I want to start Dling “heavy” but really do not know what i am fully capable of (weight wise). Do you guys think that as 6’2’’ newbie lifter who weighs 175-180 i could safely load up a 45 plate on each side and go from there? If i was to go with smaller 25’s would it set the bar in a bad position for the DL?
I have long arms so this may be of an advantage and after a proper warm up addressing thoracic ext./hip mobilty my ROM is pretty good (i think). Any thoughts?
IMO, you should start with the bar to work on form. Once you get the form down, then you should start adding plates.
start with the 25s. just to get used to the motion, but you’ll probably be able to go 45 once you get the form right. 135 isn’t really heavy if you know how to pull it.
The bar wont be too much lower using 25s so dont worry.
If you have them, use the colored bumper plates, since they’re all the same size. 135 really isn’t heavy though.
You could also stack up some mats under the 25’s to get the bar closer to 45 height. Just don’t start doing them in the Smith Machine.
[quote]TheSicilian wrote:
You could also stack up some mats under the 25’s to get the bar closer to 45 height. Just don’t start doing them in the Smith Machine.[/quote]
Well, if i did that where would i do my inverted rows?
I just started deadlifting last fall.
Great Decision!!
The movement was very awkward for me at first but w/i a week or two it felt much better.
I started with the bar then 10s then 25s.
You will progress to the 45s rapidly enough and then the sky is the limit.
If the weight doesn’t feel comfortable when you are starting out, don’t do it.
I’m a beginner but I think when you are starting out any new exercise it is better to do more reps with lower weight to “grease the groove” than to force heavier weights.
My .01 cent. Good luck and study up on your form.
I still am
[quote]new2training wrote:
I just started deadlifting last fall.
Great Decision!!
The movement was very awkward for me at first but w/i a week or two it felt much better.
I started with the bar then 10s then 25s.
You will progress to the 45s rapidly enough and then the sky is the limit.
If the weight doesn’t feel comfortable when you are starting out, don’t do it.
I’m a beginner but I think when you are starting out any new exercise it is better to do more reps with lower weight to “grease the groove” than to force heavier weights.
My .01 cent. Good luck and study up on your form.
I still am
[/quote]
I agree with point about greasing the groove. let me ask, did your loads progress pretty quickly at first? Did you get a noticeable increase in strength/mass once you incorporated the DL in your program? I avoided them for a awhile, although knowing thet are one of the best, because i did not think i had the mobilty to do them safely.
Then one day i was doing split squats wuith DBs resting the weight on the floor between sets. When i went to dropped them or picked them up i did it “DL” and was shocked at how good my form was. This what got me thinking i may be ready to put them into practice. if you could tell me your experience with them that would be great.
EDIT…sorry for the ypos, i am at work posting bewteen tasks.
I started Deadlifting not too long ago. I first focused on rack pulls(on the lowest peg) Got my form feeling good, then I slowly ramped up with 25s and 35s and 45s. Making sure my form and competence on the exercise was still sufficient.
Once I had gotten sufficiently over 135lbs, I dropped to the floor and suffered the minor setback of losing about 45 lbs worth of ability, but since I had worked so well on my form, and since I’m a total beginner, I very quickly moved back up and beyond.
Now I’m upto 2 plates a side for multiple reps. Still very weak by any intermediate or above trainee, but I am still very happy with my progress, especially since my form has remained good the whole way up.
An interesting correlation to increased deadlift strength I’ve noticed is that my pull-up strength seems to have diminished. sets of 10 used to be pretty easy for me, but now that’s on the fringe of my abilities, but, in almost every other aspect of training I have improved, my muscles have gotten larger, my strength in almost every other workout has improved, and my confidence in the gym has improved greatly.
Now if only I could repeat this sort of growth with Squats, but at 6’4, that’s a tricky proposition.
if your max is 300 start at 225
if your max is 200 start with 185-150
How much do you squat? You could start with that.
Or try half the weight you leg press.
It’s hard to actually use good form without Olympic Bumper Plates of 45s
So, this advice will go against what everyone else is saying, but I feel I must say it. If you want to know how much you can deadlift, KEEP ADDING WEIGHT AND FIND OUT! It would be best to have someone who has good form look after you and make sure you aren’t going to hurt yourself, but why not push it?
I do think that technique is huge and I do agree that immediately after you find out said max you pick lighter weights and really just work on form because it is key (I probably lifted too heavy too much as a beginner and didn’t work on enough form.) But to be honest, the deadlift isn’t that fancy of a movement.
Encyclopedias of information can be written about proper deadlift form to get the absolute most amount of weight out of the lift, but for you and your build (and goals), as long as your back is straight and mostly vertical, you are probably fine. Imagine it this way, would sprinters first ask, “Hey, about how fast do you think I should be running?” “I just started to learn how to run, I’m gonna keep it slow for a while and just jog.”
