T Nation

Deadlift Program Recommendation?

Powerlifting
#1

I am looking for a deadlift program or just looking to add something to my deadlift training mainly because I want a stronger posteriar chain and upper back… Currently I bench close to 300 pounds… but have only deadliftited 375… I know. I bench on monday 5X5 adding 5pounds every two weeks + heavy tricep, started at 70%max. Tuesday-Biceps, wednesday-Rest,Thursday-Light Chest and Tricep. Friday- 5X5 deadlift ONLY because im so damn tired to do anything else… Any advice or should I just keep up the training??? Main Goal- Get Stronger in BENCH and DEADLIFT

I’m 5’11… 190pounds

Any advice would be appreciated.

#2

Well, i would stick deadlift toward the beginning of the week, if thats what you want to improve on the most.

A program can be very individual, but heres a few points to think about.

1.) Make sure to perform all deadlift sets as a series of singles. (DO NOT BOUNCE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES)

2.) Peform all sets with double overhand grip when possible, switch to reverse grip when weight gets too heavy for former.

3.) Depending on whether you peform you deadlifts sumo, or conventional, you may have a weak back. This can be fixed by deadlifting conventional, front squats, and zercher squats. Also, some direct ab work may be in need. (hanging leg raises, and decline weighted situps work best for me)

4.) Other than that, you gotta pull, and you gotta pull heavy. 85% of 1rm is a good place to start, and aim for a volume of 20-30 reps depending on how many times a week your gonna deadlift.

****Those are the main points I can think of. It really depends on the individual, and where your weaknesses are. For me, my weakness was abs and back, and after targeting these areas, my deadlift shot up 10%. If you give some more info, we may be able to help a bit more.

#3

First of all thanks for the response. Alright well I have no idea why my deadlift is so weak. I Have Squatted 320 Well below parallel. Hang Power Clean 235. I pull conventional… my all time best is 335X5reps which is around a max close to 400 but before that I have only gotten 375…

Right now i just deadlift once a week using 5X5 with the same weight increasing 5pounds every 2 weeks (doing 250 5X5 this friday) I am usually exhausted after and dont do any other exercises.

#4

You can also try incorporating varieties of Good Mornings. They helped me with my DL plateau at time when I was doing plenty of deadlifting and squatting.

#5

Hey dankid, just curious about your grip advice. Does using an overhand grip instead of the alternating incorporate more forearm or what?

#6

[quote]earthshaker wrote:
You can also try incorporating varieties of Good Mornings. They helped me with my DL plateau at time when I was doing plenty of deadlifting and squatting.[/quote]

thanks for the idea. Just a Question, do you deadlift and squat every week? I usually Squat and thats it but I am only doing deadlift now to focus on lower and upperback

#7

[quote]dankid wrote:
Well, i would stick deadlift toward the beginning of the week, if thats what you want to improve on the most.

A program can be very individual, but heres a few points to think about.

1.) Make sure to perform all deadlift sets as a series of singles. (DO NOT BOUNCE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES)
[/quote]

I disagree that you should never bounce. There is a time and place for just about everything, as long as the risk/reward is acceptable. And it’s not any more risky to bounce reps.

Prelipin’s table recommends 10-20 reps per session for weights between 80-89% of 1RM. Optimal being 15 reps.

#8

What day of the week do you squat?
Is Tuesday nothing but Biceps?
I guess you already know you don’t have a strong deadlift because you don’t work your glutes, hamstrings, or back in anything but the deadlift.

You need to find room for Chin-ups, Rows, and Pulldowns in your routine.

You also need to find room for Pull-Throughs, Back Raises, and Leg Curls. If you have access to a Glute-Ham raise then you should use that too. If you have access to a Reverse Hyper, you can probably find a group of powerlifters at that very same gym who can help you deadlift more.

Maybe you shouldn’t deadlift every week.
Make sure your form doesn’t suck.

#9

[quote]FightingScott wrote:
What day of the week do you squat?
Is Tuesday nothing but Biceps?
I guess you already know you don’t have a strong deadlift because you don’t work your glutes, hamstrings, or back in anything but the deadlift.

You need to find room for Chin-ups, Rows, and Pulldowns in your routine.

You also need to find room for Pull-Throughs, Back Raises, and Leg Curls. If you have access to a Glute-Ham raise then you should use that too. If you have access to a Reverse Hyper, you can probably find a group of powerlifters at that very same gym who can help you deadlift more.

Maybe you shouldn’t deadlift every week.
Make sure your form doesn’t suck. [/quote]

Well I usually Squat on Friday but i dropped it so that i can do deadlifts.

I can’t do any horizsontal pulling because on a nagging injury in my mid-back, left side of the spine. So i just do biceps on that days… ;/

Since I deadlift on Friday, when should I do the other work for the lowback, hams, glutes?

