The 3 armed Deadlift

BossArky

You may remember the spotting the leg press thread a few months back.

Last night there were two fellows (not the same two as ^^) helping each other deadlift the bar up so that they could shrug it. One guy would assume a deadlift position, whilst the other stood in front and used one arm to help out until the first fellow was standing.

The bar plus weights were 80kg. If the fellow attempting to lift the bar off the ground cannot lift it unassisted then does he have any business trying to shrug it?

I guess my question is should you be able to barbell shurg more than you can deadlift? I would think not.

justsomebloke

from the thread title I thought this was going to be slightly dirtier then it actually is. Must take my mind out of the gutter

cardio,shoot me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnaXdI9P0kM

i think this is slightly more awesome

Kev M

BossArky wrote: »

I guess my question is should you be able to barbell shurg more than you can deadlift? I would think not.

Most people new to training shrug more than they can deadlift.
With straps I'd say there are plenty of intermediate/adv guys who can shrug more too.

Here's an extreme example: Ronnie Coleman could deadlift 800lbs x 3, but could shrug 800lbs x 12.

rubadub

BossArky wrote: »

I guess my question is should you be able to barbell shurg more than you can deadlift? I would think not.

I can anyway, I think I used to shrug 80kg with a single arm using a tricep bar for reps. Whether I should be able to or not is a good question though.

Relative strength of muscle groups is an interesting subject. I remember seeing 2 photos of 3 gymnasts and 3 weight lifters on a podium getting medals, the gymnasts all with tiny legs, valuing uppper body strength and low body weight more, lifters had huge legs.

If people saw my workout log they would probably think my legs are lagging behind, but they are stronger than I personally need and I would consider my upperbody to be lagging behind. Most of the work I do in daily life would require upper body strength, leg power is never an issue. People are walking around all day long and so in effect are training their legs all the time. If people walked on all fours or on their hands then naturally I would expect their legs to atropy and arms to develop. A guy on my old road had polio (I think), had massive arms from going on crutches 24/7, and of course severely atrophied legs.

If the fellow attempting to lift the bar off the ground cannot lift it unassisted then does he have any business trying to shrug it?

What other exercises would you say similar things about, should you have "any business" front squatting a weight you cannot clean up to position? I have no squat rack so used to be limited to squatting what I could press over onto my back.

BTW- I thought this thread was going to be some contraption that goes around your upper body to assist in the lift, like a harness going over your shoulders so your arms are not a limiting factor.

Nate--IRL--

Kev M wrote: »

Most people new to training shrug more than they can deadlift.
With straps I'd say there are plenty of intermediate/adv guys who can shrug more too.

Here's an extreme example: Ronnie Coleman could deadlift 800lbs x 3, but could shrug 800lbs x 12.

I would have thought anybody who trains DL and shrugs for an equal amount of time would be able to shrug more that they can DL. My shrugs have always been about 20-30kgs better than my DLs.

Nate

brianthebard

Shrugs have a tiny range of motion too which I imagine contributes here. I see plenty of scrawny guys in the gym take down the 50kg bells or close to and barely manage to stay upright while holding them, or put them back on the rack without a struggle, but they can still shrug whatever weight they're holding.


Mind you if you're going to shrug more than you can lift off the floor then you've no business setting up the bar on the floor in the first place.