Deadlift & Drag

[Dave Lemanczyk]

The two most brutal strength exercises are the deadlift and the backwards drag. When there both combined it takes more than what most people think is hard work to do the job. Yesterday, after my last client (Ian), I decided to rig up a small tire to 400 pounds and go at it. I gave it all I had until there was absolutely nothing left. I wish I could have done better but there was no more. I finished the workout with neck and grip work. It took 45 minutes for me to feel "normal" again. The link of the video is below. I would have embedded it but I don't know how to do that on this forum. Try it and get back to me on your experience. Every once in a while it feels good to kill two birds with one stone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbrm58pkRVU

[Steve Friedrich]

Dave , that is coowell! I think I would like just a bit more chain so you could "stretch" out the legs some.

[Dave Lemanczyk]

Dave , that is coowell! I think I would like just a bit more chain so you could "stretch" out the legs some.

Steve you are correct sir. My intention yesterday was to keep the ROM short and see how much pain I could take. I personally enjoy finding out what I'm made of in a bunch of different ways. I found out a lot about myself yesterday in terms of postural integrity, mental toughness, and total body strength; Everything needs improvement.

From a critical standpoint, this drag felt a lot worse than the 1000 pounds I had dragged on my plate steel sled last month. Just really crazy how much static deadlifting strength is needed to get it done. I bet this exercise will help lots of the monsters that read this forum from around the world. Just another contribution of hard work without regrets or holding anything back. Thanks for checking it out and for your feedback Steve.

[Steve Weiner]

Nice work there Dave! True effort. No give by the implement there, which makes it way tougher than a sled drag of the same weight. Keep on fightin" the good fight.

[Bill Crawford]

Great effort. That is two birds with one stone. I bet your barbell deadlift will go up as well. Maybe you could lengthen the chain a bit to get longer drive with each leg. I have the exact same implement, but I drilled a hole in the side, popped a steel hook through the hole and that lets me get a longer chain on there. Just a suggestion.

Bill

[AaronCorcorran]

Thanks Dave, this gives me a great idea for a grip contest medley item. Double overhand DL'ing a light barbell say 275# with straps attached to a weighted pulling sled say 300# and pulling for a distance. Gonna have to test that out this weekend.


- Aaron

[Dave Lemanczyk]

@ Aaron - Glad I could help you out dude. Careful.

@ Bill - I use the long chain to pull the heavier sleds such as 700, 800, 900, 1000 + pounds on my flat steel sled. I choked the chain on the tire deadlift and drag to turn it into a more difficult task. As I posted before, I was looking to make this as hard as possible in many ways. No easy way out, no escape style. The day after I filmed the video, I had already put a 1/2" eye bolt through the middle of the side making it more of a "sled". Eye bolts work much better than hooks since they are welded shut. Hooks will bend. My clients use this new sled with "great joy". Tough stuff is good stuff as long as it's safe. In future workouts, I will definitely go back to the choke-chain deadlift and drag style. Just brutal.