Not so fast—”getting loaded” means something completely different at StrongFirst.
Getting “loaded” means an active eccentric to the bar for a deadlift or active eccentric before the first hike of the kettlebell in a swing. And I’m sure you have some questions about all of this. So, let’s dive into the concept of getting loaded.
The Skill of Getting Loaded
There is an old Queensryche rock-opera album called Operation: Mindcrime where in the opening of one of the songs you hear someone yelling, “I’ve had enough and I want out!”
Wait, weren’t we talking about getting loaded—how did we get to late ‘80s hairbands?
Well, “I’ve had enough and I want out!” is my basic reaction when I watch deadlift videos where people reach for the bar first and then try to find their position, tension, and wedge for the lift. Watching a skilled powerlifter reach for the bar first and find the bottom position is a very different thing.
But for those learning the lift, developing the skill of getting loaded can be a major source of issues. Starting your pull before you have the perfect position with your tension set and a good wedge between the ground and the bar is a recipe for rounded backs and trouble.
Pavel knew this and offered his advice on it all the way back in 2000. When he put out his book Power to the People, he advised to get tight at the top and pull yourself to the bar, and also to let go and reset for every rep. In addition, he advised sets of five and under. In the bodybuilding-based fitness culture of that day, it was a pretty revolutionary book.
Well, I read that book and started my deadlifting following its details of how to set up and reset for every rep. This led to my competition-best 573lb belt-only deadlift at a body weight of 198lbs in 2007.
So, what does it really mean when we talk about “pulling yourself to the bar” so you can “get loaded”? In short, it means we are creating an internal eccentric load to assist in the start of the deadlift.
Note: Eccentric action of a muscle is a contraction that happens as the muscle lengthens. Concentric action is when the muscle shortens as it contracts.1 The negative portions or lowering portions of an exercise are typically eccentric actions and positive portions of an exercise are typically concentric.
When you contrast the deadlift with the squat or bench press, you see that the squat and bench press are loaded into the eccentric or negative portion of a lift (the downward portion, in the case of both those lifts) and then a positive or concentric is subsequently performed.
This is versus the deadlift where you start with the concentric portion of the lift. The eccentric load of the squat and bench press is a whole different skill to be mastered, but suffice it to say it, too, “loads the spring” for the concentric portion of the lift.
Said another way, we “get loaded” through an eccentric movement. Since the deadlift begins with a concentric movement, our approach and set-up is what provides us with the opportunity to create an eccentric load.
By the way: the kettlebell military press falls into the category of a concentric-first lift and that is why the clean that precedes the press is so important.
How to Get Loaded for the Deadlift
Stance: Be precise on your stance and position with the bar. Everything from your width of stance, angle of feet, and distance from the bar should be precisely the same every time you step up to the bar—period.
Tight from the Top: Pull the kneecaps up, tighten the glutes, sniff air into a braced abdomen, engage your lats by bringing your armpits and hips closer together, and flex your triceps. All of that should have you feeling like a solid block.
Pull Yourself to the Bar: Use all of that internal tension to create a “spring” that you have to compress down, and actively pull yourself to the bar against that tension.
Grab the Bar: Your hands should be aimed straight for the bar and grasping it should be easy.
Wedge: Drive your feet into the ground and try to wedge yourself under the bar to begin your deadlift. Louie Simmons’ advice to “feel equally loaded between your feet and hands” is excellent for getting the wedge started. The wedge also takes the “slack” out of the bar.
All of that begins your deadlift. Then, continue driving into the ground and extend the hips to the top. There, sniff more air into the braced abdomen and either perform a controlled eccentric to the ground or a controlled “quicker” lower (less tension, but not a drop). The bar should go straight down—not out and around your knees.
Breathing
Your breath is the key to setting the load. Notice in the video that when I get tight at the top, I perform a forced exhale to pre-tense the abs and body. Then, I sniff air into the braced abdomen and I sniff a bit more in at the bottom. This dials-in the intra-abdominal pressure to set the “cylinder” of the midsection to amplify strength and stability for the lift. All of this requires good, nasal, diaphragmatic breathing.
During the positive or concentric phase of the deadlift, you can either “power breathe” (do a forced exhale) to continue to squeeze even more tension and strength into the lift or (if it is safe for you to do so) you can perform a breath hold to the top. If you have questions on any of this, please speak to your doctor.
Applying This Lesson to the Swing
Follow the same steps minus the arms going straight to the bar. In the case of the swing:
Get tight as described above with an appropriate stance for the swing.
Hinge first, then reach for the kettlebell without losing your position or tension.
Sniff in more air and hike the kettlebell to connect the arms to the ribs with lat engagement—and you are off and swinging. Don’t wait until the load of the kettlebell “hits” you to get tight at the start.
When it comes to breathing in the swing, the breathing here is rhythmical—sniff into a tight abdomen on the hike and force air out at the top.
One Rep at a Time
I have said for years that if I could give the fitness world a gift, it would be to remove the “repetition mindset” and get students to focus on one rep at a time. That means thinking of a set of five as five sets of one, not one set of five.
This is a perfect mentality for the deadlift, where you are pulling yourself to the bar, performing your rep, letting go and resetting to the top without the bar, taking a breath, and repeating the process for every rep.
This ensures a perfect set-up for every rep instead of potentially pulling a second rep from a less-than-ideal position if you were to get pulled forward during the lowering of the bar.
Where Can You Learn More?
The SFL Certification is the barbell “campus” of the StrongFirst School of Strength. StrongFirst Lifter dives deep into applying the StrongFirst principles to the barbell lifts. And, as you can see with the connection between the deadlift and swing, the “campuses” of the School of Strength are consistent in our principles and carry over to each other.
So, get loaded for your deadlifts and swings!
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