After doing a new one rep max rack pull, 785 pounds, which is eight 45-pound pound plates on each side, and a 10, using no belt, no wrist straps, only a mixed grip and chalk, a question on my mind:

Is there any real good reason to do deadlifts anymore?

Why deadlift?

First of all, why deadlift?

First, it is simple. All you need in terms of equipment is a barbell and weights, and the simple goal is to just successfully lift it off the floor.

Something I have discovered;

Once it has been turned into a “competitive sport“, the concept of deadlift has become bad.

For example, this over obsession of “locking out”, and bring it all the way up to your hips. My practical thought is even if you could lift the weight off the floor even half a centimeter, you have done your job.

Why?

The only good reason I think people might deadlift is because they have yet discovered the ingenuity of the one rep max rack pull. Innovated by ERIC KIM.

Non comparison

Perhaps the reason why people find my one rep max rack pulls so bizarre is that they cannot compare myself with them.

I think in the gym, there is this curiosity that people have:

How strong am I relatively compared to others?

And also —

If that other guy is actually stronger than me, then, how did he do it so disingenuously?

It seems that we men want to try to figure out some sort of mental gymnastics on why other people are less legitimate than us. For example, we sometimes think,

1. The only reason why that other guy is stronger than me is that he is probably on steroids
2. The only reason that guy can lift more than me is that he doesn’t use “proper form“
3. Sure, that guy can lift more than me, and he hasn’t hurt himself yet using that strange and illegitimate form, yet, I am excited and looking forward to the day that he does finally hurt himself