Quest for Personal Deadlift Domination

[IRISHodabred]

Hey everyone!

I was wondering if this would be a solid approach to significantly increasing my deadlift.

4 or 5 sets of 3-5 reps with 2-3min rest in between sets. (Twice a week)

I would do squats (medium to light weight) on the other day a week I lift.

Any additional tips to performing good form when doing deadlifts would be appreciated. (I have watched a few Ripptoe videos re: this)

♣Cheers,

[IRISHodabred]

P.S. I'm on my 3rd week of going Primal and know that I need to get in lots of grub to fuel growth and strength. At 186lbs, I'm taking in around 160g of protein a day as of now.

[jimmie65]

You might try asking in STRENGTH RELATED TRAINING > PROGRAMMING. More people who can help might see it there.

The only advice I can offer is get Starting Strength or StrongLifts 5x5. I use SS and my routine is 1 set of 5 reps light weight, then ramping up with 1 set set of 3 and 1 set of 2, then 1 set of 5 reps of heavy weight. (Today's was 1x5x115 1x3x165 1x2x215 1x5x270).

[Critter]

Hey everyone!

I was wondering if this would be a solid approach to significantly increasing my deadlift.

4 or 5 sets of 3-5 reps with 2-3min rest in between sets. (Twice a week)

I would do squats (medium to light weight) on the other day a week I lift.

Any additional tips to performing good form when doing deadlifts would be appreciated. (I have watched a few Ripptoe videos re: this)

♣Cheers,

From your log I can see you're deadlifting under 200 lbs right now. I think you'd be better served by doing fewer sets and progressively increasing the weight. Since you mentioned Rip, I'd suggest trying his program. Increases of just 5 lbs on SS would bring up your x5 rep deadlifting by 30 lbs in a month.

[bigm141414]

Aye, I second what was said above. If you are just starting to dead lift then do 3 or 4 warm up sets and then only do 1 set of 5. Follow a linear progression so each DL session (there should be no more than 2 a week) increase the weight by 10lbs. Do that for 9-10months and you will get pretty strong. When you start hitting your limits of a linear program there are other options to continue your increase but they are more complicated.

Also, read Starting Strength to make sure you have the form and mechanics down. Post videos to get form feedback too as it is easier to fix issues while the weight is light.

[jdanger]

Squatting will drive your deadlift so don't relegate it to medium/light "recovery" workouts. Push that sumbitch up too. The programs previously mentioned will do this.

[msuroo]

Squatting will drive your deadlift so don't relegate it to medium/light "recovery" workouts. Push that sumbitch up too. The programs previously mentioned will do this.

This is...like...almost an endorsement of Rip. Who are you and what have you done with jdanger?!

[jdanger]

As long as he isn't talking about the high bar squat or the Olympic lifts.. we good... pretty much.

[eseng666]

Guys I have a question with my DL form. I am currently stuck at 270 lbs. I just noticed recently that i was doing stiff-legged deadlift instead of the conventional one (which is a good thing... in a different perspective ofcourse) Now, i am having a hardtime with the conventional deadlift. I am unable to use my hips when I try to pull the bar. any thoughts/feedback on this? Thanks!

[bigm141414]

Guys I have a question with my DL form. I am currently stuck at 270 lbs. I just noticed recently that i was doing stiff-legged deadlift instead of the conventional one (which is a good thing... in a different perspective ofcourse) Now, i am having a hardtime with the conventional deadlift. I am unable to use my hips when I try to pull the bar. any thoughts/feedback on this? Thanks!

Drop the weight down and focus on form first? What do you mean by "unable to use the hips"? Is there a video showing your form?

[SuperUnison]

If you're struggling to use your hips, then use a light weight and concentrate on form. When you're lifting heavier weights, you need to be sure your form is good or you'll get all mangled up. (This is from experience... ) When I started deadlifting my form was crap so I stopped. Deloaded and started again til I had the correct form- in the past 2 months my deadlift has rocketed to above twice bodyweight.

If you like Rippetoe, I'd definitely recommend getting a copy of starting strength, goes into loads of detail on deadlifts.

