dead lift... no progress? what is my bud doing wrong?

[BigBoy23]

Hey guys,

This question is for a friend of mine...

He is a small guy about 160lbs and is having trouble with the dead lift.

One week he will come in the gym and can pump 300lbs max.. the next week he can't get 280lbs...

He is really inconsistant... I dont see him doing anything wrong.. We usually do 3 sets of 10 or more depending on the weight which is about 60-70% of our max.

He just doesnt go up in weight any.. not even 5lbs per week.


any ideas?

 

[b fold the truth]

www.elitefitnesssystems.com

When trying to focus on increasing your deadlift...don't deadlift every week. Focus on GM's, box squats, etc...

You can only peak on an exercise so often....

Don't do sets of 10 on deads...stick with either very low reps or singles...

B True

 

[Thaibox]

You didn't mention his diet. Does he eat like shit? Does he party? There's a lot of variables outside the gym that will effect lifts.

 

[BigBoy23]

He doesnt party or drink..

he is trying to put on some weight so he eats anything and everything...

he is doing well.. his arms used to be just over 10 inches in highschool... he was a little guy...


he just doesnt seem to go up any in weight on the dead lifts...

 

[Screwball]

IMHO. There is no reason to ever do more than triples when deadlifting. You'll get more out of your training if you'll hit fewer reps and work up into heavier weights. The lower back can only take so much pounding before it refuses to work. Personally, when I'm in competition I'm only good for 2 all-out efforts. Cut your volume and the frequency with which you deadlift and the gains will come. Once a week for deadlifting is too often if you are pulling to failure.

 

[BigBoy23]

So you mean 2 to 3 reps to failure?

every other week ?


plz clarify

 

[Screwball]

Yes, that would work. But you don't have to pull to failure every time you pull. You could pull speed deads. Use about 55% - 75% of your 1-rep max and pull 6-10 singles with only 15-20 seconds rest between attempts. Work on explosion off the floor and locking out hard. Perfect your technique.

When working up to an attempt that will be a PR you can pull triples, then doubles and finally singles as the weight gets heavier. This will leave you with something left in the tank on your maximal attempts. I don't feel that repping deads is productive in the long run.

 

[gettinlarger]

to failure is not necessary, especially on very heavy weight. thats how injuries happen. tell him to work on his lower back (hypers, gm's) and his abs. go heavy like every other week.

 

[pintopkp]

Does that information go for straight leg deads too?

 

[benchmonster]

No that does not go for straight legs. You can use lighter weights and do higher reps on straight legs in an effort to strengthen your posterior chain.

To get stronger in the deadlift, strengthen the deadlift muscles. Hamstrings, lower back, glutes, hips, grip. When these get stronger the deadlift will get stronger. You cannot deadlift every week and expect to get stronger in the deadlift unless you are Ed Coan, George Brink, or Gary Heisey. Unless you are truly built to deadlift, then training your deadlift by deadlifting often is foolish.

For most of us, myself included, deadlifting takes more than it gives back. I deadlift once per month. I am a terrible deadlifter, but it is not because I only deadlift once per month. I have a bad physique for deadlifting. If you are a good bencher, you are almost always going to be a bad deadlifter. Train the muscles that do the deadlift. Don't just hammer away deadlifting every week. You will definately go backward by doing that.

B.