Suitcase Deadlift

by Mitch Hauschildt, MA, ATC, CSCS

Deadlifts are as old as lifting weights.  For the most part, they are a simple concept.  Lift a heavy object off of the floor and put it back down.  Conceptually, they are very simple.  They are also very effective.

Deadlifts work well for improving overall strength.  They are great for training the hip hinge.  Shoulder packing and stability can effectively be improved with this movement.  And there are more…

There are also a lot of variations of the deadlift.  These variations include the Romanian Deadlift, traditional deadlift, sumo deadlift, trap bar deadlift, and so on.  They can all be performed with a lot of different loads including barbells, dumbbells, sandbags, kettlebells, and more.

One variation that I don’t think gets enough attention is the suitcase deadlift.  The suitcase deadlift takes all of the advantages of the regular deadlift and makes it a more dense movement.  Meaning, it offers a lot of bang for our buck.

In addition to training the hip hinge, building strength and shoulder stability, the suitcase deadlift challenges stability in the frontal plane, thus layering trunk stability training in a way that isn’t found in a more traditional, sagittal plane version of the deadlift.  The goal is to keep a vertical and upright spine while lifting the load in one hand.  We tend to move well in the sagittal plane, but not nearly as well in the frontal plane, so there is a lot of upside to training in the frontal plane.

The suitcase deadlift is also very functional because it tends to replicate a lot of what we do every day.  We tend to bend down and pick up items with a single arm, so practicing it will improve the outcomes for people throughout their daily lives.

I do encourage people to train this movement with a heavy load.  A lot of people are reluctant to train this type of movement heavy because of injury risk.  But, the reality is that we tend to be scared to train heavy, but then our patients and clients go on vacation and pick up their 50lb suitcase.  If they aren’t trained for it, disaster will happen.

This movement can be trained with a variety of implements, all with their own advantages and disadvantages.  For more information on the suitcase deadlift, check out this video: