2X BW Deadlift Revisited
Yep, I’m after it again. Dan Johns words were delivered through my friend Mark, “you can’t even begin real training until you achieve a 2x BW deadlift”. I know there are a lot of people who would argue that is either not true or not applicable to their sport (i.e. they can’t do it), needless to say I certainly was “inspired”. So back in 2006 I took it upon myself to achieve the 2x BW DL and I did in April. Well time passed and an injury was gained and I haven’t been back to it. After rehabing a nasty adductor, hamstring, SI injury from a ski fall I’m once again inspired. BTW did I mention that for some crazy ass reason I love deadlifting? I do think that all the Olympic lifts are an honest measurement of an athlete’s fitness, but that’s just me.
Carolyn pulling #225, on Dec 9th looking for the magic #260 in a few of weeks.
My sport is rock climbing (not mountaineering) and I mostly climb with my husband and his circle (most of whom are very experienced climbers). When they found out that I was deadlifting up to 225lbs (I weigh 125) they threw a fit! They claim that deadlifting is a terrible exercise for a climber (especially sport climbing) because you are turning all of your muscles on at once and driving your lower body into the ground. They even claimed they now understood why I was not progressing through the grades in my climbing. What do you think? I liked deadlifting, but quit doing it when I got all the flack.
Hi Barbara I haven’t been on here in ages. I of course think they are wrong and don’t know what they are talking about. The Deadlift is an amazing exercise; it requires tremendous grip strength, core strength, back strength, legs strength (get the idea) to execute properly. The only way it would negative effect for sport climbing performance is if you do it too often and fatigue yourself before climbing. I doubt it’s why you are not “progessing” through the grades in your climbing. Honestly most men don’t know what it’s like to climb when you are female; we can be just as strong but use different techniques and may need different strategies to project routes than “the boys”. Hope this helps. Best,
Carolyn