensions (after a 20-set biceps workout). Also,
deadlifts are hard work.
And that's a sad thing, because a training program based around
deadlifting is the best way to completely transform your physique
in record time.
Another perceived weak point to the deadlift is that, while it's
a very good overall mass builder, it's kinda hard to
efficiently target certain problem areas. When you're lifting a
weight, your body doesn't know that you are trying to build a
specific muscle group; it only knows that it's fighting a heavy-ass
weight (which could very well be a live opponent) and if you don't
win, you might die on the field of battle!


Are there weight plates on the ends of the bar, or angry midgets
with knives? Your body doesn't know and doesn't
care.
So in the interest of survival, your body makes use of the
muscles best suited to do the job. These muscles (the stronger
ones) will receive the most stimulation and thus grow the most. For
that reason, deadlifts are often seen as a good overall size and
strength builder, but not a good movement to build an aesthetic
physique.
But nothing could be further from the truth!
With slight adjustments in pulling style, grip width, foot
placement, and range of motion, you can modify the muscle emphasis
of the deadlift. Here are some variations, and the muscles they
emphasize.

The Basic Deadlifts

1) Romanian Deadlift
This exercise is designed to focus on the hamstrings, glutes,
and lower back — the whole posterior chain. Contrary to most
other deadlifts, you don't start with the bar on the ground,
but from what could be considered the "finish" position, standing
upright with the bar in your hands.
From that position, lower the bar to below the knees, while
keeping the knees slightly bent at the same angle as in the
starting position. You do so by bending forward at the hips, and
most importantly, by bringing your hips back as far as possible.
Imagine trying to touch a wall that is a few feet behind
you.

From the lower position, lift the bar back up by bringing the
hips forward while squeezing the glutes. To maximize hamstrings
recruitment, make sure to really bring those hips back. Remember
that the more a muscle is being stretched prior to being
contracted, the more it's recruited.
To further increase hamstrings activation, you can perform the
exercise with the front of your feet elevated, with the toes on a
five or ten-pound plate.

2) Conventional Powerlifting Deadlift
In this variation, the best known of all, everything is designed
technique-wise to maximize the amount of weight lifted. The hips
start higher than the knees (basically putting the knees at the
same angle as a quarter squat) and the shoulders are slightly
behind the bar in the starting position. This allows you to make
maximum use of the lower back, glutes, and quads.
For example, we're stronger in a quarter squat than a full
squat. Starting the deadlift with the knees in a quarter squat
position right away put the quads in a mechanically-advantageous
position. The quarter squat position also puts more emphasis on the
vastus medialis (the portion of the quadriceps right next to the
kneecap) because this part of the quad is responsible for the last
degrees of extension, as well as knee stabilization.
The lower back is heavily involved because of the flatter torso
angle. The higher the hips are in the starting position, the closer
to parallel (to the ground) the torso will be. This obviously
involves the lower back quite a lot.

Having the shoulders behind the bar facilitates a pulling motion
that shouldn't be straight up, but up and backwards (pulling the
bar towards you and up at the same time). This would involve
the hamstrings or glutes more. But because of the hip position, the
glutes will tend to work harder.
As you can see, there really is no specific emphasis in this
movement. Everything is worked to some extent, and this makes it a
great foundational exercise.

3) Clean-Style Deadlift
This is the type of deadlift used by Olympic lifters to
strengthen their pulling strength while transferring these gains to
the competitive clean and jerk. To the untrained eye, it does
resemble a conventional powerlifting deadlift, however, there are
differences, which do change the muscle emphasis.
The first difference is hip height. The hips are lower in the
Olympic (clean-style) deadlift. This means that the knees are more
bent; closer to a half squat than a quarter squat. The torso is
also more upright. Finally, the shoulders are either above the bar
or slightly in front of it.

These differences decrease the load on the lower back slightly,
but it also strengthens the obliques and transverse abdominus more
than a powerlifting deadlift, because of the core strength needed
to maintain an upright position during the first phase of the pull.
During that first phase of the pull (taking the bar from the floor
to above knees), it's crucial to maintain the same trunk
angle.
This type of pulling naturally puts more emphasis on the quads
and glutes, and less on the hamstrings and lower back. These
muscles still get some work, but not as much as during a
powerlifting deadlift. Also, since the quadriceps participate to a
greater portion of the range of motion, it is a better overall
builder of the quads than the powerlifting deadlift.

4) Snatch-Grip Deadlift
This is another movement used by Olympic lifters. The main
difference between the clean-grip deadlift and the snatch-grip
deadlift is... surprise, surprise... the grip width. The
snatch-grip is noticeably wider. The width of the grip should be
from the tip of the fingers of your extended arm to the tip of the
opposite shoulder.
The extreme grip forces you to squat down even lower than in a
clean-grip deadlift, almost into a full squat position. This
obviously means an even steeper torso angle. Remember that the
torso angle should not change during the first pull! Imagine
pushing yourself into the ground, instead of lifting the
bar.
As we saw earlier, the lower the hips are, and the more upright
the torso is, the more the quads and glutes will do the work and
the less the lower back will be involved. In that sense, the
snatch-grip deadlift is just as effective as a squat for building
the quads and glutes.