Rolling start deadlift

[cardinaljack56]

Rip I've seen some forum Q's on this from long ago but hoping you could go into it more on the podcast. Are there benefits to a rolling bar start on the DL? Watching Andrea Thompsons WR pull last weekend made me want to ask. I know at the end of the day you gotta pull the bar to a lockout but to me this creates more room for error from the start, so why do it?

Video: Full Live Stream | Andrea Thompson Women's Deadlift Record Attempt - YouTube

[Mark Rippetoe]

This is neither a world record, nor a deadlift. Records are set at meets, and deadlifts are performed without straps. This is a very strong woman doing a very heavy pull, not a record deadlift. The rolling around in the floor is just the way she does it, not the most efficient way to do it, for the reason you state.

[Nockian]

Funnily enough I was going to ask a similar question. I watched a guy in our gym pull a triple at 625lbs. He rolled the bar and then sort of squatted back prior to lifting. The lifts looked really clean, but I wondered what the point of the squat was ?

[AndrewLewis]

People have been having some interesting opinions on what constitutes a world record lately:
generationiron.com/powerlifter-brian-carroll-world-record-squat

[Steven Z]

deadlifts are performed without straps

When the weight starts getting really heavy like that do lifters start having problems with alternate and hook grip failing? What do they have to do at that point to be able to keep their grip? Just curious.

[Mark Rippetoe]

They use straps. But then it's not a deadlift.

[Petar Velchev]

When the weight starts getting really heavy like that do lifters start having problems with alternate and hook grip failing? What do they have to do at that point to be able to keep their grip? Just curious.

The sport of "Strongman" almost always allows the use of straps for pulls that look like deadlifts, as well as "hitching" the lockout. So if the rules of a sport you compete in allow it, you just play by the rules like everyone else. Plus grip strength is often needed for other disciplines, like stone loading, farmers carry etc.

I think when strongman competitors use straps in the pulling "deadlift" like events, its not necessarily because they wouldn't be able to grip that weight but merely because they are allowed to.

What do they have to do at that point to be able to keep their grip? Just curious.

Guess many of them do these types of weird implements to train grip specifically, given that their barbell deadlift is already really strong and they can't milk that for the benefits of grip. 2020 Rogue Record Breakers Qualifier | Event 2 - Men's & Women's Anvil Grip Lift - YouTube

And use straps when they are allowed to ofcourse.

[tompaynter]

Funnily enough I was going to ask a similar question. I watched a guy in our gym pull a triple at 625lbs. He rolled the bar and then sort of squatted back prior to lifting. The lifts looked really clean, but I wondered what the point of the squat was ?

I don't deadlift this way and I don't advocate it...I follow SS form as best I can. But I wonder if there is, or people believe there is, a sort of plyometric rebound effect. I think you can jump higher if you drop into a squat and then jump immediately, rather than pausing in the squat before jumping. By dropping into a squat before coming up into the deadlift start position, are people trying for a rebound effect like this? Sorry I don't know the technical term. Or maybe they are trying to generate momentum, get their body weight moving before taking on the weight of the bar?

[Mark Rippetoe]

People without a science education have long been of the opinion that by rolling the bar toward themselves they are creating horizontal momentum that can be turned into vertical momentum when the pull starts. This, of course, requires a simple machine called a ramp.

[gadders]

Deadlifts with straps is pretty much the strongman way. One of the arguments is that on a multi-event strongman competition, there will be other events that tax grip specifically (such as farmers carries) so the grip capabilities are preserved for those events.


The lady in the original post, Andrea Thompson, set a ladies log lift record in July as well for 135kg. She used to occasionally train in a gym I used to go to try strongman implements. She's a lot more muscly now, but when I first saw her she just looked like a regular lady with some extra padding but even then was lifting much heavier weights than you would expect from looking at her.