Jump to content

Sledgehammer Deadlift


KRC

Recommended Posts

In the Britains most powerful hands comp oct 2012 I did 6.1kg and Rob Frampton beat me with 6.56kg neither of us were maxed out but we ran out of attempts due to coming in to early , the lifts were done on a wooden handle I can't remember the length but its a fairly std sledge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the Britains most powerful hands comp oct 2012 I did 6.1kg and Rob Frampton beat me with 6.56kg neither of us were maxed out but we ran out of attempts due to coming in to early , the lifts were done on a wooden handle I can't remember the length but its a fairly std sledge.

Given that this was fairly recent I assume that you still have similar wrist strength today. And also due to it not being a max lift I'm sure you'd be able to replicate it and possibly even go heavier next time. I'd love to see a video of this. And if there is any footage from the competition that would be great!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't actually trained wrist stuff for a while so not sure what I can do right now. To be honest this particular area of wrist strength comes quite easy to me so doesn't need a lot of training. That said I thought I was good at it until I saw Rob Frampton who hadn't done the event before and did 6.56kg with at very least another half kilo in the tank. I don't know if anyone got these lifts on video but they were strictly Reffed with a coin on the head and the results of the comp with the weights lifted are online.

At some point when I'm back training it I will try to get a video of 6kg plus if there's nothing online

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I'm glad Eric chimed in and clarified some stuff. John Woolsey is still actively armwrestling and a guy who has been world champion, and around world champions, still decades after witnessing Mo Baker doing that feat, describes it the way he does... it's hard to argue too much. Also mr. Woolsey described it with a lot of detail in that thread, and when shown Rex's video he said he was not really impressed much because "his wrist broke", while Baker's wrist "did NOT break". Which is why I mentioned all this.

But anyways, it's ok, we don't have to wonder about feats done decades ago, moving on to present day..... I raise this question. If a guy deadlifts the 12# sledge without his "wrist breaking", meaning, with a fairly vertical arm.... how much stronger is he than those who can deadlift the 12# with a completely "broken"/bent wrist? Because I know a guy who has told me he has deadlifted the 12# with his wrist locked. :D gotta love stirring the pot a little bit :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I'm glad Eric chimed in and clarified some stuff. John Woolsey is still actively armwrestling and a guy who has been world champion, and around world champions, still decades after witnessing Mo Baker doing that feat, describes it the way he does... it's hard to argue too much. Also mr. Woolsey described it with a lot of detail in that thread, and when shown Rex's video he said he was not really impressed much because "his wrist broke", while Baker's wrist "did NOT break". Which is why I mentioned all this.

But anyways, it's ok, we don't have to wonder about feats done decades ago, moving on to present day..... I raise this question. If a guy deadlifts the 12# sledge without his "wrist breaking", meaning, with a fairly vertical arm.... how much stronger is he than those who can deadlift the 12# with a completely "broken"/bent wrist? Because I know a guy who has told me he has deadlifted the 12# with his wrist locked. :D gotta love stirring the pot a little bit :P

Remember we're talking about a front deadlift, not a rear deadlift. Some guys will mix the two. However if we're specifically talking about a regular Hammer deadlift to the front, and you can lift a 12 lb hammer without breaking the wrist. Then I'd say you're strong enough to put someone like Slim to shame. I'd say that a super strict 12 lb hammer deadlift is significantly harder than to overhead-lever two drilled sledges at 56 lbs ALOT harder that is. I base that assumption based on myself and my own numbers and proportions. I think that I would probably max out at about 50 lbs in a two handed sledge overhead lever to the face, with a similar setup as Slim, and that is without having trained for the lift. Hammer deadlifts however is something I regularly train from time to time, and I doubt I could deadlift an 8 lb hammer from the end without opening up the wrist. So if a guy who can strict deadlift a 12 lb hammer, if he was proportionally as strong in his wrists in the other direction. Then I'd think he would probably max out at around 70-80 lbs in the two handed lever to face, if not more.

Of course this is only speculation. But since no one is posting any videos or even pictures, you can't do anything but speculate, unfortunately.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This weekend we'll get some vids as we train for a 12# front deadlift.

Btw, the one time I tried to push myself on that lift I could do more strict then bent wrist. If my wrist broke I lost alot of power. Has anyone experienced this? Maybe I wasn't using the tendons enough to bear the load.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not To toot my own horn but Since i am currently tied for the world record with Mike Kraling on the one hand sledge lever on a 31" handle. I think it was like 26lb and some change at the CGC. So i got to weigh in here. Hate to say it hate to say it but that pic of slim I have to say that the handles look short to me. Not to mention leather bracers got to help the wrists power. Anw way a good exersize is to hold the hammer above your head and make big circles do sets going both ways and also switching hand position too. This will thickn up the wrists and build them up for levering.

