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Sgt. Rock’s Hard Corps Deadlifting!
By Brent “Sgt. Rock” Howard
USMC, Individual Ready Reserves
As lifters who surf the MonsterMuscleMag.com website know, I am a moderator on Monster Muscles Rise of the Dead deadlift forum. The Rise of the Dead forum has received hundreds of thousands of hits and, through my interaction on that forum, I have received hundreds of personal emails from fellow powerlifters wanting to increase their deadlift. I have gotten many questions from beginners and, for the most part, they are very fun to answer (and, thankfully, the answers are easy for me to figure out.) For examples; use good technique, don’t over train, etc.
But, the majority of my emails come from more advanced powerlifters seeking to place at state or regional contests and
get into the national level of competition. Hence the motivation tor this article. Some quotes from emails that I’ve gotten: “My lockout just won’t improve.” “I have a contest in 12 weeks and I need to qualify for nationals.” “I have been stuck tor months, please help.” I have also gotten emails from lifters who are World Champions, from several countries, every age category and even a few from All lime Record Holders. What does this tell me? That you should NEVER be satisfied in your quest for knowledge and that you can learn about a topic from many sources. With that in mind, I contacted several powerlifters before I wrote this article and I owe a great deal
of this article to many of my personal “deadlift heroes.”
We first need to look at typical problems that face the more advanced deadlifter. First off, let’s discuss sticking points in the deadlift. For the sake of this article we will assume only two sticking points, one is from the deck to the knee, and the other is from the knee to the top (lockout). If you
Methods for fixing a pull that’s weak off the floor:
On paper, it is much easier to fix your initial pull of the deck. First off you need the right gear (which will be covered later). Once you’ve acquired the right powerlifting gear, you must then utilize proper technique. PUSH YOUR FEET THROUGH THE FLOOR. When you reach down to grab the bar, don’t waste energy. Get set, get ready and rip it. Whether you pull conventional or sumo, you can thrust the hips down quickly before starting your pull (stretch reflex); I do this with great success in both styles as do some of the greatest deadlifters in the game. Keep your head up, keep the bar in close, EXPLODE OFF THE DECK AND KEEP THE BAR IN CLOSE THROUGHOUT THE PULL.
First and foremost are deadlifts off a 3-4 inch block. These make your grip work overtime and can really increase your starting speed. One or two top sets of 5 reps is plenty. Training sets of five reps builds a great base for future gains. Next up are stiff leg pulls off the block. Keep your knees slightly bent, let the bar rest briefly on the deck and pull. You should be able to do around 70 percent of your best contest pull for 5 reps.
When I do these sumo style; I don’t wear a belt and I don’t utilize the block, I feel it just works better for me as I get the contrast of conventional off the block and sumo off the deck. You should experiment to decide which is best for you. These are really the backbone of deadlift base training. The Finnish have utilized block pulls/stiffs for many decades. This is where you will “make your money”.
The next lift in your deadlift training arsenal witi be good, old fashioned, bent over rows. Deadlift training is not rocket science. The “secret” to building a deadly deadlift is HARD WORK! With bent over rows, don’t worry about your technique too much. A degree of body momentum is acceptable when doing these. I do NOT believe in using lifting straps. If you can’t use enough weight to really stress the upper back because of your grip, then you need to work your grip, not use straps. You should address your grip weakness head on instead of working around it. For these, I use a 27-28 inch grip and I perform two warm-up sets and then two heavy 5 rep sets. A typical bent over row session for me would be 225x5, 315x5, and then 405x5x2. No belt, no straps, no tricks.
Weighted chins are another great back strength builder! I like to perform three sets of ten reps to the front (add weight if you can.) If you can pull up your bodyweight, pIus 50 pounds, for 10 reps then you are one strong lifter!
Methods for fixing your lockout:
Iam certain that I could write an entire book on this topic! As I mentioned above, technique and proper equipment are paramount. I will first address lockout problems for sumo deadlifters, In the sumo, if you can keep your hips down at the start and maintain an upright posture, then you have a great chance of locking the weight out, especially if you are able to generate some good bar speed off the deck. If you let your hips rise quickly, which is often times a sign of a weak lower back,you will not have the best leverage for locking out the weight..
Doing sumo pulls with bands will help your lockout. I work 55 percent of my best contest pull with one green band attached and I perform 7 sets of 2 reps which has gotten me great results. The band tightens up greatly at lockout and that will teach you speed because, if you don’t have great bar speed, then the lockout will be tough!
Training wide stance low box squats on squat day will help your lockout as well. I do 50 percent or less of my best squat with gear for 7 doubles, with less than one minute rest in between sets. This type of squatting will work the hips and produce great lockout strength.
Most of the assistance training for sumo deadlifting, in the above paragraph, will help the conventional style lockout as well. Band deadlifts done conventional style will help, as will the wide stance box squats. Rack pulls will also help. I do not believe that sumo rack pulls have much value. Conventional rack pulls, done to a max BELOW the knee are beneficial, though severely taxing. Once or twice a month is plenty and you must max out. Then, the next
time you rack pull, YOU MUST BEAT YOUR MAX!!! The reason for doing rack pulls below the kneecap is that when you do them above the knee, you will put yourself in an unrealistic position (one that you will not be in during a max attempt.) This is why you can pull more above the knee than from the deck. If you start below the knee, say 4-6 inches from the floor, you are in a more realistic position. You want to train the actual groove you will be in at the contest, not the most efficient rack pull groove to lock out an unrealistic amount of weight.
