Jefferson Lift

by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : exercises
Tags : Strongman


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UPDATE : This lift owes its origin to Strongman Charles Jefferson, not Thomas. Thanks Jan.

The origins of this lift are a little more difficult to find than those of many other weird and wonderful movements from the strongmen of old. The only strongman I've come across with the name of Jefferson is Thomas Jefferson 'Stout' Jackson (1890-1976) of Texas; though I can't find any link with this particular lift.

Whomever the originator, this lift was initially performed using a large pear-shaped weight with a cross-bar attached. As this style of weight isn't exactly common, a loaded barbell is usually substituted. The lift itself is essentially a deadlift performed whilst straddling the bar, such that one hand is in front and the other behind you. The difficult part seems to be getting the foot and hand placement just right so a comfortable lockout can be achieved (this lift is also called the 'nut crusher', and a bad foot/hand placement will show you exactly why).

Scott Andrew Bird is a writer, photographer and a guy who just loves this stuff. He's been at home in front of a computer for more years than he cares to remember (OK, 29) and is now making amends for years of many mistakes noted in the De-constructing computer guy articles (part 2) on T-Nation.

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Like this? Check out some of their other articles :

• Looking At : May 13, 2012
• Gymchat 168 - Workout Nutrition II
• Looking At : May 6, 2012

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The Art of Expressing the Human Body

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