Australian Strength Coach

When people talk about good deadlift proportions, height and limb legs definitely contribute but it’s more about overall proportions.

The easiest way to see this is the distance between the barbell and the crotch at setup, what I call the box gap.

A large box gap generally means favourable deadlift leverage. A small one usually means the bar has to travel further relative to your body size.

This typically comes from a combination of long arms and a short torso. That’s why height on its own tells you very little. You can be short with poor deadlift proportions or tall with excellent ones. The setup geometry is what dictates leverage.

Another factor that isn’t hugely common but it can appear with some
Of the best deadlift mechanics in the world is scoliosis, which is a lateral curvature of the spine. When people ask, “What if I have scoliosis, should I deadlift?” the answer is that it’s case by case.

For some, it can be a limitation that needs careful management. For others, with the right proportions, it can coincide with exceptional deadlift leverage.

The best example of this is Lamar Gant, who became the first man in history to deadlift five times his bodyweight, pulling conventional.
Extremely good deadlift mechanics and an extremely pronounced scoliosis.

So next time you’re wondering if someone has good deadlift mechanics, you know where to look👀

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Sometimes your “weak point” isn’t actually a strength problem. It’s a technique problem.

Today Hattie Boydle FMG PRO attempted 75kg bench press and failed.

As the weight got heavier, she was trying to get more aggressive by dropping the bar faster and using a bounce off her chest. This can work with lighter weights, but eventually the weight becomes too heavy to bounce.

The bigger problem is that to create that bounce, you have to relax. You turn the muscles off, hit the chest, then try to turn them back on again.

I teach the opposite. I teach the bench press with a more controlled eccentric so we keep the muscles on from start to finish.

We introduced a paused Spoto press where she lowers the bar under control, stopping just above the chest and holding it there with muscular tension.

Instead of avoiding the hardest position, we spent more time in it.

Hattie went back to 75kg and hit it for 2 comfortable reps.

Then we went to 80kg, and she got it.

She didn’t suddenly get stronger in 20 minutes. She just learned how to use the strength she already had.

These coaching moments don’t always work out this perfectly, but this was a good one to capture.

Excellent work, Hattie 👏

Low bar squats aren’t ONLY for powerlifters.

Now let me be clear, Laura Marie squat technique was already excellent!

However, when I squat, I want to consider exactly what I’m trying to achieve.

There are squats designed to lift the most weight, squats designed to build bigger quads, and squats designed to build bigger glutes. The stance, torso angle, head position, and bar position should all support that objective.

In this example, the goal was glute development.

To maximise glute involvement, I want to maximise hip flexion. The glutes are responsible for hip extension, so creating a larger moment arm at the hip joint increases the demand placed on them.

One of the best ways to achieve this is with a slightly narrower stance and by pushing the hips further back. This naturally creates a greater forward torso lean.

The interesting part is that she was already doing a lot of that exceptionally well.

Head down. Chest down. Hips back. Close stance.

The only thing I changed was the bar position.

A lot of people think the low bar squat is only for powerlifters trying to lift the most weight. While it’s true that a low bar position is fantastic for moving heavy loads, it also complements a glute-dominant squat perfectly.

A low bar position allows the torso to lean forward more naturally and comfortably, while a high bar position tends to encourage a more upright posture which is where I would want to be if my goal was to develop quads.

So this wasn’t about fixing a bad squat.
It was about taking an already excellent squat and making it even more specific to the goal.

Can deadlift 515kg???

This is a 19 minute video where I give my in depth breakdown on his recent 504.04kg deadlift in preparation for the deadlift world record as well as my thoughts on his strategy leading up to this event.

I am extremely excited to see what will happen next weekend at in Birmingham next weekend.

Raul, you are an incredible athlete and I wish you the best of luck at the world deadlift championship 🙌🙌

Team High Volume or Team Low Volume?

These days people act like you have to pick a side, but the truth is you need both. High volume is where most hypertrophy is built. The majority of the best bodybuilders on the planet have achieved their physiques through higher training volumes, and research consistently shows a dose-response where more volume generally leads to greater muscle growth.

Low volume with high intensity can also build muscle, but it is the minority approach. It works, but going heavy all the time creates its own problems. It puts more wear and tear on the joints, connective tissues, and muscles, and it can also increase training anxiety if every session feels like it has to be heavy, regardless of whether the athlete is up for it.

For strength athletes, low reps and heavy loads are essential because you will not develop true maximal strength without them. At the same time, building muscle through higher volume phases increases your potential for strength. The more muscle mass you have, the greater your ability to get stronger. On the other side, the stronger you become, the heavier the loads you can handle during higher volume phases, which makes them more effective for hypertrophy.

The best athletes in the world use both. High volume phases complement low volume phases and vice versa. This is how you build muscle and strength at the highest level. Stop choosing sides. Use both.

A lot of people don’t rest long enough between sets.

The stronger you get, the more rest you need.

Heavy compound lifts like squats, bench press and deadlifts have a huge skill component. Once fatigue builds up, performance quality drops. That’s why I prioritise quality of work over quantity.

Of course, I’m mainly talking about more complex barbell movements here. When it comes to machine and isolation exercises, this much rest usually isn’t necessary because the movements are more stable and less technically demanding.

For beginners, even 3-4 minutes between hard sets of squats and deadlifts can be very beneficial.

As lifters become more intermediate, 4-6 minutes is often more appropriate.

And at a high level, especially during heavy strength phases or competition prep, 8-10+ minute rest periods are not uncommon. In powerlifting competitions, athletes often wait 10-15 minutes between max attempts and still break world records.

A lot of people separate strength and hypertrophy training by saying hypertrophy requires shorter rest periods to create more fatigue and accumulate more volume.

But fatigue isn’t the goal, and when too much volume is performed in a fatigued state it turns into junk volume.

Even for hypertrophy, I think people can learn a lot from the strongest athletes in the world. If you’re using complex exercises and training large muscle groups, longer rest periods that allow for higher quality work can produce incredible muscle growth results as well.