Barbell Deadlift on Foam

Best Use For Improving Vertical Jump

The deadlift may just be the best overall exercise you can do. You can use it to build muscle, strength, explosiveness, or even burn fat. It recruits virtually every muscle in the body. However for vertical jump training it is best used for either maximum strength or for explosiveness.

The addition of the foam padding means that some of your leg drive as you start the lift is absorbed. This requires the muscles to work extra hard to overcome the resistance of the bar and is a nice little trick for increasing your RFD.

Technique Tips

There plenty of things to remember with the deadlift and there are also a number of excellent articles around. However for those interested in keeping things simple (and really how hard should it be to pick up a bar? Er, harder than you think actually!) here are the key points:

• Keep your eyes up and the weight on your heels
• Take a deep breath of air into your belly just before you lift to help stabilize your spine
• Push through the floor with your heels
• Your hips and shoulders should raise at the same time
• As you approach the top clench your butt cheeks together to activate the glutes
• Finish by standing tall in an upright position with your glutes tight and shoulders back

Due to the foam pad inhibitng your initial leg drive you will need to pay extra attention to your form to pull the weight up off the floor.

Alternative Exercises

Some good alternatives to barbell deadlifts on foam are

Barbell Deadlift

Snatch Grip Deadlift

Sumo Grip Deadlift

Trap Bar Deadlift