131. Building a Buffer for Your Back | Shaun Cook - (The Code: A Guide to Health and Human Performance) Podcast Details

Description

Deadlifts, often misunderstood and feared, are essential for building a resilient body and preventing spine injuries with proper technique and balanced training. This week, Shaun Cook, a seasoned personal trainer and owner of Crucible Strength, joins Dr. Andrew Fix to discuss the critical role of deadlifts in strengthening the back and spine, debunking common myths and misconceptions.

Dr. Fix and Shaun clarify that deadlifts and squats serve different purposes: deadlifts focus on lifting weight from the ground with hip dominance, while squats involve more knee and hip flexion. Proper form and gradual progression in deadlifting are crucial to avoid injury, as injuries typically result from improper loading or technique.

The episode highlights how deadlifting can improve back pain and spinal health, even in chronic conditions, providing an active rehabilitation alternative to the typical “rest and anti-inflammatories” approach. Additionally, deadlifting builds a buffer of strength, enhancing physical resilience and confidence for everyday activities.

For those new to deadlifting or hesitant due to past injuries, Shaun offers practical advice on starting with kettlebells or trap bars and focusing on variations like the Romanian deadlift to build foundational strength gradually. Whether you’re experienced or new to lifting, this episode of The Code provides valuable insights to safely and effectively incorporate deadlifts into your fitness routine.

Quotes

“I always joke around that the deadlift is simply the art of lifting heavy shit off the floor. And it doesn’t have to be heavy; it’s relative. But it is the delineation between the squat and the deadlift.” (04:25 | Shaun Cook)
“There is an ignorance surrounding the deadlift and that movement among health professionals who don’t do those movements themselves or don’t understand the biomechanics of exactly what the movement is, what it trains, and how, essentially, one can bulletproof their spine from external loads in daily life by training it properly.” (09:12 | Shaun Cook)
“We have a lot of science, but the human body is so complex that there is a myriad of trial and error with some of this. People often drop off the wagon because they hold so tightly to what’s happening in the moment and not the long term. And that sounds like most of life, right? Because we’re all about instant gratification. So, I just want to tell anyone who’s listening and going through that, there’s going to be a period we call ‘the suck.’ If it’s an acceptable level of pain, it doesn’t mean you’re not improving—you could absolutely be improving. It’s just how this process works.” (26:50 | Shaun Cook)
“What we do in training is stay strict and adhere to form. The more you do that, the more you create a buffer so that when you do go off script in real life, you have this built-in capacity. If things go wrong a little bit, there’s now a margin of error you can handle without breaking.” (43:45 | Shaun Cook)

Connect with Shaun Cook:

https://www.instagram.com/crucible_strength/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29971708/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/14038196.2012.674973

https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2015.5021#:~:text=the%20lumbopelvic%20region.-,Results,001

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