PillarofBalance
Strength Pimp
- Feb 27, 2011
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We’ve all seen plenty of articles titled pretty much the same – “5 things you are doing wrong when deadlifting” “7 things to improve your deadlift” and on and on they are published. I have found many of those “things” they reference to be detrimental to some of the men and women I have coached. They preach textbook perfect deadlift form. Of course, who doesn’t want to deadlift correctly?
Well just like in every other lift, what works for one lifter may not work for another. Quick example. Pete Rubish pulls with a very much rounded back, particularly in the thoracic spine. He very narrowly missed an 800lb deadlift in competition recently. He would have been successful had the skin on his hand not completely peeled off onto the bar. If I were to even attempt to pull anything over 600 with a rounded back like that I would likely spray the background with liquefied spinal discs and cerebro spinal fluid… That “horribly incorrect” form works quite well for him.
Here take a look at Pete
So I won’t try to draft an exhaustive article here about the myriad set ups someone should attempt based on their particular levers. Instead, I will write based on an assumption that you have figured out what works best for you in terms of technique on the deadlift. So let’s talk about programming the lift. In my opinion and experience as well as my clients there is one major factor in making fast progress on the deadlift and that is an increase in your work capacity. Maybe conditioning would be a proper term for what I’m trying to express. This is a concept I have adapted from weightlifting where daily training sessions and often times two-a-days are done at the more competitive levels.
So am I suggesting deadlifting twice per day? God no! But how about we start at twice per week?
Let’s train the lift over the course of say 4 weeks. We’ll use one example subject. Subject 1 is your average lifter. He fatigues like a so called normal person. That is from time to time he requires a deload.
Subject 1:
Monday
Conventional Deadlift – low reps @ 80%
Speed Squat
Friday
Deficit Deadlift – moderate reps @70%
Block Pulls – Doubles at 95%-102%
Monday
Conventional Deadlift – singles at 90%
Speed Squat
Friday
Deficit Deadlift – moderate reps at 75%
Block Pulls – Doubles at 102-105%
Monday
Conventional Deadlift – two singles at 95%
Speed squat
Friday
Deficit Deadlifts – moderate reps at 85%
Block Pulls – working up to a single at 110%
Monday
Conventional Deadlift – deload – 5 doubles at 70%
Speed squat
Friday
Conventional Deadlift – working up to a single for a PR at 105%
So for a 500 pound puller you just added a quick 25lbs to your total. In 4 weeks. Not bad at all right? 16 weeks or less and you’ll pull 600 with this plan.
Now this comes with some caveats. For starters you need to know about all the recovery methods and tools at our disposal. You also need to accept that your squat is not going to climb as quickly. For some it will, that depends on how you squat, but for the majority your squat will crawl up. Additionally you need to carefully plan your accessory exercises to allow for rapid growth. Minor weaknesses at 500 pounds become points of failure at 550 or 600. Can your abs keep your hips neutral? Will your grip hold? There is much to be taken into account.
This is just one quick example of how you can prioritize a stagnating lift. If you are in a jam and a lift has gone stale or just isn’t where you think it should be yet, shoot me an email and let’s get you back on the path.
-Strength First
Well just like in every other lift, what works for one lifter may not work for another. Quick example. Pete Rubish pulls with a very much rounded back, particularly in the thoracic spine. He very narrowly missed an 800lb deadlift in competition recently. He would have been successful had the skin on his hand not completely peeled off onto the bar. If I were to even attempt to pull anything over 600 with a rounded back like that I would likely spray the background with liquefied spinal discs and cerebro spinal fluid… That “horribly incorrect” form works quite well for him.
Here take a look at Pete
So I won’t try to draft an exhaustive article here about the myriad set ups someone should attempt based on their particular levers. Instead, I will write based on an assumption that you have figured out what works best for you in terms of technique on the deadlift. So let’s talk about programming the lift. In my opinion and experience as well as my clients there is one major factor in making fast progress on the deadlift and that is an increase in your work capacity. Maybe conditioning would be a proper term for what I’m trying to express. This is a concept I have adapted from weightlifting where daily training sessions and often times two-a-days are done at the more competitive levels.
So am I suggesting deadlifting twice per day? God no! But how about we start at twice per week?
Let’s train the lift over the course of say 4 weeks. We’ll use one example subject. Subject 1 is your average lifter. He fatigues like a so called normal person. That is from time to time he requires a deload.
Subject 1:
Monday
Conventional Deadlift – low reps @ 80%
Speed Squat
Friday
Deficit Deadlift – moderate reps @70%
Block Pulls – Doubles at 95%-102%
Monday
Conventional Deadlift – singles at 90%
Speed Squat
Friday
Deficit Deadlift – moderate reps at 75%
Block Pulls – Doubles at 102-105%
Monday
Conventional Deadlift – two singles at 95%
Speed squat
Friday
Deficit Deadlifts – moderate reps at 85%
Block Pulls – working up to a single at 110%
Monday
Conventional Deadlift – deload – 5 doubles at 70%
Speed squat
Friday
Conventional Deadlift – working up to a single for a PR at 105%
So for a 500 pound puller you just added a quick 25lbs to your total. In 4 weeks. Not bad at all right? 16 weeks or less and you’ll pull 600 with this plan.
Now this comes with some caveats. For starters you need to know about all the recovery methods and tools at our disposal. You also need to accept that your squat is not going to climb as quickly. For some it will, that depends on how you squat, but for the majority your squat will crawl up. Additionally you need to carefully plan your accessory exercises to allow for rapid growth. Minor weaknesses at 500 pounds become points of failure at 550 or 600. Can your abs keep your hips neutral? Will your grip hold? There is much to be taken into account.
This is just one quick example of how you can prioritize a stagnating lift. If you are in a jam and a lift has gone stale or just isn’t where you think it should be yet, shoot me an email and let’s get you back on the path.
-Strength First
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