Some time ago, one of my Facebook friends ( I won’t mention his name), who is a personal trainer and who is responsible for preparing men and women for bodybuilding and body fitness competitions, posted a picture of Vanessa Tib, performing a deadlift. What shocked me was not the picture( it was a good one), but his comment above the picture.
What was the comment and why do I think that it is worth a whole post?
“Proper deadlift form. It’s basically a squat from the ground and works the same musculature.”
Really? Are you serious? I sit really possible for a person who works with so many people and whose health is in his hands, to be convinced that squats and deadlifts are basically the same thing and work the same muscles?
That’s why I decided to pay close attention to the HUGE difference between squatting and deadlifting, so if there are some of you who are fooled into thinking that both movements are the same, could give it more thought ad question what is really the proper technique!
My personal opinion is that the difference between both movements is from the Earth to the sky, keeping in mind the fact that deadlift is a hip dominant movement and squats are a knee dominant movement. When you perform a hinging movement the load is mainly on the posterior chain, and with knee dominant movements it is on the anterior chain.
Deadlifts, swings, good mornings, one-legged deadlifts are hinging movements. They all load mainly the posterior chain!
Saying that deadlifts and squats work the same muscles is absurd. Both exercises are not a substitute to each other.
I think that this wrong understanding about deadlifts and squats, contributes a lot to the wrong way most people perform deadlifts; to the injuries on the lower back, as well as muscle imbalances between the anterior and posterior chain, that is inherent for most trainees.
One of the main rules in the proper deadlifting technique is for your shoulders to be ABOVE the bar. If you squat back, then you will move the center of mass and this will be stressful on your lower back! Your lower back hurts, not from doing deadlifts, but from the WRONG way you are performing them!
Here, you can check out these pictures. One is of a properly performed squat and the other is of a properly performed deadlift!
Do you see how by performing a deadlift as a squat( picture 1), the center of mass is moved away from the middle of your feet, the shoulders are behind the bar and the bar itself is moved away way too forward, and not above the middle of the foot? All of this guarantees you that the loading will hit straight in your lower back! Then, you will be the one saying that deadlifting is bad for your health, when in reality the danger comes from your crappy technique!
Picture 2 and 3 show the wrong deadlift technique, as well. The problem with performing a deadlift as it is shown on picture 2 is the rounded back and the problem with picture 3 is that the bar is moved away too far in front of the body. Both ways of performing the deadlift are wrong and put unwanted stress on your body as a whole and your lower back!
Here is some homework:
One More Priceless Exercise for Your Posterior Chain, That You Hardly Ever Do!
Squats: Why it is a MUST to do them and how to perform them properly!
P.S. If you liked this post, please take a minute and share it with your friends! I’d greatly appreciate it!
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