Deadlift advice

[vlad]

I am having a problem with deadlifts and it's driving me nuts. For some reason the initial lift is really hard for me. I don't know what I am doing wrong. I position myself properly, make sure my shoulders are either inline with the bar or behind it, I bend my knees and that first one just kills me. Today I did 2 sets of 10 to worm up with 1 plate, another set of 6 to worm up with 3 plates and then went to 365lbs and did 8 reps. Great right(for me). I go up to 385lbs and nothing, I can't even pull it up. Drop it to 365lbs and nothing I can't pull it up. I get a buddy to help me with the first lift and once I got it up I did 8 reps. Ok so I gave myself 3min rest and tried again 365lbs by myself and nothing. A buddy helped me up and another 8 reps. What the hell am I doing wrong here? I am not doing 1/2 reps I am doing full ROM for 8 but that 1st one just won't come up. Any suggestions? I feel like I am cheating with someone helping me with the first one.

[tiramisu]

That's some serious volume in your warmup on deads.

Try 5x40%, 3x60%, 2x80% and then hit your working sets @ 5x3 ala starting strength and maybe a back-off set if you feel strong.

Or alternately I just work up with 45's and 25's till I get into PR territory once every two weeks.
225x5, 275x5, 315x3, 365x2, 405x1, 425x1, 426x1(PR) :)
puke go home.

[devo09]

Sounds like the first rep is harder because that's the only rep your ACTUALLY doing a deadlift on...are the other reps easier because you bounce the weight when it hits the floor? because thats a good way to hurt yourself...the "Dead"lift starts from a deadstop position

also, the initial move off the floor is ALL quad/hip drive, so if that is where your struggling you should get your squat numbers up. Also deficit deadlifts can help as well

[Danger]

I LOVE high rep Deads, I dont usally go super heavy but im doing

12x,12x,10x,8x

I always find the first rep in a set to be the hardest, but if I cant break it off the floor I would drop the weight until I could. Personally I find breaking the weight off the floor is mostly legs for me I just focus on driving my heels into the floor and then just lean back as I come up.

Question do you bounce your reps? From my experience the guys who bounce at the bottom are usally the ones who stuggle getting it off the floor. I always go for a light controled tap and then right back up.

[Danger]

Just thought of this after reading Devos post but I find that the legpress is better than the squat when you are training your deadlift. I dont mean to say not to squat but for me personally when im looking for bring up my DL I usally drop squats and replace them with the leg press, mabey its just because it save my lower back but I deffinatly find it works the hips in a way that really carries over to my DL.

[vlad]

No I do not bounce them I make sure I go down with control but I do not stop at the bottom I just touch and pull. I squat 415lbs for 4 reps so and I leg press 10 plates a side. I do leg press right after I do squats so I am pretty sure I could do more on fresh legs.
I think Danger hit the nail on the head with driving the heals in and pulling back. I think that once I start to get tired I try to pull up instead of pull back and sink the heals in. I will try this next week and see how it goes.
You think that 2 sets of 10 with 135lbs and 1 set of 6 with 315lbs is too much for a warm up? I don't feel tired at all after doing this. All I want to do is pump some blood into the muscles. I start feeling it after I do a set of 8 with 365lbs. My goal is to warm up and do 3 set of 4-6 with some good weight.

[C-money]

between every rep totally let the bar rest.. no touch and go, you will notice you dead will get way better off the floor.. also try and stay back and keep the bar close to your body, dont get caught "leaning" forward

[tex]

regrip every rep. in fact after every rep stand up and then get back down and regrip. start doing heavy good mornings......almost every other me day for me is some sort of good morning variation.....

[vlad]

I do straight leg deads when I do my legs. I will try a bunch of new things the next time I do them and see how that works.

[Talo]

Can you get your DL on video so we can see how your doing it ?

[vlad]

Can you get your DL on video so we can see how your doing it ?


I was thinking about it but the gym where I workout is really small and there are alot of chicks and I think I will look like a real douche bag recording myself.

[faller]

In that case can you get some vid's of the chicks??

Just kidding.. I know what you mean about filming yourself in the gym, ours is really small too and i'd feel pretty selfconcious. What about talking to the owner and doing it say after hours?

