Zercher DL's?

paolo27th

paolo27th

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Getting really curious about these. I was looking for articles but couldn't find much.
I'm especially interested in how they compare to standard DL's.
Anyone does them? Can give an opinion?
 
Finny is the resident zercher expert. Check his Youtube vids for some inspirational lifts.

They're actually a lot different than a normal deadlift. One big thing is that they have a much greater ROM.

Also, in my opinion, they aren't something you'd want to do on a regular basis, due to the rounding of the back that is unavoidable for almost everyone.

They're badass though. Give em a try. Just hook your elbows under the bar and lift the weight with whatever technique works best for you.
I know Finn used what he called the "divebomber" technique. Just before he started to stall out on the lift, he would drop his hips down so he could get under the bar and essentially zercher squat it the rest of the way.
 
Oh yeah, one more thing.

The zercher DL is the first step if you want to do prison squats. For prison squats, you zercher DL the weight, and then proceed to do a set of zercher squats with it.

Badass shit if you don't have a rack. Or even if you do.
 
I like 'em but talk about bruising up my forearms the first couple of times.

I've done ZDL's on three different work out and worked my way up to 215lbs for sets of 5x's..for 4-7 sets including warm ups. Today I'm gonna aim for 225 or even 235 for sets of 5...I'm taking it slowly and am only doing them like once a week.

You will get some looks and people will come over and tell you not to do them...cause your (I'm) gonna hurt myself...because the body isn't built to lift anything in that fashion.

Really I think men have been lifting objects off of the ground in this manner since men have been picking things up off of the ground. It's certainly a lot more natural than back squatting...
 
Bob Dobbs.
Anyway, I suggest doing Z-squats as well. It'll prep the body for the ZDLs. The forearm brusing goes away after a couple of weeks.
 
finnegan said:
Bob Dobbs.
Anyway, I suggest doing Z-squats as well. It'll prep the body for the ZDLs. The forearm brusing goes away after a couple of weeks.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info man.
I actually got interested after I started reading your log (still on page 60, will take my time).
Got an injury now but maybe I can start from light light weights to get the technique down.
I'll post a vid (of other stuff too) as soon as I can.
 
I like ZDLs. I usually use 'em as part of a warm-up for heavy conventional deads, but I think they help build power of the floor by a lot.
 
Looks terrible for your back, any explanation as to why they aren't?
 
SixTwoSix said:
Looks terrible for your back, any explanation as to why they aren't?
Click to expand...

I think that Zercher deadlifts are so manly that the additional testosterone protects the back and strengthens it. But that's just a guess.
 
I wonder what ungodly amount Konstantinov could Z dead.
 
when i do them, the lower back only lifts a little bit, then my hips and legs do 98% of the lift.
 
Good for the lower back if you build up into them.

Unfortunately I took a break and jumped back into them and twinged my lower back. That is my foolish problem, not the lift.

'A good workman never blames his tools'

At my best I did a double at 165 kg at a bw of 82.

That was last year though :icon_cry2
 
Finally tried them. Used only 110lbs for today.
Had no problem getting under the bar (I'm 5.10). But even at this light weight I could feel my lower back doing quite a bit of work.
I also tried a couple of z-squats and suddenly the weight on the bar seemed to double.
Videoed a set . I'll try to post the vid tomorrow.
 
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