There was a pretty interesting discussion on weightlifting on this week's JRE with strongman Robert Oberst.
Oberst is one of the most fun guys on the Strongman circuit and was a finalist at the 2018 World's Strongest Man competition. He made the transition to Strongman after playing American football at Western Oregon University and even had a failed attempt at making it in the NFL. Along the way Oberst realised that deadlifts - which are a staple of all Strongman competitions - are hugely dangerous and generally ignored by strength and conditioning departments of most football teams.
His discussion on deadlifting will resonate with anyone who does a lot of liftinging.
'I'd gone from football to Strongman. And in football, we'd never done deadlifts, it was just hand clings and power clings. And by the way, just a quick little tip, if you're deadlifting to be a better deadlifter, fine. If you're not doing that for deadlift's sake, then don't f*cking do it. THe risk to reward ratio is a joke' A lot of people are not going to like that I said that.
'In any athletics area where people are being paid and it matters what they're doing, they're not deadlifting. They're hand clinging and power clinging. It's so hard to be a good deadlifter, and to not risk your lower back. There's so many chances to hurt yourself.'
Watch the whole discussion here.
