Fitness for One and All Home Page

Books and eBooks by the Director

Powerlifting and Strength Training

Deadlifts Videos

By Gary F. Zeolla

This page links to all deadlift videos available on Fitness for One and All. Deadlifts are the best exercise there is for total body development and is one of the three powerlifts. But proper performance is critical. The videos were taken during various workouts by this writer.

The shorthand is date (month/day/year), followed by pounds/ reps, then supportive gear used in parentheses. Raw means without gear.

2007 - 2009

• Raw Deadlifts - 5/11/07, 325/4.
• Raw Deadlifts - 5/11/07, 330/4. I had trouble figuring out where to put my camera. The best spot for DLs would be in front of the platform, but in front of my platform is a cabinet. So I tried two different angles in this workout. This latter one will probably work best.
• Raw Deadlifts - 5/30/07, 340/4. A closer view.
• Deadlifts (partial gear) - 6/8/07, 365/2 (Crain power belt, APT knee sleeves, drug store wrist wraps). This was my first workout using my new APT knee sleeves. They definitely support better than the drug store knee sleeves I was using.
• Geared Deadlifts - 6/18/07, 375/2 (Crain power belt, Frantz double-ply poly DL suit, APT knee sleeves, drug store wrist wraps, Nike wrestling shoes).
• Geared Deadlifts - 6/29/07, 385/1.(Crain power belt, Frantz double-ply poly DL suit, APT knee sleeves and wrist bands, Nike wrestling shoes). I was only planning on doing a single, but my workout was going well up to this point, I tried a second rep. Didn't work; oh well. On gear, I like having some wrist support on DLs, so I had been wearing drug store wrist wraps. But for this workout I a pair of some APT wrist bands. They definitely supported better than the wraps I had been using.
• Final Workout Pre-contest - 9/14/07, 370/3 (full gear). This was my last workout before IPA PA States, September 22, 2007.  With getting 370 for a triple, I figured it would make for a good opener.
• Final Set Pre-contest - 9/14/07, 390/2 (full gear). A hard fought double, and good for my second attempt. At the contest, I went 370, 390 as planned, but then missed 405. What did me in on the third attempt was probably cutting weight and the heat, which together had me dehydrated.
• Sumo DLs - 5/14/08, 395/2 (unequipped). The above videos are all with a conventional (close) stance. But in the spring of 2008, I went back to using a sumo (wide) stance. With this stance, be sure to start with the bar close to your shins. This workout was three weeks before my NASA contest on June 7, 2008.

2015 - 2017

When I started powerlifting again after a break of six years, I started lifting exclusively raw with wraps. Specifically on deadlifts, I am wearing a Crain power belt and APT wrist bands and single-ply knee sleeves, plus Nike wrestling shoes. Sumo is my competitive stance, but I do conv. DLs for an assistance exercise and could use that stance to compete with as well.

• Sumo Deadlifts - 4/16/15, 365/2. My form was good on the first rep, but I got my butt up too much on the second.
• Conv. Deadlifts - 6/8/15, 345/2.
• Sumo Deadlifts - 9/6/15, 185/6. This was my first deadlift workout after a hamstring injury.
• Conv. Deadlifts - 9/6/15, 185/6. This was my first deadlift workout after a hamstring injury.
• Conv Deadlifts - 12/3/15, 365/1.
• Sumo Deadlifts - 12/10/15, 375/1.
• Sumo Deadlifts - 2/1/16, 362/4 (but lost grip), 380/1.
• Sumo Deadlifts - 2/24/16, 367/1.1, 385/miss
• Conv Deadlifts - 3/17/16, 330/4, 345/2.
• Sumo Deadlifts - 7/24/16, 350/5^.
• Sumo Deadlifts - 6/28/17, 340/4, 357/2