ROM Progression Success Story

Hey all,

Thought I would share a 7 week cycle I just ran of ROM progression resulting in a 50lb gain on my 12rm on deadlifts. 2 months ago, I pulled 445 for 12 reps off the floor, seen here

Right around that time I ended up injuring my hamstring, and had to start using partials instead of full ROM movements. I decided to use a trick that had worked for me in the past of using rubber patio pavers to do some ROM progression.

Found in most local hardware stores.

I stacked 7 per side under the plates at first, pulled once a week for one set of 12, and each week I would remove one paver. I took video of weeks 2-7, to include the end result of pulling 495 for 11 and a half reps (lost the final one due to falling forward)

Overall, it was a success, and I thought I’d share it with some folks looking for a different approach to train. It’s definitely not revolutionary, but Paul Anderson and Bob Peoples are still awesome.

Nice progress! Why 12 rep sets?

[quote]VikingsAD28 wrote:
Nice progress! Why 12 rep sets?[/quote]

The answer really boils down to “that’s how much I could do”

Since I was working around a hamstring injury, I was wanting to keep the weight light, and 495 was an easy milestone to work with.

Generally, my deadlift training is a weekly alternation between high rep floor pulls and low rep/very heavy mat pulls. I start at 7 mats, work down to 5, add 10lbs and start over. For floor pulls, I work until I hit 20 reps with a weight, and then add 2 sets of chains to the same weight until I hit 20 reps with that, then I start over.

Somewhat confusing, but here is an example.

Week 1: 7 mat pull: 575x5
Week 2: Deadlift: 445x12
Week 3: 6 mat pull: 575x5
Week 4: Deadlift: 445x16
Week 5: 5 mat pull: 575x5
Week 6: Deadlift: 445x20
Week 7: 7 mat pull: 585x5
Week 8: Deadlift: 445+chainsx12
Week 9: 6 mat pull: 585x5
Week 10: Deadlift: 445+chainsx16
Week 11: 5 mat pull: 585x5
Week 12: Deadlift: 445+chainsx20
Week 13: 7 mat pull: 595x5
Week 14: Deadlift: 465x12

Continue until death.

I like high rep deads to keep the technique and build up some conditioning/hypertrophy, but try to avoid pulling heavy off the floor. Meanwhile, mat pulls let me pull super heavy, but limit the ROM.

Interesting, what is your best single? It must be well into the 600s.

[quote]VikingsAD28 wrote:
Interesting, what is your best single? It must be well into the 600s.[/quote]

My recent best was a 584 in a meet in December, shown here

I had a few more pounds in me based on how easy it moved, but was just spent at that point from a full meet.

If I can get my hamstring to be healthy within the next week, I will attempt to see where I am for a single in 2 weeks or so.

bad ass man! best wishes for your Hammies!!

That was pretty interesting, thanks for the insight.

very well documented!

Can we get an update please?

I posted in another thread (600lb deadlift at 195lbs), but I did this 10 days ago

and this 3 days ago

I noticed some hitching on the lockout for the 545 sets, but the single was clean and easy.

bro… this is exactly what i need! Same problem, i did a cluster set of deadlifts 425 1 rep a min for 20 mins… the next day i pulled my hammy pretty bad. Its gotten better, but i can’t DL my old 1rm PR any longer, So im gonna do exactly this. Thank you!

This are very insightful posts that let everybody learn from your experiences, thanks for sharing

Ellis: Hope it works for you as well as it did for me. I just recently completed a cycle resulting in a 590x5 pull, so it’s still moving strong, haha.

Tim: Thanks for the kind words. Means a lot.

I noticed you use straps quite a bit. Do you feel it gave you any problems with your grip strength? I’ve been contemplating more strap training to give my elbows a rest but I’m afraid that that i’ll lose the grip strength that I’ve built up. What’s your best strap pull compared to your comp pulls? Nice work with the ROM progression!

[quote]Rschwitalski wrote:
I noticed you use straps quite a bit. Do you feel it gave you any problems with your grip strength? I’ve been contemplating more strap training to give my elbows a rest but I’m afraid that that i’ll lose the grip strength that I’ve built up. What’s your best strap pull compared to your comp pulls? Nice work with the ROM progression! [/quote]

I notice no issues with grip using straps. Keep in mind, I don’t consider deadlifting to be “grip work”. It’s a deadlift. The reason I deadlift is so that I can deadlift better. I train my grip outside of my deadlift training, with timed holds and reps of Captains of Crush grippers. At present, I can close the #2 for multiple reps, and close the 2.5 once or twice.

I only tend to pull singles in competition, but I pulled a 600lb deadlift in competition 3 months after having pulled the same number with straps. I don’t ever pull reps without straps.

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Ellis: Hope it works for you as well as it did for me. I just recently completed a cycle resulting in a 590x5 pull, so it’s still moving strong, haha.

Tim: Thanks for the kind words. Means a lot.[/quote]

Update

well i got the pavers and started with 7 and worked my way down over 6 weeks. I got a 25lbs 1rm PR after not having deadlifted for months leading up to this ROM progression.

i did 10 total reps, split however I needed to split them, from the pavers

then i did a few sets from the floor with much lighter weight, for some speed. my hamstring never really gave me any issues

Have to say it worked well . Thanks T3hPwnisher !!

[quote]EllisUFC wrote:

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Ellis: Hope it works for you as well as it did for me. I just recently completed a cycle resulting in a 590x5 pull, so it’s still moving strong, haha.

Tim: Thanks for the kind words. Means a lot.[/quote]

Update

well i got the pavers and started with 7 and worked my way down over 6 weeks. I got a 25lbs 1rm PR after not having deadlifted for months leading up to this ROM progression.

i did 10 total reps, split however I needed to split them, from the pavers

then i did a few sets from the floor with much lighter weight, for some speed. my hamstring never really gave me any issues

Have to say it worked well . Thanks T3hPwnisher !![/quote]

Awesome news man. Glad it worked out.

On that topic, I did this a week ago using ROM progression

Touch and Go Deadlift: 605 for 4 reps @ 200lb bodyweight - YouTube

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:

[quote]VikingsAD28 wrote:
Interesting, what is your best single? It must be well into the 600s.[/quote]

My recent best was a 584 in a meet in December, shown here

I had a few more pounds in me based on how easy it moved, but was just spent at that point from a full meet.

If I can get my hamstring to be healthy within the next week, I will attempt to see where I am for a single in 2 weeks or so.[/quote]

AWESOME MAN !