Barbell Anyone do light deadlifts for overall health reasons?
- Thread starter Kozushi
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North Coast Miller
Level 9 Valued Member
I think you'd be better off using a different lift at that point. There are many hinge movements other than swing that one can choose.
I use sandbag DL in place of the jump when doing burpees, but that is just for a warmup. I occasionally use light weight Good Mornings for long reps, alternating every few reps straight leg and bent leg.
I use sandbag DL in place of the jump when doing burpees, but that is just for a warmup. I occasionally use light weight Good Mornings for long reps, alternating every few reps straight leg and bent leg.
Buy a single 4' x 6' x either 1/2" or 3/4" rubber mat - it's all you need to deadlift and be able to drop them. For years, I lifted on a 1/2" rubber mat that was on top of handmade, irregular tiles in our basement, and no damage to the tiles ever took place.
-S-
Alan Mackey
Level 7 Valued Member
How light are we talking about? Because I’ve been training Easy Strength style for years and it’s wonderful.
Also, you don’t really need doing conventional pulling. At all.
Being a fellow grappler, you could benefit A LOT from doing power cleans (the ones that doesn’t get dropped to the floor), hang cleans, stiff (not straight, just stiff) deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts and, my two personal favorites: snatch grip deadlift and Romanian snatch grip deadlift.
Besides, you could always use a couple of bumper plates as a base for your conventional deadlifts, so you can save your floor.
Kozushi
Level 7 Valued Member
Okay, I'll do that. I was getting pretty "okay" with deadlifting a few years ago. I got pretty close to 400lbs but was still placing the bar back down gently on the floor.
The other thread reminded me of the importance of at least deadlifting with a barbell. I don't think the bench press would do much for me personally even though it's an awesome move. The military press I'm kind of already doing with kettlebells. The back squat needs a rack.
Deadlift is the best one anyhow.
Kozushi
Level 7 Valued Member
That's a very interesting point. I wouldn't have thought that but it makes sense.
Kozushi
Level 7 Valued Member
Well the closest thing would be Romanian deadlifts I guess. What kind of weight do you use for these (and other moves listed if you feel up to letting me know)?
Philippe Geoffrion
Level 7 Valued Member
Do different deadlifts that require light weights. Picks the weights up differently every time.
Suitcase or 1 arm deadlift
Single leg DL
Zercher Deadlift
Power cleans/snatches
Suitcase or 1 arm deadlift
Single leg DL
Zercher Deadlift
Power cleans/snatches
Boris Bachmann
Level 8 Valued Member
Yes.
Almost all of the deadlifting I do is with special bars (axle, beam, rolling thunder, etc - grip intensive). I rarely go over 225 and I don't know if I've gone over 315 since I quit powerlifting 15 years ago.
Almost all of the deadlifting I do is with special bars (axle, beam, rolling thunder, etc - grip intensive). I rarely go over 225 and I don't know if I've gone over 315 since I quit powerlifting 15 years ago.
william bad butt
Level 7 Valued Member
For light deadlifts, I like the variant that pauses at mid shin or just below the knee. It really hammers the sticking point. Pause at your sticking point. The weight will be much lower than your deadlift. Another alternative is rows from the ground up.
For squat, you can do bottom up squats. Setup some sawhorses. Not sure about your location, but in the USA these are very inexpensive. And they fold up and can be placed under the bed or in a closet (dont take up much space).
For bench press... Well, I havent done a bench press since September 2019. I've been doing floor presses. I like them better. They only require once per week training, 3 sets of 5 for example. And will really increase your upper body strength, including triceps and lats and upper back. No equipment required.
For squat, you can do bottom up squats. Setup some sawhorses. Not sure about your location, but in the USA these are very inexpensive. And they fold up and can be placed under the bed or in a closet (dont take up much space).
For bench press... Well, I havent done a bench press since September 2019. I've been doing floor presses. I like them better. They only require once per week training, 3 sets of 5 for example. And will really increase your upper body strength, including triceps and lats and upper back. No equipment required.
Alan Mackey
Level 7 Valued Member
I can do even better: https://strengthlevel.com/strength-standards
Using the calculator on the site, you can find your “ideal” ratios.
Starlord
Level 5 Valued Member
Zercher deadlifts are one of the most powerful lifts ever. I remember when I very first started doing them an I could barely do bodyweight and pushed it bulgarian lite style upto 160kg before I plateaued.
Fast forward to over a year later when I rotate zerchers back in and my new starting weight is 140kg and my new end weight is 200kg (that was an ugly rep). Zerchers will definitely be rotated in later this year. Hoping to end at 220kg. Would be IMMENSELY pleaser with myself if I could acheive that.
The sheer ROM forces you to become strong in positions that a regular deadlift does not. So applicable to grapplers too, especially wrestlers or MMA practitioners with an against the cage focus. No one is getting out of your double under hooks after getting good at zerchers. In addition a pick up and slam from the floor is easily done when you've gotten strong at zerchers.
What are the health benefits? Strength through a greater ROM. You are forced to enhance your flexibility and strength. Zerchers also require a lot of core stability too.
Kozushi
Level 7 Valued Member
Sounds like I need to learn more about this!
marvinthemartian
Level 5 Valued Member
I think in RotK Pavel mentions something like Dimel deadlifts that are done with light weights and without touching the floor for high reps. If you have the book it might be interesting to see what Pavel has to say about them.
Other than that wouldn't explosive barbell lifts be the natural evolution for you if weights are limited? As a Judo guy exercises like cleans and snatches will probably also have great carry over to the mat.
Other than that wouldn't explosive barbell lifts be the natural evolution for you if weights are limited? As a Judo guy exercises like cleans and snatches will probably also have great carry over to the mat.
Chrisdavisjr
Level 7 Valued Member
I was going to suggest cleans/clean pulls.
Also, you should be able to lower deadlifts without destroying your floor, unless you're using iron/steel plates. I wouldn't advocate power cleans/clean pulls in that case either.
Also, you should be able to lower deadlifts without destroying your floor, unless you're using iron/steel plates. I wouldn't advocate power cleans/clean pulls in that case either.
Kozushi
Level 7 Valued Member
Thank you. I was pulling almost 400lbs for a while and still able to lower the barbell down smoothly. The plates are plastic so you know what, I'm probably okay to keep at the deadlifts in the basement. This is exciting!
It's funny how knowledge-based all of this is. People outside the exercise community would have no idea!
This is not caveman grunt stuff, hahaha!
Boris Bachmann
Level 8 Valued Member
Dimel DLs are great too - I had forgotten about these (and I need to re-add them to the exercise rotation). Thank you.
Whosonfirst
Level 8 Valued Member
To the one part of your question, I use steel Oly. plates, and lift on my concrete garage floor. I use a sheet of 1/2" plywood on the floor, with a dense 1/2" thick rubber mat over top. I set my bar down hard, sometimes, but don't drop it ever. It's held up well. I also use 3/4-1" dense playground style rubber mat under my reg. bbell. Rubber mats are cheaper than bumper plates. At my age, I've adopted Jack LaLanne's credo, of using lighter weights for more reps. At the moment I'm lifting 5-8 reps off a 2" high platform and only up to 225 lbs. But a few years ago, I was testing my grip and repaired shoulder and did 2-3 reps with 370. But I didn't drop that hard either. I'm planning on raising my platform to 3" in a couple months.Thank you. I was pulling almost 400lbs for a while and still able to lower the barbell down smoothly. The plates are plastic so you know what, I'm probably okay to keep at the deadlifts in the basement. This is exciting!
It's funny how knowledge-based all of this is. People outside the exercise community would have no idea!
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