The Deadlift Thread

Training Powerlifting
61

I personally don’t believe in doing maximal pulls every week. I do a ME pull (i.e.; a 1RM from the floor) every third or fourth week. Pulling very heavy week in and week out will only fry your CNS.

In the weeks leading up to my new max attempt I have done rack pulls from various heights, rep-maxes (5/3/1), good mornings and 45 degree back raises with bands. All are effective, you just have to cycle them in and out accordingly.

Personally I haven’t found much carry-over from GMs to my conventional pull. Granted I’ve never been a huge fan of GMs and maybe there are some variations I haven’t tried yet.

Also I think enjoyment is a factor. I’m a fairly weak squatter but a strong puller. I find it a more natural lift for me and squatting is always a chore…so many cues to remember. With deadlifts there are a few cues but mostly it’s just about finding your groove and picking it up.

62

Here’s my two cents deadlift thread. I am on track for an 825 deadlift at the IPF Pro Deadlift at the Arnold this year. Here has been my deadlift training.

Previous contest best: 771, just missed 804 at the lockout

I train in 4 week cycles, 3 on 1 off. During the 3 training weeks, I only max deadlift once and the only exercise I do is reverse band pulls with green bands (Really overloads right where my weakness is). I also wave sled pulling like this- 8+ weeks out, Heavy monday (270lbs) for 300-600 feet, medium wednesday (185lbs) for 600-1200 feet, light friday (90lbs) for 1200+ feet. When the meet is about 8 weeks out, I only do medium and light sled work. Usually only light.

Speed Work has looked like this: 3 weeks of bands, one week off, 3 weeks of chains, one week off.
Bands: Quaded minis
Week 1: 315x8x1
Week 2: 350-365x8x1<~~~ the same week as the Max deadlift
Week 3: 405+x5x1
Week 4: 405-no bands-x5+x1
Basically the same thing with chains. I use about 100-120lbs of chain and then work up to weights that are a little bit harder than easy.

I dont pay attention to percentages on speed work because they don’t matter. Just go really fast. When you slow down, either stop for the day, or fix your form, or drop the weight.

Assistance exercises for the deadlift are done after speed work. Either RDL’s for rep max’s, I’ve done 500 for 12 and 615 for 6, or Dimel deadlifts up to 315 for 20 reps.

So, A deadlift oriented week 3 speed day would look like this for me:
Speed Squats with the SSB+2 green bands w/300lbs of bar weight for 5x2
Speed Pull: work up to 405x1 with quaded mini’s. Go up in weight until the bar speed slows but get in 5 good singles
Dimel Deadlifts: 4x20 w/225
Something horrible for abs
Blow my brains out

I could get a lot more specific but I just wanted to convey the general idea of my programming: have an awesome fucking deadlift.

63

Hey StormTheBeach great reply. When did you start getting into using chains and bands exclusively in your deadlift cycles?

On another note: how does your squat intensity/volume change when doing this kinda cycle? Assuming your train lower body 2x a week?

Also do you switch between RDL’s and Dimel Deadlifts each week? I’m just curious how come you do dimel deadlifts even after doing all that speed work already.

Thanks!

64

I’ve been using bands and chains ever since I realized that I get nothing out of speed work without them. I’m not a very strong person at all, as soon as I start to strain with a weight my body just shuts down, but I can move heavy weights very very quickly. Bands and chains help to develop that speed even more, for me anyway. So, I’ve been using bands and chains for speed work/max effort work for about 3 years now and it has greatly improved my speed with heavier weights making my all of my max’s go up.

As far as squats go, in my 4 week cycle, speed work becomes heavier as the week goes on. By week 3, speed squats are probably anywhere from 65%-110%, just to put a number to it I dont really use percentages, depending on how far away the competition is, 65% if I’m far out and 110% for circa max work. So, heavy squats are in the beginning of the cycle. It looks like this for one cycle, I’ll just use the one im in now to make it easy:

8 weeks out

Week 1:
Max Squat variaiton- single or triple
Light speed squats, light speed pulls- 8x2/8x1

Week 2:
Max DL variation- Reverse Band Pulls- always a single
Medium speed squats, medium speed pulls-8x3/8x1

Week 3:
Max Good Morning- Always 3+
Heavy/Circa Max Speed Work- 5x2/5x1

Week 4:
Nothing above a 10 rep max- no bands or chains

As far as assistance work- Just whatever I feel like doing. The first speed day this cycle, I did a rep max on RDL’s with 500lbs. The next week, 3 sets of 20 on dimel deadlifts- mainly because this is not very stressful and I wanted a big pull on max effort day, week three was a 6 rep max on RDL’s. Sunday is going to be a brutal speed day, so i’ll probably do dimel deads with some more weight than week 2. I do assistance deadlift work on speed days because its supposed to be a high volume day. The speed work shouldnt be get you to the point of fatigue where you cant do anything else for that day. If this is the case, the speed work is probably too heavy to elicit gains in speed strength.

I really like Dimel Deads and RDL’s because I suck at them. They hit right where I am weakest, the origin of my hamstrings. This is where I fail when I fail. Exercise selection is going to be different for everyone but I feel like I pay attention much better than most to what actually works for me. Instead of just doing stuff just to do stuff.

This is all kinda long winded but I am trying to make it as clear as possible without sounding like an asshole. haha. I hope someone reads this, it helps them, then they come to a meet and kick my ass.

65

awesome stuff Storm. Damn I’d really like to get into that band work…I have no chains…but it just seems so complicated I just don’t understand how these things are structured.

