How to increase deadlift

[Varven]

Hi All,

By far my favourite excercise is the deadlift and its hybrid version the Rack deadlifts.

my deadlift weights have been steadily increasing but are starting to reach some sticking points now.

This is at the first 30% of ROM into the lift.

That is, from the bar on the floor being raised upto about knee level. From knee level to full stretch, its pretty smooth. In fact my rack deadlift ( Which covers the same ROM ) is at nearly 1.5 times the weight of my full deadlift. Therefore I conclude its not my upper back thats giving away.

I figured my Halmstrings are not sufficiently powefull enough to power me through the first 30% of the lift, furthermore I guess my quads are also used here ?

Does my analysis seem right so far:

Im getting stuck due to being let down by halms and quads ?

Remedy: a LOT of squatting for quads and maybe stiff leg deadlifts for halms ?

Does this all seem to make sense, or does it sound like gibberish?

Any other suggestions to improve my lift ?

best,

V.V.

[Marcus]

I would suggest that leg exercises & deadlifts go hand in hand. When one increases, usually the other will follow.

For example last week I set a new PB for myself in Deads, then this week I set a new PB in squats.

So hit those legs a bit harder & see how you go. Maybe drop deadlifts back to once a fortnight also.

[Growth]

Yeah it sounds like your being let down by your leg strength, do you get nice and low at the begining of the lift?

The only thing i can think of is that when your doing squats etc make sure your are using full rom, right to the ground, that will help develop the low end strength you need to help improve your deads.

[jono]

as others have said DEEP squats. but also.. just DL will improve your DL. :grin: take it very slow eg add 1 rep next time. once u reach a certain goal increase the wt a little bit. squats increased my dl. the most

[Marcus]

With DL's, make sure you keep the bar nice & close to your body too.

[Pseudonym]

Don't get me wrong, squats are great, and will certainly help. But I think the leg press might be even better in this instance. I'm not saying "don't do squats", I'm saying "leg press is probably a closer match for strengthening the muscles you want to strengthen".

As well as working quads, it really targets glutes, and to a lesser extent, hammies - especially if you place your feet higher up the pads.

Just my 2cents. :wink:

[jono]

Don't get me wrong, squats are great, and will certainly help. But I think the leg press might be even better in this instance. I'm not saying "don't do squats", I'm saying "leg press is probably a closer match for strengthening the muscles you want to strengthen".

As well as working quads, it really targets glutes, and to a lesser extent, hammies - especially if you place your feet higher up the pads.

Just my 2cents. :wink:

lol i would say deep squats work glutes/hams MUCH harder than legpress.

even with ur feet right on the edge

(from my personal expeience)

[Varven]

Well I perform about 5/6 sets of squats and another 3 of leg press so Im just gonna go "ass to the grass" on both.

One last point for clarification; How Low should I go on a squat ?

When I learnt to squat I was taught quads parallel to floor, but seems you guys go deeper. So how deep ?

best,

V.V.

[jono]

Well I perform about 5/6 sets of squats and another 3 of leg press so Im just gonna go "ass to the grass" on both.

One last point for clarification; How Low should I go on a squat ?

When I learnt to squat I was taught quads parallel to floor, but seems you guys go deeper. So how deep ?

best,

V.V.

yes go deeper than parallel. go as deep as you can possibly go. hence "ass to grass"

[fatty]

I find that for getting my hamstrings and glutes working harder (without doing stiff legged deads), smith machine squats are pretty effective. Obviously have your feet as far forward as you can, but those let you drop pretty low, and I find doing 'em once in a while is quite effective.

Do lunges too if you are worried about your glutes and hammies.

IMO anyway.

[NIGHTHEAT]

What rep-range are you using?

Keep this at 4 reps or less at the heaviest weight you can handle and work on the lower part of the movement, just come up to the knees and the bar back down.

Try a carbup on deadlift day as well to give you that extra boost

[waldo]

http://www.criticalbench.com/deadlift.htm

Check out this link, seems to be some good, logical info.