From personal experience in powerlifting, CrossFit and bodybuilding the most feared exercise is the deadlift.
The reason for this is mostly bad information on injury risk and poor form while executing the movement. When done properly the deadlift is an excellent all round movement and an unparalleled exercise for the posterior chain, which is the back, glutes and hamstrings.
Deadlift can build strength and muscle in those areas but from crossfitter’s point of view, it has a lot more to offer. With different rep schemes and speeds, deadlift can build explosive power and strength as well as speed. Not to mention the ground clearance for snatch if deadlifting with snatch grip.
The misconception about deadlift is that it makes you sluggish and slow and hinder your mobility when in-fact it does the opposite. Deadlift can increase the elasticity of the posterior chain muscles and also add explosive power that transfers to other movements, even sprinting power and speed, which are much desired features for a crossfitter.
Men's and women's mean 1RM deadlift weights. Sample size approximately 9000 results. (WODconnect, 2018)
Benefit from the variations of deadlift
When programming deadlifts, one should bear in mind the variations of the lift in order to achieve the desired outcome. For example, the hexagonal bar deadlift or jumps are proven to be the most efficient lift to increase sprinting power and speed for athletes, even more than the clean and jerk or back squat (Turner et al. 2015). So thinking outside the traditional deadlift can be very beneficial for a crossfit athlete.
Deadlift’s big role in developing athletic abilities are due to the importance of the muscles it develops. When looking at almost any athlete, especially strength athletes, the effects of strong hips, glutes and hamstrings transfers to the most of the activity the athlete does. Helping in stability, mobility and power output.
Deficit deadlift for mobility and elasticity
Also as mentioned earlier, the elasticity and mobility of the activated muscle groups are important. By increasing the mobility of the hips and hamstrings, athletes are more prepared to perform better in other areas. This can be achieved by doing longer stretches on the eccentric phase of deadlift, for example deficit deadlift where the deadlift is performed standing on a box or plates. This lengthens the bar path and stretches the hamstrings and lower back.
Different rep schemes and speeds for different stimulus
So by doing different variations of the deadlift we can achieve different things, but also throwing in a different variant by altering the rep schemes. This means not doing the traditional 5x5 on the deadlift all the time, which is a good rep scheme for pure strength, but also doing longer sets for power stamina and shorter ones for overload and power increase
We can also change the rep speed to achieve different stimulus. Slow eccentric phases for stretch and power stamina and controlled fast explosive reps from the ground to increase explosive power. Incorporating jumping deadlifts has also seen to be beneficial.
As we can see, deadlift can be a versatile tool for different needs and purposes. The conclusion is that there are not many movements that can be as comprehensive as deadlift. Add more deadlifts with different variations into your training program and experience the benefits yourself.
References
Turner, T., Delahunt, E., Tobin, D. (2014). Optimal Loading Range for the Development of Peak Power Output in the Hexagonal Barbell Jump Squat, The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 29(5)
