
The Deadlift is rumoured to have been given its name after military battles, somewhere in ancient Rome, when young Roman soldiers would go out into the field to lift their fallen comrades onto wagons to later be buried. This replicates the way in which we perform deadlifts today, which is lifting a “deadweight” from the floor.

1700s-1900s, Between the 1700s-1900s a few different variations of the deadlift. These variations were brought about by practitioners of strength sports such as performers, athletes etc. who needed to lift heavy weights in order to make a living. Each of these different variations have been said to play a special role in the creation of the deadlift that we know today.

Father of Deadlift/ HERMANN GOENER , EARLY 1900s to 1991 ED; Moving on from the 1800’s, there’s been one strength pioneer who’s often referenced as the ‘father of the deadlift. ‘ That’s none other than German strength pioneer Hermann Goerner. Goerner began his rise to fame for his strength feats performed with the Pagel’s Circus between 1910-1930. Hermann Görner, a German strongman who started lifting weights at the early age of 10, brought the barbell deadlift into the public spotlight in 1910 to 1920.

Mark Berry who was considered a strength pioneer and champion weightlifter in the year 1925. As the popularity of the deadlift began to grow so did the act of setting world record deadlifts If you wanted to set a world record deadlift in the 1950’s you would have had to set it at an Olympic competition. The governing bodies of weightlifting decided that they would allow lifters to do odd lifts; OH press, bench press, deadlift, squat etc. to set records for them.(odd lifts was the name given to powerlifting before it was called powerlifting.)

Weightlifting / Powerlifting; type of lift where the weight or barbell is lifted off the ground until the lifter is standing up straight. The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground.
















