440 in the DL for reps

I have started a little competition on a danish equivalent of the t-forum.

The rules are simple: Come september, the one that can do the most reps with 200kg/440pounds wins.

I REALLY want to whup their butts, so I turn to the power people in here for a little advice.

I plan on using to strategies to achieve this. I must push up my 1RM, so that the 440 pp no longer represents appr. 87%. For starters I will just work up to a heavy single as I haven’t really done that before.

Secondly, i will work with the 440 after my heavy work to take advantage of the increased activation of my CNS. Here I plan on seing how many reps i can actually do with the weight, ie do 1-2 back off sets with 440.
But that ain’t gonna work forever and this is where I nedd some input.

I think i can use a back off system for 3-4 work-outs before switching and with a DL frequency of about once every 8 days I have to come up with appr. 5-7 different ways of doing the back off work.

Besides the plain back off sets that i plan on starting and finishing with I thought abots doing 20 singles, doing one once every minute or so, and then gradually reducing the rest intervals. This might carry over to doing doubles/tripples in the same fashion.

Any ideas?

As far as supplemental work is concerned I do lots of front squats (can’t back squat due to injuries) my other leg dag in a CW kind of way with low reps and rest intervals. I also do plenty of barbell rowing but thats aboyt it. You think I should include some good mornings or romanian DL or something?

Hope you guys n’ gals have some ideas because as I said, I REALLY want to win. I’ll be able to brag for a year+. I might also build some mass in the process :wink:

A year, or so Ethan Reeve posted his ideas on a system he called “Density Training” on another forum. It is a pretty good system for developing strengh stamina. He also emailed some spreadsheets for calculating work levels. Try finding info with a web search, if that doesn’t work try PMing MikeTheBear, as he’s the spreadsheet king.

You’re starting off on the right track. Here are some things to consider:

1RM - Like you said, the most important thing is getting your 1RM up. Until 440 is 30-50% of your deadlift or less, this will remain the most important thing (if it ever gets to be 30% of your 1RM, you will be famous).

Form - No room for wasted effort. Find the form that works best for you. You can always be working on form.

Grip - This is the only area where I think any kind of endurance training would be worthwhile. You might want to start training in the time frame that you will be lifting (i.e. if you think your rep set is going to last 30 seconds, train your grip in the 20-40 second range).

I don’t mean to sound like a broken record around here, but I would strongly urge you to look over some Louie Simmons and Dave Tate articles on raising the deadlift.

I would have two “deadlift” days, about 3 or 4 days apart. One day, do speed work (50-60% of your 1RM for multiple singles or triples). Then follow it up with accessory exercises, preferably in the 5-12 rep range (SLDL’s, GM’s, GHR’s, etc.). On the second deadlift day, start off with a related movement that you can max out on. SLDL’s, GM’s, deadlifts from a box, rack pulls, and deadlifting the other way from your preferred way (sumo if you pull conventional, and vice versa) are some examples. Follow this exercise up with similar assistance work.

You might also wish to throw in some sort of GPP work (sled dragging, tire flipping, etc.).

I would have two “deadlift” days, about 3 or 4 days apart. One day, do speed work (50-60% of your 1RM for multiple singles or triples). Then follow it up with accessory exercises, preferably in the 5-12 rep range (SLDL’s, GM’s, GHR’s, etc.). On the second deadlift day, start off with a related movement that you can max out on. SLDL’s, GM’s, deadlifts from a box, rack pulls, and deadlifting the other way from your preferred way (sumo if you pull conventional, and vice versa) are some examples. Follow this exercise up with similar assistance work.

My god, very well put. I can’t emphasize enough how much gm’s help your deadlift, especially gm’s from suspended chains or from pins. anywhere from
36" - 40" from the ground.

I would ditch a lot of the speed days in favor of “repetition method” days.