i dont understand how deadlifts build muscle

[8 mile]

it seems like it's more of a stretch cause the hands are just hooks and pull the bar up when the body moves up. how does this build muscle? is it just cause youre stretching with heavy weight?

[LatissimusDorsi]

Yeah it's just because u're stretching with heavy weight

Show me how u stretch and pull 500lbs off the ground without using ur muscles, go for it.

[Dominik]

it seems like it's more of a stretch cause the hands are just hooks and pull the bar up when the body moves up. how does this build muscle? is it just cause youre stretching with heavy weight?

Certain muscles are working isometrically but like LD said, try pulling 500lbs off the floor and tell me it's just stretching

Believe me, with enough weight it will beat the crap out of your back and posterior chain and over time you'll see the benefits.

[Flex500]

it seems like it's more of a stretch cause the hands are just hooks and pull the bar up when the body moves up. how does this build muscle? is it just cause youre stretching with heavy weight?

are you thinking of a straight leg deadlift maybe???

[JCVP]

That's the key. Light deadlifts do nothing for you. Even moderate weighte deadlifts do nothing for you. It is deadlifts with a resistance of 5 reps or less that challenge your body. It's one of the few exercises that needs to be taken to near-maximal %1RM Load to see results.

[TKD]

it seems like it's more of a stretch cause the hands are just hooks and pull the bar up when the body moves up. how does this build muscle? is it just cause youre stretching with heavy weight?

Deadlifts involve most of the body....How could they not build muscle?

[Medtreker]

it seems like it's more of a stretch cause the hands are just hooks and pull the bar up when the body moves up. how does this build muscle? is it just cause youre stretching with heavy weight?

Aside from the misconception of "just stretching," I think I can explain it to you in a better way that This Noobie(me) found for himself. I was skeptical too of this excercise. However, another excercise that had me stuck at a certain weight resistance, was the simple curl. See, my back/shoulders couldn't handle any more weight on the bar, even though my biceps may have been able to. But, without the back/shoulder muscle( an even muscle distribution), I was forced to rock back and forth. I was stuck, in a rut, without some serious basic compound movements.

I very soon learned of the benefits of deadlifts and squats. And, at first, still was skeptical even after I had started to do them. At first, it was the legs that responded. I thought, how could stonger legs increase my arm curling abilities? But I was liking what they were doing for my legs!!

Well, as the legs became stronger(and believe me, squats and deads, even without a huge maxium weight, will increase leg strenght tremendously), I was able to deadlift and squat heavier and heavier. Soon, my back was getting bigger. I was now able to greatly increase my Rowing weight! I saw my lats growing, and incorporated more lat excercises, with greater weight resistance. My overhead press grew, shoulders grew huge! I started doing heavy shrugs, heavy rows, very heavy cable pulldowns, ect, ect. Everything grew larger now.

And wow, my curl weight, that had remained stagnent, was now feeling LIGHT. Better yet, when curling, I could remain deadfast straight, without rocking back and forth. Everything abound my arms was stronger. Also, I could take the curl, with heavier resistance, past what seemed like the point of failer. Really, this was the point of much greater muscle fatige, that lead to total bicep exhaustion. Now, I could curl more weight! Finally.

It's all connected. Serious bodybuilders say, you can't continue to grow upper body, without growing your "core" and lower body.

Deadlifts greatly, to a HUGE extent, increase your "core" strength and lower body strength. They incorporate most of the muscles in your body when performed. But, other than skinny legs, you might not see a particular huge gain in any one body part, at least not at first. Just remember, it's all connected.

And, the stretching is good too!

[AnaerobicAndrew]

Light deadlifts do nothing for you. Even moderate weighte deadlifts do nothing for you. It is deadlifts with a resistance of 5 reps or less that challenge your body. It's one of the few exercises that needs to be taken to near-maximal %1RM Load to see results.

No, thats not true at all.

It depends on what your goals are.

[Sunshineslynn]

it seems like it's more of a stretch cause the hands are just hooks and pull the bar up when the body moves up. how does this build muscle? is it just cause youre stretching with heavy weight?

You may not have the form down and that is why it feels like a stretch. You have to go heavy like said before so correct your form and then try it and I will doubt to say you would ever call it stretching again.

smiles
s

[DuracellBunny]

If ANY part of your body moves, it involves a muscle somewhere contracting. Add resistance to that contraction and you can get hypertrophy. Q.E.D.

[W8isGR8]

Maybe if you got your retarded ass out of the misc section and into the gym you'd find out.

[Flex500]

Maybe if you got your retarded ass out of the misc section and into the gym you'd find out.

touche'

[TN_WORKOUT]

it seems like it's more of a stretch cause the hands are just hooks and pull the bar up when the body moves up. how does this build muscle? is it just cause youre stretching with heavy weight?

