First Meet Coming, Looking for Deadlift Input

Right now my bodyweight is 186 and here’s what my lifts are looking like…

Squat - 425 consistent (that’s ATG, so technique isn’t an issue)
Bench - 325 consistent

And here’s where the trouble is…
Deadlift - 455 VERY inconsistent

My deadlift is lagging tremendously and I can’t figure out what to do and why I’m nearly out squatting it. Some days 455 feels incredibly easy but I can’t get past it.others it’s a real struggle to pull.
Question I’m really getting at is how should I program deadlift over the next month without over doing it?

why do you think it’s a programming issue? If the lift is very inconsistent, then that sounds much less like a strength issue than it does a technique issue. Your strength isn’t going to vary that much from session to session. Particularly if your other lifts are consistent, as you say they are. You should post a video.

If I was you then one of the first things I’d do is try and work out why my deadlift is so inconsistent.

Then again it could be a number of things, but think things such as maybe your form isn’t dialed in yet so sometimes it’s good and others it’s not, maybe your food intake is variable, or some weeks you’re hitting squats or some other lift harder and you’re not fully recovered by the time deadlifts come around.

The question everyone who wants to help is going to ask is what your training looks like at the moment, how else will anyone be able to even attempt to give you advice on how you should program your deadlift!

Also I’m sure a video wouldn’t go amiss to see if there is anything glaringly obvious going wrong

aannnddd flipcollar beat me to it

I’ve found for some reason deadlifts to be the most sensitive to sleep/hydration/nutrition. Perhaps b/c so taxing on the body? Not sure. But if any of those are off, I’m bound to have a crappy deadlift session.

I’ve hit 475 and am pushing for 500 but there are days that 435 feels glued to the floor. Here’s me at 400 + 120 lbs of chain. Seems like I should be a lot faster off the floor since there’s little chain weight off the floor.

Not terribly fast when you consider 475

Post a video of your deadlift, its not a programming issue if what you said is true. The deadlift can be trickier since it starts with the eccentric portion of the lift (actually lifting it) whereas the other two start concentrically (lowering the weight lengthening the muscle) so finding tightness and good body position are different since you arent holding any weight to force you to be tighter. But without a vid it would be pretty hard to address whats going wrong.

Here’s a 315lbs pull from the front and a 405lbs pull from the back. Excuse the camera setup time in the video.

Also to beat people to it I deadlift in Olympic shoes. I squat in them as well and tend to do better on both lifts despite the feelings some power lifters have towards them.

EDIT : Alright so it doesn’t look like the videos loaded on my end. Ill try again tomorrow from an actual computer…

You spend a lot of time down at the bar. Get tight, grab the bar and pull with anger. I found the divebomb and grab and go techniques that take advantage of the stretch reflex allow me to pull more.

You start with your hips pretty high, I know thats a point of contention with some people of it doesnt matter where your hips are. But pull them down a little more, get your lats tight by pulling the slack out of the bar. And id advise against the shoes because its creating a longer range of motion but your choice

If I’m not mistaken the point of wearing oly shoes in the deadlift is to be able to track the knees farther forward(which allows the hips get lower). If you’re going to pull with high hips then flat shoes would be a better choice, if you’re dead set on them try setting up with lower hips and getting your quads more into it at the bottom.

How often do you pull heavy?