[dremen]

I am having a problem with deadlifts and it's driving me nuts. For some reason the initial lift is really hard for me. I don't know what I am doing wrong. I position myself properly, make sure my shoulders are either inline with the bar or behind it, I bend my knees and that first one just kills me. Today I did 2 sets of 10 to worm up with 1 plate, another set of 6 to worm up with 3 plates and then went to 365lbs and did 8 reps. Great right(for me). I go up to 385lbs and nothing, I can't even pull it up. Drop it to 365lbs and nothing I can't pull it up. I get a buddy to help me with the first lift and once I got it up I did 8 reps. Ok so I gave myself 3min rest and tried again 365lbs by myself and nothing. A buddy helped me up and another 8 reps. What the hell am I doing wrong here? I am not doing 1/2 reps I am doing full ROM for 8 but that 1st one just won't come up. Any suggestions? I feel like I am cheating with someone helping me with the first one.

Im going to get flamed for this, but IMHO you are doing to many warm up sets and in doing so your lacking the energy to do your max lifts, if im reading your problem right.....if not sorry my bad.

On back day i do deads first when im fresh, but first i do 10-15 minutes of cardio on a bike or something to warm me up and get the blood flowing then i give er shit on deads.

I'm not sure if what i do will work for you, but i will tell ya anyways. After cardio i go right to deads and toss on 4 plates per side and do a set of 8 reps then i toss on another 50lbs and go another set of 6 reps. Basicly i start off heavy and keep adding weight till my form is not proper thats when i know i hit max lift and i lower the weight a bit.

After i've lifted 3-4 sets with 4 plates+ i lower the weight to 3 plates a side for 12 reps, then 8 reps, then 6 reps then im done.

For me i find i can lift a shit load more weight if i sub cardio for warm up sets....again people are going to flame me for this, but it's working for me and im happy with the results thus far.

Also i use straps start to finish so i can get max weight, i do forearms on a different day and shrugs with no straps so forearms get a good burn.

[C-money]

Im going to get flamed for this, but IMHO you are doing to many warm up sets and in doing so your lacking the energy to do your max lifts, if im reading your problem right.....if not sorry my bad.

On back day i do deads first when im fresh, but first i do 10-15 minutes of cardio on a bike or something to warm me up and get the blood flowing then i give er shit on deads.

I'm not sure if what i do will work for you, but i will tell ya anyways. After cardio i go right to deads and toss on 4 plates per side and do a set of 8 reps then i toss on another 50lbs and go another set of 6 reps. Basicly i start off heavy and keep adding weight till my form is not proper thats when i know i hit max lift and i lower the weight a bit.

After i've lifted 3-4 sets with 4 plates+ i lower the weight to 3 plates a side for 12 reps, then 8 reps, then 6 reps then im done.

For me i find i can lift a shit load more weight if i sub cardio for warm up sets....again people are going to flame me for this, but it's working for me and im happy with the results thus far.

Also i use straps start to finish so i can get max weight, i do forearms on a different day and shrugs with no straps so forearms get a good burn.

I disagree. when im going for a max, ill go 1 plate for 10, 2 plates for 10, 3 for 10, 4 plates for 6, 5 plates for 6, then i go for my max. I find a slow progression in weight and taking my time helps my body adapt for the big lift.. i couldnt imagine trying to pull 6 plates +, jumpin from like 3 or 4 a side..

[tex]

Im going to get flamed for this, but IMHO you are doing to many warm up sets and in doing so your lacking the energy to do your max lifts, if im reading your problem right.....if not sorry my bad.

On back day i do deads first when im fresh, but first i do 10-15 minutes of cardio on a bike or something to warm me up and get the blood flowing then i give er shit on deads.

I'm not sure if what i do will work for you, but i will tell ya anyways. After cardio i go right to deads and toss on 4 plates per side and do a set of 8 reps then i toss on another 50lbs and go another set of 6 reps. Basicly i start off heavy and keep adding weight till my form is not proper thats when i know i hit max lift and i lower the weight a bit.

After i've lifted 3-4 sets with 4 plates+ i lower the weight to 3 plates a side for 12 reps, then 8 reps, then 6 reps then im done.

For me i find i can lift a shit load more weight if i sub cardio for warm up sets....again people are going to flame me for this, but it's working for me and im happy with the results thus far.