Parris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the clarification David.

If I may say so once more, I fail to see the point in doing this lift with a bent wrist. When the wrist is totally bent like in all videos posted of this feat (Rex's, David's), WHAT is holding the weight? Is the muscle doing the work?? Or are the muscles that move the wrist in that direction stretched out, and the weight is hanging on tendons/ligaments ???

Please enlighten me but it just seems dumb. Wouldn't it increase the risk of injury, to perform max lifts with that all-bent/stretched wrist like that?? If the feat were to be performed strictly, then obviously once a person is using too much weight, as soon as he sees his wrist starting to bend, he'd let go, as it would be a "no lift". Seems much safer, and much more logical in my mind. But maybe I am wrong of course... but it just seems silly. Seems almost like a test of pain-tolerance when done with the completely bent wrist. I would love if it the rules for this test required the wrist to be "locked".... kindof resulting in a 90 degree angle between the sledgde and the forearm.

Still, you guys doing the 12# even with the broken-back wrist, that is VERY impressive to a weakling like me. Maybe it fits this thread to mention that Wes Peart said he had done a 12# in this manner as well. I could believe it, he was beastly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the clarification David.

If I may say so once more, I fail to see the point in doing this lift with a bent wrist. When the wrist is totally bent like in all videos posted of this feat (Rex's, David's), WHAT is holding the weight? Is the muscle doing the work?? Or are the muscles that move the wrist in that direction stretched out, and the weight is hanging on tendons/ligaments ???

Please enlighten me but it just seems dumb. Wouldn't it increase the risk of injury, to perform max lifts with that all-bent/stretched wrist like that?? If the feat were to be performed strictly, then obviously once a person is using too much weight, as soon as he sees his wrist starting to bend, he'd let go, as it would be a "no lift". Seems much safer, and much more logical in my mind. But maybe I am wrong of course... but it just seems silly. Seems almost like a test of pain-tolerance when done with the completely bent wrist. I would love if it the rules for this test required the wrist to be "locked".... kindof resulting in a 90 degree angle between the sledgde and the forearm.

Still, you guys doing the 12# even with the broken-back wrist, that is VERY impressive to a weakling like me. Maybe it fits this thread to mention that Wes Peart said he had done a 12# in this manner as well. I could believe it, he was beastly.

You do make a good point. When you lift with a bent wrist, you're basically loading all the weight on the tendons in the wrist. But there is a direct correlation to how strong your muscles are, and how much you can load your tendons. If the muscles in your forearms and the tendons in your wrists are weak, then the weight is not going to leave the ground. And while there certainly is a risk of injury with everything strength-related I think that the hammer deadlift is by far the safest sledge levering exercise. In the overhead face levering you can easily get hurt if you don't know your own limits, by forcing yourself to lever a bigger hammer than you can handle. You can't really do that with the deadlift, if it's to heavy for you, then you simply won't be able to hang on to it.

In the best of all worlds I would agree with you that it would be best to contest a strict hammer deadlift. But as Daniel suggested, there is a big grey area of what "strict" is, when is the wrist bent enough for it to be considered broken? There is no clear line. But since it is still relatively safe to lift with a bent wrist, and the wrist strength is still the limiting factor, I'm voting for the bent wrist hammer deadlift to be contested. Simply because it's so much easier to judge.

However if one wants to get strong I think it's important to train the lift in a strict and unstrict manner. One exercise I've been doing as a warmup for my steel bending is a strict forearm dependent version of the overhead face lever. In this exercise, instead of holding my arm straight and parallel to the ground and lever the sledge to my face, I would hold my arm straight and completely vertical above my head, and use the muscles in my forearm to lever the sledge until the handle is parallel to the ground. I promise you that even an 8 lb hammer is hard this way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today another member and I tried some more front deadlifts and we both did better with a strict grip than when we tried to do a bent wrist lift. I give kudos to anyone who just plain lifts big sledges because IMO it doesn't matter how you do it, they both are hard as hell. Some people will favor one way over the other depending on muscle and tendon strength so I don't see one being a way to cheat the feat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll chime in on this Arturo,

I've long been a fan of sledge deadlifting and other front wrist exercises. I have always "disagreed" with the practice of letting the wrist drop in those types of lifts because it looks a bit rediculous, and I feel it is more "pure" to keep the wrist straight. That is my bias. Now, with that said, the lift is still VERY DIFFICULT. As you say Arturo, it seems (at least in my experience trying the movement) that a lot of the work is done by the tendons and ligaments similar to bending DU....almost like a test of wrist toughness rather than strength. Bending big steel DU is considered a feat of great wrist strength (and it surely is), why is lifting a sledge with a dropped wrist questioned as a strength lift? It may be a different type of strength, but the muscular strength behind the dropped wrist lift is still very impressive. Yes, a lot of the weight is hanging of the tendons/ligaments, but muscular strength is stabilizing that strain to prevent your wrist from breaking off your body which it wants to do with 12lbs!

