Is your Deadlift Stuck? (Or does it just suck?)

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Claud Benson
6 years ago
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1 Is your Deadlift Stuck? (Or does it just suck?) Thanks for taking the time to download this free article. This program has gotten many stuck deadlifts un-stuck. So whatever your target milestone is 315? 405? 500? 600? this program can take you there if you exercise some patience and let the program run its course for a few months. The program is simple. Dedicate one day per week as your deadlift day. Ideally this will be spaced at least 2-3 days after your squat training so that you can pull on fresh legs. Each training day will consist of 4 exercises. You don t need any special equipment other than a bar and some good plates. Every third week you will need access to either a power rack or some pulling blocks. You can make blocks yourself or order them online. Lets dive right into the training program with the first exercise of the day! Power Clean A great way to warm up the deadlift and work on speed, power, coordination, and build your traps. Warm up weights will vary depending on how strong you are. But essentially you will

2 begin the warm up process with triples and build up the weight each set until the weight starts to get heavy and/or technique starts to suffer on the last rep or two. Once this occurs, then switch to singles and go up as high as you can without wearing yourself out. Attempt new PRs as often as you want, but you shouldn t be missing a bunch or reps. This will waste time and energy. If you don t feel great on a particular training day, then don t bang your head against the wall trying to set a new 1RM. Just work up to 90-95% and call it a day. This program will help your power clean as well as your deadlift. Example build up: 135x3 165x3 185x3 205x3 225x1 245x1 250x1-new PR 315x3 (first Deadlift warm up set) Deadlift Now that you are warm and feeling fast (but not tired) hit your main work sets for the day. Each week, you will build up to one main workset on the deadlift, but the reps will vary each week. I like a 3 week cycle, where the reps are spread out across a fairly broad spectrum. Week 1 is a top set of 8 reps. Yep 8

3 reps. By the time you get to the end, it may seem like you just sprinted 400 meters, but heavy sets of 8 build tons of muscle mass. Kirk Karwoski one of the greatest power lifters of all time, lived on sets of 8 at the beginning of his training cycles. He told me that one of the best things about the 8 rep set is that it makes your 5 rep sets stronger. And any good strength coach will tell you that the 5 rep set is THE primary rep range where strength is built. Staying with that thought, week 2 calls for the lifter to work up to a set of 5 reps. Then in week 3, the lifter will cycle down to a heavy double. On week 4, the lifter will return to the 8 rep set, but this time, with 5 more pounds than he did in week 1. Here is an example progression: Week 1: 405x8 Week 2: 445x5 Week 3: 485x2 Week 4: 410x8 Week 5: 450x5 Week 6; 490x2 And so on and so forth.

4 Exercise 3 The Big 3 Deadlift Assistance Exercises Week 1: Stiff Leg Deadlifts The primary exercise to build the hamstrings. I prefer to do these standing on a 2-4 inch platform for increased range of motion. Form is everything and you need to keep a tight arch in the back and work your hamstrings. When we do our regular deadlifts, I just want you pulling big weights in the best form possible. When we do the SLDLs we have to make sure that the emphasis is on building up the right muscle groups. Go heavy, but don t compromise. Stay with sets of 8 for 2 sets. You can do them as sets across (2x8x315) or as descending sets (8x315, 8x275). Descending sets ARE NOT drop sets. You rest fully between sets, but these can be taxing and sometimes the first set really wears the lifter out. To maintain form and keep emphasis on the hammies, its okay to strip a little weight off the bar for set 2. Week 2- Block Pulls or Rack Pulls Whether in a rack or with blocks we need to elevate the bar to the top of the shins, just below the knee for some partials. The emphasis this week is to brutalize the spinal erectors with heavy weights. Again for 2 sets, but with sets of 5. As with the SLDLs, the 2 sets can be done across (same weight on both sets) or as descending sets.

5 Week 3 Deficit Deadlifts This is where we build up the drive off of the floor. Stand on a 2-4 inch block (or stack of rubber mats) and force the quads to be more involved in the range of motion. REMEMBER! This is not a stiff leg deadlift. Bend your knees into a semi squat position and make the quads work! Go heavy, but stay strict, strict, strict! 2 sets of triples. Sets across or descending sets. Exercise 4 Barbell Rows Pull them paused from the floor or bodybuilder style at a 45 degree angle. It doesn t matter. The idea is to blow up the upper back and whatever is left of the spinal erectors with some higher reps. Again, go heavy, but get a pump in the target area. Sloppy rows are popular but they don t do much to build your back. Volume is good here, so 3-6 sets of 8-12 reps is good. Sets across or descending sets are fine. *Note: if the low back is totally fried from the heavy pulling movements, you can replace the barbell rows with a less low back intensive variant such as a chest supported t-bar row, seated cable row, or any other type of machine based row..but use the bar if you can.

6 This program is hard. Take a deload week if you need one. A good plan would be to run through this cycle 2-4 times, then take a light week (maybe just power clean and nothing else) and then run through it again. A simple split might be: Monday: Squat Training Wednesday: Chest/Shoulder/Triceps Friday: Deadlift Training No program will work forever, and this one is no exception. However if you follow the guidelines above you will add poundage to your deadlifts and muscle to your frame. And you will learn valuable lessons about what works for you and what doesn t. If you need further assistance shoot me an at kingwoodstrength@gmail.com

Baker Strength Coaching

Baker Strength Coaching 4 Assistance Exercises That Can Transform Your Training While there are many useful assistance exercises, I have narrowed down my list to 4 that I think will have the most carryover for the widest range