Chest activation during the Deadlift

[Gumboots]

Hi, I'm new to this board and thought I'd ask a question. I was Deadlifting 195lbs on Tuesday and when I pulled off the floor on the last 3 reps I felt it in my pecs. Does the Deadlift work the Chest? If so, how come more people don't do them?

[Meshuggah]

What you experienced was the dreaded Chest Cramp. Sometimes the Double Chest Cramp will rear it's ugly head !!

[MattJ.D.]

Yeah, idk what it does it but sometimes my chest will cramp up near where it meets the frontal lobe of the deltoid

[BareSteel]

Hi Gumboots,

No, it's not really a chest exercise. I think the reason people avoid them has more to do with the stigma the exercise has, a misunderstanding of it, or (in some cases) pre-existing injury. For other people, since it's a full body lift (legs, back, grip, etc.) it doesn't fit neatly into a isolation-based body part split routine. Feel free to post up a form check in the Technique section if you want input on your form.

[Jsutt]

I may be wildly off here, but shouldn't pretty much every muscle around and connected to the shoulder be contracting hard in order to stabilise the joint during a heavy deadlift? I certainly feel it in my anterior deltoids sometimes.

[John Hanley]

Hi, I'm new to this board and thought I'd ask a question. I was Deadlifting 195lbs on Tuesday and when I pulled off the floor on the last 3 reps I felt it in my pecs. Does the Deadlift work the Chest? If so, how come more people don't do them?

Do you have video of this set? I suspect we'd see a) your lats & upper back lose tension, b) the bar drift a bit forward of mid-foot, & c) your upper body "taco" (anatomical term).

I once thought I was having a heart attack after a too-difficult 5th rep of rack pulls. Just a brutal pec spasm.

[hbriem]

I have pulled a chest muscle once doing a max deadlift and done something nasty to the inner collarbone attachment on another occasion.

These injuries taught me something I always emphasise with my trainees, to all the slack out of the shoulder/chest area during the deadlift setup. Fully depress the shoulders and keep them there for the full range of motion, no shrugging. I start teaching this at the empty bar stage because beginners have a tendency to shrug deadlifts. Very dangerous until your muscles have developed sufficiently to withstand this. The small muscles of the chest and shoulders are not adapted to the much heavier weights you can typically use in a deadlift.

[silachoo]

Do you have video of this set? I suspect we'd see a) your lats & upper back lose tension, b) the bar drift a bit forward of mid-foot, & c) your upper body "taco" (anatomical term).

I once thought I was having a heart attack after a too-difficult 5th rep of rack pulls. Just a brutal pec spasm.

I get this too sometimes. My left pec will freak out.

[Sean Herbison]

Do you have video of this set? I suspect we'd see a) your lats & upper back lose tension, b) the bar drift a bit forward of mid-foot, & c) your upper body "taco" (anatomical term).

John want to see your taco, Gumboots.

[cutlet#]

Don't worry, OP. Showing your taco to Hanley is a rite of passage around these parts. Welcome.