MsBeverlyHills said:
thanks madcow, the thing is I can pull 200- but I cant rep it. What routine do you suggest? I dont like doing singles in that it doesnt give the muscle growth/hypertrophy that higher reps do. make sense? Im not a powerlifter.
First - read this and you'll understand why we are kind of going in circles with the dead rather than laying out a specific progression. This is the one lift where it's just not that easy:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4783202&postcount=388
There's no need to train with singles all the time or even any of the time. Training the dead in the 3-5 range is fairly effective.
The main issue though is that the dead is very taxing. Anyone can squat 3x per week using full range OL style squats. I don't believe this to be the case with the dead and neither does anyone else I know who's opinion I value.
Caveate - Stephen Korte's 3x3 program does have you pull 3x per week but I don't think you want to do this. This is a brutal program where you only bench, squat, and dead 3x per week for 8 weeks culminating in new singles but the typical reps are 5 in volume and 3 in intensity with a single performed once per week in the intensity phase. Believe me, your 5 rep max will definitely go up. It's in the deepsquatter archives (upper right corner)
http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/. I used to have an automated spreadsheet. Very hard program though. If the dead is a strong lift for you, you are going to be beaten up when you leave the gym (you do it after a lot of squats and benches).
Anyway, the whole deal is that the dead is very taxing. Korte gets away with it because he's careful with percentages and there is zero assistance work. This can work for you - probably will work for you which is why instead of a quick caveate I've typed a lot. Maybe you want to do more standard workouts and just overlay the deadlift on top of it (you will still need to synchronize volume/intensity to match the loading and deloading phases though).
Westside exists at the other end of the spectrum where the deadlift itself isn't used much in favor of box squats and goodmornings. Here is where you evaluate your lift and determine your weak points.
I happen to use a lot of Olympic lifting exercises because you can pull a whole lot and there is a good carry over to the dead. If you don't know these or variants you are basically stuck with only the dead and maybe some speed deads but you don't have anything else to substitute in that isn't as draining but has good carryover. There are some OL videos here, maybe you want to look at the clean pull or snatch pull. Snatch pull's wide grip allows you to train from a lower starting height (a la the previous poster's suggestion of standing on plates or using smaller diameter plates). This helps if you are weak a the bottom. Doing rack pulls or even clean pulls from the hang position (just above the knees) can really help build some strength and acceleration in the top position. Vids are here:
http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/videos/video_index.htm
So noticing the trend, you now understand why I can't lay something out and make you pull 3x per week without taking a lot of care to make sure I don't cane you with the protocol (this is really the absolute bitch exercise to improve as sometimes the quickest way is not a straight line. By the way Bill Starr has a whole article on increasing the DL without deadlifting which largely spawned Westside's use of the goodmorning. There are links to BIll's program in the post of mine that I put at the top.
SO maybe if you give us an idea on where you are weak (posting a video of a max or a set carried to failure would be helpful but I understand if you don't want your face on this board - a side view is preferable anyway so maybe that can be shot without showing who you are). Either way, let us know where you are weak. Read some of what is provided in these posts and let us know how you want to address it. If you could also provide your non-specialized program so we can get an idea of what you are used to that would help too.
Sorry to go so round and round but like I said - this lift can't always be approached in a straight line. Or you can try Korte's program. It will absolutely improve your 5 rep max, have no doubt but like I said, it's pretty hard and no offense but it's not something I'd usually mention to a girl. That said, you are already deadlifting, you are committed, the choice is yours whether or not you want to use it. Personally, I'd be impressed. You'd have my vote for hardcore woman of the year because it has made weeping children out of more than a few hardened men.
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