Also i use straps start to finish so i can get max weight, i do forearms on a different day and shrugs with no straps so forearms get a good burn.

don't do this. this is the quickest way to a severe lower back injury. no offense to you cuz its working for you right now......right now being the keyword......i dont think you need to start out with 135 but 2 plates a side would be fine depending on what your capabilities are......

[vlad]

I haven't done my max in a long time but I used to do 1 or 2 max with 4 plates. However, I've always had problems with deads. I try to be consistent with everything I do and have the same warm up for all of my heavy lifts. I start with deads for back, I start with squats for legs, I start with military press for shoulder and I start with incline bench press for chest. All the other ones work fine with 2 light sets of 10 and 1 a bit heavier set of 6 for warm up and then I hit it hard for 3 sets of 4-6 with some heavy weight(for me,lol). Also, for my deads I know that I need to go up in weight gradually just to get used to the weight I am lifting. The problem might be fatigue of certain muscles which throws my form out to lunch.

[Ritch]

I don`t want to bust your balls Dremen but think what you`re doing is going to hurt someone if they try it. Going straight to 4 plates is a horrible idea. The way C-money does it is how one should warm up. Tex`s advice was good as well, all depending how strong you are...

[ironwill]

I don`t want to bust your balls Dremen but think what you`re doing is going to hurt someone if they try it. Going straight to 4 plates is a horrible idea. The way C-money does it is how one should warm up. Tex`s advice was good as well, all depending how strong you are...
what he said.....:)

[Ritch]

I`ve watched both video`s here showing the deadlift. I prefer the method shown by the vid Waderow posted. Which do you guys prefer?

[JacktheThriller]

maybe u have a weak lower back and cant handle the stress at the bottom, weaker than ur legs of course, so i suggest doing some lower back work, which most people neglect, weighted hyperextentions i find are best

[dremen]

I don`t want to bust your balls Dremen but think what you`re doing is going to hurt someone if they try it. Going straight to 4 plates is a horrible idea. The way C-money does it is how one should warm up. Tex`s advice was good as well, all depending how strong you are...


Im just doing what works for me, if i get hurt it's on me.

Peace.;)

[Ritch]

Im just doing what works for me, if i get hurt it's on me.

Peace.;)

And may it be with you...

[dremen]

And may it be with you...


^What exactly does that mean bro? Are you hoping i get hurt?

[faller]

^What exactly does that mean bro? Are you hoping i get hurt?

He's fishing and you're biteing,,,,, chill...:D

[waderow]

holy fuuuuuck. again. If you dont want to warm up and lift safe, dremen, bro you are going to regret it one day

when I do them, I do them last after pull downs and rows. but previous to anything I do light cardio. Then I warm up shoulders. Then do pulldowns wide, then narrow. Then Rows, then off to the power rack. I do stretching for hamstrings, and lower back and neck. Then I do deads with NO bar. Then 135, 225, 315, 405, 315, 225. Not my best lift, and didnt go above 315 for a looong time. I once did a lower back injury from deads, and I was ****ed up for a week.

[dremen]

He's fishing and you're biteing,,,,, chill...:D

Actualy i just had no idea what he ment....lol

No fishing for this bro:)

[Ritch]

^What exactly does that mean bro? Are you hoping i get hurt?

I was refering to the peace aspect...

[dremen]

I was refering to the peace aspect...


Ahhh i see, well thanks bro :)

Right back at ya Ritch.

[Direwolf]

The first rep is quite hard. Perhaps you need to strengthen your lower back. Try modified deadlifts. You place the bar on the pins where it is higher up the floor. That's one option. If u don't wanna do that, this article might be helpful http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/how_to_pull_1008_pounds_and_make_it_look_easy

[devo09]

The first rep is quite hard. Perhaps you need to strengthen your lower back. Try modified deadlifts. You place the bar on the pins where it is higher up the floor. That's one option. If u don't wanna do that, this article might be helpful http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/how_to_pull_1008_pounds_and_make_it_look_easy

Rack deads (which you are calling modified deads) are used to improve lock-out strength, and won't help someone with the initial move off the floor which is all quad/hip drive

[waderow]

lift off a box to improve lift off

[dremen]

lift off a box to improve lift off


I just set the safety bars to the right height that way i don't go down any further, looks exactly like im useing a box.