We Both have Choices

5 New Movements to get Your Back out of Neutral

5 NEW MOVEMENTS TO GET YOUR BACK OUT OF NEUTRAL

Are you doing endless cable rows, lat pull-downs and dumbbell rows with little to show for it? There’s a reason for that.

Look around any commercial gym any you’ll see cable row stations, lat pull-down stations and dumbbells. Maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll find a T-Bar Row station. No wonder your back is stuck in neutral!

Don’t misunderstand. All of the above are good exercises. But if that’s all you ever do you’re going to hit a plateau. And, unless you provide your back with movements it hasn’t already adapted to, you’re going to be stuck there for a long, long time.

Here are a few movements you’ve probably never tried. And they’ll add much needed new stimulus to your lagging back.

Inverted Row

Simple but effective

Even the smallest gym usually has a Smith Machine or a power rack of some sort.

·        Using an empty bar, place it at about waist height on the Smith Machine or power rack pins or safety bar.

·        With your heels on the floor, hang underneath the bar by both hands at arm’s length. This is your starting position.

·        Use a medium to wide width grip to keep your biceps from taking over

·        Pull yourself up until your chest touches the bar by contracting your shoulder blades.

·        Hold for a 3 count at the top

·        Lower yourself slowly to full extension and repeat

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

You can also use the ring attachments on a TRX apparatus if your gym has one.

T-Bar Row with Landmine

If your gym doesn’t have a T-Bar station the landmine is an easy solution.

If you’ve never used a landmine, here’s what they look like…

If your gym doesn’t have a landmine, not a problem! Simply put one end of a long bar in any corner. (Put a towel over the end so you don’t scratch any walls). You can also place the bar in the rear corner of a power rack if it’s bolted to the floor.

·        Load one end of the bar with the appropriate weight

·        Using the close grip cable handle, place the handle under the bar inside the plates

·        Lift as you would on any ordinary T-Bar Row straddling the bar.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

     One Arm Barbell Row

·        Use a landmine (or the alternative set up described above)

·        Load the bar with the appropriate weight. I suggest using 25 pound plates to get a longer range of motion

·        Stand beside the bar and grasp with one hand behind the plates and facing the plates

·        Row with a motion similar to a dumbbell row. Don’t twist your body. Contract the shoulder blades and bring your elbow straight up.

·        If your grip becomes the limiting factor in your lift use lifting straps

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Meadows Row

The set up is exactly the same as the One Arm Barbell row described above except that you are going to grasp the end of the bar (outside the plates) and set up with your body perpendicular to the bar.

·        Keep the working shoulder slightly higher than the other shoulder

·        Don’t twist you body to gain leverage-Contract the shoulder blades and bring the elbow straight up.

·        Use lifting straps if your grip becomes the limiting factor

·        Use 25 pound plates for a longer range of motion

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Dumbbell Pullover

The Dumbbell pullover was originally heralded as a way to expand the rib cage and give you a bigger chest. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work unless you’re in your early teens and your body is still forming.

But it is a good compound exercise for shoulders, triceps, chest and lats. It seems to have fallen out of favor. I seldom see anyone doing them anymore.

You’ll notice I said dumbbell pullovers-not barbell pullovers. I feel barbell pullovers put too much stress on the shoulder because of the hand position when using a straight barbell. Using an EZ bar is better than a straight bar but still harder on the shoulder than a dumbbell.

I also don’t like the pullover machines I’ve used. I’ve used several different brands and designs and they all appear to place too much stress on the neck and cervical vertebrae.

So I’m only going to recommend the dumbbell cross bench pullover.

·        Place a dumbbell on the floor standing on end

·        Lie across a bench with your head and neck hanging off one side and your feet flat on the floor on the opposite side of the bench

·        Don’t leave any part of your head or neck resting on the bench. As you pull the weight over you’ll naturally push down on the bench with your head or neck putting too much pressure on your cervical spine.

·        Reach over your head and grasp the end of the dumbbell with both hands interlacing your fingers.

·        Concentrating on using your lats, pull the dumbbell over your head until your arms are perpendicular to the floor.

·        Keep a slight bend in your elbows

·        Slowly lower the dumbbell back to the floor and repeat

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

As for the old standbys of Lat Pull-downs and Seated Rows, don't throw them out. But use some imagination.

·        Use different grips-close grip, wide grip, medium grip, reverse grip, neutral grip

·        Pull ups and chin ups are great back builders. Use different grips and handles on these too.

