Elite technique of any athletic event has many elements. And while you must give them a lot of thought during your practice, when comes the time to compete, the skill must be totally automatic.
When you are stepping up to the platform ready to pull a PR, all your thoughts must be replaced with fury. If you try to remember a long checklist of things to do, you will not have much bandwidth left for the effort.
The solution is to find a single “trigger” that sets off an entire sequence culminating in perfect technique. For example, at our SFG I kettlebell instructor certification students learn how to initiate the military press with an explosive gripping action of the free hand. One of the ways you can “trigger” your deadlift is by firing your lats first.
At our school of strength, we have always treated the lats as the “super muscles” for their ability to strengthen lifts that do not appear to be in their “jurisdiction,” such as presses and deadlifts. In the latter, the lats add strength in three ways. First, by increasing the spinal stability. Second, by providing a stiffer connection between the arms and the torse. Third, by increasing the glute recruitment.
Here is how to sequence your efforts using the lat trigger.
You have set up, wedged, and inhaled. You are ready to blast off. Now do:
- Lock in the lats
- Brace and pressurize
- Push your feet through the platform
Practice to make it feel like an unstoppable wave of strength. Tension from your armpits cascading down your abs, glutes, legs into the platform…
