I'm not an incredible deadlifter, but I feel like I have learned a lot about deadlift training over the past few years. Getting to 400lbs is a big feat. 500 also is a big time feat, but for me to pull 600lbs I had to learn some new exercises that would help my deadlift. And they have tremendously.
I'm 200lbs, so that leaves me with 3x BW deadlift at 20 years old. I pull conventional, of course.
1. Stiff legged Deadlift with the bar six inches away from the shins. Now stiff-legged deadlifts are a great exercise, but I didn't find them all that useful if I went pretty heavy. I learned to lift it lighter (rarely over 315) to maximize the focus on muscle. With the bar six inches away this leaves your body at an extreme disadvantage. It kills your hamstrings, low-back, and hits the lats harder than any other deadlift variation I have tried. I normally would incorporate these after the main deadlift workout.
2. Partial Deadlifts. Always done relatively light (no higher than 315 to date). Simply pull the bar above the knees avoiding lockout, the major key is to activate your legs more and stabilizie your spine like crazy. I'm talking ZERO bend. Essentially it's more like the first movement of a powerclean instead of a deadlift. Always picture perfect form. This works leg drive, and spinal stabilization.
3. Deficit deadlifts with a band. Sounds brutal, right? Well because it is. I like to do these on my "deload" weeks, usually after 2-3 weeks of heavy deadlifting. I normally use around a 3 inch deficit, and I found it works about everything in the deadlift. Can't ask for anything more. It improves your speed off the floor and speed at lockout. It's quite a killer exercise. It's worth a shot if you have been stalling.
Hope you can learn from this a bit. Cheers!
I'm 200lbs, so that leaves me with 3x BW deadlift at 20 years old. I pull conventional, of course.
1. Stiff legged Deadlift with the bar six inches away from the shins. Now stiff-legged deadlifts are a great exercise, but I didn't find them all that useful if I went pretty heavy. I learned to lift it lighter (rarely over 315) to maximize the focus on muscle. With the bar six inches away this leaves your body at an extreme disadvantage. It kills your hamstrings, low-back, and hits the lats harder than any other deadlift variation I have tried. I normally would incorporate these after the main deadlift workout.
2. Partial Deadlifts. Always done relatively light (no higher than 315 to date). Simply pull the bar above the knees avoiding lockout, the major key is to activate your legs more and stabilizie your spine like crazy. I'm talking ZERO bend. Essentially it's more like the first movement of a powerclean instead of a deadlift. Always picture perfect form. This works leg drive, and spinal stabilization.
3. Deficit deadlifts with a band. Sounds brutal, right? Well because it is. I like to do these on my "deload" weeks, usually after 2-3 weeks of heavy deadlifting. I normally use around a 3 inch deficit, and I found it works about everything in the deadlift. Can't ask for anything more. It improves your speed off the floor and speed at lockout. It's quite a killer exercise. It's worth a shot if you have been stalling.
Hope you can learn from this a bit. Cheers!
