Strongman Robert Oberst Says You Shouldn't Do Deadlifts

[GordoBarraBJJ]

Interesting

 

[MilkManUK]

Thanks for posting, although he does say if you're not deadlifting to become a better deadlifter, don't do it. So for those with an interest in powerlifting or strongman, he's not saying you shouldn't deadlift. His point is for football / other sports, the risk to reward ratio isn't worth it, which I don't think is ground-breaking advice.

 

[KnightTemplar]

Thanks for posting, although he does say if you're not deadlifting to become a better deadlifter, don't do it. So for those with an interest in powerlifting or strongman, he's not saying you shouldn't deadlift. His point is for football / other sports, the risk to reward ratio isn't worth it, which I don't think is ground-breaking advice.

Exactly. Powerlifting is a great sport, but it's at best inefficient to train like a powerlifter if your main focus is another sport. I've read that NFL, Rugby, NBA players etc prefer to use Trap Bar for their Deadlift. While it won't make them as strong as deadlifting with a barbell would, it's a lot safer. And if you're not actually competing in a strength sport, then strength training is just another part of GPP.

 

[LatFlare]

Is this the strong and pretty guy who is known more for his banter with Eddie Hall than his lifting ability?

 

[Mcmoon]

I don't get it. He says the risk isn't worth it and says go into any professional place and they won't be deadlifting but will be hang cleaning and power cleaning. In what world are those 2 lifts safer than deadlift? They are far more technical lifts than deadlift.

 

[Grenz]

I only watched the start of the video because he gets off the topic pretty quickly so maybe he added more, but I’ve always thought of the deadlift as one of the most functional moves one could do. Your entire life, you’re picking shit up off the floor on a daily basis. I agree that it’s probably not beneficial for the majority of the population to strive and work towards a 3x BW deadlift, but I think everyone could benefit by being able to pull a reasonable amount of weight off the floor with good form. Then there’s the fact that the deadlift is one of the best movements for building overall strength, which again, is something the majority of humans can benefit from.

 

[Oblivian]

I think he has an argument, but there are counter arguments to it as well. Its not uncommon for people to pull and get out of position. The only time that I've really injured myself was deadlifting. I wasn't a complete newb at that point either - I was pulling 500+ by then. You see a lot of beginners who pull way to hard at first and can get rounded. With that said, I think it's very beneficial to learn to pull properly. As someone else mentioned, you use that in everyday life. In MMA, you see a lot of guys without wrestling backgrounds trying to get takedowns. They don't understand the concept at all of not being folded completely at the waist. You can notice that with people picking up boxes or whatever else too. It's a good skill to have.

 

[dissectingaorticaneurysm]

Exactly. Powerlifting is a great sport, but it's at best inefficient to train like a powerlifter if your main focus is another sport. I've read that NFL, Rugby, NBA players etc prefer to use Trap Bar for their Deadlift. While it won't make them as strong as deadlifting with a barbell would, it's a lot safer. And if you're not actually competing in a strength sport, then strength training is just another part of GPP.

Matt Wenning trains military and firefighters and teaches them sumo deadlifts. He has a seminar about why sumo is better for GPP and general strength over the conventional deadlift. With less risk of injury and better response from higher frequency.

Think about how you would lift a heavy uneven object from the ground. You would straddle your legs around it with your arms inbetween. Zerchers and stone lifts can also train this.

 

[deadshot138]

Matt Wenning trains military and firefighters and teaches them sumo deadlifts. He has a seminar about why sumo is better for GPP and general strength over the conventional deadlift. With less risk of injury and better response from higher frequency.

Think about how you would lift a heavy uneven object from the ground. You would straddle your legs around it with your arms inbetween. Zerchers and stone lifts can also train this.

Wenning>Oberst tbh

 

[KnightTemplar]

I think he has an argument, but there are counter arguments to it as well. Its not uncommon for people to pull and get out of position. The only time that I've really injured myself was deadlifting. I wasn't a complete newb at that point either - I was pulling 500+ by then. You see a lot of beginners who pull way to hard at first and can get rounded. With that said, I think it's very beneficial to learn to pull properly. As someone else mentioned, you use that in everyday life. In MMA, you see a lot of guys without wrestling backgrounds trying to get takedowns. They don't understand the concept at all of not being folded completely at the waist. You can notice that with people picking up boxes or whatever else too. It's a good skill to have.

I agree it's a good skill to have. But personally I think it can be developed using trap bar deadlifts to a level that benefits any non-Powerlifter. With far less risk of injury than conventional deadlifts. Again, just my opinion.

 

[Grenz]

You see a lot of beginners who pull way to hard at first and can get rounded.