·        Do all the old standbys unilaterally (with one hand at a time)

Do you have suggestions for other exercises or variations? Email me at alphaedgefitness@gmail.com

7 Ways You May be Sabotaging Your Own Workout

7 WAYS YOU MAY BE SABOTAGING YOUR OWN WORKOUT

1.     Not Drinking Enough Water

Being dehydrated by just 3% can reduce your strength by as much as 10%.

If your feel thirsty it’s too late. You’re already dehydrated. Ideally, you should be drinking about 1 oz. of liquid per day for each pound of body weight in hot or dry conditions.

A 10% reduction in strength during your workout makes a huge difference in your progress.

2.     Not Allowing for Enough Recovery

Different muscles require different amounts of recovery time. Some muscles can be worked every day while some muscles require 24 to 48 hours between workouts. Recovery doesn’t mean lying on the sofa eating pizza on your rest days. It means active recovery. Walk, swim, ride a bike or play with the kids.

3.     Not Getting Proper Post Workout Nutrition

Your body needs carbs and protein after your workout to start the recovery and rebuilding process. The so called “metabolic window” where the use of nutrients is optimal is not as short as once believed but if you don’t resupply your body within 4 hours you’re missing a big opportunity.

4.     You’re Not Warming up Properly

We’re not talking about static stretching or spending half an hour in a warm up. We’re talking about a little active stretching and a few minutes of active movement to warm up the muscles and raise your core temperature.

And don’t forget to do a few warm up sets of whatever muscle you’re you’ll be using first. Don’t save all your energy for working sets. It sounds counter intuitive, but you’ll be able to lift more in your working sets if you do a few light warm up sets first.

5.     You’re Not Maximizing Your Gym Time

Stop wasting time. Be as efficient as possible while still getting the necessary rest between sets. For everything except heavy sets on compound movements the period between sets should seldom exceed one minute.

When possible try to superset opposing muscles. (Biceps and triceps, for example) Doing so forces the opposing muscle to relax completely and it will recover faster.

6.     Doing the same routines and Same Exercises

Everything works-until it doesn’t. Simple linear weight progression is not enough. Your body will adapt to the point of actually anticipating linear progression. Depending on the muscle and the exercise, that adaptation can occur in as little as 4 workouts. Change the weight, the tempo, the grip, the exercise order or add drop sets or rest-pause sets.

7.     Not Getting Enough Sleep

You need 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. Simple. Not much else to say.

5 Worst things you can do for Your Biceps

5 WORST THINGS YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR BICEPS

A couple of weeks ago there were a couple of articles on improving your biceps.

Read them here

and 

Here

In those articles we talked about things you should do. But I want to reiterate several things you should not do.

1.     Using momentum

Swinging the weight. This should be obvious. So why do you continue to do it? Stop it!

Put your back against the wall, a 90 degree bench back or any other immovable object. And don’t bend forward at the waist to get the weight started.

2.     Letting the weight Drop on the Eccentric (Negative) Part of the lift

If you simply let gravity do all the work in lowering the bar you are missing more than half of the benefit. Lower the weight slowly with at least a 2 or 3 count.

3.     Leaning Back

Putting you back against a wall but having your feet away from the wall so you can lean back is still cheating. Keep your back and your heels against the wall. Don’t bow your back or lean forward.

4.     Using the Forearm Muscles to Start the Lift

We talked about one way to prevent this by using a seated curl. But you can’t always do seated curls. So here’s another option; Keeping the wrist in line with the forearm, or even better, begin the lift with the wrists bent slightly backwards will allow the bicep to do more of the work in initiating the lift.

5.     Lifting the Elbows and/or shoulders

This one isn’t quite so obvious. Most people are under the impression (or have even been taught) that continuing the weight as far back as possible on a curl increases the tension on the bicep. Just the opposite usually happens. When you lift your elbows or shoulders you take the tension off the bicep and shift it to the deltoids. If you move your elbows forward you make matters even worse. Squeeze the bicep at the top but keep your elbows firmly pinned to your side.

