History of the Deadlift

Introduction

From the Ancient Romans to Hermann Goerner to Ed Coan to Eddie Hall to Danny Grigsby, Rob takes us through the history of the Deadlift.

Listen/Watch on Garage Gym Radio, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Episode Outline

(1:48) How did the Deadlift Get its Name? Via the Ancient Romans, rumors exist that fallen soldiers were taught proper form to prevent injury when lifting their fallen brothers. It is not a concrete historical fact though.

(3:00) Early Deadlifts Before the Barbell: The Harness Lift and Health Lift (both pictured below) among others were early movements that involved a similar movement to the deadlift.

V0007279 Thomas Topham, lifting 1836 lbs. Etching by C. Leigh, 1741, Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Thomas Topham, lifting 1836 lbs. Etching by C. Leigh, 1741, after W.H. Toms. 1741 after: William Henry Toms and C. LeighPublished: 29 June 1741 Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

(8:31) Modern Deadlift Movement: Early pioneers such as Julius Conchord, Hermann Goerner (Father of the Deadlift), and Mark Berry contributed to the evolution and popularization of the deadlift. Goerner also wrestled an elephant.

Related: Zach Even-Esh did an entire Iron Roots episode on Goerner below.

(10:44) Popularity Grows: Through the postwar 1940s and 1950, lifters such as Bob Peoples, the focus of Episode 7, set once thought unattainable world records. Dr. Terry Todd, Ed Coan, Andy Bolton, Eddie Hall, Hafthor Bjornsson, and Dan Grigsby are also discussed.

(14:10) Variations of Deadlift: Deadlifts have evolved over time. The Different bar lengths, strapped vs. non-strapped, chalk, etc. have changed up the game a bit so not every deadlift is necessarily the same. Specific deadlift bars have even emerged which are a bit longer and include a slimmer diameter.

(17:25) Sumo: Danny Grigsby recently set a raw deadlift record with the sumo method. We also discuss the differences between sumo and conventional in this section.

Sources

Boly, Jake. “The History of the Deadlift: How Did This Lift Become So Popular?” Fitness, Barbend, 27 November 2017, https://barbend.com/deadlift-history/

“Danny Grigsby Sets Heaviest Raw Deadlift of All Time with 1,025 lbs.” Set for Set, 28 March 2022, https://www.setforset.com/blogs/news/danny-grigsby-raw-deadlift-record-1025lbs

Dupere, Katie. “Strongman Fans are in Awe of Hafthor Bjornsson Deadlifting 1,104 Pounds.” Men’s Health, 2 May 2020, https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a32352657/hafthor-bjornsson-deadlift-world-record-fan-reactions-twitter/

“Eddie Hall.” Legends, Giants Live, https://giants-live.com/athlete/eddie-hall/

“Ed Coan: A Candid Conversation, Part One – Tony Fitton.” The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban, 21 October 2018, http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2018/10/ed-coan-candid-conversation-part-one.html

Heffernan, Conor. “The (Somewhat Complete) History of the Deadlift!” Physical Culture Study, 26 May 2017, https://physicalculturestudy.com/2017/05/26/the-somewhat-complete-history-of-the-deadlift/

Lockridge, Roger. “Rauno Heinla Pulls World Record 580-Kilogram Silver Dollar Deadlift.” News, Barbend, 5 June 2022, link

Miller, James. “The History of the Deadlift, Including Deadlift Records.” Ripped Natural, 5 February 2021, https://www.rippednatural.com/deadlift-history-records/

“Progression of the Deadlift World Record.” Wikipedia, Wikipedia, 21 September 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progression_of_the_deadlift_world_record

“Wrestling with an Elephant.” The Index, Rogue, Rogue Fitness, https://www.roguefitness.com/theindex/article/wrestling-with-an-elephant