Improving Your Deadlift, Without Deadlifting

One of the most common weak points (there's several actually) when it comes to improving your deadlift is poor (aka: weak) posture.

Specifically the upper back muscles (I won't bore you with the names of the muscles). 

Here's why posture is important (health is the obvious reason), coming from a background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), leverage is paramount.

BJJ is all about posture and positioning.

The better our posture is, the better our positioning [and leverage] will be, ultimately ending in a finish, aka: submission.

So when it comes to finishing the deadlift the approach is the same. The better our posture is, the better our positioning will be. This will give us the greatest leverage over the bar.

In today's technique of the week we will be covering "The Zercher Squat".

The Zercher squat is named after a decorated lifter by the name of Ed Zercher whom reportedly pulled 536 pounds at 155 pounds bodyweight (3.45 x his bodyweight) in 1934.

If you watched the video above, the Zercher Squat [and deadlift] IMHO are arguably the  best exercise(s) with the most carryover to the deadlift... specifically the sumo deadlift.

Benefits

1. Improved upper back strength (posture)
2. Stronger abs (who doesn't want rock hard abs?!)
3. Stronger back (to make everyday tasks, easier)
4. Less sheer force on the spine (compared to the back squat)
5. It's cool (obviously)

Tactical (aka: practical, but the word 'Tactical' sounds cooler) Application

Clearly the health benefits are there but, if you're a martial artist (wrestling, bjj, mma, etc...) the carry over is huge.

Coming from a BJJ background, the stronger my posture is in this vulnerable position, the likely hood of my ability to escape will be higher.