So You Think You Can Deadlift? (Part 7)

Welcome to the long-awaited follow-up to Matt Wenning's popular "SYTYCS" series. This time, Matt targets the pull in the same expert fashion that he did with the squat. We brought in loyal elitefts™ customer and amateur strongman competitor Ryan Minney as our training subject.

His form is broken down, analyzed and a thorough plan to improve his deadlift is laid-out.

In part 6, Matt introduces the 45-degree back raise extension. This is a great variation to hit all the muscles Ryan used to perform the goodmornings and straight-legged deadlifts, but without any vertical spine compression.

In this installment, Matt emphasizes the need for incorporating abdominal work throughout the week. He has Ryan demonstrate Roman chairs on the glute-ham raise. This is one of Matt's favorite exercises because it strengthens the abdominals, including the hip flexors.

Overall, you can never discredit ab work. As Matt explains, it's one of those areas that needs constant attention to allow one to pull for long periods of time.