Deadlifting in Powerrack - Lowest hole puts plate 2inches of ground

[JBlack]

Hi Rip,

To make it easier to change plates, and get the proper bar height for warmups, I am deadlifting inside the power rack, with the bar on the pins.

But the lowest pin is set so that the 45 plate is exactly 2-inches off the floor.

Is this too high to start from, or should I be okay?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Convenience is very important in barbell training. In fact, if I were you I'd just set the bar in the rack at the level of the hole in the plate when it's hanging from your arms with your elbows straight. This way, you don't have to actually bend the elbows to get the plates on the bar, and that's even more convenient than the way you're doing it now. Good luck with your training!!

[joshua]

Umm i'm confused, why are you using the power rack to get the correct bar height when you're using 45lb plates which set the bar at the correct height?

[r_graz]

Convenience is very important in barbell training. In fact, if I were you I'd just set the bar in the rack at the level of the hole in the plate when it's hanging from your arms with your elbows straight.

This is a great idea. I tried it today and immediately added 300 lbs to my deadlift. It must be because I saved so much energy in changing plates.

I guess another approach would be to put the bar on the floor, and roll the innermost plate onto a 2.5 lb plate to add or remove weight, but that would certainly not be as convenient.

[JBlack]

Convenience is very important in barbell training. In fact, if I were you I'd just set the bar in the rack at the level of the hole in the plate when it's hanging from your arms with your elbows straight. This way, you don't have to actually bend the elbows to get the plates on the bar, and that's even more convenient than the way you're doing it now. Good luck with your training!!

Hi - If you could give a serious answer that would be much appreciated.

Other than getting out my drill or risk cracking my hardwood floors, would it be detrimental to dead starting with my 45s 2inches off the ground? Would the entire point of the exercise be lost - or is this difference in starting height trivial?

Thank you.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

Last time I checked, a deadlift was "lifting a dead weight off the ground". First the CFers fucked it up with bouncing (I don't care if it improves your time, it ain't a deadlift) and now this guy is starting with it off the ground?

I'm too offended to be sarcastic. No, it's not okay. Unless you call it a rack pull but

rack pull != deadlift.

[btech]

Another option (the more weight you lift, the more convenient this is) is to roll one end of the bar so that they roll on top of a 10lb plate. The plates go on/slide off real easy then.

[Mark Rippetoe]

What would you do with your drill? And why wouldn't you just get some rubber mats for your floor?

[67629]

Hi - If you could give a serious answer that would be much appreciated.

Try asking a serious question and see what happens. It's not impossible to get the plates on and off when they're on the ground. Speaking from experience, it can be a pain in the ass sometimes...but who ever said strength training was easy? Or, get a rug or some mats so you don't wreck your floor and roll the plates onto a smaller plate. Or, maybe even stand on something that's 2" off the ground. Use your head.

[JBlack]

On page 110 of SS it says to get the correct deadlift starting height (for warmups) you can either

1- Build up a stack of plates
2- Use the proper hole of a power rack

This was a pretty good idea so I extrapolated it to regular (over 135lbs)deadlifts which made it a lot easier to load and remove 45s - since the bar is off the ground I can just slide on extra 45s as needed.

But due to the construction of the rack, the lowest hole is about 2 inches taller than standard 45lb plate height.

Since I value your opinion I would like to ask: is it really bad to pull deads starting from 2inches off the ground?

To answer your question Rip:
1- The drill would be to make a lower hole in the rack for the pins to reduce the starting height to something like 1/2inch.
2- I do have 3/4" rubber mats - over expensive hardwood floors. From reading your book I got the idea I should not use straps in order to strengthen my grip. And Im afraid I may slip/drop the DL to the floor.

As an aside they make these things to load deadlifts, it just lifts the plates up a bit from the ground, similar to what Im doing in my power rack.

Olympic Bar Lift
http://www.newyorkbarbells.com/10802.html


Thank you for your time and expertise, I appreciate it. Id just like to know if the mechanics of deadlifting would be ruined if I start from 2inches off the ground. Or should I ditch this whole idea?

PS - Im really looking fwd to receiving the new DVD. Thanks for this and the books!