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Inspiration for tall skinny guys (like me!)

There is some amazing lifting here from Tom Martin. (via Sugden Barbell)

20th November 2010
Tom Martin today pulled 350kg to better Ed Coan's long standing IPF junior world record (347.5kg at 82.5kg bodyweight in Dallas, 1984). The lift took place at the GBPF/BUCS British University Championship.

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Comments

Methuselah said…
Interesting that his form appears to be a mostly rounded upper back. I am finding it almost impossible to lift any significant weight on deadlift, especially Romanian, without some rounding, and have read in various places that this is often the case for taller people. So I am now starting to wonder whether I should be obsessing about trying to keep a totally flat back at all... especially given I've never had any pain in the past when having a slightly rounded back...
November 23, 2010 at 10:19 PM
Anonymous said…
He's not exactly skinny but his skeletal features are textbook ecto.
His hips are very narrow and he's generally lanky, that's why some may perceive him as skinny. I bet my ass that he looks very impressive under that shirt.
November 24, 2010 at 11:28 AM
colin gordon said…
It's probably not the way I'd recommend deadlifting but given that he can lift 347.5kg @ 82.5kg we can safely assume that everything about him is pretty strong. For most of us allowing the hips to shoot up and the upperback to flex under load like that is something that, over time, is likely to cause problems. I'm not saying that you have maintain the curves of the spine through the movement more that you should fix the upperback in place at the start of the lift. That way the forces are spread over the areas that can handle them.
November 24, 2010 at 1:40 PM
Asclepius said…
Anonymous - I reckon you are right. I found this image which (I think) is the same guy:

http://www.elitetrack.com/?ACT=25&fid=34&aid=334_bw5zNX3lcnAYkUM0NzD9&board_id=1

His training log is also worth looking at. He seems to do a lot of track work as well:

http://www.elitetrack.com/forums/viewthread/8413/
November 25, 2010 at 5:26 AM
Asclepius said…
A more recent training log by Tom.

http://www.sugdenbarbell.co.uk/forum/Toms-training-log...-4936
November 25, 2010 at 6:12 AM
Andreas said…
Very impressive lifting. Excellent Deadlift physiology and the lift to back it up! The Squat and bench factors, are however more modest, what could be expected for a relatively long limbed individual. I don't think it's fair to call a guy at 5ft 10in tall! We see few traditional deadlifters among the young these days. Good to see a fellow who can dedlift records in a traditional lifting style!
November 28, 2010 at 5:10 AM
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