Heavy good mornings are another training “must do”. Heavy good mornings are essential to either deadlift style, regardless of your sticking point. I put the pins in the power rack so that my torso is roughly 70 degrees or so in relation to my legs (not quite parallel to the ground.) This creates a position where you can use a lot of weight and yet still have a good range of motion to target the lower back, glutes and hams. You must work with heavy weights when training good mornings. I go to 500 pounds for reps with no trouble; you have to will yourself to be a champion!!! One or two sets of five reps are plenty.
Reverse hypers are another great lower back exercise. I like to train 3 sets of 10 reps on these. A strong lower back will really help to post big numbers with using either style of deadlift. Finally, don’t forget to put in heavy ab work as well, and it is ok to throw in some heavy db shrugs if you would like to focus on building up your traps and neck muscles.
Deadlifting Gear:
Powerlifting gear can make or break you on a max attempt. First off, if you wear a suit, and most lifters should, it needs to be tight! No one said it was going to be easy here! When lnzer Advance Designs made a deadlift suit, I
designed and tested by deadlifters, for deadlifters. It took extensive testing and development to perfect and the result in the Max DL suit. It is the best on the market, bar none. It comes with Core Lock legs and a tight vertical, as well as horizontal, contoured cut. The vertical explosion you will get is simply unbelievable. I get between 60-75 pounds out of my Max DL. It took lots of hard training while wearing the suit to get this much out of it. You too can get those kinds of gains, but you must be willing to sacrifice!! Getting 60-75 pounds out of your deadlifting gear is often the difference between being a champion and getting 2~ place!
A Heavy Duty lnzer Erector Shirt is next on the list of gear you should use. I prefer the sleeveless version, made out of Hardcore material. With a deadlift shirt, I like a medium-tight fit. The benefit of the shirt is that the suit straps slide on it nicely; creating a smooth lockout.
lnzer Groove Briefs or Power Pants are next. They support the hips, and make the suit easier to put on, They really help a lot! Suit slippers will help you get into the tight suit and, the tighter the suit, the more support it provides. When deadlifting, always wear flat soled shoes, I like wrestling shoes. Wear a tight power belt, lightly chalk your hands, put some baby powder on your legs and you’re ready to rock and roll!
By Brent “Sgt. Rock” Howard
USMC, Individual Ready Reserves
As lifters who surf the MonsterMuscleMag.com website know, I am a moderator on Monster Muscles Rise of the Dead deadlift forum. The Rise of the Dead forum has received hundreds of thousands of hits and, through my interaction on that forum, I have received hundreds of personal emails from fellow powerlifters wanting to increase their deadlift. I have gotten many questions from beginners and, for the most part, they are very fun to answer (and, thankfully, the answers are easy for me to figure out.) For examples; use good technique, don’t over train, etc.
But, the majority of my emails come from more advanced powerlifters seeking to place at state or regional contests and
get into the national level of competition. Hence the motivation tor this article. Some quotes from emails that I’ve gotten: “My lockout just won’t improve.” “I have a contest in 12 weeks and I need to qualify for nationals.” “I have been stuck tor months, please help.” I have also gotten emails from lifters who are World Champions, from several countries, every age category and even a few from All lime Record Holders. What does this tell me? That you should NEVER be satisfied in your quest for knowledge and that you can learn about a topic from many sources. With that in mind, I contacted several powerlifters before I wrote this article and I owe a great deal
of this article to many of my personal “deadlift heroes.”
We first need to look at typical problems that face the more advanced deadlifter. First off, let’s discuss sticking points in the deadlift. For the sake of this article we will assume only two sticking points, one is from the deck to the knee, and the other is from the knee to the top (lockout). If you
Methods for fixing a pull that’s weak off the floor:
On paper, it is much easier to fix your initial pull of the deck. First off you need the right gear (which will be covered later). Once you’ve acquired the right powerlifting gear, you must then utilize proper technique. PUSH YOUR FEET THROUGH THE FLOOR. When you reach down to grab the bar, don’t waste energy. Get set, get ready and rip it. Whether you pull conventional or sumo, you can thrust the hips down quickly before starting your pull (stretch reflex); I do this with great success in both styles as do some of the greatest deadlifters in the game. Keep your head up, keep the bar in close, EXPLODE OFF THE DECK AND KEEP THE BAR IN CLOSE THROUGHOUT THE PULL.
First and foremost are deadlifts off a 3-4 inch block. These make your grip work overtime and can really increase your starting speed. One or two top sets of 5 reps is plenty. Training sets of five reps builds a great base for future gains. Next up are stiff leg pulls off the block. Keep your knees slightly bent, let the bar rest briefly on the deck and pull. You should be able to do around 70 percent of your best contest pull for 5 reps.
When I do these sumo style; I don’t wear a belt and I don’t utilize the block, I feel it just works better for me as I get the contrast of conventional off the block and sumo off the deck. You should experiment to decide which is best for you. These are really the backbone of deadlift base training. The Finnish have utilized block pulls/stiffs for many decades. This is where you will “make your money”.
The next lift in your deadlift training arsenal witi be good, old fashioned, bent over rows. Deadlift training is not rocket science. The “secret” to building a deadly deadlift is HARD WORK! With bent over rows, don’t worry about your technique too much. A degree of body momentum is acceptable when doing these. I do NOT believe in using lifting straps. If you can’t use enough weight to really stress the upper back because of your grip, then you need to work your grip, not use straps. You should address your grip weakness head on instead of working around it. For these, I use a 27-28 inch grip and I perform two warm-up sets and then two heavy 5 rep sets. A typical bent over row session for me would be 225x5, 315x5, and then 405x5x2. No belt, no straps, no tricks.
Weighted chins are another great back strength builder! I like to perform three sets of ten reps to the front (add weight if you can.) If you can pull up your bodyweight, pIus 50 pounds, for 10 reps then you are one strong lifter!
Methods for fixing your lockout:
Iam certain that I could write an entire book on this topic! As I mentioned above, technique and proper equipment are paramount. I will first address lockout problems for sumo deadlifters, In the sumo, if you can keep your hips down at the start and maintain an upright posture, then you have a great chance of locking the weight out, especially if you are able to generate some good bar speed off the deck. If you let your hips rise quickly, which is often times a sign of a weak lower back,you will not have the best leverage for locking out the weight..
Doing sumo pulls with bands will help your lockout. I work 55 percent of my best contest pull with one green band attached and I perform 7 sets of 2 reps which has gotten me great results. The band tightens up greatly at lockout and that will teach you speed because, if you don’t have great bar speed, then the lockout will be tough!
Training wide stance low box squats on squat day will help your lockout as well. I do 50 percent or less of my best squat with gear for 7 doubles, with less than one minute rest in between sets. This type of squatting will work the hips and produce great lockout strength.
Most of the assistance training for sumo deadlifting, in the above paragraph, will help the conventional style lockout as well. Band deadlifts done conventional style will help, as will the wide stance box squats. Rack pulls will also help. I do not believe that sumo rack pulls have much value. Conventional rack pulls, done to a max BELOW the knee are beneficial, though severely taxing. Once or twice a month is plenty and you must max out. Then, the next
time you rack pull, YOU MUST BEAT YOUR MAX!!! The reason for doing rack pulls below the kneecap is that when you do them above the knee, you will put yourself in an unrealistic position (one that you will not be in during a max attempt.) This is why you can pull more above the knee than from the deck. If you start below the knee, say 4-6 inches from the floor, you are in a more realistic position. You want to train the actual groove you will be in at the contest, not the most efficient rack pull groove to lock out an unrealistic amount of weight.
Heavy good mornings are another training “must do”. Heavy good mornings are essential to either deadlift style, regardless of your sticking point. I put the pins in the power rack so that my torso is roughly 70 degrees or so in relation to my legs (not quite parallel to the ground.) This creates a position where you can use a lot of weight and yet still have a good range of motion to target the lower back, glutes and hams. You must work with heavy weights when training good mornings. I go to 500 pounds for reps with no trouble; you have to will yourself to be a champion!!! One or two sets of five reps are plenty.
Reverse hypers are another great lower back exercise. I like to train 3 sets of 10 reps on these. A strong lower back will really help to post big numbers with using either style of deadlift. Finally, don’t forget to put in heavy ab work as well, and it is ok to throw in some heavy db shrugs if you would like to focus on building up your traps and neck muscles.
Deadlifting Gear:
Powerlifting gear can make or break you on a max attempt. First off, if you wear a suit, and most lifters should, it needs to be tight! No one said it was going to be easy here! When lnzer Advance Designs made a deadlift suit, I
designed and tested by deadlifters, for deadlifters. It took extensive testing and development to perfect and the result in the Max DL suit. It is the best on the market, bar none. It comes with Core Lock legs and a tight vertical, as well as horizontal, contoured cut. The vertical explosion you will get is simply unbelievable. I get between 60-75 pounds out of my Max DL. It took lots of hard training while wearing the suit to get this much out of it. You too can get those kinds of gains, but you must be willing to sacrifice!! Getting 60-75 pounds out of your deadlifting gear is often the difference between being a champion and getting 2~ place!
A Heavy Duty lnzer Erector Shirt is next on the list of gear you should use. I prefer the sleeveless version, made out of Hardcore material. With a deadlift shirt, I like a medium-tight fit. The benefit of the shirt is that the suit straps slide on it nicely; creating a smooth lockout.
lnzer Groove Briefs or Power Pants are next. They support the hips, and make the suit easier to put on, They really help a lot! Suit slippers will help you get into the tight suit and, the tighter the suit, the more support it provides. When deadlifting, always wear flat soled shoes, I like wrestling shoes. Wear a tight power belt, lightly chalk your hands, put some baby powder on your legs and you’re ready to rock and roll!
