The Last few months I have been doing deadlifts in sets of 5’s and 3’.
I want to start doing only singles.
Does any body here train the deadlift with only singles?
How do you go about it?
I also only do triples but I ussually go up in weight and do two sets of singles at the end if I feel like I have it in me and I ussually find that it works out well
I only do singles. Every other week I pull from the floor and try to do 4-6 singles at a percentage of my one rep max… depends on how I feel that day on how much of my one rep max that percentage is.
On the other weeks I work on whatever I thik I need, example being rack pulls, good mornings, hyperextensions, etc, etc…
If I feel like I need it, sometimes i do a down set of 4-5 reps after my singles with a ligther weight.
I also from time to time will go for 50 singles with a certain weight in a certain time limit…
Read Dave Tate’s article “the dead zone” and you will see that he advocates doing DL’s primarily in singles so that everytime you are dragging the weight up instead of letting it down and then pulling it up. He reckons it becomes a different movement if you do more than about 1. So what i like to do is for a set of 3 I pull, lower, let go, stand up, grab bar, pull, lower etc. So just stand up in between reps.
-chris
Many people even do DL sets as a bunch of very close singles. The idea being to reset each time for a dead start, and never bounce of the floor, as mentioned earlier.
I rarely do singles, just because for me, the risk of tweaking something in my lower back seems to be higher for max effort (I usually train first thing in the morning, which is not great for DL maxing). I typically pyramid to sets of 3, but, I release the grip after each rep. I don’t stand up, though, rather I pull a rep, set it down, release grip, regrip, and pull another. This seems to work for me right now. I have been toying with the idea of singles at say 90%-95% of estimated max just to change things up as I have been going for about 3 weeks with my current format.
DB
I almost always do singles, or as others advocated, I setup again everytime before I pull.
The important part is just not to change the lift into a different creature when doing reps.
Speed pulls and lots of singles are your friend.
Interesting topic. I have been doing sets of five on my deads without releasing the bar and re-gripping in between each rep.
As I add more weight, however, I find that I have greater issues with my grip toward the end of my sets. Obviously, the grip issues affect the way you are able to perform your last rep or two (I feel that I am concentrating way too much on trying to hang onto the bar instead of performing the pull itself).
I would imagine that releasing and re-gripping in between each rep will enable you to maintain greater focus on performing an explosive pull. I believe that I will make the switch to doing this as well.
I’m pretty sure Westside dynamic effort DL days are mostly singles. Around 30-45 seconds rest for each set so like somebody else mentioned almost like one big set.
Thak you for the replies.
I like the idea of starting each rep as a single.
I am realy trying to hit 500 by the end of the year.
[quote]Stl Ram wrote:
Interesting topic. I have been doing sets of five on my deads without releasing the bar and re-gripping in between each rep.
As I add more weight, however, I find that I have greater issues with my grip toward the end of my sets. Obviously, the grip issues affect the way you are able to perform your last rep or two (I feel that I am concentrating way too much on trying to hang onto the bar instead of performing the pull itself).
I would imagine that releasing and re-gripping in between each rep will enable you to maintain greater focus on performing an explosive pull. I believe that I will make the switch to doing this as well.[/quote]
I have found this to be true. I run into the grip problem on the last couple of reps of my heavy Romanian DLs, because I don’t get that release that I do between regrips on the DL. Not to mention that my thumbs feel like they’re about to come off on the RDLs using a hook grip. It would not surprise me to dislocate them one of these days.
DB
[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:
It would not surprise me to dislocate them one of these days.
DB[/quote]
But wouldn’t that be the fuckin coolest injury story ever?!
So we SHOULDNT do the touch n go method for deads?
Why’s this?
STAY WITH TRIPLES…then two weeks out from the meet do doubles…and ONLY for the meet do a single…you will “break out” this way!
[quote]dl- wrote:
So we SHOULDNT do the touch n go method for deads?
Why’s this?[/quote]
There’s not neccessarily anything wrong with touch-and-go, other than the tendency for a lot of people to turn it into bounce-and-go.
Doing sets as close singles, because you ensure a dead stop every time, makes sure you get the full emphasis on the start of the DL, so IMO, it is better if your goal is to increase your max DL. I think most people fail a DL in the bottom half.
For conditioning or hypertrophy maybe it matters less.
[quote]Pete Ross wrote:
dl- wrote:
So we SHOULDNT do the touch n go method for deads?
Why’s this?
There’s not neccessarily anything wrong with touch-and-go, other than the tendency for a lot of people to turn it into bounce-and-go.
Doing sets as close singles, because you ensure a dead stop every time, makes sure you get the full emphasis on the start of the DL, so IMO, it is better if your goal is to increase your max DL. I think most people fail a DL in the bottom half.
For conditioning or hypertrophy maybe it matters less.
[/quote]
Couldn’t a bounce n go help with working on acceleration for maxes if you don’t have access to chains or bands?
DB
I do only singles and triples. The triples on dynamic day are turning to be my favorite. I bring the bar down, let it hit, not bounce, don’t let go of the grip, then lower your butt as far down as you can and go back up like King Kong is pulling you up by your head. This is really helping my form and it seems to get the middle of my back sore, plus I’m get a really good quad burn.
I use mix grip like everybody else, but when I do more than singles I reverse the grip every rep. That way my grip lasts longer and I also can’t bounce the bar.
[quote]ExNole wrote:
I use mix grip like everybody else, but when I do more than singles I reverse the grip every rep. That way my grip lasts longer and I also can’t bounce the bar. [/quote]
I don’t use mix grip, I use a hook grip.
I agree with the majority here, there’s a place for everything 5 reps on down to one. Skimming responses, I don’t recall seeing anyone mention rack pulls, which can be very instrumental in getting used to heavier weights and improving grip strength.
Mix things up. I definitely don’t like doing more than 5 reps, but rarely go over 3. I like to use singles that were mentioned above where you pull, back off for 30 sec or so, then pull again, and repeat 3-5 times. You can use a little better weight than your 3 rep max and concentrate on good form.
[quote]roofus_5 wrote:
ExNole wrote:
I use mix grip like everybody else, but when I do more than singles I reverse the grip every rep. That way my grip lasts longer and I also can’t bounce the bar.
I don’t use mix grip, I use a hook grip.
[/quote]
Same here. I tend to have more of a form break with a mixed grip (upper body wants to turn slightly towards the supine hand). I’m not breaking any WRs any time soon though. 
DB