I think that’s one the main issues when it comes to deadlifting and beginners/people who don’t know what they’re doing: the deadlift, perhaps more than any other of the big compounds lends itself very well to ego lifting. There’s a significant difference in terms of weight between a technically sound double on which most of your training should be based on vs what you can pull off the floor with a rounded back, dropping the weight from lockout for one of hell of a grinder 1RM. But the latter is what you’ll see from most bros who discovered the big compound lifts 3 months ago, and inevitably they will walk away with an injury given enough time.

 

[deadshot138]

If you know how to pull the slack out of the bar and hip hinge instead of bending over, deadlifting is safe.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

He’s entitled to an opinion even if it is bs

 

[National Acrobat]

Exactly. Powerlifting is a great sport, but it's at best inefficient to train like a powerlifter if your main focus is another sport. I've read that NFL, Rugby, NBA players etc prefer to use Trap Bar for their Deadlift. While it won't make them as strong as deadlifting with a barbell would, it's a lot safer. And if you're not actually competing in a strength sport, then strength training is just another part of GPP.

Greg Nuckols has written about the benefits of the trap bar deadlfit over the barbell variation. I think he makes strong points
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/trap-bar-deadlifts/

The second, more interesting study (in my opinion) compared barbell and low handle trap bar deadlifts with 90% 1RM loads. Crucially, it compared 90% 1RM barbell DL loads to 90% 1RM trap bar DL loads, whereas some previous research had used the same absolute loads for both variations (which means a higher percentage of 1RM for barbell DLs, and a lower percentage of 1RM for trap bar DLs). This study found that mean force, velocity, power, total work, and time spent accelerating were all significantly higher with the trap bar deadlift, even when using the same percentage of 1RM. This furthers the case that trap bar DLs may have more direct carryover to athletic performance than barbell deadlifts. This study was reviewed in the January 2018 issue of MASS in much more detail.

I think anyone who has trained deadlifts knows that tweaks are a part of training. So when people talk about getting injured they might not be thinking of a blown out back but getting your training hampered for a couple weeks. If you're a pro athlete getting tweaked using an exercise that could be replaced by a similar exercise that gives the exact same benefits is not intelligient exercise selection.

 

[Pitbull]

Deadlift is a fine exercise, but it's far from essential.

I pulled 500lbs in comp a couple years ago having done a barbell deadlift less than ten times before. I would only start again if I planned to compete. I don't see any reason to do them otherwise.

 

[AndrewFiedelman]

The only argument against deadlifts for athletes should be that they are too tasking on the CNS. If you do deadlifts, especially at a high volume, it'll take days before you feel fully recovered. This makes training outside of lifting much harder. This guy talks about injury risks and then says that power cleans are a much better lift for athletic performance. Lol... while that may be true, a power clean is a much more technical lift that requires a shit ton of technique work to be good at and leaves a greater risk for injury if you're doing them heavy (like they were intended on being done by Olympic Weightlifters).

I'll concur with the poster above (and G.Nuckols) that trap bar deadlifts are a better lift for athletes but that's still a deadlift.

Don't take advice from this Robert guy.

 

[WARinsertname]

The same Oberst who has one of the weaker deadlifts in strongman? His highest was 740 for 4 in competition.

There are at least 7 or 8 guys in strongman alone who pull that for reps in training.

Fuck Rob in this case.lol

Martins was training reps in 800+ in his youtube training vids leading up to WSM.

 

[EL CORINTHIAN]

I'll concur with the poster above (and G.Nuckols) that trap bar deadlifts are a better lift for athletes but that's still a deadlift.

I think he (Oberst) means conventional deadlift specifically. It's commonly accepted that the risk-reward just isn't worth it for athletes that are always drilling and doing other specific things. Pulling from the floor still has amazing benefits that the trap Bar allows a lifter to get.

The only argument of it being too taxing on the CNS as you mention is the only argument that needs to be addressed.

 

[Oblivian]

I always hear people talk about the deadlift being so much more taxing on the CNS, but is that really true for everyone? At this point, squats feel more taxing to me. Granted, squat is my best lift and may seem a high load compared to other lifts, but I think there are other reasons. With squats, you are under the load the entire time. Unracking, walking out, squatting, rerack, etc. I'm under tension for less time with deadlifts.

FWIW, I've done both lifts multiple times per week. At this point in my life though, I'm positive squatting twice a week is more taxing on me than deadlifting twice a week.

 

[ASUThermo]

I always hear people talk about the deadlift being so much more taxing on the CNS, but is that really true for everyone? At this point, squats feel more taxing to me. Granted, squat is my best lift and may seem a high load compared to other lifts, but I think there are other reasons. With squats, you are under the load the entire time. Unracking, walking out, squatting, rerack, etc. I'm under tension for less time with deadlifts.

FWIW, I've done both lifts multiple times per week. At this point in my life though, I'm positive squatting twice a week is more taxing on me than deadlifting twice a week.

Squats beat me up the most for sure, a few guys I train with say the same thing. At first I thought it might be a getting older thing, but they range from 28-38.