Whoa…
That’s blasphemy bro… 😧
Here’s the deal… traditional deadlifts are damn near impossible for most dudes. It’s an incredibly complex and difficult movement that more often than not — leads to an injury.
Be honest, how many times have you tweaked your back or hurt yourself deadlifting?
How many of you feel 110% confident and strong about your deadlift form? I said be honest…
That’s what I thought, but don’t worry because it’s not your fault.
Here’s the problem…
I’ve spent over 10,000 hours working out and over 5,000 hours doing hands-on coaching with men. Not to mention the countless hours I’ve spent reading books, taking certification classes, and watching videos on exercise form…
And guess what?
Traditional Deadlifts off the floor are still really fucking hard even for me. Like I said, it’s an incredibly complex and difficult movement that takes years to master. And it’s always a work in progress.
So instead of letting your ego get the best of you or feeling like you have to follow traditional training dogma…
Try this: Limited Range Deadlifts.
What the hell are Limited Range Deadlifts?
All it means is that instead of exclusively deadlifting off the floor you’ll vary your pull point. You can go anywhere from below the knees (Rack Pull) to just off the floor (Elevated Deadlift).
And occasionally you can even pull from the floor (Traditional Deadlift). By changing your pull point you’ll be able to accomplish a few things:
1. Perfect Your Form
The deadlift is series of several basic movements involving your entire body. Putting them together is like a well orchestrated symphony. It may look simple when done well, but there is a LOT going on.
By limiting the range of motion you can break the deadlift movement down into it’s various components…
Now, you can focus on different ranges of motion and and practice/perfect the just that movement. Then, once you master each range — put it together like a well orchestrated symphony.
For example, when I played college baseball… we were constantly breaking down our swings into the various basic components.
Then, we would use a tea to practice and perfect each basic movement. Eventually, we’d put the whole thing together into a single masterpiece of practiced skill and athleticism.
If you’re a beginner or you suck at deadlifts… start with Rack Pulls or Deadlifts with the bar starting just below the knee. Even if you’re advanced, practicing the fundamentals is important.
Plus, it has all these other benefits…
2. Progressive Overload
Progressive overload is the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise. By changing up your deadlift range of motion… you can use more weight or perform more reps when using a shorter range of motion.
For example, a pull from just below the knees is easier than off the floor due to the shorter range of motion. As a result you’ll be able to pull a hell of a lot more weight.
Use this to your advantage to increase weight and/or reps. You’ll be able to apply the concept of progressive overload every training session. And you’ll blast past plateaus, increase strength, and add on a lot more muscle mass as a result. 💪
Pretty cool, right?
3. Emphasize Different Body Parts
Hitting the entire posterior chain is nice once in awhile, but sometimes your hamstrings are exhausted from a heavy leg workout… or your lower back is bit fatigued from too many Kettlebell Swings.
Do you slack off on these days? What if you still want to pick up heavy ass weights?
That’s when Deadlifting out of the rack just below the knees will come in handy…
For example, my lower body was completely wasted from a marathon leg workout 48-hours ago…
So instead of just doing row and chin-ups I started off with some heavy Rack Pulls (deadlift below knees). These emphasize the upper body a lot more and don’t take nearly as much hamstring strength as a full deadlift.
This will allow you to consistently do a lot of heavy pulling without overtraining or injuring yourself. You can do Traditional Deadlifts on lower body days and Rack Pulls on upper body days.
4. Reduce Injury Risk
Want to know the quickest way to get injured?
Do the exact same movement over and over again without any changes. This will often lead to an overuse injury. If not, there are a few other equally shitty outcomes including compensation patterns and muscular imbalances.
Looking back, I’ve had the most problems with my body when I got stuck in certain movement patterns…
For example, I went a solid 12-months exclusively doing Barbell Back Squats. My lower back began to ache, I got a bad case of sciatica, and my knees suffered.
Once I started including Bulgarian Split Squats, Front Squats, Goblet Squats, Lateral Lunges, and Curtsy Lunges… all my problems vanished.
Hmmm… coincidence? I think not.
I’ve found the same true of my longest tenured clients.
If you want to avoid overuse injuries, compensation patterns, and muscular imbalances… change up your movements often. Even a simple change in range of motion can do the trick.
5. Have Some Fun
As humans, we are habit machines and often default to doing the same thing…
But let’s be honest, doing the same shit over and over again is BORING… 😴
It’s why married couples never have sex after a few years and why most people hate their jobs. They’re bored senseless.
Modifying your workout routine, even changing up the range of motion, keeps things interesting. It will add some variety or a little spice to your workouts. This will keep you engaged and interested.
Also, there is something fantastically satisfying and fun about pulling a metric shit-ton of weight off the rack. If you’ve never done it, do some heavy Rack Pulls this weekend.
You’ll feel like a Greek god, Superhero, and fierce lion all in one. It’s a truly awesome experience. You’ll feel powerful, strong, confident, and extremely masculine. The epitome of an alpha male like a Captain America himself.
It’s better than sex, right Arnold? 😉
