Deadlift Progress And Improvement Thread

[Birds]

Cool! Should push the bar more often (or pull it), you've probably got more in you than you think. Watch how light your old weights will feel next time!

[Sisbro666]

I think you are contradicting yourself a little, you are worried about weaker muscles fatiguing before your back does yet you aren't concerned the smallest muscle which plays a big part in the dead lift letting you down

Straps and suits can add a lot of weight to te bar to help increase your overall lift

There's always forearm exercises that can be done...

During repping sets you could get maybe another two reps or even more with straps as your pure focus is on moving the bar not holding on for dear life

[No Crust Racing]

Nice work all round guys.

Interesting that you're the same height and weight as me yet pulling a ton more, granted I have some issues I'm dealing with but it's still a top lift in my opinion so well done.

What would you "normally" weigh if you weren't doing weights? If I'm just running and no weights I drop down to a flat 80, as low as 78 as I'm a fairly light build guy normally.

Moving to a 3x8 routine from 5x5 has been "fun" lol

[Birds]

I think you are contradicting yourself a little, you are worried about weaker muscles fatiguing before your back does yet you aren't concerned the smallest muscle which plays a big part in the dead lift letting you down

Straps and suits can add a lot of weight to te bar to help increase your overall lift

There's always forearm exercises that can be done...

During repping sets you could get maybe another two reps or even more with straps as your pure focus is on moving the bar not holding on for dear life

That's because I'm not going to injure myself if my grip lets go, but if my core doesn't stay tight during the lift, my back will take the brunt of it or I'm robbing myself of potential during lockout..

I should mention that I haven't had any grip issues since switching to mixed grip with chalk. My back is always the first to fatigue these days; it would have to be a high rep set of a very heavy (for me) weight before my grip failed. I just think it defeats the purpose of a compound movement if you use equipment to work around a group of muscles involved in that lift; bandaiding weakness rather than addressing it properly.

[markos]

I dont have a single lifter at PTC who has ever dropped a bar or missed a lift in competition because of grip, and we never use straps. Maybe were just not strong enough Pat

[Birds]

Markos, at what level do you think a lifter should be using a belt for deadlifts, if at all? I see countless vids on YouTube of people using belts, when they are 1RMing around the same as me or less...makes me wonder if I'm not taking a precaution I should, or if I should be continuing until I find a reason to need one...

[markos]

Good question. Max deadlifted 240kg before a belt, Martin 272.5kg, Zoran 280kg.

They have now obviously added belts.

Konstantinov doesnt like them for deeds, he has pulled 426kg without one but wears one on squats.

I say try one and see if you like it

[Birds]

Thanks. What are they supposed to do, exactly?

[markos]

Bracing for your belly, you can push hard against it

[Sisbro666]

Stop using chalk and a belt and watch your weights lower again... If you don't believe in equipment

[Birds]

Think you missed the point there - I don't believe in equipment that addresses weakness in muscles. I'm also not using a belt yet.

[whatsisname]

Birds/Dan, cheers for the positive comments guys.

Dan, I fluctuate between 88 and 91. If I didn't train regularly I'd be low 80's. Last time I didn't train regularly was over 15yrs ago. Prior to regular weight training I did years of paddling, surfing etc. Lots of back exercises.

[rev210]

During repping sets you could get maybe another two reps or even more with straps as your pure focus is on moving the bar not holding on for dear life

The issue is being weak or bad technique or both. Piss weak grip has to get stronger. Straps won't let that happen.

Good form with deads involves keeping tension in the arms and gripping the barbell with force.

Bad technique is likely a source of so called grip issues. Any slack in the arms prior to pulling the weight and cause a loss of momentum. food for thought.

[Sisbro666]

Not about being weak at all, anything around 200kg and up, unless you are superman your grip will start giving up if you are doing reps

It's about being smart knowing you could lift more, more safely focusing on technique of a good lift rather than worrying about dropping the bar or putting your back out.

Have you guys actually tried straps? I only use them on deads and shrugs and on the heavier sets but knowing how much they actually benefit a lift wouldn't consider not using them. At the end of the day most guys here I see trying to get stronger on the deads and straps will aid that 100 percent

I've been known for my forearm size by friends and gym buddies but use straps for that edge, unless you want to be a pro powerlifter I think you are mad not to use them as you can add more weight to the bar and really work the back muscles harder

[rev210]

Really. What 'edge'? grip fail at what rep range?

Straps have nothing to do with good technique.

How heavy do you train over 200kg and what rep range?

[Birds]

Even though I can only pull 190, my grip feels like it has another 50-60kg in it at the moment. Mixed with chalk shouldn't leave anyone with grip issues. There's no one who I have taught that grip to from the start, who has grip issues. I imagine the only ones who would have grip issues with only chalk and mixed grip, are those who have depended on straps for a long time.

There's simple evidence in Markos' clients...not all of them are pro powerlifters, but I doubt he would have anyone using straps on deadlifts, and his interest is in getting people as strong as they can be. Dependency is weakness. It's a fake kind of strong IMO, if you can't do the lift without the dependency.

[Sisbro666]

You guys have obviously never used them because you would know the 'edge' they give. You think chalk helps? Why do you think they are banned in powerlifting? 190kg on the bar for 5 was my pb

Hey don't get me wrong I'm not telling you what to do, all I'm doing is sharing what I know works for me and all the other guys I've trained heavy with in the past

Anything to make lifting more comfortable and get your weights up why not utilize it?

[No Crust Racing]

Sounds like personal preference. If you're not training for comps I say do whatever the hell you want. I wear gloves because I prefer it, you guys have mentioned it will be an issue for me, the apparent issues are not as important to me as the benefit I get, so I wear them.

I don't see straps being any different.

[Sisbro666]

Action Dan they must think they are pro powerlifters with their strict rules

I was into bodybuilding not powerlifting so I used them to have hands like hooks which helps take the weight the back muscles better

Sometimes I used them on lat pull downs when doing around 300lbs

[No Crust Racing]

I see why they say don't use them, as the idea is to try and make the whole body strong and you're kind of working around a limitation.

But realistically, for anyone not competing it makes 2 tenths of f**k all difference so do whatever you like.

I'm guilty of this as well though, we all get caught up on specifics of things that probably don't matter that much to non competitive guys like us.

Edited August 8, 2013 by ActionDan