#10

Coan DL routine is pretty good.
weightliftingdiscussion.com/routines.html

#11

[quote]alocubano1110 wrote:
earthshaker wrote:
You can also try incorporating varieties of Good Mornings. They helped me with my DL plateau at time when I was doing plenty of deadlifting and squatting.

thanks for the idea. Just a Question, do you deadlift and squat every week? I usually Squat and thats it but I am only doing deadlift now to focus on lower and upperback[/quote]

Yes,but one session is heavy and the other is usually higher rep/light weight session. I will substitute a Good Morning exercise for either a deadlift or squat session. Most of the time I substitute GM’s for a DL session since I am the type that burns out easily on them. Sometimes I go two weeks without doing DL’s. You can try some Good Mornings for a couple of weeks and then go back to DL’s and see how that helps.

#12

Question.
Should i do deadlifts and squats in the same workout/day?

#13

What I would suggest is changing the rep/set scheme of your deadlifts. Instead of focusing on 5x5, do something like 3x5, then 3x3. I also really like doing 3x3 then 4-6x1. Personally I never do less than 3 reps for deadlifts, and I think you’ll find that most powerlifters feel the same way about deads

#14

[quote]blazindave wrote:
Question.
Should i do deadlifts and squats in the same workout/day?[/quote]

I do.

#15

Blazindave as to your question about doing deadlifts and squat on the same day. The way I do it that you might want to try is this: On Monday Il do back squat, front squat, and straight leg deadlift and on either Thursday or Friday I do normal deadlift and then legpress. I want to be able to lift the heaviest amount for my squats without my deadlift being affected and vice versa. But squating and deadlifting on the same day works too.

#16

[quote]alocubano1110 wrote:
F

Well I usually Squat on Friday but i dropped it so that i can do deadlifts.

I can’t do any horizsontal pulling because on a nagging injury in my mid-back, left side of the spine. So i just do biceps on that days… ;/

Since I deadlift on Friday, when should I do the other work for the lowback, hams, glutes? [/quote]

Sunday: Deadlift, Step-ups, Posterior Chain, Abs
Monday: Lats, Triceps, Delts, Biceps
Wednesday: Squats, Lunges, Posterior Chain, Abs
Thursday; Bench Press, Lats, Triceps, Delts

You don’t need to deadlift every week. You must deadlift every other week. You must squat every week. If you find a program that sometimes has you squat twice a week, that’s fine too.

If you have an injury that prevents you from doing rows and chins, it’s probably going to effect your deadlift. You should get it fixed. Having a Bicep only day is pretty retarded.

If you can’t do horizontal pulling, you probably can’t do full-rom vertical pulling either. Most of the same muscles are used but in varying amounts.

Back Extensions are good lower back exercises. They also require no explanation. Most posterior chain exercises besides Leg Curls involve the lower back as well.

The Posterior Chain is the hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erectors. It needs to be strong for you to be strong and/or fast.

#17

[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:

1.) Make sure to perform all deadlift sets as a series of singles. (DO NOT BOUNCE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES)

I disagree that you should never bounce. There is a time and place for just about everything, as long as the risk/reward is acceptable. And it’s not any more risky to bounce reps.

[/quote]

Its not that bouncing is risky, it just makes the first rep hard and the rest useless.

As for the overhand grip, it will strengthen your grip, and its biomechanically a better position and safer for your biceps. But with heavy weights, you’ll have to switch to reverse grip.

Also, some suggest deadlifting less often, like once every three weeks. I suggest deadlifting more often. If you want to get good at something, you gotta do it more often. Drop the volume down, and work it three times a week. Or, have 1 deadlift day, 1 squat day, and 1 back day.

#18

[quote]dankid wrote:
johnnytang24 wrote:

1.) Make sure to perform all deadlift sets as a series of singles. (DO NOT BOUNCE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES)

I disagree that you should never bounce. There is a time and place for just about everything, as long as the risk/reward is acceptable. And it’s not any more risky to bounce reps.

Its not that bouncing is risky, it just makes the first rep hard and the rest useless.[/quote]

How do reps become ‘useless’? Is no work being done because the weight is being bounced?

#19

[quote]dankid wrote:

1.) Make sure to perform all deadlift sets as a series of singles. (DO NOT BOUNCE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES)

I disagree that you should never bounce. There is a time and place for just about everything, as long as the risk/reward is acceptable. And it’s not any more risky to bounce reps.

Its not that bouncing is risky, it just makes the first rep hard and the rest useless.

[/quote]

That’s a pretty strong statement and frankly, one I thoroughly disagree with.

Off the top of my head I can think of 4 world class deadlifters I know who you would probably perceive to “bounce” the weight (touch and go) when they rep.

The reality of things is you absolutely build mass and conditioning in support of a heavier lift when pulling in this fashion and the argument could be made, when repping, that letting the weight settle on each consecutive rep increases the likelihood of injury when compared to maintainging continuous tension throughout the set.

As a previous poster stated, there is a time and place for anything. I find your admonition silly.

#20

[quote]tom63 wrote:
blazindave wrote:
Question.
Should i do deadlifts and squats in the same workout/day?

I do.[/quote]

[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
Blazindave as to your question about doing deadlifts and squat on the same day. The way I do it that you might want to try is this: On Monday Il do back squat, front squat, and straight leg deadlift and on either Thursday or Friday I do normal deadlift and then legpress. I want to be able to lift the heaviest amount for my squats without my deadlift being affected and vice versa. But squating and deadlifting on the same day works too.[/quote]

Ok thanks guys.