The deadlift is the bastard child of powerlifting; it doesn’t get much love. Maybe it’s the fact that the deadlift is less impacted by equipment than are the squat and bench press, so it may require less practice. Or, it might just be vilified because lifts 7-9 of a powerlifting meet feel like cardio after a long day of lifting. Finally, it may be that many lifters and coaches hold that the deadlift is best trained indirectly, and that the chips will just fall into place if you focus on squats, good mornings, and plenty of assistance work. While this may be the case in some instances, there are also quite a few lifters who have made tremendous progress with more frequent pulling, and that’ll be my focus in this article.
Up until this past July 30, I was a member of the “leave it alone” crowd. All that changed between August and November of this year, though. Going into AWPC Worlds this past summer, my best pull was 556.5 at a body weight of 163. It’s not a tremendous pull, by my own admission, but it was good enough for a Powerlifting USA Top 50 ranking. In preparing for Worlds, I had what I thought was a very productive training cycle; both my squat and bench felt great, and I expected the pull to just come along for the ride and magically improve. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I wound up going out and pulling 567.5 at 164. It was a PR, but I was anything but content with it. Very simply, I felt like crap when the time came to pull. In my mind, there was no excuse for me to not be ready when the time came – especially as a lightweight (who are expected to recover faster between lifts than their heavier counterparts). My opener should have been speed weight, but it came up slower than expected.
My second attempt (567.5) was a good six-second grinder. At this point, I was completely gassed; I practically needed a hit of ammonia just to get out of my chair and up to the platform for attempt #3. Needless to say, I missed the lift after getting it to about mid-shin; I didn’t have anything left to grind it out. In spite of taking home the junior lightweight best lifter trophy, I beat myself up on the inside for the entire flight home from Chicago that night. This flight actually turned out to be one of the most productive two hours of my training career, though, as I mapped out my plan for the subsequent 12-week training cycle.
The end result? A 6% improvement in 12 weeks; I wound up pulling an easy 601 on my third attempt in November, leaving a good 15-20 pounds on the platform – all after setting PR’s on my squat and bench press. So, it wasn’t inconceivable to think that the template I outline below added 10% to my pull in a single 12-week training cycle.
Outlining a Solution
There are seven basic tenets for the program:
1. On the whole, pull more frequently. Specificity of training is more important than you think; it takes practice to fine-tune your set-up and movement execution.
2. Pull for speed after your dynamic effort squats for the first three weeks of the month.
3. During these three weeks, your first assistance exercise on max effort squat/deadlift day should be a deadlift variation.
4. In the fourth week of each month, your max effort squat/deadlift movement will be a deadlift variation in order to allow you to monitor progress. The other three weeks should be squat and good morning variations.
5. Learn to pull in a state of fatigue – which is exactly what happens in competition.
6. Make sure to do your DES/D session before your MES/D session in the weekly training split. For example, I do my dynamic work on Sunday morning and my max effort work on Wednesday night.
7. Overall training stress – a function of volume, intensity, exercise complexity, and a number of other factors – should be fluctuated from week to week using the following format: high, medium, very high, low.
I’ve made some modifications to suit the unique needs of different lifters. As a lifter whose sticking point is at lockout, I focus more on accommodating resistance. Lifters who tend to have problems off the floor would be best off with pulls from a deficit, as I’ve noted in parenthesis to allow you to modify the program as needed. Keep in mind that the pulling below was just one component of my program; I was also doing squat and good morning variations, GHR’s, single-leg movements, and plenty of core work.
12 Week Deadlift Program
Week 1: High Volume
Dynamic Effort - DES/D: Speed Pulls vs. Bands (if you’re weak off the floor, perform these while standing on a 2-4” step and eliminate the bands). Bar Weight = 50%, 10 sets of 1.
Max Effort - MES/D: First Assistance Movement: Snatch Grip Deadlifts (wearing straps is fine). 3 sets of 4 (work up to them; they should be heavy).
I used a controlled bounce between reps, as I am weak at the top. Those who are weak off the floor should pause between reps.
