Rolling Deadlift?

[SnowMan]

Rip,
Yesterday at the gym a coworker told me about a "new deadlift style" he learned from one of the few other members there who actually deadlifts. Apparently it involves starting with the bar way out front and then falling backward while rolling the bar toward yourself. Then at the moment the bar touches your legs you begin your lift as you lean back.
This sounds like an attempt to make the deadlift into a (more) retarded kind of leg press to me.
I can only imagine the type of catastrophic injuries that could result from attempting this unbalanced movement with any real weight.
I advised my buddy not to attempt this ridiculous "deadlift"...am I wrong here?

[Mark Rippetoe]

You are not wrong.

[SnowMan]

Thank you.

[eddie]

You are not wrong.

Its not anything new,

listen to what Jouko Ahola has to say,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V_PbCLCfv0

If your not a 2 time wsm, and have an immense back then I wouldnt think about this!

[Mark Rippetoe]

Interesting video. Note the position from which Ahola starts each pull after he gets through rolling it around in the floor.

[Randle McMurphy]

I have heard of this 'new method' - And I think it why there has a been a recent spate of this is due to this incredably strong weirdo - And i mean that, he is a a certifiable loon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ydBkk2Nv4c

He is Benedikt Magnusson. Nut job. At the arnold classic, he tried doing the Hummer Axel Deadlift with straps, fails twice - and then curses the axel, hits it a couple of times, then tries AGAIN with NO STRAPS - and oviously fails. Meanwhile in the audience arnold and his buddy are in hysterics.

Here is the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYHDYje8ItI

[Mark Rippetoe]

Magnusson is no loonier than lots of other lifters, and he's one of the best 5 deadlifters in history. He can roll the bar around in the parking lot if he wants to, but note that he still has to pull the bar up from the same place everybody else does.

[hbriem]

I trained with Benedikt quite a few times and he's not loony at all, pre-lift antics notwithstanding.

He's actually the 2nd best deadlifter (440kg 970 lbs),in history after Andy Bolton (457.5kg, 1008 lbs).

[Konstantinos Kavos]

I used the term "rolling deadlift" a while ago, which by internet logic means I used it first, which means I am the coolest, which means that I win a personal training session with Bill Philips.

[brobinson]

Very cool videos. Especially the Jouko Ahola clip. He's wearing some funny looking pants, but based on his deadlift, overall back size/strength and bleeding nose I doubt anybody would laugh at him!

While I'm not qualified to disagree with this style since both of these guys are in a far different league than myself, Rip's comment makes sense. They're still pulling from the same place any of us are.

Jouko states that he rolls it so he's not pulling a dead bar. As a novice lifter I can't see how a slight horizontal roll would help with a vertical lift. It also seems like an added complexity when you should be focusing on grip position, back tightness etc.

I'm always skeptical when I hear of a new way to to an established lift. Is there anybody here on the board that does something similar and finds any benefit from doing so?