Deadlift Routine

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

hi there,
recently joined site… looking good…

i’ve been training off and on for about 20 odd years… about 15 seriously…

want to enter first amateur bodybuilding contest next year… at age 40… one of those things… gotta do it!

anyone here have suggestion on good deadlift routine? sets/reps/weight…

also, traditionally, I’ve been doing full deadlifts top to bottom, leaving weight on the floor for a one second count before the next rep. I have been doing something like this:

10 x 100 kg
10 x 120 kg
8 x 140 kg
drop set to 8 to 10 at 100 kg

some friends have suggested “touch and gos”… but others have said that these are dangerous as lumbar fatigues too quickly and can lead to serious injury.

my goal is simply to build good strength for underpinning…not to flip my camry… and to bring out the dualy split on the lumbar.

thanks folks…

-H

2

I personally like low reps and heavy weights for deads.

10 reps would be too much for me. And I always stop and reset. I was informed long ago about the meaning of the dead-weight-lift and took it to heart. Romanians and such are available for the ‘constant tension’ feature if you please.

Maybe a light set of 5-6 to get the blood flowing
Then a moderate set of 3
Then start the routine–whatever you choose
This is one lift I like to keep in the 3-2-1 rep range and believe it to be most beneficial there.

I don’t know their nam–I’ll call them the Waterbury walking deads’ are also great. Dead the weight. Walk 2-3 steps forward and rack it at knee level or so. Then pick it up take 2-3 steps back and lower to floor. Awesome!

Good luck

3

Although I am quite new to lifting, I know that touch and go leads to bad form in the later reps and also slight bouncing (ie cheating) from the floor.

There is a reason why this lift is called “Dead”.

4

Sasquatch…
thanks- like this walking deads thing…functional lifts are always the best… will definitely give it a go…

cheers-

I don’t know their nam–I’ll call them the Waterbury walking deads’ are also great. Dead the weight. Walk 2-3 steps forward and rack it at knee level or so. Then pick it up take 2-3 steps back and lower to floor. Awesome!

Good luck[/quote]

5

Any other “swear by” routines?

Sasquatch has good advice…
Do any other T-Men think that higher reps/moderate weights are the key for the bodybuilder?

Interested to hear more input.

Cheers-
-H

6

For a diffent challenge, depending on you plate resources, Use only 25 lb plates for some heavy sets. A couple of weeks of pulling off of your shoe tops will make using 45’s seem like a half pull.

Kevin

7

Two Words:

Eric Cressey

He is our resident deadlifting god…

he pulls 590, during a comp weight at 165. While he isn’t the prettiest T-Mag writer here (c’mon guys, just look at Shugs!) he sure knows how to yank alot of weight from his feet to his hips.

Shoot him a PM, he’s always extremely helpful, and who knows, maybe he’ll hold off on sacrificing that lamb to the deadlifting gods long enough to respond to this thread. :wink:

8

[quote]hoosierdaddy wrote:
Two Words:

Eric Cressey

He is our resident deadlifting god…

he pulls 590, during a comp weight at 165. While he isn’t the prettiest T-Mag writer here (c’mon guys, just look at Shugs!) he sure knows how to yank alot of weight from his feet to his hips.

Shoot him a PM, he’s always extremely helpful, and who knows, maybe he’ll hold off on sacrificing that lamb to the deadlifting gods long enough to respond to this thread. ;)[/quote]

Hehe; good timing!

It’s actually only 556.5 in competition right now, but 590 isn’t far off. I am damn pretty, though! More to come…

9

[quote]Hieronymous wrote:
some friends have suggested “touch and gos”… but others have said that these are dangerous as lumbar fatigues too quickly and can lead to serious injury.
-H[/quote]

Depends on where you’re weak; some controlled bouncing can actually be a good thing (see my Deadlift Diagnosis article for details).

Conventional pulls are pretty good for size, but if you’re really looking to overload a specific muscle group, you’d be wise to incorporate some variations. Rack pulls can be great for the upper back, and stiff-legged and pulls from a deficit are good choices for hitting the posterior chain a bit differently. Remember, though, that it’s not always what you do; it’s how often and in what volume and intensity you do it.

