Dead Lift

How many people here feel that this exercise is effective when it comes to HG.  Or do you prefer more explosive movements ie. Cleans?  I am thinking of cutting these out of my program.  Although I do enjoy them as I get older it is harder for me to recover from them. 

Just throwin out some feelers.

Do you think that it helps because of the power it produces or the strength.  I worry about explosiveness.  I probably won't totally get rid of them because I love them so much. 

It's just that since it is such a static movement I worry that it doesn't give me enough explosive power.

Check out the following threads for discussion, instruction, and inspriration.

http://www.nasgaweb.com/forums/forum/search.asp?KW=Deadlift& amp; amp; amp;SM=1&SI=TC&FM=0&OB=1

Clearly a lot of HG guys are big believers in the value of deadlifts.  Others are more inclined towards focussing on the explosive lifts and heavy squats, often supplementing with RDLs and other specific posterior chain work.  Then there is the added variable of lifting from the floor or from the hang (generally just above knee height, but possibly a bit lower too).  You will have to experiment and decide which route is best for you.  

A few considerations:  First, do you really know how to perform the explosive lifts with decent form?  If not, you might not want to make those the cornerstone of your training for the time being.  Explosiveness can also be developed from throwing the implements, puds, medballs, etc., and doing suitable jumping movements and sprinting, as appropriate.  Second, what are your relative strengths and weaknesses, i.e. are your fairly strong but relatively slow, or are your very explosive but relatively weak?  Making your weaknesses a priority in your training is always a good idea.  Finally, where you are in terms of your competitve season should also be taken into consideration.  Focussing more on strength earlier in the year is always a good idea, but speed and explosiveness should be a bigger priority as any competitions approach.  Pulling very heavy deads a week or two before a Games is never a good idea for anyone imo.

Finally, from glacing at your log I must add one thing:  given your size, nothing will improve your explosiveness or relative strength more than simply losing weight.  Quite frankly, reducing your bodyfat significantly should be your priority at this point, along with learning how to throw.  Lots of throwing, drilling, and lifting with short rest periods can help in this regard anyway.  Strongman circuits performed with limited rest might be the best thing of all for this, much better than basic cardio.  Add some long walks to this but avoid running totally.

Duncan McCallum wrote: Bill "Kobe Steak" Gordon! Do deads.  Do them quickly.  Do RDL's.  Do a BUNCH.  And throw all the time.

When doing them quickly do you prefer singles or higher rep sets 5+?

Hey Rob, didn't want it to seem like I put up the other thread to hijack yours. In case you haven't seen that one, has a world of addtional deadlifting knowledge from some serious lifters (like you, I am a student of the dead).

Good luck sir.

MM

After watching a video with Mark Rippetoe I've been using power cleans and highpulls to warm up for deadlifts and so far its working out great.

Barefoot is cool.  Oly shoes give you some angle.  Or you could lift in Crocs...I've seen it done.