Lift Focus-Deadlift

By Axis Labs Athlete Josh Black
There are a few things in life that separate the boys from the men.  Things like: having courage, and confidence.  Taking action and not letting fear stand in your way. Protecting the woman you love, not being dramatic or playing games, looking for solutions. Not losing your temper, taking responsibility for your actions, standing up for what you believe in, and the most important, your deadlift. No sarcasm intended. If you have watched any of my deadlift videos for the first few months I was deadlifting, you probably cringed and said a personal prayer for me that I wouldn’t hurt myself.  Thank you! I will gladly accept all the prayers and positive vibes you have to offer me.  To sum things up, I will just say it, my form sucked! I had a few people let me know how bad my form was and instead of getting all butt hurt, I humbled myself and I immediately set the goal to master the deadlift and improve my form.  Form is the number one thing that you need to focus on because, you will prevent injury,  increase the amount of weight lifted, and in turn increase muscle mass.
Benefits of Deadlifts-
Increased Fat Burning
Better Posture
More Muscles
Real Life Lift Increases
Hormones Prevents
Injury Increased Cardio
How I Built a Stronger Deadlift
#1-Watch examples of good form-
Who is the best example you can watch perform a lift? Olympic athletes of course. The first thing I did was go onto YouTube and I watched Olympic athletes performing deadlifts.  I also watched some coaching videos.
#2-Film yourself and critique your form-
Again as some of you have already noticed, I took some video of myself and compared my videos to others and critiqued my lift. Remember to do this with an open mind, your doing this to improve.
#3-Have someone else who is experienced critique your form-
This was probably the most effective thing I did to improve my lift.  I had my coach Big Jon watch me perform my deadlift and the feedback he gave me was huge.  I already felt like the weight was lighter as he corrected some simple mistakes that I was making.  He told me to focus on a lower spot in front of me and keep my eyes on that spot. To pull up on the bar, get a slight bend then lift. To lift with my legs and once I crossed my knees I could then incorporate my back.  The little changes you make in a lift can have huge results.
#4-Lighten the weight and practice-
The last bit of advice I was given by my trainer was to lighten the weight and practice on the lower weight until my form was perfected. Again form should be your number concern.  Too many times I have seen guys, including myself try and muscle more weight that I was not ready for to appease my own ego.  Don’t do it! The strength will come with proper form.   Implementing the 4 above tips has been a huge help for me with improving my deadlift.  This last bulking season I hit a PR of 525lbs on my deadlift and I have gained almost 25lbs in 2 and a half months.  I wish it was all muscle weight.  Yes I know that 525 lbs. is weak compared to many others out there, but who gives a crap about anyone else and what they are doing, it’s you against you!  It’s you making the effort to improve yourself every day.  It’s you having the courage to start each day with the goal that you will be better today than you were yesterday.  To change your body, to build a better body. If you are not getting the muscle growth that you are hoping for, I can promise you that deadlifting will resolve that problem and the results will be very apparent.