Muscle Evolution Muscle_Evolution_-_December_2014 | Page 54

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FEATURE
“ I normally do deadlifts when I do my legs and then on back day I do the back entirely separately with other exercises. When I do legs, I normally start on the quads and then move to hamstrings which may include training with deadlifts,” explains Goliya.
“ It depends on every individual, but talking about me personally, I think when you do your back, do your back how you see fit, when you do your legs, do your legs in a way that works for you. For me, I put the deadlift with my legs day because I get very good results that way.
“ The form also plays a part, it depends how you do the move. When you are doing the moves properly, this also means you can do different variations of the exercise. Do you bend your knees or do you keep them stiff in order to really target the hamstrings and glutes? What do you want to work on? The deadlift works the whole posterior chain.”
Norman Sithole agrees that the deadlift is a very versatile exercise, but his first answer is“ back”.
“ A deadlift is for the back, including lower back and latissimus dorsi, but in fairness really, it works two ways. You can
do deadlifts for your hamstrings as well but it all depends on which variation of the deadlift you are doing,” he says.
“ For instance, if you are doing back, you can do traditional deadlifts with your knees bent and really feel it all through your back, but if you are doing a stiff-legged deadlift you can really pull from your hamstrings and your glutes. So basically, for me a deadlift is there for different purposes. The way I use deadlifts, and change which version I do, is for my needs. If I want to do stiff-legged deadlifts, it is for hamstrings and glutes, and when I bend my knees I am trying to hit my lower back and latissimus dorsi.”
He also sees more value in the deadlift than mere targeting of muscles for size.“ Look, the deadlift also plays another role: it is very good to build up that strength around your lower back which supports you when you are doing squats. Many people lean forward a bit with squats, and so a stronger lower back will help to keep you upright while squatting. According to me, this is one of the main benefits of doing deadlifts, as well as really building up good overall strength.”
MAVERICK PUBLISHING CORPORATION MEMBERS, WHEN DO YOU PERFORM THE DEADLIFT?
ANDREW CARRUTHERS: Back
DEVLIN BROWN: Back and power – traditional deadlift; Glutes and hamstrings – Romanian deadlift
VINESH NAIR: Back – traditional deadlift Legs – stiff-legged deadlift with dumbbells
PEDRO VAN GAALEN: Power day. Compound power movements( functional sports training)
CORY SCHMITZ: Lower body compound that forms part of full-body hypertrophy and strength training
TANJA SCHMITZ: Lower body, hipdominant movement

SO, IS THE DEADLIFT FOR LEGS OR BACK, OR BOTH?

As you can see, there is no simple answer to this question because of the very nature of the move. It is the biggest compound movement you can perform, and the furthest thing from a bodypartspecific isolation movement. However, when one looks at the sheer number of muscle fibres targeted in the back it is clear why so many, if not most, bodybuilders use the traditional version on back day and a stiff-legged version on leg day.
In fact, for this article, most people we haven ' t quoted answered like this:“ Back. But if you do Romanian deadlifts or other stiff-legged variations your hammies and glutes get a good workout.” However, even with a hanging, or stiff-legged deadlift, the erector spinae and other back muscles get a very good workout as they work to keep your spine neutral under load. And this brings up the very important point of being aware of just how much the deadlift actually works. When you are doing back the day after a massive hamstrings and glutes workout where you hammered the Romanian deadlifts, just keep in mind that your back has already had a good go the day before. Then, when talking to more functional trainers and people who lift for sport or strength, the deadlift is seen as either a hipdominant movement for hip extension power, or as one of the three powerlifting moves that builds huge power and strength.
Looking at the deadlift, let’ s have a look at what Phil Heath had to say to Shawn Perine, a senior writer for Weider Publications in 2012 before he added three more Olympia titles:
“ One such area that I knew I had to bring up was my back. I had been hammering on it since I first started training seriously, but for me, my back just took a while to grow. I always felt I could have one of the best backs in bodybuilding, but unlike my arms, which responded even with minimal training, my back took work and patience... Right now, we’ re looking at adding middle back thickness. We want to see more detail in the spinal erector area and see the lower lats filled out a little more...
“ We’ re talking about adding partial deadlifts to my back routine, which is something Jay does. The reason we’ re going to do partials rather than full deadlifts from the floor is that I don’ t want to add mass around my hips and glutes.”
That’ s what the best bodybuilder in the world has said about deadlifts – how good they are for his back, but how he is also very aware of what it does around the hips and glutes.
In order to finish off this article in the best way to show the diversity of the deadlift, we went around the office and asked the different people working here when they perform deadlifts. Now, keep in mind that the office is made up of staff from both the bodybuilding and fitness magazines, and some people train for aesthetics and / or size and others for sport or general fitness. You will notice the difference in how they approach the deadlift. M. E
ANDREW HUDSON
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Muscle Evolution