What I mean is how you determine volume for each of the 3 weeks before you deload (i usually train 3-4 weeks then deload)

What kind of set up do you use for that or do you go more based on feel?

Like you I get a good carryover it seems doing rdl’s and rack pulls below knee.

I have never done actual speed work for my deadlift (other than warmup up to deadlift)

I was wondering though how could I set up using bands for my squat?
And could I do regular squats using bands…I don’t box squat. I have sets of purple bands and monster mini’s at my house…

66

It’s a lot less complicated than everyone makes it out to be. Usually the longer the explination, the less someone knows what the hell the are talking about.

The volume with speed work, with the bands and chains, is already predetermined. The basic template I follow is a westside template so the speed work volume is based off of Prelipins Table, just says optimal set and rep ranges to maintain an optimal bar speed in one workout. Look it up, and that will be your volume for speed work. I usually stay around 16 reps for squats and 8-10 for pulls unless its a circa max or a heavy speed week day (like today and its going to suck), then it’s 10 reps for squat and 5 for pulls. So, 8 sets of 2, 8-10 sets of 1 for deadlifts, waving from say 50% the first week to 60% the third week. You have those purple bands, put them on the bar with those percentages and move it as fast as you can.

The most important part about band work is to make sure you have tension at the bottom and the top. For squatting, there has to be resistance in the hole. It’s the same for free squats and box squats. As long as the band isn’t slack at the bottom, youre good to go.

That’s pretty basic. It’s the best way to start out speed work, i think anyway. Go through a couple cycles, 3 on 1 off, and figure out what else you need to do.

Setting up speed pulls is tricky without a good rack or a jumpstretch platform. The easiest way to do it would be to drape one of those purple bands over middle of the bar and stand on it. It’s not fancy. I had to speed pulls like that for about a year when I first started. It sucks, but you have to do what you have to do.

I have a couple theories about why all the high end work, rack pull and rdl’s, help my deadlift so much. One is its working on my weaknesses because i fail at the top when i fail. Or, i dont use my ass enough and its masking the problem by making my back and hamstrings strong as shit. I don’t know. One or the other, just something to think about.

Let me know if there’s anything else I can help out with!

67

I personally hate having anything on my knees when deadlifting, it usually just gets in the way. Knee wraps do basically nothing for your deadlift anyway. If you want something on them, go with some knee sleeves like rehbands.

If your form doesnt suck, then you dont need a belt. Since youre just starting out, I am assuming your form does suck, no offense. Everyones form sucks when they start. go to inzernet.com and get a 13mm forever belt. Its like 70 bucks but it lasts forever and actually gives some support.

68

Thanks

69

[quote]cord13 wrote:
I’m trying to make the transitions from trap bar to regular DLs. today was the first time i’ve really done them. I had a lot of trouble getting the bar all the way up. I could get it up a few inches past my knees then it felt like the bar was sticking to my legs. It seemed like the strength was there, I just couldn’t get it to move once it was against my quads, like the problem was friction. any advice?[/quote]

It’s probably your starting position. When using the trap bar the torso is much more up-right. Also make sure the bar is mid foot when starting the lift and not against the shin.

Rich

70

[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
As a sub-par deadlifter myself, I’ve found the only thing that seems to work for me is pulling for reps off the floor.

I know others that have success with rack pulls, stiff legged, et cetera, so I’m guessing it’s a pretty individual thing.[/quote]

If you’re sub-par, then WTF am I?

All of my recent deadlift PRs have come when I was:

  1. Working my raw squat.
  2. Pulling only once a month in place of my squat session for that week.
  3. Doing heavy rack pulls after squatting on my non-deadlift weeks.
71

[quote]rasturai wrote:

Thanks for listening airtruth :slight_smile: lol
[/quote]

I can’t see pro boxing in the HW division at 5’9, a 6’5 guy can come in at much slender proportions and alot of speed at 245 easy. However you may have more bodyfat then you think, and can get down to light heavy or even middleweight for the night of weigh in then go back up.

But I was thinking of other sports where you can use your leverage like mma, powerlifting and strongman. If your successful in pl or strongman you can parlay that into some sort of endoresement deal, or go into personal training later in life, and have a name for yourself that brings clients and money.

72

So wait Airtruth are you trying to say I’m not going to be the next Mike Tyson?
I know fighting at 220+ doesn’t sound good as you said…those guys being 6’5 and so with a lot of speed would obviosuly give a lot of trouble.
The only problem with my mind state is that I want to continue getting even bigger…but I also realize cause of my height there’s gonna come a point where I’m gonna be too heavy to fight in that division I think?

I think of it 2 ways…I fight…lets say mma or boxing…I fight at HW and I’ll be fighting guys 6 feet and up…but if I fight at 205…theres still TONS of guys at 6 feet and up.
Hell one guy I sparred with for the longest time was 165lbs and 6’2!
I feel as if it’s only when the huge height gets in the way…there’s gonna be guys taller than me in the 185, 170 and even 155 weight classes. I’m not a tall guy so however way I cut it I can’t think of height being a factor for me and have to move to get in on the inside .

I guess if I decide to compete this year in boxing (which seems liek it’s goign to happen) I’ll have to have faith in the coach and see what he thinks, and how much weight I should drop.

But if I gain some more weight and get to 220lbs at 5’9 is pretty thick, so if I do cut down to 205 I still have plenty of weight and power and it’s only 15 lbs. to cut so nothing drastic.