DEADLIFT MORE

Deadlifts are often a HOT topic amongst the bros, some are utterly afraid of performing it, with fears that it will break their backs in half while others just throw caution out of the window and perform straight-up vertebrae drilling due to shitty technique and ego lifting, straining through the ugliest reps in the whole damn holler.

The truth lies in the middle—Deadlifts are EXTREMELY SIMPLE— you're just picking something up from the ground, using your entire body.

As a beginner if you understand what actually makes you lift more weight on the deadlift you can strategize and milk some GNARLY hypertrophy and strength gainz.

Since the deadlift is one of the gold standard exercises to increase your absolute strength, people often think that to get better results with deadlifts you need to increase your strength constantly— always increasing the weight whenever it's possible to apply PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD— and that's FLAT OUT WRONG!

The first primary adaptation that will make you lift more weight on the deadlift is COORDINATION, your body needs to be exposed to that pattern of movement and resistance so it can learn how to optimize its balance and leverages allowing you to lift more weight with the muscles, and neurological power output you already have— odds are, you already have enough muscle to lift A SHITLOAD of weight on the deadlift— WAY MORE THAN YOU'RE LIFTING RIGHT NOW— but your body doesn't know how to do it yet, so you gotta build your coordination, teach your body how to assume the best position to conjure the power it already has.

That's why TECHNIQUE IS SO IMPORTANT— it's not JUST about protecting yourself, which is an AWESOME side effect of great technique— technique is THE THING that allows you to progress consistently, and to improve your technique, it's mostly a matter of LOTS OF REPETITIONS.

The problem is that sometimes people go on the internet and read a fucking manual of how to "optimally" deadlift, and outside of learning how to brace your spine, which is mostly the same for everybody, 99% of it is plain USELESS and potentially HARMFUL.

For instance, cues are individual, if I say to lifter A "push the world away like a leg press" he might understand how to perform the lift better, but lifter B might need a different cue like "sit on your heels" to make him understand how to break the bar from the floor optimally.

Having a basic understanding of the lift is dope, but you shouldn't go 100% by the book with this movement because you'll force your body to engage in a pattern of movement that is not optimized for its own biomechanics.

Your body is way smarter than you, you have brain centers fully dedicated to assuming the best position possible, and they also LEARN how to optimize the movement patterns that you perform the most, so having a giant list of steps can potentially override your body's strength development— don't overthink this shit, let your body figure out how to do it, think about it this way— if you wanted to get good at free-throws on basketball, how would you go about it?

There are super simple things you need someone to tell you, like how to grip the ball and assume a stance, but precision will come only with a SHITTON of repetitions, every time you go there and perform lots of repetitions on the free-throws your body generates micro-adjustments that subconsciously makes you more precise.

Deadlifting is the EXACT SAME THING— every time you perform a bunch of reps, your body is doing the exact same thing, learning small adjustments and micro changes in your positioning to optimize your leverages and balance increasing your capacity to lift heavier.

The second primary adaptation that will allow you to lift more weight on the deadlifts, is increasing motor unit recruitment by introducing axial loading of the spine stimulating your entire central nervous system, essentially you put resistance through your spine and your body will learn how to inform its muscles it's time to work.

So in conclusion, it's not exactly about how much weight is on the bar, but how much and often you deadlift.

You guys are always asking me how can you increase your strength while in a caloric deficit— here is the key, DEADLIFT MORE.

Submaximal weights, with a HUGE focus on technique— all those reps with submaximal loads are all engraining in your brain how to optimally position yourself to lift more weight.

That's it, bruh— BANG IRON!

AND STAY ON THE IRON PATH!

Big KISS,

THE POTATO MAN