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Rader, Reeves, Anderson


Roark

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Peary Rader was born on this date in 1909,

began Ironman magazine in 1936. Died Nov

24, 1991.

Paul Anderson born this date 1932; died Aug

15, 1994.

Now the grip connection: On Oct 17, 1927, Steve

Reeves' dad, Lester was killed in a farming accident.

Steve was 21 months old.

Later, Reeves loaded an olympic barbell to 300 lbs

and deadlifted it by grasping the rim of the 45 lb

plate on each end. He did not employ his thumbs

on this lift because he was using the old, wide-bodied

45s, and simply 'hooked'  four fingers under each rim.

To duplicate this feat using modern, narrow, almost

rimless plates, would increase the difficulty considerably.

Anybody tried it?

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i had heard that reeves had done 405 (four 45lb plates on each side) in that fashion although i had thought that it was an exageration, do you have a picture of this feat?

(Edited by AP at 1:16 pm on Oct. 17, 2001)

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I heard that Steve Reeves would do deadlifts with 405 pounds using a snatch grip. This was purported to make the shoulders broader.

Lifting a loaded bar by hooking the fingers under the lip of the inside plates is similar to the barrel lifting exercises described in Jowett's _Molding a Mighty Grip_. Pulling over 400 pounds this way is possible but I do not believe that Steve Reeves could do it.

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I have heard the higher number as well, but doubted it.

H&S Sep 7, 1950, inside front cover shows him doing

what appears to be 300- definitely only one 45 per

side. I have never seen a photo of him doing 400.

It is difficult to tell how many small plates are on the

bar, but 300 is close.

The photo in S&H Aug 1950 p 23 shows 300 as well.

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The lift you describe above will be one of the events at the Herman Goerner Deadlift Dozen contest coming up Dec. 8th in Columbia MO.  This lift has been appropriately named the Steve Reeves deadlift.  I will be competing in the contest so it will be interesting to see what kind of weights will be achieved by all the competitors.  This is my 6th straight year competing in  this contest and it is definitely a test of grip strength as well as deadlifting ability.   If any of you are interested, let me know and I can get you the details.

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Kevin,

Will the old, wide 45s be used?

And, yes, please post the results.

This is a lift where longer arms are helpful because

of the spread needed to reach the plates, right?

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It is definately true that longer arms would help with this lift (within limits, of course). After reading your post yesterday I gave this lift a try and quickly discovered this truth for myself. I don't have access to any of the old York equipment so I used what I had and foolishly loaded two 45's per side (225#) before discovering that I could barely reach the plates ... no way I could lift it.

Mike M.

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Scott Clayton and I just tried this technique out.  We both pulled over 300, 305 and 355, Scott had room to spare.  It is very hard to reach the plates, but I didn't think it was so much grip strength as it was pain tolerance.  It felt like my pinky was being cut off by the rim of the plate.  Either way I'd say Kevin and the guys will put up some big #'s.  

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Bearcat 74,

Are you and Scott using a 'spacer plate' after the

45 nearest the inside collar on the bar, so that

your hand grabs that nearest plate? Otherwise,

the stronger you get, the farther you must reach,

which, of course, is one factor stopping me from that

1,000 pound mark...

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Roark, we used a big wide 45 on the collar and the rest 35's and 25's.  We grabbed the 45, maybe we weren't doing it right.  

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Bearcat 74,

Sounds good to me. So far as I know the only critical

element would be to have the 45 adjacent the inside

collar free to grab, which of course is just what you

did. Good lift!

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Thanks Roark.  I can see how 400lbs is possible like this, I don't know about doing it by stacking 45's though. I bet more than one person pulls 400 at Kevin's event.

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Joe,

It is my understanding that they will be using the old York 45's for this lift.

Bearcat----- Actually this is not my event.  The meet is in Missouri, I live in Nebraska.  Bill Clark is the meet director and he has held this contest for many years at his gym.  The Steve Reeves Deadlift has been added this year for the first time.

I'm not sure how much anyone will do.  I don't have any old York plates so it will probably be difficult to practice this lift.  I have never tried it yet.  I would think that anything over 300 would be pretty good and that 400 would be very difficult.  It is done as you describe, using only one 45 on each side and then adding smaller diameter plates so that the "reach" remains constant.

Here are a list of all the events:

One hand DL (right and left)

One hand DL (right and left using thumbless grip)

Middle fingers DL

Ring Fingers DL

Index fingers DL

Little fingers DL

Steve Reeves DL

Hack lift

2-Barbell DL

Heels together DL

Straddle DL

This is a punishing schedule for the back and hands but also a fun contest.

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