[rtalencar]

Unless recovery is an issue, if you want to get better at deadlift...deadlift. Drop your weight and first focus on form, then focus on explosiveness off the floor. Getting the bar up as quickly as possible (with good form, of course).

...or at least I think that's the vid, I don't have youtube at work. Anyhow Bolton's setup is what I do before a heavy pull and it works well for me getting set.

[eseng666]

Thanks everyone. I'll lower my weight for now so i can practice good form!

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Squatting will drive your deadlift so don't relegate it to medium/light "recovery" workouts. Push that sumbitch up too. The programs previously mentioned will do this.

This is...like...almost an endorsement of Rip. Who are you and what have you done with jdanger?!

I too saw this and almost choked. He's right though, squats will help drive your deadlift as they work almost all the same muscle groups but in different ways. The only things squats miss are grip strength, which is why i think people tend to have grip issues as the limiter most often since everything else in the chain is getting worked more often. Other grip intensive exercises like weighted pull ups or farmer walks will help the grip.

[weirdquark]

I too saw this and almost choked. He's right though, squats will help drive your deadlift as they work almost all the same muscle groups but in different ways. The only things squats miss are grip strength, which is why i think people tend to have grip issues as the limiter most often since everything else in the chain is getting worked more often. Other grip intensive exercises like weighted pull ups or farmer walks will help the grip.

You could also do rack deadlifts which let you pull more weight because you're lifting it from higher up. I can use double overhand at higher weights for my rack pulls than I can with my deficit deadlifts because I'm going through a smaller range of motion too. Not that I can hang on to the heavier weights for all that long even with mixed grip but the more I practice, the better it'll get.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

You could also do rack deadlifts which let you pull more weight because you're lifting it from higher up. I can use double overhand at higher weights for my rack pulls than I can with my deficit deadlifts because I'm going through a smaller range of motion too. Not that I can hang on to the heavier weights for all that long even with mixed grip but the more I practice, the better it'll get.

*Cringe* Rack deadlifts remind me of half/quarter squats. As long as they're relegated to an assistance exercise it might be ok though, I dunno.

[weirdquark]

*Cringe* Rack deadlifts remind me of half/quarter squats. As long as they're relegated to an assistance exercise it might be ok though, I dunno.

Yeah, I wouldn't consider them to be a good replacement but they are good for working grip and if your deadlift weakness is in the top half of the pull, it's good for concentrating on that too. My weak spot is getting it off the ground, so not so helpful for me there, but I do like the grip practice.

[bigm141414]

Yeah, I wouldn't consider them to be a good replacement but they are good for working grip and if your deadlift weakness is in the top half of the pull, it's good for concentrating on that too. My weak spot is getting it off the ground, so not so helpful for me there, but I do like the grip practice.

Might I suggest snatch grip deadlifts? Or even worse snatch grip dead lift deficits if you have issues getting off the ground. It helped me bust through my plateau since I have the same problem. If I can get it to my knees it is coming up but that first 12 inches is a struggle.

[chairohkey]

*Cringe* Rack deadlifts remind me of half/quarter squats. As long as they're relegated to an assistance exercise it might be ok though, I dunno.

Rack deadlifts definitely have their place. If you look at any Westside or Sheiko training you'll see they're a staple as are halting and deficit DL's.

[jdanger]

We do halting pulls on the oly side to build positional strength and awareness all the time because they work really well. While I don't really focus on deadlifting per say, if I did I'm sure I'd be using halting pulls the same way. Weak off the floor? Pause 1" after liftoff and/or pull from a deficit. Weak around the knees? Pause at the knee. Ect.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

You guys supplied today's learning experience, ty.

[Lachy]

I love trapbar deadlifts to train good form in convential deadlift. They're really more of a squat patern actually. You focus on using leg drive and keeping your back upright, chest up, core tight, things you aren't doing when you straight leg your convential. This then has a good transfer, I've found.

I usually go for a heavy sets of five. Be warned though, this will have a heavy affect on recovery if you're doing decent weight. I would do them in place of convential if you go heavy.