Hey, I’ve been stuck at 515lbs for deadlifts for awhile now. I have major problems getting the weight up past my knees and locking out.
Heavy hip thrusts haven’t done much and I don’t have a proper power rack at my gym so rackdeads can only be done at the knee level and not just below it.
I have a real problem pushing my hips through. My rackdeads aren’t much higher than 515.
I can full squat 425lbs.
I’m just wondering if I should really try and focus on good mornings? I haven’t done them much.
I dont have a dead as high as yours, but, for rack deads, if you cant get a rack low enough, Ive used a pile of plates either side to get the bar up before. That could help.
Its good for doing a couple of reps. But I guess it depends on the shape of the plates and how flat the sides are as to how well the bar will sit on them.
Could be that your deadlift start is putting you at a compromised position by the time it gets to your knees. Hard to say without seeing your deadlift.
This is kinda like going to a mechanic with out your truck and saying hey my truck keeps making the sound under hood bit I don’t know what is… chances are unless he can see and hear the truck he can’t really help all that much sure he can guess but, wouldn’t you wanna just bring of to him? Basically saying post a video could help alot.
Secondly have you tried dimmel deads or even better Deadlifts against bands? They train you to pull with alot of acceleration and and if you slow down and don’t pull your hips through you will lose the weight. Worked wanders me but my deadlift is right next to yours prob a little lower but take it for what’s its worth.
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
Could be that your deadlift start is putting you at a compromised position by the time it gets to your knees. Hard to say without seeing your deadlift. [/quote]
You’re in the exact same boat as me joey. Squat is about the same, my best dead is 525 which flies up to the knees and then it stops dead and it’s a grueling grind to the lockout.
I have to agree with Fletch here. My lower back rounds over from the very beginning, which leaves one almost completely helpless to lockout the weight. Video tape your form from the side and post it up for some critical analysis by yourself and others.
If you are working close to your max all of the time, I would say drop the weight a bit and deadlift for reps and speed. You dont need to go super heavy all of the time. Deadlifts for reps helped me a lot.
Snatch grip deads, while generally for the lower portion, will also help by strengthening your upper back.
I would SLOWLY start adding unweighted back extensions or pull throughs in your warmup to get extra work for your lockout muscles in. Gradually increase the reps. Eventually, banging out 100 or so reps before a workout wont feel like anything, and it WILL make a difference.
Someone is going to blow me up over this but partial movements never did a darn thing for me. My issue was always being able to separate my squatting from my deadlifting. I had to go to an alternate 4 day program. Squat Monday, deadlift Thursday, squat Sunday, etc.; now try to put your benching in on that and you get a mess!
I actually stayed away from deadlifting until 3 months out from a competition. For the record, my same day competition numbers were 670 squat and 640 dead so I really didn?t sacrifice anything by not always deadlifting. If anything, I was healthier then if I had pounded it all the time.
So consider taking it easier on your back and you may get more out of it. But that?s what worked for me.
Not an expert but forM is key. If you watch videos from guys when they critique their deads. Sometimes they will comment that if they would of set up better they would of been locked out alot faster and better. You could be leaning too far forward from the get go. Head up. Tight. And try to keep the shoulders over or behind the bar I believe? ?? Filming yourself does wonders. I go pro everyworkout. And then kick myself for shitty form after. Or you can high five when you do it right.
Alright, I’d love to use bands and chains, but my gym sucks and has just the essentials.
I’m around 6ft tall and 220lbs right now. Not naturally very strong. Started at 140lbs 6+ years ago.
We only have a squat rack with no adjustments in terms of safety bar. It’s above my knee. I rest the bar on there for rack deads and stand on a box. I’ll probably end up making a taller box so I can do rack deads from below my knee. Right now it’s right at my knee when I stand on the box.
My diet is fine and I’m gaining in all my other lifts. I do squats Monday and deads on Thursday.
I usually hit 4-5 sets for deads (I mix speed and rack deads in every other week instead of regular deads) with glute ham raises 3-4 sets after, and pullups and rows. I do back extensions with a 45lb plate for 10-12 reps, but I will start doing higher body weighted extensions soon.
I don’t use a belt either because I didn’t like the feel. Maybe I will loosen it and try using one again. I use it for squats.
I do have trouble keeping my back from rounding with heavy weight. I’ve had a trainer I trust look at my form and I’ve tightened it up and brought the bar as close as I can to my body. I’m pretty tall and lanky.