Some Suggestions on the Last Challenge-"Longest 30 Seconds of my Life"

SOME SUGGESTIONS ON THE LAST CHALLENGE-“LONGEST 30 SECONDS OF MY LIFE”

YOU CAN SEE THE CHALLENGE HERE

There is no doubt the challenge will work. It will build strength and stamina and definitely challenge you. But, if you haven’t tried it yet and intend to, I’d make a couple of suggestions to make it even more effective:

1.     I’m a slow-repper. I make every rep slow and controlled both concentric and eccentric. (By the way, so should you). So, it’s not unusual for a set of 10-12 reps to take 30 seconds for me where it might take half that time for the average person. So, for me, the 30 seconds per set for the first week is not as much of a challenge.

  I would suggest you increase the weight by 5% or more. You want to be          forced to use methods to extend the set for the full 30 seconds. (static     holds,  half reps, slow eccentrics, etc)

2.     Use the first set to find the proper weight before starting your working sets. You can probably use the same weight for the entire 4 weeks of the challenge as the increasing time each week will take care of the progression for many of the exercises. However, note that the program works so well that just increasing the time per set each week isn’t enough progression for some exercises. Don’t hesitate to add weight to increase the challenge.

These 2 suggestions apply more to the first 2 weeks (30 second sets in week 1 and 35 second sets in week 2). By the time you get to sets of 40 seconds and 45 seconds you will definitely learn to “get comfortable with being uncomfortable”.

Let me know in comments or email me at alphaedgefitness@gmail.com if you have other suggestions.

How I Feel on Cheat Day

This is how I felt all weekend at the Blueberry Festival in Brooksville with fresh blueberry shortcake on Saturday. Then on to Tarpon Springs which has a fantastic Greek resturant on every corner for Sunday and Monday.

When to bulk and When to Cut

WHEN TO BULK AND WHEN TO CUT

I read an article the other day by Jason Maxwell of JMax Fitness that prompted me to put some serious thought into my own history.

More about Jason’s article later, but first a little history.

A little over 16 years ago I went on a serious bulk. It didn’t take much effort on my part. I was working out six days a week, two hours a day- five days in the weight room and one day of cardio, mostly a boxer’s workout on the heavy bag, jump rope and medicine ball.

I got up my heaviest (and strongest) at about 228-230 pounds. Body fat was in the mid teens. While I was at my strongest it didn’t feel quite right. I felt a little (to use a term by comedian Gabriel Iglesias) “Puffy”.

I think everyone has an ideal weight where they feel their best and strongest. I’m not talking about the ideal weight in the government charts. Those are about as useful as Rosie O’donell’s personal trainer. I’m talking your individual ideal weight. I can’t explain to you how to determine yours. But if you do this long enough and pay attention you’ll find it.

Your ideal is the weight at which you can maintain or increase your strength, your energy level is high and you are comfortable with the way you look. (Personal Image Bias aside)

So, at 228 pounds, I went on a “cut”. I maintained my workouts as they were, still using progression, increased my cardio a bit, cut my calories by about 300 per day and increased protein intake. I found my “ideal weight” to be about 222 pounds. I was able to still increase my strength and was comfortable with the way I looked. And I had a lot more energy.

Recently, I was sitting at about 206 (after a lot of years out of the gym). Remembering how I felt at 222 I decided to go on a bulk. It didn’t work.

I gained weight (up to about 213) but I gained more fat than muscle. My strength went up a bit but my energy declined, I didn’t like the way I looked and eating an extra 300 to 500 calories a day was miserable and not sustainable. I was “Puffy” again.

What went wrong?

I’m 66 years old now. My metabolism has slowed a bit (though the decrease in metabolism is much less than most people think. So don’t use that as an excuse). I can’t maintain the intensity I could when I was 50 years old through 16-18 hours of training a week. And I started my bulk when my body fat % was in the upper teens.

That brings me to Jason’s article

Jason’s article is about over hearing two guys talking. Both guys were about 18-20% body fat and about the same age. (Think the average gym goers)

One said he was forever cutting and the endless dieting was miserable. The other said was forever bulking but both said their bodies hadn’t changed much.

According to Jason, the real kicker was they both looked about the same!

Here are Jason’s rules-
Bulking and cutting are fine if:

·        If you are going to use this approach, attack it relentlessly.

·        “Cut until you are lean enough to bulk”-Body fat at 12 % or less. Start a bulk at 18-20% body fat and you’ll gain more fat than muscle. If you start a bulk at 12% body fat you’ll gain more muscle.

Me? I’m cutting and I’m down to about 208-209 pounds and weight has stabilized. I have more energy.  Body fat is decreasing but I’m not down to 12 % yet.

