I always love a good discussion on deadlifts so I kind of prodded a bit with my previous post to get an honest response. It appears to be the one lift that trainers feel very strongly about.
The differing opinions could be due to the very taxing nature of the lift. A lot of responses here were along the lines of only hitting a max once a month or even once every 2 months etc… this is no doubt due to the fact that it can leave you wiped out for days afterwards and your whole training can suffer as a result. I remember the great Ed Coan once saying he only goes for maxes when entering a meet.
Some lifters say if they could only do one lift for their back it would it be the deadlift. This would suggest that it is a great overall exercise and I would certainly agree with that however what if you were allowed to pick 3 ? Food for thought .
I find it interesting to consider the deadlift as is to be a great movement, as it’s a movement that is created purely by accident. The diameter of an olympic plate is such in order to protect olympic lifters from a bailed lift, set to a height that, should the lifter be laying flat and the bar falls from a locked out height, it will not smash the trainee’s skull.
The height of the bar on a deadlift could have been any OTHER height (and for those that train with non-standardized plates, it IS the case, with some people pulling much larger ROMs than others based purely on the fact they use smaller plates), and I find it unrealistic that it happens to be the exact ideal height for so many trainees.
I feel, in many cases, modifying the starting height of the pull (either raising the plates or elevating the height of the lifter) will go a long way toward reaching specific goals.
The height of the bar on a deadlift could have been any OTHER height (and for those that train with non-standardized plates, it IS the case, with some people pulling much larger ROMs than others based purely on the fact they use smaller plates), and I find it unrealistic that it happens to be the exact ideal height for so many trainees.
Well said ! As anyone who has had to train in different commercial “fitness centers” is well aware, there does not seem to be consistency until you get to a Powerlifting Meet. Even the place I lifted in Mammoth Lakes, ca (snowcreek “athletic” club) had Four ! Count them Four different brands of plates, all with different diameters !! So being Tall I chose the ones that would put me in the LEAST leverage advantageous position.
This forced me to get down about an extra inch, which accounted for about an extra 15# carryover when I finally got to use proper sized (as per olympic standards) plates ! I am now at a facility which has ONE company plate that is proper size. I still do 1" deficit lifts for my warmups, but not at the heavier weights.
I used to train squat and deadlift at the same day, once a week.
I like train squat at first, usually full squat heavy double, I do as much as set I can. Powerlifting squat second, I change rep&set every time. Traditional deadlift third, heavy double too. Some assistant works after. Leg press and dumbbell swing are my favorite, my coach let me use kettle bell, but KB is too light
In deload week, I use a light weight doing three reps, just squat and dealift
I do some variation 3x a week. Alternating between Sumo (my ‘main’ variation) and deficit SLDL’s. So one week I’ll do 2 Sumo sessions and 1 SLDL, then the opposite the next week. Usually go for rep or volume PR’s of 3s, 5s, 8s, and 10s.
However I’m finding go all out for PR’s one Sumo has been fine getting to the 500ish range, but now is starting to take it’s toll. So I may start treating Sumo more as a ‘technique’ movement, pulling mostly singles and working on positioning, and using the deficit SLDL’s for hypertrophy, just because the great ROM and ability to control to eccentric a bit.