The hard part of deadlifting is not lowering the weight...it's the lifting part that's difficult. I could probably dead-drop 1,000 lbs if I had a good spotter.

While you are "stretching with heavy weight" as you deadlift and pull the bar up, most folks around here see best results for muscle growth when we raise the bar...not in the lowering move. We prefer to call such "stretching" maneuvers LIFTING with weights....weightlifting for short. :-)

Give it a try for a couple of months (go heavy) and I think you'll see results...especially if you lift the weight after you stretch your hamstrings.

[sword_]

Yeah it's just because u're stretching with heavy weight

Show me how u stretch and pull 500lbs off the ground without using ur muscles, go for it.

HAHA exactly.

[iMikus]

Maybe if you got your retarded ass out of the misc section and into the gym you'd find out.

says the man with 11,000+ posts in under a year...

[W8isGR8]

says the man with 11,000+ posts in under a year...

Government job, what can I say.

[Doc Iron]

Most of the best strongmen in the world, guys like Jesse Marunde and Zydurnas Savickas spend most of their day doing deadlifts, squats, shoulder presses and other heavy compound movements.

They rarely do curls or other isolation exercises (Jesse actually NEVER benches!)

But you wanna bet as to whether they can outlift anyone one this board AND even 98% of bodybuilders ON those isolation exercises that bodybuilders spend most of their time doing?

There's a story on Jesse's board about a buddy of his who spend a few months doing almost nothing besides heavy squats (the example would work just as well for deadlifts). At the end of the routine he put on 30 pounds of muscle and his BENCH PRESS (which he hadn't trained at all) shot up by 100 pounds.

His entire body grew in response to stimulation created by the heavy, compound training.

I'm a wuss compared to those guys, but the same principle has worked wonders for me.

[iMikus]

Government job, what can I say.

Well you have more patience then i do i guess. i remember sitting at a deskjob spending 4-5 hours out of the day weeding through forums while i was 'working'...it was nice but got old quick! btw, thanks for the rep, i like the color red better than green anyway

[MoGeaYuglay]

well, the kind of demand, stress, and pain tolerance that is placed on the body during heavy deads will give your system a wake-up call to growth, so-to-speak. Just because you can't see your posterior chain flexing and forming a ball like your bicep during curl DOES NOT mean your muscles arn't getting worked. It's not the flex so much as the tension.

[Wang Chung]

Maybe if you got your retarded ass out of the misc section and into the gym you'd find out.

Why so rude?

[MoGeaYuglay]

Why so rude?

because the stupidity in threads has broken him enough to justifiably lash out against it.

[Rachel_n_SD]

Government job, what can I say.

Glad 2 know i'm not alone. all those taxpayer dollars, paying us government employees good money to surf the internet for 8 hours a day...

[Steeltoe]

it seems like it's more of a stretch cause the hands are just hooks and pull the bar up when the body moves up. how does this build muscle? is it just cause youre stretching with heavy weight?

Tuesday was actually my first time doing deadlifts. I loved them and I am hooked now. My ass is really sore though, and so are my legs, because I did them right after 3 sets of heavy sqauts. But I am already feeling alot stronger. For so long I was doing nothing but benching and curling, but after sqauting and deadlifting last tuesday, I dont want to do another sissy isolation ever again. Compounds own. You really should try out some deads, you'll see what I mean.

[W8isGR8]

because the stupidity in threads has broken him enough to justifiably lash out against it.

Just look at some of the other threads he started
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=800501
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=798454

[gecko2424]

The hard part of deadlifting is not lowering the weight...it's the lifting part that's difficult. I could probably dead-drop 1,000 lbs if I had a good spotter.

Visualizing an SNL or Monty Python skit where he goes for a record and rips his arms off.... I think it was python. Good laugh.

[gecko2424]

Just look at some of the other threads he started
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=800501
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=798454

A "not work safe" would have been nice. D'oh! Hope they don't review my access...

I agree, what a tool.

[MisterMak]

I am betting that 8mile hasn't done deadlifts properly, with enough weight, or a combination of both.

[Carmen0857]

This is a silly question

[TN_WORKOUT]

Tuesday was actually my first time doing deadlifts. I loved them and I am hooked now. My ass is really sore though, and so are my legs, because I did them right after 3 sets of heavy sqauts. But I am already feeling alot stronger. For so long I was doing nothing but benching and curling, but after sqauting and deadlifting last tuesday, I dont want to do another sissy isolation ever again. Compounds own. You really should try out some deads, you'll see what I mean.

Yup, and if your gym is anything like mine you probably won't have to wait in line at the deadlift station (or squat rack for that matter).

[TKD]

Just look at some of the other threads he started
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=800501
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=798454

Nice to see you have done your research again W8


Indeed, he is retarded as the emporer has forseen!! LOL