3 More Ways to Train Your Puny Calves

3 MORE WAYS TO TRAIN YOUR PUNY CALVES

(For men and women)

Ladies, if you don’t think your calves are important you need to listen to this song by Joe Tex called  "skinny Legs and All". Ok, it’s from 1967 but that doesn’t matter. The lesson remains intact today.

I did an article earlier on how to train your puny calves. I recommend you go back and read it again HERE. It explains why the calves are so difficult to train and how you should do calf exercises for the best results.

You all know you need to change up the exercises in your program on a regular basis. But let’s face it, there are only a limited number of ways you can work your calves. The range of motion is short and the calves move mainly in one plane-up and down.

Here are some additional exercises or variations you need to try. Follow the instructions in This Article for the details on how to train calves and apply them to these exercises.

Donkey Raise:

Some gyms have a machine for this movement (I’m lucky enough to have one) but they’re not very common. There are alternatives though.

This is the “old school” method. You just need a friend or two and something to support yourself on with your elbows.

If you’re uncomfortable with have two “Bro’s” sitting on you back here’s an alternative in a power rack. Here's a video

I DON’T LIKE USING JUST THE BAR PAD!  Use something like an Abmat pad to spread the weight of the bar over a larger area of your back

Abmat

One Leg (unilateral) Seated Calf Raise

The bi-lateral seated calf raise is pretty much a stable. However, most people let their ego get in the way and use too much weight. This causes them to “bounce” out of the bottom. Also, when using the bi-lateral form, your dominant leg will do most of the lifting. Doing the exercise unilaterally will eliminate most of both problems.

Dorsiflexion

 There is one more muscle we need to work. It’s called the Tibielis Anterior and runs down the outside of the lower leg. Though it’s a relatively small muscle it can add substantially to the appearance of size of you calf area. Dorsiflexion is the best way to work this muscle in isolation. Dorsiflexion is best described as simply rocking back with all your weight on your heels then trying to touch your kneecap with your toes.

Dorsiflexion can be done for high reps with no resistance with good results. Some gyms have a Tibielis machine but I don't see them much any more. Hammer Strength still makes one.

 You can also use a double handle attachment on a low cable pully. Sit on the floor facing the pully and put one foot through each handle. Another way to add resistance is simply to use resistance bands placed across your toe area and secured at both ends to an immovable object. 

The calves recover very quickly. It's ok to work them often. Daily if need be. And if they really suck work them first in every workout.

Remember, getting results with your calves is about high volume and slow full contraction and slow full stretch.

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Test your Strength Unilaterally

TEST YOUR STRENGTH UNILATERALLY

We did an article earlier on the benefits of using unilateral lifts for better results. You can read it HERE

The basics are you can move more than 50% of your bi-lateral load by doing exercises unilaterally. About 20% more. That means more progress in strength and size.

However, there’s another reason to use unilateral lifts. Chances are you are stronger on one side than the other. That’s normal. The problem is your dominant arm or leg may continue to get stronger but the non-dominant limb will often lag farther and farther behind.

This is especially true if you have any old injuries or suffer from any type of pain (even minor pain you may not even pay much attention to) in one limb. Your body will automatically cause more of the load to transfer to the stronger limb or the one that doesn’t cause pain.

Try this:

First, do a vertical leg press using both legs but pay close attention to the amount of pressure on the bottom of your feet. I’m betting you will feel a difference. Also, pay close attention to your foot placement on the plate. You’ll often place the weaker side in a more comfortable, but often less advantageous, position. You do this subconsciously. It’s a safety mechanism your body does automatically.

By paying close attention you’ll probably find that the limb that is taking the dominant role begins to tire first. If the load were evenly distributed it would be the opposite. Your naturally weaker limb would begin to tire first.

So what’s the big deal? Eventually the compensation can create an imbalance large enough to create problems in other areas. In the case of the leg press that issue may manifest itself in the hip. 

Now try the same experiment with any type of upper body push press. (Like a bench press or overhead press) You may find a similar issue. And if the compensation continues long enough you’re going to end up with shoulder or elbow problems.

The Solution:

Pay attention and try to even out the bilateral load. But also give the weaker limb more work using unilateral movements.

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The Main Source of Misinformation About Food

THE MAIN SOURCE OF MISINFORMATION ABOUT FOOD

I know it's hard to get anyone to watch a 13 minute video about anything. 

But if you are still struggling with your weight or if you have kids or grandkids you need to watch this.

