Pulling 240kg in April 2009
Video of a recent PR attempt after a few weeks of deadlift specific training
In my opinion there are very few feats of strength more impressive than a big deadlift. The deadlift uses virtually every muscle in the body and will make you a better athlete, no matter which sport you train for. Training for an impressive pull is also hard work and signifies that the person lifting has got dedication to their training, a tolerance to discomfort and is therefore worthy of some respect!
Unfortunately when you walk into most commercial gyms all you will see is guys doing curls and bench. On the odd occasion that someone attempts to deadlift it’s more often than not a set of horrid partial range stiff leg deadlifts while the trainee cranes his neck around to check out his own hammies in the mirror!
In this article I want to outline a few key points about deadlifting and offer up a couple of short deadlift training cycles that will push your deadlift numbers up, hopefully to the point that people in your gym stop and stare when you set up to pull.
What is Heavy?
At what point can you call yourself strong? At what point does your deadlift progress from puny to powerful? These are difficult questions to answer because you can’t just whack out a table of standards that applies to everyone. A big weight for one person is another person’s warm up and comparisons across bodyweight suffer because as you get heavier you are physics bound to become a proportionally worse deadlifter even though to an outsider the weights lifted by bigger guys are way more impressive than those lifted by smaller guys.
So what should you be aiming for in your deadlift training? The following are some very rough quick start guidelines, in reality the only one you ever need to follow is the last one.
First milestone
Women – Bodyweight deadlift for a triple
Men – 1.5 x Bodyweight for a triple
Second milestone
Women – 1.5 x Bodyweight for a single
Men – 2 x Bodyweight for a single
Third milestone
10kg more than you can currently lift.
Repeat until you die with a 500kg deadlift
As you can see the final point is the most important. I don’t think I’ve ever met a strength athlete who was completely satisfied with their deadlift. I know for certain that every time I’ve reached a goal that I’ve set for myself I’ve been satisfied with it for about 15 minutes before plotting my assault on the next milestone! This strategy has seen me add 53kg to my deadlift in 15 months and I don’t have any plans to stop now.
Deadlifting Basics
Ok I don’t want to flog this subject to death because to be honest there has been a bunch of great stuff written on the execution of the deadlift but a few key points bear repeating.
Before embarking on a deadlift training cycle make sure your form is good. Get someone who knows what they are doing (most likely NOT the 6 foot tall, 60kg trainer from your gym) to check your form on a series of progressively heavier deadlifts. If all else fails video your deadlifts and get someone knowledgeable to check them out. Inevitably when you are really maxing out on your deadlifts your form will start to deteriorate slightly but for your training you want to base your lifts on the heaviest weight you can handle with good form, otherwise you are asking for injuries.
Tips for good deadlift form
- Feet should be hip width apart under the bar
- Bar should be close to the shins and should remain close to the body throughout the lift.
- Use chalk to improve your grip, I try to do as much deadlifting as possible with a double overhand hook grip, saving mixed grip for my heaviest attempts.
- Keep the chest up and the abs and lower back tight when you lift, if your arse shoots up and you round your back you are going to get into big trouble.
- Treat each rep as a single. This means even if you are doing a set of 3 or 5 each rep should be reset at the bottom and not bounced off the floor.
Belts and straps
There is a lot of argument in the fitness industry about whether or not you should use a belt and straps for deadlift training. Without going into all the arguments for and against here is my opinion (open to change if someone can present me good enough eveidence!)
Belts – A lifting belt allows heavier weights to be lifted and the heavier the weight you lift the stronger you get. This applies even after you take the belt off. In the time I improved my belted deadlift from 215 to 263 training WITH a belt for anything over about 80% I improved my beltless deadlift from 190 to 245 even though until I tested it I never maxed out beltless.
Anyone who tells you not to wear a belt is probably a skinny loser, ignore them and then go outlift them.
I normally warm up beltless and then use a belt from about 80% of the days max onward.
Straps – I prefer to do as much lifting as possible without straps however when you start doing higher volume deadlifts you may find that you need to use straps as your grip becomes the limiting factor in doing reps. If this is the case use straps but make sure you are also doing strapless work and some extra work to improve your grip.
Deadlift Programming
Another contentious issue in the world of fitness is the frequency and type of deadlift workouts you should do to improve your deadlift. Some guys deadlift once a week, some twice and some only deadlift every 2-3 weeks but do a lot of squats and other assistance work.
I’ve had success with deadlifting between 1-3 times a week and I normally program beginner and intermediates with 2 sessions a week of deadlifts. Deadlifts can be quite stressful on the body so it is important that if you are deadlifting more frequently than once a week that you vary your intensity to avoid overtraining.
Here is a simple program that you can use to improve your deadlift.
Program – Simple progression program
This program is best for beginner to intermediate athletes who know their 1 Rep Max for deadlift and who are training 3 – 4 days a week.
The program is pretty simple, you are going to do two deadlift sessions a week and 1 – 2 other sessions a week. Your focus should be on the deadlift sessions so don’t bust your ass on the other days. It’s ok to make a bit of progress on your upper body lifts but don’t flog yourself so that you are fatigued for the next deadlift session.
The assistance exercises have been chosen to work on your core stability and also the strength required to lockout the top portion of a heavy deadlift.
If you want to do some conditioning work do it on alternate days and again avoid flogging yourself too hard!
Monday
Deadlift 3 sets of 5 @ 75-80% of 1RM
Kettlebell Swings 3 sets of 10 – 15 as heavy as you can handle
Prone Plank 3 sets of 45- 60 seconds with max weight
Wednesday
Squat Sets and reps for these exercises are up to you
Bench Press
Military Press
Pullups
Friday
Deadlift 3 sets of 3 @ 80-85% of 1RM
Kroc Rows 3 x 15 – 20 as heavy as possible
Back extension / GHR 3 x 8-12 with added weight if possible
Each week aim to increase the weight used on the deadlifts by 5kg (2.5kg if your deadlift is under 140kg) and continue with the program for 3-5 weeks or until you stall out and can no longer complete all the sets and reps of deadlift at a given weight. After you finish the program take a few days off all training and retest your max.