Stop The Rotation To Jumpstart Gains
by Ben Edwards
A lot has been written about training with thick-handled dumbbells and there are many methods to help you reach your strength goals.
Your training will usually consist of attempts to either increase your max lift for a single deadlift, or occasionally doing reps to increase the amount of time that you’re holding onto the dumbbell. Occasionally it’s a good idea to switch your training up and focus on a different training method for a while to see if you can get break through a training rut or plateau.
A technique that has helped me drastically increase my Inch loadable dumbbell max over the past month is to stop the rotation of the dumbbell while performing a deadlift. This is not something new and I’ve read about it being used by several guys who are training to lift the Inch Replica.
There are several ways to stop the rotation of a dumbbell
- Press a finger against the plates with your non-lifting hand and apply inward pressure so that the rotation of the plates is arrested. I used this technique after a grip contest about 5 years ago and lifted an Inch Replica to a full deadlift. At that time I was about 40lbs away from a legitimate lift of an Inch Replica, so it’s a remarkable training tool.
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Loosen the plates (applies to a loadable only) until they rattle when lifted and that will significantly reduce the rotation of the dumbbell. I usually get about 10lbs more when I do this.
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If you have an Al Myers Inch (loadable) Trainer -Use a hollow tube to slide over one of the “horns” on the screw-on collar. Hold onto the tube with your non-lifting hand and that will prevent the dumbbell from rotating when you lift it. This will add anywhere from 5 to 20lbs to your best unassisted lift. The following pictures show this technique in action.
This is the starting position. The dumbbell hasn't left the ground yet. The left hand is already stabilizing the hollow tube, which prevents the dumbbell handle from rotating in your hand during the lift.
About a month ago I dusted off my Al Myers Inch Trainer and worked up to a max (contest-legal) lift of 139lbs. I struggle with the rotation of thick-handled dumbbells. I’ve trained it about 6 times since that test day and I did a contest-legal deadlift with 152lbs this morning. That’s an increase of 13lbs in a month. Some of that was just being a bit “rusty” with my thick-handled dumbbell technique. But a good portion of that increase I attribute mainly to my rotation-stopping training. Only on the first day did I actually do an unassisted dumbbell lift (without the rotation-stopping tube) during training. The 6 workouts since that test day have consisted primarily of a few warmup 2-handed pulls and 1-handed negatives with 140lbs, and then 3 to 5 attempts – utilizing the rotation-stopping bar – with 150 to 170lbs.
I hope anyone training to lift an Inch Replica will put these suggestions to use and achieve their goal quickly and efficiently. I’ve got a long way to go before I’m strong enough to lift an Inch Replica. But at least now I’m closer than I’ve ever been.
This is the finished position of the dumbbell deadlift. The left hand is still holding on to the hollow tube. At this point in the lift, you could either continue to use the rotation-stopping effect of the hollow tube while you lower the dumbbell to the ground under control, or you could pull the hollow tube off the "horn" of the collar and try to control the dumbbell on the way to the ground without the rotation-stopping benefit of the hollow tube.
About a month ago I dusted off my Al Myers Inch Trainer and worked up to a max (contest-legal) lift of 139lbs. I struggle with the rotation of thick-handled dumbbells. I’ve trained it about 6 times since that test day and I did a contest-legal deadlift with 152lbs this morning. That’s an increase of 13lbs in a month. Some of that was just being a bit “rusty” with my thick-handled dumbbell technique. But a good portion of that increase I attribute mainly to my rotation-stopping training. Only on the first day did I actually do an unassisted dumbbell lift (without the rotation-stopping tube) during training. The 6 workouts since that test day have consisted primarily of a few warmup 2-handed pulls and 1-handed negatives with 140lbs, and then 3 to 5 attempts – utilizing the rotation-stopping bar – with 150 to 170lbs.
I hope anyone training to lift an Inch Replica will put these suggestions to use and achieve their goal quickly and efficiently. I’ve got a long way to go before I’m strong enough to lift an Inch Replica. But at least now I’m closer than I’ve ever been.