Dr. Yoni Freedhoof was invited to speak at food industry symposium, That is until they saw his video. Suddenly, he was disinvited.

Yoni Freedhoff, MD, is an assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa, where he’s the founder and medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute – dedicated to non-surgical weight management since 2004. Dr. Freedhoff sounds off daily on his award-winning blog, Weighty Matters, and you can follow him on Twitter @YoniFreedhoff. Dr. Freedhoff’s latest book, "The Diet Fix: Why Diets Fail and How to Make Yours Work," is a national bestseller in Canada and is widely available across North America and online

Things the Food Industry Doesn't Want You to Know (Video)

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Alternative Uses for a Stress Ball

A Curl Variation for Better Biceps and Preventing Forearm Pain

A CURL VARIATION FOR BETTER BICEPS

AND FOR PREVENTING FOREARM and ELBOW PAIN

Last week’s article on Building Better Biceps drew a few questions about forearm pain when doing curls. I feel your pain- literally.

My forearm length is above average for my height and my wrists and elbows are smallish compared to hand and arm size. As a result I’m very familiar with forearm and wrist tenderness and pain.

We talked about “Lifters Elbow’ in a previous article. For causes and remedies you can re-read that article Lifters Elbow-What Causes It? How to Fix it.

Severe tendonitis can be painful (or at least extremely annoying) for weeks or even months.

One of the common causes of forearm pain is the fact that the upper arm muscles (mainly bicep and tricep) are usually considerably larger and more powerful than the muscles of the forearm. So to properly develop the muscles of the upper arm you often put a disproportionate amount of stress on the muscles of the forearm, leading to tendonitis. In most curling movements from full extension, the forearm is doing almost all the work for the bottom one-third of the lift. 

In addition to putting undue stress on the muscles of the forearm you are short -changing the biceps. Since the forearm is doing all the work in the bottom one-third of the lift you have built up considerable momentum by the time the bicep takes over. Momentum lessens the work the bicep has to do which lessens the results.

The next time you do bicep curls with a full range of motion pay close attention to which part of the arm exhausts first. It will almost always be the forearm.

Here’s one solution to reducing forearm pain and injury and still moving loads sufficient to stimulate growth in the biceps:

Seated Barbell Curl

This variation will allow you to use a heavier weight to sufficiently work the bicep and minimize the stress on the forearm muscles.

Watch the Video Here  

·        Set an adjustable bench with the back at 90 degrees to prevent any swinging to gain momentum

·        Start with a medium grip but vary the grip often (wide to narrow) to hit both the long head and short head of the bicep.

·        Keep your elbows pinned to your sides

·        Once you begin the set, don’t let the bar touch your knees. Keep the tension on the bicep throughout the set

·        Squeeze the bicep at the top

·        Then lower the bar slowly

·        You can use either a standard bar or EZ bar if you have wrist issues

You can also do the exercise with dumbbells for either regular dumbbell curls or Hammer curls for the Brachialis.

You still need to strengthen and build up the forearm muscles. Otherwise, you’ll continue to have issues in the future.

Try the exercises below either with dumbbell, straight bar, cable or EZ Bar variations:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/palms-down-dumbbell-wrist-curl-over-a-bench

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/farmers-walk

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/palms-up-barbell-wrist-curl-over-a-bench

See other exercises for the forearm in the Calculatores/Resource tab at the top of the page.

Don't Train all Muscles the Same

FOR MAXIMUM HYPERTROPHY, DON’T TRAIN ALL MUSCLES THE SAME

After discussing isolation exercises for arms last week, this is a good time to point out that all muscles are not the same and shouldn’t be trained the same when it comes to reps and sets for hypertrophy.

This prior article is an explanation of the different types of muscle fibers and what each type of fiber does. None of your skeletal muscles are all “Fast Twitch” (Type II) or all “Slow Twitch” (Type I). Rather, they contain both. But they are usually either “fast twitch dominant” or “slow twitch dominant”. The makeup of the muscle determines how it should be trained for optimal results when it comes to isolation exercises.

Fast twitch dominant muscles tend to respond best to lower reps.

·        Hamstrings

·        Triceps

·        Upper back

·        Biceps (Biceps actually respond best to intermediate reps)

Slow twitch dominant muscles tend to respond best to higher reps.

