Thread: To Roll or Not To Roll?

To Roll or Not To Roll?


By Myles Kantor

Of the fourteen men who have deadlifted over 900 pounds, at least
three of them (Garry Frank, Doyle Kenady, and Benedikt Magnusson)
rolled the bar into their bodies before starting the pull. It is
worthwhile to explore the mechanical effects of this style.
Rolling the bar back will recruit the lats and increase tension in
these muscles. Mike Tuchscherer, who has deadlifted 826 lbs. raw in
the 275s, remarks along these lines regarding his less pronounced roll
of the bar:

"As the weights got heavier and my deadlift skill got better, the need
for more tightness in the bottom of the lift grew. When you're really
tight in the lats and back, the bar will be close to the shins. Since
my setup has been developed a few inches away from the bar, I've
developed a roll to transition where the bar begins and where it needs
to be by the start of the pull. I'm not sure it's the best way to do
it from a learning standpoint, but I am to the point where I can
control the variability of the start to a good degree. Roll or no
roll, it's more important to be tight in the bottom."

The variability Tuchscherer notes concerns the bar being aligned with
the mid-foot and shoulder blades at the start of the pull. If a
lifter does not roll the bar into the correct place every time, the
efficiency of the start will vary and negatively impact the pull. For
example, the pull might start with the bar a half inch or more forward
of mid-foot, resulting in horizontal bar movement, reduced strength,
and increased injury risk.

Rolling the bar will also challenge arching the back. This motion
promotes a rounded spinal position, working against the "chest
squeezed up" posture that yields an extended thoracic and lumbar
spine. Lifters who desire spinal extension at the start of their
deadlifts should keep this in mind.

Fundamentally, rolling the bar consumes energy--in this case to
produce horizontal movement of the bar. The goal in a deadlift being
vertical bar movement, and PR attempts entailing the whole of one's
strength, is this consumption of energy before the bar even goes up a
good idea? The amount of energy consumed might seem insignificant,
but at maximal weights every inefficiency becomes consequential.
Specifically, the lat recruitment produced by the bar roll also draws
on the lats' strength, which could be better reserved for their
isometric function of keeping the bar tight against the body once the
deadlift begins.

As noted in the beginning of this article, historic pulls have been
completed with rolling the bar. Amazing squats have also been done
that were in effect good mornings out of the hole. Whether these
elite achievements reflect optimal technique is another matter. If
technique is considered a variant of style--that is, a subjective
quality--then there is no such thing as inefficiency. But if a
normative mechanical model for deadlifting, etc. does exist--and the
shared musculoskeletal system of humans with laws of physics that act
independently upon that system suggest such a normative model,
combined with copious video data specific to powerlifting--then the
pursuit of strength is intertwined with the refinement of efficiency.

Very interesting I have always rolled maybe an inch before I went..... Never did notice I was doing that until I read this lol kinda figured I was just doing it RIGHT LOL