Deadlifting Basics with Dr. Graham : The Proper Stance

What is the best stance to use when performing the dead lift? Is one stance safer than another? Is there a specific stance that is used to lift heavy? Dr. Doug Graham demonstrates the varied stances available when deadlifting.

Transcript

Hi, Dr. Doug Graham here with another deadlifting tip. Today we’re going to look at the stance, how do you hold your feet when you approach the bar. There are two standard stances, one’s just called regular and one is called sumo. I’m going to show you both, but in reality, there’s everything in between as well.

If you want to have the ideal deadlift stance, it’s the one that feels most comfortable to you and gets you the best results. Different stances will result in slightly different lifting mechanics and we’re going to have to pay attention to how do you wish to lift.

A standard deadlift would be with legs set about shoulder width apart. If they’re shoulder width apart, we’re just about where most people do their deadlifting. They might be just slightly larger apart, farther apart than shoulder width, or we like to think we have bigger shoulders than we really do.

If we’re just about there, we can come close to the bar, feet facing forward. We’re going to put our grip on the outside of our legs and that’s about what we’re going to see.

In a sumo stance, the feet turn out as the legs go out. The further apart they go, the more they turn out. Most people don’t go super wide but it is certainly legal. By the time we’re out even this far apart, where about the heels are a little wider than shoulder width, the feet are already turned out.

This stance creates some challenging mechanics because at this point it’s not so easy to balance with your feet turned way out, so we have to be a little more aware of the fact that your balance isn’t as good but you do get a slightly different usage of the hamstring and adductor muscles when we’re in the sumo position as opposed as to when we’re in a standard stance.

What you’ll find typically is that the people who use a standard stance find it easier to get the weight off the ground, but a little harder to finish the lift because they’re coming up so high and they had to bend over so low, a little tougher to finish and they’re a tendency to jimmy up the legs.

Whereas with the sumo stance, the beginning of the lift tends to be the most difficult. The hardest thing is to overcome the momentum of the bar or the inertia of the bar on the ground and to get that first inch or two off the ground. Once you get that beginning part of the lift, then the finishing of the lift, the erect stance holding the bar high, that part tends to be quite easy and is usually a predictable finish if you can get the start.

Two possible lifts, legs relatively close together, arms on the outside of the legs. In the sumo position with the feet apart and angled out, at that point the arms go inside the legs and you have your choice of style.

Do the style of lifting that works best for you. This is Dr. Doug Graham with another deadlifting tip.

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About Dr. Doug Graham

Dr. Douglas Graham, a lifetime athlete and raw fooder since 1978, is an advisor to world-class and motivated athletes and trainers from around the globe. He has worked professionally with top performers from almost every sport and every field of entertainment, including such notables as tennis legend Martina Navratilova, NBA pro basketball players Ronnie Grandison and Michael Porter Jr., track Olympic sprinter Doug Dickinson, pro women's soccer player Callie Withers, championship bodybuilder Kenneth G. Williams, Chicken Soup for the Soul coauthor Mark Victor Hansen, and actress Demi Moore. As owner of a fasting retreat in the Florida Keys for ten years, Dr. Graham personally supervised thousands of fasts. He was in private practice as a chiropractor for twenty years, before retiring to focus on his writing and speaking. Dr. Graham is the author of many books on health and raw food including The 80/10/10 Diet, The High Energy Diet Recipe Guide, Nutrition and Athletic Performance, Grain Damage, Prevention and Care of Athletic Injuries, and his latest, Perpetual Health 365. He has shared his strategies for success with audiences at more than 4,000 presentations worldwide. Recognized as one of the fathers of the modern raw movement, Dr. Graham is the only lecturer to have attended and given keynote presentations at all of the major raw events in the world for each of the last eight years. Dr. Graham has served on the board of governors of the International Association of Professional Natural Hygienists and the board of directors of the American Natural Hygiene Society. He is on the board of advisors of Voice for a Viable Future, Living Light Films, Vegetarian Union of North America, and EarthSave International and serves as nutrition advisor for the magazine Exercise, For Men Only. Dr. Graham is the raw foods and fitness advisor for The801010Forum.com. He taught the Health Educator program at Hippocrates Institute, served as the "source authority" for Harmonious Living, and authors a column for the magazines Get Fresh! and Vibrance (previously known as Living Nutrition). Dr. Graham is the creator of "Simply Delicious" cuisine and director of Health and Fitness Week, which provides Olympic-class training and nutrition for people of all fitness levels in beautiful settings around the world. He will inspire, motivate, educate, and entertain you like no one else in the health movement can.