The Other Unparalleled Exercise by Jan Dellinger

by Jan Dellinger

Other Equipment Options

Straight bars and Trap Bars are not the only implements applicable to the bent-leg deadlift. As Eric Bryan documented in HARDGAINER issue #33, dumbbells are a viable alternative for this wonderful gaining exercise.

Hardgainer Magazine #33

Few of us ever consider this possibility because we so strongly associate these particular training tools with the practice of upper-body movements only.

Frankly, I was guilty of failing to connect heavy dumbbells with deadlifting, until the mid-1980s when Dr. Ken Leistner submitted an article dealing with this very exercise for publication in MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT.

What a natural fit, and for reasons beyond just results.

In broad terms, many of the same pluses from using the Trap Bar for deadlifts can be approximated with dumbbells, i.e., resistance kept closer to one's center of gravity, the hands applied in a more advantageous force-generating position while leaving the biceps less vulnerable to injury, and, because the plates of the dumbbells are smaller, the trainee must adopt a deeper starting position, thereby achieving a greater range of pulling motion.

Perhaps the biggest drawback with the exercise for veteran trainees is finding dumbbells of sufficient weight, especially in the typical commercial gym where a pair of 100 pounders may be the heaviest

Here again, a home trainee may have an advantage in that he can secure a pair of the long, extra-heavy-duty handles, along with the required plates, and fashion his own "monster" 'bells. The unavailability of really big dumbbells was one reason why Leistner advocated high reps (15-20) in the dumbbell deadlift. Still, 20 reps with a pair of 150-lb dumbbells would prove most challenging to the bulk of HARDGAINER readers.

Be advised that this task would prove a lot tougher than the same rep number with a 300-lb Olympic bar.

THE END

Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V - Part VI - Part VII - Part VIII - Part IX - Part X - Part XI - Part XII

The Original Gerard Trap Bar

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The Other Unparalleled Exercise (cont.)

by Jan Dellinger

THE END