Week 2: Medium Volume
Dynamic Effort - DES/D: Speed Pulls vs. Bands (if you’re weak off the floor, perform these while standing on a 2-4” step and eliminate the bands). Bar Weight = 55%, 8 sets of 1.
Max Effort - MES/D: First Assistance Movement: Snatch Grip Deadlifts (wearing straps is fine). 2 sets of 3 (work up).
Same guidelines as noted above.
Week 3: Very High Volume
Dynamic Effort - DES/D: Speed Pulls vs. Bands (for those who are weak off the floor, perform these while standing on a 2-4” step and eliminate the chains). Bar Weight = 60%, 12 sets of 1.
Note: These last few sets shouldn’t feel much like speed in light of the higher percentage of 1RM, considerable band tension, and accumulated fatigue.
Max Effort - MES/D: First Assistance Movement: Snatch Grip Deadlifts (wearing straps is fine). 4 sets of 4 (aim to use work weight from week 2).
Same guidelines as noted above.
The goal with week three is to dip into your reserves considerably, so a run-down feeling is to be expected at week’s end and into the first 4-5 days of week 4. Remember that fatigue masks fitness; the idea is to deload considerably in the early part of week 4 so that your system will recuperate to the point of being able to demonstrate its true fitness by later in the week - when you’ll test your max.
Week 4: Low Volume
Dynamic Effort - DES/D: No pulling (easy day).
Max Effort - MES/D: Main Movement should be a deadlift variation (e.g. competition pull, altered stance, reverse band deadlift, deadlift against bands/chains, or deadlift from a deficit).
Omit first assistance movement (Snatch Grip Deadlifts) from weeks 1-3.
Week 5: High Volume
Dynamic Effort - DES/D: Speed Pulls vs. Chains (for those who are weak off the floor, drop one set of chains and perform these while standing on a 2-4” step). Bar Weight = 55%, 10 sets of 1.
Max Effort - MES/D: First Assistance Movement: Rack Pulls (just below kneecaps for those with lockout problems; mid-shin height for those who are weak off the floor). 3 sets of 5.
Week 6: Medium Volume
Dynamic Effort - DES/D: Speed Pulls vs. Chains (for those who are weak off the floor, perform these while standing on a 2-4” step and eliminate the chains). Bar Weight = 60%, 8 sets of 1.
Max Effort - MES/D: First Assistance Movement: Rack Pulls (just below kneecaps for those with lockout problems; mid-shin height for those who are weak off the floor), 3 sets of 4.
Same guidelines as noted above.
Week 7: Very High Volume
Dynamic Effort - DES/D: Speed Pulls – no chains, from the floor (regardless of your weakness). Bar Weight = 65%, 12 sets of 1.
Max Effort - MES/D: First Assistance Movement: Snatch Grip Deadlifts, 4 sets of 5 (aim to use weight from week 6).
Same guidelines as noted above.
Here, we’re still imposing a significant amount of fatigue, but we don’t want any spillover to the last deadlift test (end of week 8) prior to the meet. As such, we’ve swapped bands for chains, eliminated accommodating resistance altogether in week 7, and limited the total work done on our assistance deadlift movement (less distance to pull with rack pulls). You’ll still probably feel run-down, but it shouldn’t be as bad as it was after week 3.
Week 8: Low Volume
Dynamic Effort - DES/D: No pulling.
Max Effort - MES/D: Last Heavy Pull – Competition Deadlift test (with or without suit, depending on how you pull). As a general rule of thumb, the last heavy pull should be no less than 21 days out from competition. I go with four weeks to err on the side of caution.
Week 9: High Volume
Dynamic Effort - DES/D: No Pulling.
Max Effort - MES/D: Speed Pulls – No Accommodating Resistance (test with suit, if you wear one). Bar Weight: 55%, 8 sets of 1.
Week 10: Medium Volume
Dynamic Effort - DES/D: No Pulling.
Max Effort - MES/D: Speed Pulls – No Accommodating Resistance. Bar Weight: 50%.