In that analogy of course the sprinters would slow down and learn proper technique for a while before peaking, but jesus, I’m sure they just straight sprinted once in the beginning to see what they could do.
Who knows, maybe one of t-nations authors will come on here and straighten me out, but for christ’s sakes, grow some balls, put some effort into lifting and just do it. Pick something up!
[quote]hareboll wrote:
So, this advice will go against what everyone else is saying, but I feel I must say it. If you want to know how much you can deadlift, KEEP ADDING WEIGHT AND FIND OUT! It would be best to have someone who has good form look after you and make sure you aren’t going to hurt yourself, but why not push it?[/quote]
I disagree here. If the OP is just starting to do deadlifts, I think it would be a mistake to try and max out right away. I think he should go for reps with whatever weight he is comfortable at for a few workouts so his body can become accustomed to the movement, then try and max out.
Risk of injury would be too high to go all out from the get go IMO.
[quote]cskolnick wrote:
I want to start Dling “heavy” but really do not know what i am fully capable of (weight wise). Do you guys think that as 6’2’’ newbie lifter who weighs 175-180 i could safely load up a 45 plate on each side and go from there? If i was to go with smaller 25’s would it set the bar in a bad position for the DL?
I have long arms so this may be of an advantage and after a proper warm up addressing thoracic ext./hip mobilty my ROM is pretty good (i think). Any thoughts?[/quote]
Assuming that you’re not elderly and/or have never had serious back issues, I’d suggest you put 135 on the floor and pull it.
Seriously, it’s 135 freakin’ pounds. That’s not going to hurt you. You could drop that on your chest and it wouldn’t hurt you.
I also think that after you pull it rather easily, you’ll chuckle to yourself and wonder what you were worried about in the first place.
[quote]hareboll wrote:
So, this advice will go against what everyone else is saying, but I feel I must say it. If you want to know how much you can deadlift, KEEP ADDING WEIGHT AND FIND OUT! It would be best to have someone who has good form look after you and make sure you aren’t going to hurt yourself, but why not push it?
[/quote]
I gotta agree with you. At 180ish pounds 225 is a good starting place. Even for starting off or doing some 40 rep deadlift workout (saw it on YouTUBE - I don’t actually support it) it really doesn’t make sense to deadlift less than your bodyweight. If you can stand up out of a chair chances are you can pull your bodyweight easy.
I agree that you should start with 135s. Using smaller plates will make your ROM weird. I was weak as hell when I started DLing and I could do 10 reps of 135. My 120 lb sister can DL 165. Just go ahead and get used to it.
[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
cskolnick wrote:
I want to start Dling “heavy” but really do not know what i am fully capable of (weight wise). Do you guys think that as 6’2’’ newbie lifter who weighs 175-180 i could safely load up a 45 plate on each side and go from there? If i was to go with smaller 25’s would it set the bar in a bad position for the DL?
I have long arms so this may be of an advantage and after a proper warm up addressing thoracic ext./hip mobilty my ROM is pretty good (i think). Any thoughts?
Assuming that you’re not elderly and/or have never had serious back issues, I’d suggest you put 135 on the floor and pull it.
Seriously, it’s 135 freakin’ pounds. That’s not going to hurt you. You could drop that on your chest and it wouldn’t hurt you.
I also think that after you pull it rather easily, you’ll chuckle to yourself and wonder what you were worried about in the first place.
[/quote]
Very funny. I mean, i can EASILY pull two 35 pound Poland Spring water jugs at work; how much harded can one more and some change be? Seriously after reading some of the other posts and giving it some more thought, i sure would hope i can pull that safely from the floor. thanks
[quote]SkinnySwimmer wrote:
hareboll wrote:
So, this advice will go against what everyone else is saying, but I feel I must say it. If you want to know how much you can deadlift, KEEP ADDING WEIGHT AND FIND OUT! It would be best to have someone who has good form look after you and make sure you aren’t going to hurt yourself, but why not push it?
I gotta agree with you. At 180ish pounds 225 is a good starting place. Even for starting off or doing some 40 rep deadlift workout (saw it on YouTUBE - I don’t actually support it) it really doesn’t make sense to deadlift less than your bodyweight. If you can stand up out of a chair chances are you can pull your bodyweight easy.
[/quote]
I can hardly believe it but at one time i COULD NOT get into or out of a chair. Well, i could but i now realize i had to always use my hands and arms to support my body weight. I never realized i did this until i squatted for the first time:
For the next few days, although sore as hell, it was like my legs and core did what they were suppossed to do: hold up my upper body!
Thanks for all the posts. I have a doctors appt. tommorrow and baring any horrible news, i am heading to the gym afterwards. I am going to warm up with some mobilty/activation work, do some light dumbell swings to get the movement pattern down, throw 135 on the bar and PULL. I will let everyone know how it goes tomorrow.