Does Deadlift Stunt Growth?
Introduction:
Strength sports (such as bodybuilding, strongman, and powerlifting) have propagated over recent years. They have grown so popular that even adolescents have been participating in strength sports, especially powerlifting. As with any physical activity of high exertion, there are concerns about how this may affect younger athletes. One of these concerns with regards to strength sports is the question of whether or not the deadlift stunts growth.
What is the Perception:
There are three main lifts in powerlifting: squat, bench, and deadlift. The deadlift utilizes the most muscle fibers out of the three lifts and is usually the heaviest lift for powerlifters. Since it activates the entire posterior chain, the deadlift is associated with a high incidence of acute back injuries (Ferland 2019). As a result, one can assume that the deadlift can affect youth in other ways, such as stunting growth. In conjunction with this notion, there is a high frequency of prolific deadlifters on the shorter side. The combination of the high incidence of acute back injuries with the perception of lifters typically being stockier than average may have led to the idea that the deadlift can stunt growth.
What is the reality of the Situation:
While this seems like a clear link, it can likely be attributed to correlation without causation. There is no evidence that strength training and resultant injuries interfere with growth (Bengtsson 2018). One study analyzed stunted growth in Japanese children who often carried heavy loads, but the study’s foundation was insufficient because it did not consider factors such as nutrition. Another study found that out of their sample of powerlifters, 81% reported a recent injury. Of the injured powerlifters participating in the experiment, 31% recorded their injury result from deadlifting. However, the study also implied that injuries related to powerlifting have less to do with the exercises themselves and more to do with the high-intensity training, poor form, or low mobility, all of which can be easily adjusted.
Possible Origin of the Perception:
While evidence points to no link between stunted growth and deadlift, it may be worthwhile to examine why this fictitious link exists. As mentioned before, many prolific deadlifters are short. The connection between height and deadlift exists, but the causality is misleading. While people may think deadlifting caused these lifters to be stocky, the more likely explanation is that they gravitate towards deadlifting because their height provides an advantage biomechanically. The notion that certain physical traits can benefit a specific sport is well known, yet the perception that any particular sport causes the respective advantageous attributes is not. For example, no one asserts that playing basketball promotes growth, yet lifting is perceived to stunt growth.
Conclusion:
No lift has any evidence to show that they stunt growth. This fallacious notion is easy to decipher logically but is ultimately inaccurate. Even acknowledging the high incidence of injuries in powerlifting athletes, these injuries do not affect growth. It is a poor decision to decrease or forego the implementation of deadlifts in a training program because of this myth.
References:
Bengtsson V, Berglund L, Aasa U. Narrative review of injuries in powerlifting with special reference to their association to the squat, bench press and deadlift. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2018 Jul 17;4(1):e000382. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2018–000382. PMID: 30057777; PMCID: PMC6059276.
Ferland, Pierre-Marc; Comtois, Alain S.. Classic Powerlifting Performance: A Systematic Review. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: July 2019 — Volume 33 — Issue — p S194-S201 doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003099