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Exercise of the month: the elevated snatch-grip deadlift

Men's Fitness, April, 2005 by Cameron McGarr

ITS NAME HAS FOUR WORDS AND EIGHT syllables--but the elevated snatch-grip deadlift is even tougher to do than it is to say. In reverse order, here's why those words build awesome muscle and strength:

Deadlift: You're using almost every muscle in your body--from the gripping muscles in your hands and forearms to your spine-protecting core, powerful glutens and hamstrings, and the parts of your feet and ankles that keep you balanced.

Snatch-grip: By widening the grip to where you would hold the bar in an Olympic snatch, you make the exercise harder on the muscles in your shoulders, back, and midsection, which control your posture.

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Elevated: What's harder than picking up a heavy weight off the floor? Picking up a heavy weight from below the floor. When you stand on a step, you increase the range of motion a few inches. Since the lowest third is the hardest part of the deadlift's range, you make the exercise dramatically harder and more effective. (In a few weeks, go back to the regular deadlift--you'll be much stronger overall.)

How to do it: Use a weight that's about a third of what you'd ordinarily use on a max-effort deadlift. (If you have no idea how much you can deadlift, start with the bar and a couple of 5- or 10-potmd plates and build up from there.) Now stand on a sturdy platform--an aerobic step or a couple of 25-pound weight plates, for instance--so that your feet are a few inches off the floor. From the starting position (grab the bar with a wide, overhand grip and keep your lower back flat, not rounded) [1], stand straight up, pulling the bar to your upper thighs [2]. Lower the bar, reset your grip, and repeat.

Exercise of the month: the elevated snatch-grip deadlift

Men's Fitness, April, 2005 by Cameron McGarr

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