·        Quads

·        Pecs

·        Delts

·        Traps

Higher and lower are relative terms but since we are discussing training for hypertrophy with an optimal rep range of 9-12 reps we’ll define high and low as:

“Lower reps” as less than 10

And

“Higher reps” as 15-20

Just a reminder; don’t always train a muscle in the” optimal “rep range. Even if a muscle is slow twitch dominant it still contains fast twitch fibers.

Always vary your set/reps scheme, train for strength or speed or stamina periodically regardless of your primary goals.

Few Current Coaches Give Us as Many Usable Quotes as Coach Nick Saban

FEW CURRENT COACHES GIVE US AS MANY MEMORABLE QUOTES AS COACH NICK SABAN

Every word can apply to any fitness goal as well as it does to winning at football.

55 Reasons Why the Deadlift Exercise is the Best of All Time by Dean Somerset

55 Reasons Why the Deadlift Exercise is the Best of All Time

by Dean Somerset 
Follow Dean at http://deansomerset.com/

The deadlift exercise is the best exercise of all time. After reading these 55 reasons why, you won’t be able to debate it.

1. Back pain can stem from weak glutes.

2. Back pain can also come from weak spinal erectors that cannot maintain a specific position. Deadlifts train the spine to remain stable while exposed to stupidly high shear forces, and thus making you Superman.

3. Chicks dig guys with strong powerful glutes

4. Guys dig chicks with strong powerful glutes

5. (Some) guys dig guys with strong powerful glutes

6. (Way more) chicks dig chicks with strong powerful glutes

7. Deadlifts are a total body exercise, working muscles from your toenails to your hair follicles.

8. It gives short guys a way to feel superior to tall guys.

9. It gives tall guys another reason to hate short guys.

10. No matter how many times you’ve done it, you can always do it better.

11. 2 words: Zercher Deadlifts

12. Very few people qualify to be able to do a deadlift as the required mobility from the hips, thoracic spine and ankles is incredibly high. This means I’ll be kept busy for a very long time teaching and fixing people who pull stuff like this.

13. Your testosterone will spike with each 1 rep max, roughly 13246% your regular walking around levels, which means you’ll be more likely to impregnate casual observers with nothing more than an icy stare, disrupt gang fights with your mere presence, and become the next supplier of Red Bull by bottling your urine.

14. Squats don’t have the same effect on the scapula and rotator cuff in terms of their stability and ability to withstand distraction forces. This makes deadlifting a great rotator cuff exercise, while requiring a lot from the lower body.

15. The most enjoyable things in life require triple extension from the hips, knees and ankles. In the most pure form, we could say deadlifts are Darwinian, rewarding those who have exceeded in developing strong hip extension capacity.

16. The endorphin release from 1 rep of deadlifts is on par with runner’s high, meaning you can get the same fix with 1/100 the amount of time investment, and you can wear way cooler clothes too.

17. I would argue with anyone that your lats are the most important muscle group in your body. Deadlifts work the hell out of them in multiple planes.

18. Every athlete can improve at almost every dimension of their sport by becoming better at deadlifting.

19. “My back is weak/sore” is a reason to do deadlifts, not a reason to avoid them.

20. No crunch could train the abs to work as hard or to become as hypertrophied as learning how to breathe and brace for a max pull.

21. Your back gets shredded!

22. Every pushing movement requires hip extension, whether you believe it or not. Hence deadlifting can increase your bench press.

23. Women can deliver babies easier by having control of the creation of intraabdominal pressure, a strong pelvic floor, and can survive the rigours of delivery with fewer soft tissue injuries by having a strong deadlift prior to third trimester, and those who are very strong prior to conception will likely deliver a baby that slaps the hell out of the doctor and changes their own diapers. That’s science.

24. No matter how awesome you think you are, you need to deadlift with chains.

25. Growth hormone release is at its’ highest following maximal resistance training exercise that encompasses the greatest amount of muscle mass.

26. If you’re a guy who has trouble adding muscle, heavy deadlifts will help you out due to the testosterone and growth hormone alterations, which play on muscle hypertrophy.

27. Sorry ladies, you don’t have enough testosterone to get big from doing heavy deadlifts alone. Female body builders need a lot more than heavy deadlifts to gain size.

28. Bruce Lee did deadlifts with Franco Columbu. Chuck Norris did the Total Gym with Christie Brinkley. That is why Chuck Norris is now a series of jokes, and why Bruce Lee is no joke.

