In a recent video, I made a case for the squat as a cornerstone of our barbell prescription

for healthier aging, based among other things on how beautifully it fit two sets of criteria,

the criteria for a strength training exercise and the criteria that must be met for any effective

therapeutic prescription.

The deadlift is the second exercise we're going to talk about for all the same reasons.

The deadlift is safe, has a wide therapeutic window, is comprehensive, attacks the sick aging

phenotype, and is just about as simple as an exercise can get, although there are important technical

considerations.

And the dead lip meets the criteria for a primary strength training exercise.

It allows us to recruit a ton of muscle through a long, effective range of motion to lift

a ginormous amount of weight. In fact, you'll almost certainly lift more weight and demonstrate higher levels of strength with the deadlift than any other exercise, hands down.

The squat may be the king of exercises, but the deadlift is the queen.

And like many queens, she's stronger than the king, and tougher, and, you know, a mother.

Hi, I'm Jonathan Sullivan and welcome back to Graysteel. So what are we talking about when

we use the word deadlift? We're talking about a movement in which a loaded barbell is lifted from the floor,

straight up the legs, to be locked out in a standing position. The bar is lifted from a dead stop, hence the name, not just for the first rep, but for every rep.

So those people you see bouncing deadlifts off the floor at the circus, they're not role models.

Their job security for orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, chiropractors, physical

therapists, and people who traffic in prescription narcotics. But I digress. There are, of course,

variants of the deadlift, and some people argue about what a real deadlift is. But at Greysteel, we just do it old school. We don't do

sumo deadlifts or hex bar deadlifts or any other wacky variants. We just bend over with a narrow

stance, grab the bar, put our shins on the iron, set our back, and drag that sucker up the

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