Strong off the Floor: Push the Floor Away Cue for a Stronger Deadlift

[@BarbellLogic]

SMASH THAT LIKE BUTTON AND SUBSCRIBE! Then, ask us your questions below or share your thoughts.

[@JonathanVieker]

Feeling like I’m going “around the knees” is definitely something I struggle with on the deadlift. Will be training the deadlift in a few minutes, and I’m going to focus on leg pressing the floor away. Thanks for the cue!

[@BarbellLogic]

Heck yeah...crush it!

[@williamdennis1256]

It seems clear to me- now, that after setting up, my own pulls start with my back rather than my legs. It also seems clear- now, this is a plausible explanation for my frequently achy back following many DL sessions. And lastly, it further seems clear to me, that undue forces on the back should be greatly attenuated by breaking the bar off the ground with the legs first, and then enlisting the hips and back to correctly complete the lift. Ok, sounds good, I’m in, I’ll give it a go, and maybe I can lose the dread that something more than an achy back is going to eventually happen with that lift.

[@BarbellLogic]

Heck yeah

[@SLouiss]

Any thoughts on why someone’s squat is less than deadlift? I have beefy quads and shrimpy hamstrings, but my squat is pretty consistently 100lbs behind my deadlift. My femurs are a little long, but not to the extent that I move drastically differently than others.

[@ChristianMendieta]

If you train both a squat is almost always lower than a deadlift

[@BarbellLogic]

Assuming they're trained about the same and there isn't some gross form error, it's about antropometry. Look at Kirk Karwoski, possibly the greatest squatter of all time. He squatted 1000x2 (kzbin.info/www/bejne/haCUpYhnjtaDppI) whereas his deadlift was less. He had a long torso, relatively short femurs, and tiny hands. Whereas Ed Coan, possibly the greatest powerlifter of all time, had huge feet and hands but had a stronger deadlift than squat. While typically the deadlift is stronger than the squat, anthropometry can make it so that squat is stronger.

[@SLouiss]

@@BarbellLogic thanks for the detailed answer.

[@BarbellLogic]

@@SLouiss Thanks for the kind comment and the question!

[@Lotus-cu6hp]

what happened to the audio???

[@BarbellLogic]

When?

[@Redexn]

No disrespect intended but the music is way too loud and 99% of the audio goes into my left headphone.

[@DennisNowland]

I'm nearly 70 now, but when I was a schoolboy, I was a county champion. I know that this is not politically correct, but I remember the blokes telling me that when I was doing a clean off the floor to imagine that you were pulling a black man off the Mrs.

[@francismartino6890]

No that is not politically correct

[@Myrmecia]

Why not switch to a trap bar? Same weight, but you exercise more muscles. The knees and shins are not an issue and you can lift focussing more easily on the shifting the weight without the distractions of form.

[@BarbellLogic]

How do you exercise more muscles with a trap bar deadlift? We're not anti-trap bar (it's fine, do a trap bar deadlift if you want).

[@Myrmecia]

@@BarbellLogic Grip, shoulders, traps and upper back.

[@BarbellLogic]

@@Myrmecia None of those things are worked in the conventional barbell deadlift?

[@Myrmecia]

@@BarbellLogic You are dead right. Apologies. My comment was unjustified, and made in error.

[@BarbellLogic]

@@Myrmecia Tons of respect for this last comment. Not a problem at all. May you have many PRs!

[@chrisgaringer1837]

Would be more helpful if you did it from the ground and not on the rack. Just sayin.

[@dodgehurley785]

The bar is sitting over the rack but the bar is at least a couple inches above the rack as you can see at 1:40

[@BarbellLogic]

The plates are touching the ground. On a good powerlifting rack, you can lift in the rack and have standard plates (45lb +) touch the ground.