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Thread: Plate diameter and anthropometry.

  1. #1
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    Default Plate diameter and anthropometry.

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    The standard diameter of weight plates was determined by an engineer who was tasked by the Olympic people with improving lifter safety in the Olympic lifts that raised the bar above the head. That diameter is now the global standard for all lifts.

    So deadlifts are made from a bar height that is unrelated to the deadlifter's anatomy.

    If you had a fairy godlifter (watch Tooth Fairy again and then imagine Rip in a tutu with wings) who could wave her magic dumbbell and turn pumpkins into weight plates, would you favour a different height of bar for your own anatomy? If so what?

    To put it another way:

    Do any of the difficulties arising with the deadlift do so because the "one size fits them all" standard height of the bar has nothing at all to do with the deadlift?

  2. #2
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    Amazingly enough, this question has been asked. The bar height is varied for training purposes by deficit deadlifts and rack pulls, and we manage just fine. But all the barbell equipment in the world is based on the 45cm plate diameter, just like standard freight train track gauge is 4'8 1/2", so we just deal with it.

  3. #3
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    Really, it's the same for squats and bench too. Should a person with a huge wingspan have to touch his chest on the bench press? Should a person with long femurs have to squat to parallel? If we want to meet the standards of how to perform a lift, we just have to deal with it. Even the top guys and gals have a lift they're not built for but they still have to do it to the standard or it doesn't count. If we don't compete, we can do the lifts however we want but then you're doing a variation of the lift and not the lift itself. It's kinda one of those "it is what it is" things.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnno View Post
    Do any of the difficulties arising with the deadlift do so because the "one size fits them all" standard height of the bar has nothing at all to do with the deadlift?
    If there are problems with the deadlift, it's good that they've been revealed so that the person can work on whatever the difficulty is -- back control, terrible flexibility, weakness. Most of what you probably regard as a structural problem from bar height are resolved immediately with coaching to the correct positions or resolved quickly over the first few weeks of training.

    To put it another way:

    The deadlift isn't a problem, it's a solution.

    Quote Originally Posted by dalan View Post
    Really, it's the same for squats and bench too. Should a person with a huge wingspan have to touch his chest on the bench press? Should a person with long femurs have to squat to parallel? If we want to meet the standards of how to perform a lift, we just have to deal with it. Even the top guys and gals have a lift they're not built for but they still have to do it to the standard or it doesn't count. If we don't compete, we can do the lifts however we want but then you're doing a variation of the lift and not the lift itself. It's kinda one of those "it is what it is" things.
    Your examples have to do with the lifts, but the ground is in the same place for everyone and the need - for deliberate activity or when pushed into a position by a sudden event - to use a full range of motion for femurs and shoulders doesn't change with height or anthropometry.

    People create sports, sports select for various things, sports turn into other sports as the rules are changed, new sports are created. It's no big deal except for people on the internet with too much time and not enough success in whatever.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe View Post
    Amazingly enough, this question has been asked. The bar height is varied for training purposes by deficit deadlifts and rack pulls, and we manage just fine. But all the barbell equipment in the world is based on the 45cm plate diameter, just like standard freight train track gauge is 4'8 1/2", so we just deal with it.
    Rip,
    Were all the weight disks originally defined in kilos? Is that why we have to odd spacing in pounds?

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Oso Rojo View Post
    Rip,
    Were all the weight disks originally defined in kilos? Is that why we have to odd spacing in pounds?
    The metric system was well established by the time the plate-loaded barbell was invented in the early 20th century. I would imagine that 20kg plates preceded 45lb plates, but not by much, manufacturers doing what they do.

  7. #7
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    My least favorite part of the deadlift is dragging the bar over my nuts. Plate diameter won’t change that.

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    Quote Originally Posted by KeithI View Post
    My least favorite part of the deadlift is dragging the bar over my nuts. Plate diameter won’t change that.
    If your arms are that short, maybe you shouldn't deadlift to lockout.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by KeithI View Post
    My least favorite part of the deadlift is dragging the bar over my nuts. Plate diameter won’t change that.
    You're doing it wrong. The bar goes behind the nuts, nuts go over the top of the bar.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe View Post
    If your arms are that short, maybe you shouldn't deadlift to lockout.
    Tedious clarification to Johnno: this is a mockery of KeithI's equipment, not a suggestion to deadlift however you please.

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