Over the last 6 months at Xtra Mile Fitness we have put an added focus on Tempo Deadlifts and Tempo Floating Deadlifts over the traditional Deadlift in our group CrossFit classes.
But Why?
The reason is simple, and the results speak for themselves.
No matter your experience level you can gain a lot of benefit from performing Tempo Deadlifts. Here are the top 3 reasons we chose to focus on Tempo for awhile, and see what results were produced.
- For newer/less experienced lifters the Tempo Deadlift is great because it slows you down and allows you learn control of the lift. This will lead to a more seamless and stronger lift as you develop.
- For experienced lifters, as well as newer lifters, the time under tension in a Tempo Deadlift can not be duplicated by many other lifts. This allows you to isolate posterior weaknesses and in return strengthen those areas. This also allows you to build greater work capacity in your lift.
- Finally, this helps athletes reduce the risk of injury because you are now performing a lesser load under more control. And by improving the control of the movement, and the areas of weakness you will be stronger and safer when we do attempt to lift a heavier load.
In January we tested our 1 rep max (1RM) in Deadlift before diving into the sole focus of Tempo Deadlifts and Tempo Floating Deadlifts. While we have not retested our 1RM (the time will come), we recently performed sets of 3 at a traditional Deadlift to get an update on the progress we have made.
As coaches we were BLOWN away by the results!
Throughout classes on this day we had over 40% of our athletes Deadlift the same or more than their 1RM, and another 20% get within 95%+ of their 1RM Deadlift.
These results were greater than we could have hoped, and we as coaches are so excited to see where everyone ends up when we test our max Deadlift in the weeks ahead.
At Xtra Mile we focus our programming for our group classes off scientifically proven methods, and also by evaluating the results produced by our athletes. Our goal is to help all of our athletes achieve their goals so we constantly evaluate and adjust to make sure we are providing the most beneficial workouts possible.
If you have questions about what you should be focussing on or would like some “homework” to address your areas of need please schedule an Athlete Check In (current members at Xtra Mile) or a No Sweat Intro (future members).
Stay active and keep working towards the best version of YOURSELF!
