The deadlift is obviously
one of THE best exercises you can do...it just hits EVERYTHING.
But a lot of people have trouble
with this exercise in the bottom where you have to bring
the bar around your knees then up. This can put a fair bit
of torque on the lower back, especially if you have any
lower back issues.
That's where specialized bars
like the Super
Deadlift Bar and the Trap Bar come into play. They let
you stand right in the middle of the weight so the bar doesn't
ever contact your legs.
I use the Super Deadlift Bar
all the time for deadlifts. I'm not a competitive powerlifter
so I don't have to work on the specialized technique for
it.
So if you don't have one of
those bars, where does it leave you?
It leaves you with THIS version
of the deadlift....the Power Rack Deadlift Machine.
It's actually a really simple
idea...you're going to set two barbells on the rails of
a power rack. They'll be angled down (loaded at the top
to counterbalance and loaded with more at the bottom). You'll
just grab the ends of the barbells, standing in between
them, and do the deadlift from there.
This mimics the concept of
the bar that you can stand in the middle of. If you've ever
seen a Worlds Strongest Man contest, it's similar to the
deadlift event on those. You get loaded, it stabilizes you
somewhat, but still leaves you with enough freedom of movement
that it's still more like a free weight exercise than a
machine exercise.
It also has the advantage
of allowing you start at whatever height you want, making
it a perfect alternative for those who want to deadlift
but can't because of issues with the form of a straight
bar deadlift.
Also, it works the grip and
forearms VERY strongly...you're grabbing onto the thick
ends of the bars, where the plates usually go. KILLER forearm
training in addition to total body training.
Here's the starting setup.
I've got one plate on the top ends and two on the bottom
ends. The bars are angled down.
Just stand in the middle of
the two barbell ends and squat down, grabbing the ends of
the bars.
Now stand up! Simple as that.
You've just done a deadlift.
You can also do this exercise
facing in towards the bars as well. Use whatever version
you feel most comfortable doing.
And like I said, you can adjust
the height on the bottom rail to start at whatever height
you want. It can be lower so you're right near the floor
or higher for doing partial range stuff. This is excellent
for those who have trouble with full-range deadlifts but
still want to do deadlifts.