The two styles are so different they are almost different lifts. One may think that because he can lift say an 8lb sledge with his wrist locked that he can lift a 10lb while letting it drop, but this may not be the case. In fact, he may find that he cannot even lift the 8lb in this fashion. No matter which style someone chooses to lift with, they better at least appreciate how difficult the lift still is with a dropped wrist. As I said, and as Daniel Reinard described, sometimes lifters may find that they are WEAKER with the dropped wrist.

I have much respect for anyone lifting big sledges in whatever style.

With regard to Maurice Baker:

I am an armwrestler in the 154lb category. I am rather adept at the sledge deadlift for my size and I train it with a locked wrist for armwrestling. I can do an 8lber from the end with a locked wrist, and I can do a 10lber from 26" (measured at the back of my hand). So, I'm fairly close to lifting the 10lb from the end with a locked wrist. When I practice at it, I can lift the 10lb from the end if I let my wrist drop. But, as described above, I have to train it because my wrist does not like the pressure when it drops. I find the story at least possible, and I trust the accuracy of John Woolsey's recollections. If I'm a 154 puller and I can lift the #'s that I lift, surely it is believable that Baker could perform the lift in a similar fashion with the heavier weight mentioned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have no idea how pleased I am to see you chiming in Ivarboneless! Long time since I saw a post of yours. Also nice to find out you are really strong at that particular movement! Specially for your size! I hope to see you making some loud noise in the armwrestling scene in the near future!!!

To comment further in the two types of sledge lifts: I am wondering if those who can lift more with the locked wrist, as opposed to the bent-wrist, have trained the latter method also? Because I imagine that, like you, many guys who train it with locked wrist might "not like" the feeling of the weight being beared by the bent-wrist. So perhaps it hurts or feels wrong or feel like injury is close so the guys let go. Just a thought of course. Maybe the pain-tolerance thing has to be built and the lift has to be trained that way in order to get strong at it that way (bent wrist). But thanks for making it even clearer by now that even the bent-wrist lifts of huge sledges are still quite extraordinary!! ....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have next to no experience with the sledge deadlift so both ways are fairly new to me. I would agree the bent wrist method would probably take more practice and conditioning to yeild better results over the locked wrist. So new people will probably lift more with the locked wrist. With that said is the bent wrist easier even though it takes more practice and conditioning?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

Not To toot my own horn but Since i am currently tied for the world record with Mike Kraling on the one hand sledge lever on a 31" handle. I think it was like 26lb and some change at the CGC. So i got to weigh in here. Hate to say it hate to say it but that pic of slim I have to say that the handles look short to me. Not to mention leather bracers got to help the wrists power. Anw way a good exersize is to hold the hammer above your head and make big circles do sets going both ways and also switching hand position too. This will thickn up the wrists and build them up for levering.

Parris

do you have a vid of the face lever at 26+lbs?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not To toot my own horn but Since i am currently tied for the world record with Mike Kraling on the one hand sledge lever on a 31" handle. I think it was like 26lb and some change at the CGC. So i got to weigh in here. Hate to say it hate to say it but that pic of slim I have to say that the handles look short to me. Not to mention leather bracers got to help the wrists power. Anw way a good exersize is to hold the hammer above your head and make big circles do sets going both ways and also switching hand position too. This will thickn up the wrists and build them up for levering.

Parris

do you have a vid of the face lever at 26+lbs?

http://youtu.be/VIs0QnMvAqU?t=4m19s

Edited by Shoggoth
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome lifts guys... figure I'd chime in since I love sledgehammer levers a lot too!!

I've done 20lb. Face levers & I've done 8 & 10 coin lifts officially! Check the grip record & stats thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do have the vid Iwill have to post it up .

I like the one Jason put together. Nice job!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been working on the #12 -sledgehammer choke as well. .. so far I've done 22" lift! I think Jedd has done 24"!!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy policies.