10

Thanks Eric and others,
Back to convntional dl rep ranges…
Do you agree that best left in the 3-6 range (4-5 sets) with final sets ending on maximum intensity? What do you thing about making the heaviest set, second to last… something like:
6 x 120
3 x 140
1 x 165
6 x 130
??

Cheers
-H

Depends on where you’re weak; some controlled bouncing can actually be a good thing (see my Deadlift Diagnosis article for details).

Conventional pulls are pretty good for size, but if you’re really looking to overload a specific muscle group, you’d be wise to incorporate some variations. Rack pulls can be great for the upper back, and stiff-legged and pulls from a deficit are good choices for hitting the posterior chain a bit differently. Remember, though, that it’s not always what you do; it’s how often and in what volume and intensity you do it.[/quote]

11

[quote]Hieronymous wrote:
Thanks Eric and others,
Back to convntional dl rep ranges…
Do you agree that best left in the 3-6 range (4-5 sets) with final sets ending on maximum intensity? What do you thing about making the heaviest set, second to last… something like:
6 x 120
3 x 140
1 x 165
6 x 130
??

Cheers
-H

Depends on where you’re weak; some controlled bouncing can actually be a good thing (see my Deadlift Diagnosis article for details).

Conventional pulls are pretty good for size, but if you’re really looking to overload a specific muscle group, you’d be wise to incorporate some variations. Rack pulls can be great for the upper back, and stiff-legged and pulls from a deficit are good choices for hitting the posterior chain a bit differently. Remember, though, that it’s not always what you do; it’s how often and in what volume and intensity you do it.

[/quote]

I assume the weights to be ficticious, but just the same–you wouldn’t want to do a set of 3 with a weight 90% of the 1RM that you would be shooting for.

More like

225–5-8reps
315–3-5reps
405–2-3reps
495–1rep
545–1RM

This was very similar to my last cycle. As you can see I wanted to save myself for the heavier weight, yet wanted to work up to it.

Finish off with other exercises. Don’t try to do 20 reps of heavy deads. For something different we would do 3x3’s in the 450 range. By the last 3–you were shaking pretty good and fatigue and burnout was near.

I just think there are safer,better exercises to go for higher reps. Just my opinion.

12

[quote]
I just think there are safer,better exercises to go for higher reps. Just my opinion.[/quote]

I tend to agree. Getting shaky on form with that much stress on your back isn’t the safest thing you can do.

That being said, if you really want to use them, there’s been a good bit of research showing you do better if you make your most intense set your first working set - basically do a few warmup sets, do your 1 or 2 very intense sets, then back off on the weight to do more volume. So, if you were going to do 4 working sets of deads after a warmup -

95% x 2

85%-90% x 3

70% x 8

60% x 10

Or something in that area, adjust the intensity/reps to what your body is capable of. Doesn’t just apply to the deadlift, obviously, but given form breakdown/fatigue issues inherent in the deadlift, doing the heavy stuff while fresh becomes even more important.

-Dan

13

Here’s a routine that was given to me by Brent Howard. It worked pretty good for increasing my dead and I got some nice size too.

Deadlift 5x5
Stiff leg DL off of a 3" block or 100# plate 2x5
Bent over rows 5x5
Pulldowns or Pull ups 3x12
Hook grip barbell or DB shrugs 1x20
Heavy abs

I did this in three week cycles, and on the third week I dropped the DL’s and the stiff legs, but did the accessory work. This is a great back workout that happens to yield some pretty sweet DL strength gains, and I would recommend this to anyone after a thick, muscular back.

Whatever you do don’t miss any reps. He couldn’t stress that enough when he told me about this routine. I also used a hook grip the entire 9 weeks I followed this DL program. I would recommend the hook if you are serious about pulling big weight. It is limiting at first, but after the first three weeks It wasn’t a problem at all.

Joe

14

Thanks everyone-
really appreciate the good advice here.

Sasquatch,
yes, that is basically the routine i’ve been following… and yes, with those weights (in Kg, not lbs)… but points well taken…

-H

15

[quote]Hieronymous wrote:
Thanks everyone-
really appreciate the good advice here.

