When I said training economy I wasn't talking about marketting. I meant that it is a lift that for many elite pro's will simply "take" more than it will give.
The thing about Bill Starr is that all sorts of people quote but nobody seems to have actually read him
This reference about him comes from an article from Muscular Development mag in 1969 where he outlined his method for increasing the deadlift without deadlifting...it was basically high pulls, powercleans, and goodmornings. Just pointing that out because it only fits if it fits.
He also, however, DID NOT believe in training the deadlift. You read "The Strongest Shall Survive" and there is two paragraphs on it headed
Omit the Dead Lift.
He said it has too high a casualty rate. Too hard on the lumbar. Course think about what you are "ommitting" when your try to replace deadlifting with olympic pulls. You are omitting trying to pull a HEAVY ass weight from the floor with vim and vigour
. Matter of fact you DO NOT want to start your cleans and other fast as that will just mess up you setup for the second phase.
YET he believed that goodmorning could replace this BUT deads are bad for the lower back. Ummm...put 2 and 2 together. The guy just didn't like deadlifts. He didn't put deadlifts in the programs of his athletes.
I'm not saying he is right or wrong. And I agree, of course that some people will do better not deadlifting as often. I'm also not doubting OF COURSE that the way Starr chose to skin a cat worked just perfectly for him.
But think about it. If I were to say: "Squats suck. You'll injure your knees and your back. They are not worth it." And then I proceeded to write a program about how to increase your squats...you'd probably take that with a grain of salt. Always consider the particular box people come from. So often what they write is saying a lot about themselves rather than people in general.
So I agree with Anuj about blanket statements from authority figures. But I also agree with the general notion that some people will do better not deadlifting as often. That's not me so much but everybody ain't me and I certainly can't do reg deads as often as I once did.