Week 11: Very High Volume
No Pulling.
Week 12: Rest End of Week 12
Meet.
Closing Thoughts
Regardless of why so many powerlifters place it on the back burner, the fact remains that the pounds accumulated on the deadlift count just as much as those amassed on the squat and bench press. Sure, thousands of lifters have seen great results by avoiding deadlifts, but that’s not to say that there aren’t thousands more who can benefit tremendously from more pulling; there is more than one way to skin a cat. If you’re searching for a new strategy – especially if you notice you’re dragging when lifts 7-9 roll around on meet day – give this template a shot and let me know how it works out for you.
Note: if you're looking for more options for specializing on certain lifts over the course of a powerlifting training cycle, I'd encourage you to check out The Specialization Success Guide, which includes detailed plans to bring along the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
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Typically, whenever a trainee aspiring to improve his physique utters, "I want to gain muscle and lose fat...", he is immediately greeted by eager critics from opposite ends of the spectrum. First, there are those experts that pounce on the opportunity to suppress such a bold quest. They proclaim that such a task is doomed for failure, and simply respond with an unscientific, "You can't. Choose one or the other." In contrast, there are those that say that such a mission is rather simple. While the former cynics are just downright ignorant, the latter faction is just as useless, offering no other advice than one must train hard and eat right. Uh, duh! With that in mind, we'd like to introduce a plan that we feel will lead to what many call the Holy Grail of Bodybuilding: Maximum Muscularity.
The term "Maximum Muscularity" elicits a beautiful vision of the classic physique of someone like Arnold or Serge Nubret. Maximum Muscularity isn't just about being ripped...yet of beanpole proportions, nor is it just about being huge--yet uncomfortably rotund. Rather, Maximum Muscularity is fusion of the two: being Ripped and Huge; it's about becoming a walking, super-sized anatomy chart. It's about pushing the envelope of one's capabilities to add muscle and lose fat.
In a broad sense, the ultimate goal of Maximum Muscularity is to gain muscle mass and lose fat mass. However, the principles of Maximum Muscularity also apply to gaining muscle while keeping bodyfat constant OR to losing fat while maintaining all hard-earned muscle--both scenarios involve a drop in percent body fat.
The context in which you view the aforementioned goals is paramount to the realization of these favorable scenarios. Rather than asking "How do I gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?", we ask you to ponder, "How do I gain muscle and lose fat in the same training period?" Our reasoning is very simple; at any given moment in time, the body is either in a state of anabolism (i.e. tissue-synthesizing: muscle or fat gain) or catabolism (tissue-destroying: breakdown of triglyceride, glycogen or protein stores). This is not to say, however, that one cannot control the shift from anabolism to catabolism or vice versa at various times throughout the day. With the Maximum Muscularity protocol, you will do just that.
This approach departs from the traditional Bulk and Cut scheme to which so many trainees adhere. This plan is especially well suited to those individuals who tend to store fat easily and gain more fat than muscle during traditional bulking cycles; it can and should be applied year-round and for long-term purposes. In short, there is absolutely no need to deviate from the Maximum Muscularity plan, as it is easily adapted to suit any physique goal and provides great versatility.
Gaining muscle and losing fat in the same training period is the culmination of diligent training and dietary practices. Paramount to achieving this lofty goal is the creation of a superior anabolic state and enhanced insulin sensitivity through various dietary and training measures. From a nutritional standpoint, you'll be paying specific attention to nutrient timing and energy intake to capitalize on and manage your body's hormonal milieu in order to promote muscle gain and fat loss. Likewise, your training protocol is of paramount importance to providing the anabolic and metabolic stimuli necessary to accomplish such a mythical feat. That said, stay-tuned as this series unfolds.
a special thanks to Tim Skwiat who co-authored this series
Eric Cressey
www.EricCressey.com
Whether I like it or not, around these parts I've become known as an "injury guy." People get jacked up doing stupid stuff, and guys like Mike Robertson, Bill Hartman, and myself fix them up by pointing out that said "stuff" is, in fact, stupid.