Sasquatch,
yes, that is basically the routine i’ve been following… and yes, with those weights (in Kg, not lbs)… but points well taken…

-H[/quote]

I wasn’t bashing the weight, I just wanted to make the point about percentages. I hope you understood that. Good lifting!

16

phishdoc- Great Idea! I will give it a try tonight.

Thanks,
KraigY

17

Nine months ago at the age of 44, (5’8, 187 lbs. approximately 11% bf), I started incorporating heavy deads into my routine.

I used straps and continue to use them now - I’m hooked, all right? Here’s why or here are my excuses anyways:

  1. I had just had bi-lateral carpal tunnel release surgery three months before I started deadlifting and did not have the grip to make decent progress otherwise.

  2. I train with deadlifts with no competitive lifting in the forecast whatsoever. It’s more of the “lookin’ good nekkid” motivation.

  3. I feel like I’ve made decent progress (430 lbs. 1 RM, 420 lbs. 3 RM) using a Waterbury walking deads type pulling routine and I don’t want to go waaaaaaay down on weight and start building up all over again w/o straps.

  4. I don’t want to use the alternate grip because of the negative potential things I’ve heard about it.

Comments? Is my reasoning sound or am I a wuss (take it easy on me)?

18

[quote]throttle132 wrote:
Comments? Is my reasoning sound or am I a wuss (take it easy on me)?

[/quote]

Throttle, no one would speak ill of you on here given your openness in sharing your personal wifey pics:) Besides, there’s no wussiness involved when coming back from injury, imo, you do what you have to do.

I would think that you could continue to do your heavy work with straps and gradually bring your grip up to a point where you could start to swap out raw grip for straps, at least on some of your warmup sets, with the ultimate goal of going raw all the time. That way, you don’t sacrifice your DL gains while you work up your grip strength.

Just curious, what harmful things have you heard about the alternating grip?

DB

19

throttle

I also use straps, but I do it because my right arm was badly cut almost 10 years ago and the ulner nerve has never regenerated. Therefore; I have no feeling in my last 2 fingers from the tips to midway down my arm. They also were not able to repair the main artery so I have some decreased blood flow and circulatory issues there.

I too have heard of issues with the alternating grip having to do with the way the load is unevenly displaced throught the arms and shoulders. Only read about it once sometime ago so I can’t quote anything, but I’ve seen it.

Anyways who cares if you use straps. It allows you to use more weight which is of far better in totallity than some small increase in grip strength. I also am in my ‘non 30’s’ and find that I can open most any jar and shake hands without feeling like a cooked noodle so what more would I be looking for.

20

http://images.t-nation.com/forum_images/./1/.1117763325940.DCP_2087A_(Small).jpg

[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:
throttle132 wrote:
Comments? Is my reasoning sound or am I a wuss (take it easy on me)?

Throttle, no one would speak ill of you on here given your openness in sharing your personal wifey pics:) Besides, there’s no wussiness involved when coming back from injury, imo, you do what you have to do.

I would think that you could continue to do your heavy work with straps and gradually bring your grip up to a point where you could start to swap out raw grip for straps, at least on some of your warmup sets, with the ultimate goal of going raw all the time. That way, you don’t sacrifice your DL gains while you work up your grip strength.

Just curious, what harmful things have you heard about the alternating grip?

DB
[/quote]

I failed to mention I don’t use straps during warmups (up to about 225 - 250 lbs.) but after that my overall form suffers without the straps. In fact I only use straps on heavy deads and heavy dumbbell rows…nuthin else…and since I workout in my home gym I just use free weights…so I feel I get plenty of grip enhancing exercises.

So again, if I have no plans to compete at deadlifting and …I can lift much heavier with straps and therefore take more advantage of all the benefits that heavy deads can do for your musculature and strength, what is the point to using the raw grip?

As far as the alternate grip, like Sasquatch, I have heard or read how using it can cause an unbalanced load on your frame, tendons, ligaments, muscles, etc. and potentially lead to injury. So again, I’m thinking…lift heavy, minimize injury risks and I can take advantage of all the good stuff that deads do for you. ???

Cressey, would like to hear your comments on this.

And dollarbill, since you were kind of enough to respond to my question and speaking of dumbbell rows, here is a pic of wifey!