Back/Deadlifting advice

[iggy]

For years i've always wanted a huge back. Franco Columbu, Ronnie Coleman, and Lee Haney taught me that every great bodybuilder needs massive width and thickness in their backs. My personal trainer buddy from my gym helped me with my back routine, but it still seems incomplete. I usually start off with chins or lat pulldowns. Then i will alternate or superset behind the neck lat pulldowns or wide grip chins. Then seated pully rows, and one armed dumbell rows, hypers, or t-bar rows, then deadlifts. . . .

The problem with me is i have no idea how to train the deadlift for strength.
My deadlift never seems to get stronger
Is it safe to deadlift 2x3 times a week?
i know it takes the lower back about 95 hours to fully recover
for two years i've been trying to make this lift stronger
i'm setting up a new 5x5 and wondered how i should incorporate the deadlift into the new program.

one more thing. . . .
is it better to deadlift until you fail or to keep the reps low, at like 5-7?
heres what ive been stuck at for two years
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
315x3

my back is my weakest link, but i have 3 years of powercleaning and squatting religously under my belt
appreciate feedback

 

[jstarr37]

Try stronglifts.com 5x5. You deadlift once a week and squat twice. I did phillipi coan but it was just too much and i would peak, tweak me back a lose alot of gains. I was stuck at 315 single for a long time. Now i can do 415 x 5 easy with a 450 single after a couple of weeks build up. Im 43 years old, not from an athletic backround. 450 is X2 bodywieght for me. I understand the power lifters at westside are not in imminent threat of my beating them
All high rep deadlifts do to me is build to a muscle strain (it might be my age though)

 

[Ceros]

The best thing that I've found, for strength on deads, is to build each part of the dead. Like do some weeks with lighter weight on extended deads by standing on some 45's or even some 100's, then you can build that first getting it off the ground part, also building the quads and hams will help immensely on this part. Then slowly transition to some rack pulls, and make them a little higher each week. Everyone is different in how they plan that. But yeah works great. For me, I had some time where I couldn't even get 405 off the ground more that 2 inches. Did 4 weeks of some deads while standing on plates, I could pull up 405 at least 7 reps. Cause the back was my stronger part. Just figure out your weak part and train it.

 

[ceo]

Where do you feel your deads? I mostly feel them in my quads, hams, glutes, and through my lower-mid back. I feel them a lot less in my upper back.

 

[GUARDIAN]

where are u stuck at in the movement? bottom half? top half?

have u tried heavy high rack pulls?

 

[iggy]

never heard anything about rack pulls. they look interesting though. what muscles do they work? i feel deadlifts in my quads hams glutes and lower back predominately. i get stuck when going back down and up at 315 at the bottom half.

 

[Ceros]

Okay I just posted about rack pulls and explained them...If you're stuck at the bottom half then you need to do some pulls while standing on something, I said that...

 

[GUARDIAN]

never heard anything about rack pulls. they look interesting though. what muscles do they work? i feel deadlifts in my quads hams glutes and lower back predominately. i get stuck when going back down and up at 315 at the bottom half.

they work lower back. u basically r lifting the top 1/2 or more of the deadlift. u r not lifting off the floor. u have it set up in the power rack. pin placement is up to u.

 

[ceo]

I don't see any bent over rows in your routine either. Those are good for upper back thickness.

 

[iggy]

yeah, never really did any rows besides seated low pulley rows or dumbell lateral rows. power cleaned/squatted/deadlifted heavy three days a week for a good 16 months though a couple years ago during football. but yeah i'm going incorporate some rack pulls and barbell bent over rows into my back routine