29. Kim Kardashian went to Gunnar Peterson. He said she had to do deadlifts. Then she went to Tracy Anderson who said she didn’t have to do deadlifts. At that very point in time her series was renewed on television. Hence, deadlifts could have saved us from another season of “Keeping up with the Kardashians.” This is reason enough.

30. Short lifters can develop more strength due to higher degrees of torque through shorter levers, whereas taller lifters can develop more velocity due to higher bar speeds at the same relative speed if measured in degrees per second at the hip joint, due to their longer levers.

31. Chicks dig long levers.

32. Marathon runners need to do deadlifts to develop a kickand to improve velocity, efficiency, stride length, and sprinting power, all things important to running fast and to make your body more efficient.

33. Biceps are incredibly active during deadlifts, as they keep your elbow from distracting itself apart, and provide anterior shoulder stability. If you want arms, lift something heavy.

34. Deadlifting helps you poop better. You want to poop better. Trust me.

35. The development of intra-abdominal pressure helps train pelvic floor muscles and stimulate the colon to produce peristaltic wave contractions, which helps you to poop. Told you.

36. Power and strength are the two defining characteristics that, when lost, determine function on old age. Losing power and strength limits your ability to do everything, from standing and sitting on the toilet to getting in and out of a car, to climbing stairs, and even breathing. Heavy deadlifts, when done properly, can help retain and even gain strength and power through the entire body, which improves functional outcome measures in old age, which promotes independence.

37. It’s totally more functional than anything you could ever hope to do on a bosu unless you could find a way to pull a max weight deadlift on a bosu — which is impossible.

38. To paraphrase Charlie Weingroff, a perfect deadlift is a mythical beast that you can’t really define unless you see one. It’s sort of like a unicorn. What is a unicorn? A horse with a horn sticking out of its’ head. What is a deadlift? A heavy-ass weight pull of the floor to standing. You’ll know a perfect one when you see it, and you really know an ugly one when you see it.

39. No other exercise has potential side effects like massive nose bleeds, reddened eyes, and possible projectile vomit.

40. Nothing builds muscle thickness and density more than heavy deadlifts. This feature is what gives people the long-yearned after “tone.”

41. Deadlifts have a greater affect on cardiopulmonary health than common cardio exercise, much in the same way that building a high-rise tower to withstand a 7.0 earthquake also helps prevent damage during a moderate windstorm.

42. Side raises with 15 pound dumbells won’t build deltoids in anywhere close to the same scale as when those same deltoids are screaming in your ear as they try to prevent your shoulders from ripping out of their sockets.

43. Contrary to popular belief, heavy deadlifts are not bad for your low back. Piss-poor deadlifts, be they heavy or light, are demonstrably destructive to your low back.

44. The ability to develop strength and stability through the lumbar spinal muscles is one of the primary factors in preventing lumbar discogenic issues, as it helps buffer shear forces the disc is exposed to, which if left unchecked could result in a bulge, herniation, or even spondylolisthesis.

45. Deadlifts build the strength and stability of lumbar spinal muscles.

46. Lifting heavy weights through a stable and static base of support lets the core muscles work a lot harder and become more stable than any unstable surface could ever hope for.

47. Crunches can’t work the entire core the way deadlifts can, nor can you ever look cool doing them. Also, you’re not relegated to the corner of the gym to do them. You get to hang out in the cool kids area.

48. A powerful deadlifter has the hip mobility necessary to do the splits.

49. If you expect your milkshake to bring all the boys to the yard, you’d better have some deadlifts under your belt to give them a reason to walk on the grass.

50. One of the only exercises that can develop depth and thickness to the upper traps and mid back is heavy deadlifts.

51. Fat burning capability is dependent on the metabolically active tissue, as well as the rate of activity within that tissue. By having extra muscle mass and by having it cranked up to high neural activity means you have a greater chance of burning fat and getting lean if you lift heavy.

52. I had clients deadlifting bodyweight after abdominal reconstructive surgery. This helps to reduce the risk that they may have any follow-up issues, and will reduce their risk of re-injury and more surgeries.

53. Max weight lifts help you see God. After each set you see a bright light, and are usually tempted to walk towards it. That’s what this guy did.

54. Sitting in the groove of a flawless deadlift is like being in the Matrix. It doesn’t feel real, and everything is kinda tinted green.

55. Seriously, why are you still reading this and not deadlifting?? Grab the bar and make like you’re in Oz and you got the top bunk.