to deadlift or not to deadlift?

[midgetcop]

Quick question - I'm thinking of incorporating deadlifts into my leg day. So far I'm just doing below-parallel squats and a lungewalk....altough I'm making pretty good gains with these exercises, I've noticed that other people are doing far more on their leg days.

Would deadlifts be overkill? And if not, should I be looking at regular deeadlifts or stiff-legged?

[maverick]

depends what you want to target. SLDLs target your hamstrings, standard DLs hit your quads (among many others). I used to do SLDLs as my primary hamstring exercise, but I hurt my back doing them (not sure how, thought I had good form) and can't now. I do deadlifts on my back day and can't imagine having to do squats before or after them. Both of those exercises kick my ass.

My leg day is pretty standard:
squats x 3
leg presses x 2
leg curls x 3
calf raises x 3

What's your look like?

[midgetcop]

You can take a look at my leg workout for today here.

I incorporated DL's into the workout, and it went pretty well. Do I really need anything on top of squats and deadlift?

[Todd]

The regular deadlift is primarily a back exercise, not a leg one, so I don't see why one would ever do these on leg day.... you'd be robbing yourself out of gains that are for your back ...and basically you wouldn't benefit your legs or your back by placing them on leg day. Keep them for back day and you'll get the most out of what the exercise is intended for.

Now, SLDL's are a different story....these you can include as part of your hamstring regimen, and they are the best hamstring exercise you can do for them.

[Firehawk]

I think glute/ham raises are even better than SLDL's. But SLDL's are second on my list .

[tH3NinJ4!!]

I suggest you do stiff legs and regular deadlifts.

Kc

[rangers97]

ok I would love to do SLDL in addition to my regular deads, but can someone explain to me how to do these without killing my back? I have studied form, and I am pretty sure I have it down on the SLDL, but for some reason when I do them, I feel it in my lower back much more than even on regular deads, so in esscence, it would be impossible for me to do both in a weeks time because I do deads on mondays, and my next lower day is thursday and my back doesn't feel recovered by then.
the only thing I can think of is that my hamstrings are not very flexible, like I can't touch my toes or anything like that, does that have an impact on the SLDL? I try to keep my knees as close to locked and straight as possible, but my back takes a pounding from them. I feel it in my hams, but 10x more in my lower back.

[Todd]

Yes, hamstring flexibility is vital in performing the SLDL properly, and getting the most results out of it for your hamstrings, instead of your lower back. Also, another thing to consider is the amount of weight being used. I know for fact that when I try to go too heavy with SLDL's, I feel it in the lower back and not in my hamstrings. Work on getting your hamstrings more flexible (stretch them between sets or at the end of your workouts) and then making sure you start out light, concentrating on proper form. SLDL's take A LOT of concentration in order to make the exercise work the hamstrings correctly.

Hope that helps.

[Mr VW]

So I have a quick question...I do deadlifts but instead of taking the weight down after bringing it up I just drop it...is that bad? I just figured that there is a lot of tension on my back while going down..so I tried to limit that as much as possible...any suggestions from anyone?

[eric]

Originally Posted by Mr VW

So I have a quick question...I do deadlifts but instead of taking the weight down after bringing it up I just drop it...is that bad? I just figured that there is a lot of tension on my back while going down..so I tried to limit that as much as possible...any suggestions from anyone?

The benefit of the deadlift is on the uptake, not the down. The problem is that a lot of gyms don't want you to drop their weights.

[DaRkAnGel]

Originally Posted by midgetcop

Quick question - I'm thinking of incorporating deadlifts into my leg day. So far I'm just doing below-parallel squats and a lungewalk....altough I'm making pretty good gains with these exercises, I've noticed that other people are doing far more on their leg days.

Would deadlifts be overkill? And if not, should I be looking at regular deeadlifts or stiff-legged?

Lungewalk is endurance stuff and not for strength. Use that for your cardio and endurance training and not for hitting your legs (unless your legs are majorly weak).

And yes, put in deadlifts. I am squatting/deadlifitng twice a week right now and working the same body parts on days that i'm not. So my logic is if a fat guy can do it why not yourself?

[midgetcop]

dark - I'm doing lungewalk specifically so I can work on leg endurance.

todd - So you would recommend SLDL for leg days? I've found so far that regular DL's have been leaving my lower back and hams tender...it's hard to tell whether it would be more of a back or leg exercise. Strangely enough, I always thought it was the OTHER way around: SLDL mainly for back, and vice versa.

[gcs118]

SLDLs work your hamstrings great, but you have to do them right so they hit the hamstrings and not just the lower back. The trick is to have a slight bend in the knee, and you thrust your hips backward and forward to move the weight down and up. If you just bend at the waist, you'll be using all lower back almost.

[jimmyv]

"The benefit of the deadlift is on the uptake, not the down. The problem is that a lot of gyms don't want you to drop their weights."

Where's this coming from? Why would the negative on a deadlift be any less valuable than the negative on any other lift?

[DaRkAnGel]

Deadlift isn't made to be a concentric eccentric lift. It's too hard to keep the same form on the way down and as a safety precaution with big weights its better to just set them down easily rather than actually concentrate on holding the negative.