I’m thinking of trying those dimmel deads for high reps focusing on exploding to lockout for high reps. Would good mornings help with lockout?
I think more speed off the floor will probably help you make it through the sticking point you are hitting. I would say do some snatch grip deadlifts heavy as you can with a flat back to help build up your back, because as other have said too much rounding can compromise your positions and prevent you from using the right muscles.
Also, do you front squat? Your squat is pretty strong, but I don’t know what your style is like - if your front squat is significantly weaker than your back squat then put some time into that. It will get your back stronger and your quads stronger - both things that will help your deadlift. The quads are especially important for speed breaking the bar from the floor, which again I think might help you get through that sticking point.
Also also, I’m not a fan of partials so I would get rid of the rack deads and just do speed deadlifts every week. Really work on ripping the weight. One thing that worked for me was adding in a deficit with my speed work as well. So I do something like this
weeks 1-3
12 x 1 @ 275 from floor - 10 x 1 at 295 from floor - 8 x 1 at 315 from floor
weeks 4-6
12 x 1 at 275 from 2 inch deficit - 10 x 1 295 2 inch - 8 x 1 315 2 inch
Weeks 7-9
12 x 1 at 275 from 4 inch deficit - 10 x 1 295 4 inch - 8 x 1 315 4 inch
Doing more speed deadlifts, and pulling from a deficit might again help you with moving the bar faster into your sticking point, which is going to help you get through it. The hip thrusts and good mornings might help with lockout, but if you are getting caught below/at the knees, then I don’t think getting your hips will help as much as working on quad strength, back strength, and speed/technique.
i bring my own chains to the gym, but maybe yours doesnt let you. but I did defficit deads (just standing on 2 plates) with chains, that helped alot with explosiveness.
oh also. not an expert so not sure if it will matter that much. but do you pull sumo or conventional? if your pulling sumo, maybe repping out heavy conventional will work? but i have no idea, I might need to try that as well because I have been having trouble on my lockout as well.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I love KB swings for lockout. Whenever I train swings, my lockout is awesome. As soon as I slack, it falls apart.[/quote]
Woah really? What kind of weights and rep schemes are we talkin with these swings?
You could try pause deadlifts, pull off the floor then pause just below the knee and then pull to lockout, havent tried them myself but it could be worth a go if you run out of ideas.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I love KB swings for lockout. Whenever I train swings, my lockout is awesome. As soon as I slack, it falls apart.[/quote]
Woah really? What kind of weights and rep schemes are we talkin with these swings?[/quote]
All I own is a 45lb bell, so that’s the weight I use. Any sort of reps will work. Tabata protocol, going for maximal reps, multiple sets of sub maximal reps, etc. There’s no need to overthink it, you just gotta get the work in.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I love KB swings for lockout. Whenever I train swings, my lockout is awesome. As soon as I slack, it falls apart.[/quote]
Woah really? What kind of weights and rep schemes are we talkin with these swings?[/quote]
All I own is a 45lb bell, so that’s the weight I use. Any sort of reps will work. Tabata protocol, going for maximal reps, multiple sets of sub maximal reps, etc. There’s no need to overthink it, you just gotta get the work in.[/quote]
I added a band to my swings, you have to really fire your glutes to get the top part of the swing, also I find it awesome conditioning. 10 reps and I want to drop it.
When I can’t lock out, unless I’m just exhausted, it has almost nothing to do with a strength failure. It’s usually positioning and not engaging my hips early enough.
If your legs are straight when the bar is at your knees good luck locking out unless your back is ridiculously strong.
Don’t think about pulling the bar up with your back to lock out. My only cue when the bar hits my knees is to drive my glutes forward. If you get your hips to the bar there’s a pretty good chance it’ll be locked out.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I love KB swings for lockout. Whenever I train swings, my lockout is awesome. As soon as I slack, it falls apart.[/quote]
Woah really? What kind of weights and rep schemes are we talkin with these swings?[/quote]
All I own is a 45lb bell, so that’s the weight I use. Any sort of reps will work. Tabata protocol, going for maximal reps, multiple sets of sub maximal reps, etc. There’s no need to overthink it, you just gotta get the work in.[/quote]
I added a band to my swings, you have to really fire your glutes to get the top part of the swing, also I find it awesome conditioning. 10 reps and I want to drop it. [/quote]
I tried a band, but didn’t really like how it changed the movement for me. I pretty much only swing as high as my hips pop the bell.