Icelandic strongman great Jón Páll Sigmarsson and the United States Air Force (USAF) have something in common: They both think you should be doing more deadlifts. According to Oct. 9, 2023, reporting by The Air Force Times, the USAF recently updated the fitness standards of its entrance exam, removing the clean & press in favor of the standard deadlift.
While certainly not as dramatic as “there is no reason to be alive if you cannot do deadlift” — Sigmarsson’s famous quote — the inclusion of the deadlift has significantly changed the eligibility criteria for prospective airmen. Recruits must demonstrate that they can deadlift a minimum of 40 pounds and a maximum of 110 pounds. The Times notes that the most weight required for any individual USAF position is 100 pounds.
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In a Sept. 2023 report to the United States Senate Armed Services Committee, General David Allvin publicly touched on the update to the USAF’s Strength Aptitude Test. The armed forces process all prospective recruits through a system called MEPS, or Military Entrance Processing Station, which has contained a machine clean & press evaluation for over two decades.
In the report, Gen. Allvin remarked that the update should, “better reflect the actual demands of the career fields thus expanding career field opportunities, especially for our female recruits.”
What It Means
Replacing the clean & press with the deadlift is an attempt by the USAF to relax its standards and provide more opportunities for its women applicants. While the clean & press exercise does contain a deadlift-esque portion, the upper-body strength demands of the overhead press may have been unfairly punishing for women, who may lack as much strength in that area as their male counterparts.
“You only get one chance to lift as much as you can on a machine clean & press, which can determine what jobs you’re eligible for,” an active-duty Senior Airman who requested not to be named tells BarBend. “Our mechanics tend to do a lot of overhead lifting, but the task isn’t relevant for a majority of our career fields.”
They noted that while the overhead press may not be a relevant metric for airmen, they regularly need to display proper hip hinge mechanics, pulling power, and grip strength during group training exercises that involve moving and setting up equipment: “I carry tents around a lot. Lifting things to waist height happens often.”
How To Deadlift
Even if you aren’t aspiring to a career in the Air Force, you should still know how to bang out a set of picture-perfect deadlifts. You can perform the deadlift and its many variations with all manner of equipment, but by default, the exercise is done with a barbell and some weight plates on the floor.
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- Step 1: Stand with your feet under your hips and your toes pointing mostly forward. The middle of your foot should be directly underneath a loaded barbell.
- Step 2: Hinge over by pushing your hips backward. Tip over and bend your knees if necessary until you can grab the bar just outside your shins.
- Step 3: Flatten your back, pick your chest up, and brace your core.
- Step 4: Initiate the deadlift by pushing downward into the floor with your legs. As the bar passes your knees, thrust your hips forward to stand up.
Coach’s Tip: Your hips and shoulders should rise off the floor at the same rate until the bar passes your knees.
How To Increase Your Deadlift
Deadlifts are good for more than just a career in the armed forces. Study after study has shown that the deadlift can improve bodily strength, posture, power output, and general athletic performance. (1)(2) The 40-pound minimum weight requirement for the Air Force may seem quite low if you’re a dedicated strength athlete, but whether you’re in the military or not, there’s no reason to settle for the lowest bar.
Increasing your deadlift is simple, but not necessarily easy. As a lower-body compound lift, the deadlift responds to the same treatment as any other barbell exercise:
- Implement some form of progressive overload.
- Follow a pre-written, periodized program designed to increase strength.
- Master your deadlift technique by refining your form and utilizing the appropriate deadlift cues.
- Rest and recover adequately, while also consuming enough calories and protein to fuel your workouts.
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References
- Vecchio LD, Daewoud H, Green S. The health and performance benefits of the squat, deadlift, and bench press. MOJ Yoga Physical Ther. 2018;3(2):40‒47.
- Sharrock C, Cropper J, Mostad J, Johnson M, Malone T. A pilot study of core stability and athletic performance: is there a relationship?. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2011;6(2):63-74.
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