To that end, a lot of my consulting work is done in the corrective exercise realm — basically handling people who fall into the gray area between physical therapy and healthy training... bridging the gap, so to speak. We know that 80% of Americans will have lower back pain at some point in their lives, and 70% of gym-goers will experience shoulder problems somewhere along the line, but we can't send all of these people to physical therapy.
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A few months ago when the PN team sat down to put together this library of training programs to integrate with the Precision Nutrition system, we really wanted to make sure that we had something spectacular for our athletes, many of whom compete at the elite level of their sport.
So when it finally came time to put together the program to cover off-season training for athletes, we turned to the guy who does it best: Eric Cressey.
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- Phil Caravaggio
Without a doubt, the leg extension debate is one of the most heated in the fitness industry today. Let's take a look at what the research says and apply our findings in a practical manner.
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The Smith machine is the equipment parallel to High Intensity Training. On one hand, it's been called more dirty names than Madonna on a trip to the Vatican. On the other hand, there are those who vehemently adhere to it in spite of the fact that it's an inferior way to train.
I'm about as anti-machine a guy as you'll ever meet, but I'm also open-minded enough to realize that as is the case with most things in life, the answer rests somewhere in the middle.
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In Part I, our first five adages focused predominantly on the lower body. Now, in Part 2, we’ll look closely at some commonly maligned upper body exercises.
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We live in a society that doesn't want gray areas. People want right or wrong, up or down, and left or right. This mindset carries over to the gym, too; lifters want to be able to say that Exercise A is evil, and Exercise B is safe.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple, so with that in mind, I'm devoting this article to killing off some myths, establishing some more well-defined gray areas, and making recommendations on who can do what.
I'm going to come right out and say it: in the absence of musculoskeletal pathology, no movement is fundamentally bad. Sure, there are exercises like kickbacks and leg extensions that don't give you as much bang for your buck as their multi-joint counterparts (e.g. dips and squats), but that's not to say that these pansy exercises are "bad" for you. Likewise, it's rare that I write any sort of machine lift into my programming, but there are rehabilitation patients that benefit greatly from certain machine training.
In my opinion, there are only five scenarios in which exercise is ever truly bad for you from a health standpoint:
1. When that exercise is performed in excessive volume.
2. When that exercise is performed with poor technique.
3. When that exercise is performed in a manner that puts it out of balance with the rest of the programming that is in place.
4. When that exercise irritates an existing injury or condition.
5. When that exercise is performed with excessive loading (relative to the lifter's capabilities).
Now, it's not feasible for me to outline every specific instance where every exercise is safe or unsafe, but I can address some common adages we frequently hear in our gyms.
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Hi. My name is Eric and I have a problem. I never expected it and I didn't plan for it. It just happened. And now, I'll never be the same. Hardly a minute passes when I don't think about it, salivate, and get the shivers. My own grandmother cringes in fright when she even hears about "it."
Yes, folks, I'm a deadlift-aholic. I don't just want to pull; I want to pull every minute of every day for the rest of my life. I dream about grinding out heavy pulls where the bar seemingly bends in half, and I jump at the opportunity to do speed pulls so quickly that I nearly castrate myself with the bar. This passion has led me to a ranking in the Powerlifting USA Top 100 for my weight class, and the brink of a 1RM of 3.5 times my body weight.
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It's been a while since Part IV so those of you following this program are probably chomping at the bit for the conclusion. Chomp no more, because this is it!
The program contained in this article is designed to reintroduce more of the traditional exercises that you've grown to love while still maintaining the emphasis on postural corrections through appropriate prioritization and volume manipulation. Essentially, it's one step closer to the balanced training programs you should seek to create. Remember, we shifted the balance in the opposite direction to start to take care of the problems created by lack of balance in previous programs.
This program will last three weeks (and is meant to follow the first program outlined in part IV), after which you'll want to have a back-off week consisting of markedly lower volume. Oh, and even if you're not following the entire "Neanderthal No More" program, you'll still learn some new exercises you've probably tried before.
Here are the goods:
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