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Why Isometrics Will Seriously Upgrade Your Deadlift

IsoMax Deadlift Matt Schifferle

Truth be told, the deadlift and I have never gotten along very well. The exercise has always been a very high effort, low reward activity for me. My frustrations were even prevalent back in my power-building days, when I made the deadlift a staple in my routine.

I’ve had coaches and trainers evaluate my technique, and attended seminars; and the value of the exercise continued to elude me. After years of fruitless training and frustration, I came to the conclusion that the exercise simply wasn’t right for me.

That all changed when I learned about the powerful simplicity of isometrics. The isometric deadlift is one of the most fundamental techniques in the discipline, and I quickly made it a standard technique in my routine.

Right off the bat, it was obvious why the dynamic deadlift had vexed me for so very long. I was astonished by how much I learned the moment I pulled on an IsoMax isometric bar. All of my muscle imbalances and technical hang ups were quickly amplified to the point where they were screaming in my face. I learned how my weaknesses have been hiding in the shadows of my nervous system, yet isometrics brought them to light.

At first, I was mystified as to why a simple isometric technique could bring me more benefit in a few weeks compared to years of conventional training. Now, it’s obvious why the isometric deadlift can be so powerful after learning the science behind the discipline.

#1 Resistance at any angle.

It’s always easier to effectively engage and control the tension in a muscle in a shortened position. Tension control becomes more difficult to manipulate as a muscle is elongated.

Bicep Diagrams Matt Schifferle
"Making a muscle" is a classic way to experience how a muscle often holds more tension in a shortened position rather than when elongated.


A conventional dynamic deadlift requires a lot of muscular tension in many of the posterior muscles while they are elongated. Like many, I’ve always had difficulty engaging the muscles on the backside of my body, even under the best of circumstances, and that tension control was sometimes not existent in a forward hip hinge.

Couple this with the difficulty of engaging the muscles with the point of greatest resistance during a deadlift and you have two strikes against you for performing a safe and effective exercise.
 
Resistance Engagement Deadlift Matt Schifferle
Many of the primary driving muscles are elongated at the bottom of the deadlift, which can make engaging and controlling tension in them more difficult.

Naturally, it’s a lot easier to engage the muscles in the posterior chain at the very top of the deadlift because they are shortened and easier to contract. The downside is that there is significantly less resistance against those muscle muscles in that position.
 
Resistance Engagement Deadlift Matt Schifferle

IsoMax Isometrics allows you to generate maximum resistance at all muscular lengths. You can generate as much resistance as you want with the muscle, fully contracted, fully elongated, and everywhere in between. This advantage allowed me to practice contracting the muscles in my posterior chain in a shortened position under a lot of resistance. Eventually, I was able to practice contracting those muscles in progressively elongated positions until I could successfully engage them in a full hip hinge.
 
IsoMaxDeadlift Matt Schifferle
With isometrics, both potential muscular engagement and resistance are very high at all angles.

#2 Quickly identify muscular imbalances.

I’ve long struggled with chronic muscle imbalances in my back. Most of these imbalances were due to a chronically elevated in protracted, right scapula.

It was very difficult to handle slight imbalances during dynamic training where the difference may be prevalent for a fraction of a second during each repetition. Not to mention that this imbalance was so slight that it often went unnoticed, even to the trained eye. However, I was always feeling the effect of the imbalance as my left lower back was always giving me issues whenever I made even light deadlifts a part of my routine.

IsoMax Isometrics are a powerful tool for quickly identifying, and fixing muscular imbalances. The immediate access to unlimited resistance amplifies even the smallest of imbalances so they go from hardly noticeable, to blatantly obvious.

#3 Muscular therapy.

Not only were isometric deadlifts instrumental in helping me identify my imbalances, they were the ultimate solution for overcoming them as well.

Once I identified the imbalances in my back and hip, I started employing the most perfect technique and balanced tension control I could with isometrics.

This was a very humbling experience because I could only execute a proper harmonious, deadlift with relatively light resistance. Some days I would only pull on the handle with 135 pounds. That was in stark contrast to the much heavier weights I was lifting on the barbell; albeit with loads of technical compensation.

The reason why the heavier weights on the barbell were giving me problems was because my goal with dynamic deadlifts was to just lift the weight. I figured that as long as my physical technique was on point, and I was lifting the weight, then that was sufficient to see results. Now I know I was setting a pretty low standard for myself.

IsoMax Isometrics taught me that it’s the engagement and use of the proper muscles that’s central to effective and safe strength training. It didn’t matter if I was hitting a PR on the barbell or grinding through a few more repetitions; using compensation in my technique was only compromising the effectiveness of the exercise. Exploring the deadlift under the looking glass of isometric training affords the ability to address those small imbalances so they can finally be fixed.

#4 More time under tension.

The biggest advantage I’ve experienced from using isometric deadlifts is the ability to subject my muscles to a  very high degree of tension for a very long time without interruption.

Most dynamic exercises place a muscle under heavy resistance for a short period of time during each repetition. In the case of the deadlift, I was experiencing high resistance, and therefore generating high tension, in the lower portion of each rep. This meant that my muscles were only working hard for 5 to 10 seconds per set at the most.  I would often place my muscles under tension for only 30-40 seconds in a total during a deadlift workout.

With Isometrics, I have the ability to place a lot of tension on my muscles under constant resistance for a much longer period of time. This constant resistance allowed me to practice proper alignment and tension control at a much faster pace. I could accomplish proficiency with a few isometric holds than I potentially would in an entire week of training.
 
IsoMaxDeadlift ResistanceChart Matt Schifferle

It wasn’t just the fact that I could place my muscles under a lot more tension for a longer period of time in each workout, but I could also train much more frequently. Standard dynamic deadlifts can be very taxing on the body and the nervous system which means they require substantial recovery. Isometrics inherently require far less recovery, which meant that I could practice the isometric deadlift almost every day of the week which also further accelerated my progress.

These days, the isometric deadlift is back to being one of the staples in my routine, especially as it’s so easy to practice isometrically. I usually keep my IsoMax set up for deadlifts so I will often just grab a couple of quick isometric reps on a whim.

The Deadlift is a much more approachable and effective technique for me now thanks to the IsoMax isometrics and it continues to elevate the strength in my posterior chain. I firmly believe that my success has only been possible through the use of isometrics, and the value it has given me.

Matt Schifferle (shif-er-lee) is on a mission to help people break free of the fitness rat race and make the whole world stonger through calisthenics and Isometrics training. A fitness coach for over two decades, he created his Red Delta Project to empower people with more freedom and control over their healthy lifestyle.

Matt works with a wide variety of clients in Denver Colorado where he’s constantly testing his Fundamental Approach to Fitness on the mountain bike trail and local brew pubs.

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