I am wanting to incorporate Dead-Lifts into my routine because I am finally getting serious about lifting. I have studied the form and think I have it down, but what I need to know now is when you are doing reps do you let the weight come to a complete rest on the ground, then go up again, or do you stop about an inch off the ground and go back up. Thank You for your help.
If you are doing conventional deads, then yes, let the weight hit the floor. I acutally recommend a 2-3 second pause on the floor to reset your form when you are doing heavy deads, and a 1 second pause for moderate deads. Some strength coaches actually recommend that you let go of the bar and stand up between reps.
I set the weight down, regroup and then pull. I don’t like a continous tension deadlift as I don’t think most people are in the optimal position to pull at the end of the eccentric.
i believe your lower back would give out if you did not put the weights back down. Now i’m talking about using really high intensity weight. Also i like to reset my position for the explosion i need in order to do my reps. That’s just my style for trying to hit the weights hard. laters pk
I like to set the bar completley down, pause for a second or two and rip it up again. This serves two purposes. 1 You dont bounce the bar off the ground, taking stress off your body which is like cheating 2. You can set back up, and make sure you have perfect form for each rep. Deadlifitng is alot more techinical that you may think, and form is vital. good luck!
It depends on if you are into the “continuous tension” concept or not. Some guys will not lock out all the way, for example, in order to keep tension on the muscle. Maybe a better way to answer is to say that if you are doing heavy weights and low reps, set the bar all the way down. If you are doing high reps, more than 8 reps, it’s possible that you might experiment with continuous tension (not resting at the bottom). It’s not “wrong” to not set the bar down, that’s like saying “you have to touch the dumbells together when doing flyes”. (Um, no, you don’t.) But if this is the first time you’ve trained deadlifts seriously, I’d say set the bar down on each rep. My 2 cents…
Depends, generally I go to ground but have also done them on to blocks so actually not down to ground but have never held the weight a few inches above but have seen lots of others do this.
Return the weight to the floor. I like to pause for a split second, just make sure it isn’t bounced off the floor. Deads are awesome.
hit the floor. If you are confused on this basic point, you don’t have it down, get somenone to work with you or order a video which teaches proper technique.
I’m no pro, but I let weights come to rest before another rep. It allows you to realign your form, as deadlifting is dangerous to do with incorrect form. It also eliminates unnecessary stress on your lower back, as there is increased force involved as you stop the downward movement of the weight before accelerating it upwards again. I like the thought that in DL every rep should be treated as one-time max.
i let the bar rest completely on the ground in between reps because i think it reinforces proper form. others stop a few inches off the ground to keep constant tension. try alternating both types and see what gives you better results.
As the weight gets heavier, you will need to reset between reps. Very important to keep form as perfect as possible.
Usually deadlifts are done as a concentric only exercise. You lift the weight from ground then put it down as fast as possible (under control). I always treat each rep of a heavy deadlift set as a single rep. Lift, put it down, stand up, reset, then lift again. The reason is that it is difficult to maintain your form over several reps and your lower back could suffer the consequences. With light weights and high reps you could do a slow negative without touching (see Ian King’s leg program). It is also possible to rep out by bouncing the the weights off rubber mats or by using bumper plates. I think Louie Simmons refers to these as “hopper” deadlifts.
I had meant to post this LAST night…however, was in the midst of a obvious “brain fart” and posted it in the “Powerlifting” thread…so here it is:
"Performing deads depends on who's "style" you're interested in training: Ian King's or Dave Tate's (Westside). Tate recommends you set the weight down at the bottom of a rep - since the positive(lifting) movement of the rep, not the negative is more important. Check out Dave Tate's site. But his theories are structured for strength gains which is why his methods differ from Ian Kings."
Dude, if you start deadlifting with heavy weights you are going to have to drop the bar after locking out. If you try to put the bar down you are going to injure yourself. Lowering the bar, even with good form, puts extreme stress on the lower back. That in itself could seriously injure you. But mostly, the compiled fatigue in your lower back from lowering the weight will weaken your back, putting you in a bad position at the end of your set.
I train deads for hypertrophy and general injury prevention. I load the weight on the flat part of the squat rack (not power rack), then I start every rep from the standing position just like squats. I inhale, set my spine and abs, go down, tap the floor and come back up. That’s one rep. Continuous tension through the eccentric and concentric. If I was training for powerlifting, I would treat each rep as a single, starting from the floor and using bumpers.
Patricia made a good point there. What are you trying to accomplish/goals with deadlifting? Personally, I like to use Ian King’s method but I will occassionally go for the heavy sets where I will momentarily set (not drop with a HUGE bang) the weight down before exploding back up. Ahhhhhh…the power of a deadlift. Nothing quite like it !!!
A good deadlift article: Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION
Used to Pull about 495, and would let it rest between reps,… that was when all I cared about was how much I could lift. If you want growth, don’t let it touch the floor,… make the muscles work, remember, they don’t know how much weight you’re lifting anyway. Nowaways, I actually use dumbells, and only do the top portion of the movement, puts less strain on my back, and keeps my erectors in great shape (like two snakes!)