Deadlift Rep range

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morganfreeman

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When I deadlift heavy (or at least, heavy for me . . .) my form gets progressively worse with every repitition. The first rep almost always goes fairly smooth, but after that, my timing is shot, I tend to let my knees straighten too fast, and end up doing more of a sldl than a conventional one. This fries my back really quick, and I think it might be limiting my potential to lift heavier on subsequent sets (not to mention reducing the amount of assistance work I can do).

I have been doing triples up until now, but really noticed the difference recently. I took about 4 months off of lower body lifting due to a knee injury, and was pleasantly surprised to find that my numbers had not decreased very much - after a few weeks, I can pull 4 plates for a triple again, which was my old pr. Generally, when I pull, I do a few warmup sets (135x5, 225x5, 315x3) and then work up to a three rep max. My warmup sets are pretty smooth, but when I start to get into heavier weights, the second and third rep get pretty sketchy. Putting the bar down after every rep doesn't seem to do too much. I lift primarily to increase limit strength, so I'm wondering if sticking to singles might be better, and if so, how to structure my workout on pull day.
 
Big mistake on deadlifting.

#Deadlifting heavy all the time.

I read it some where, but forgot.
 
Ted-P said:
Big mistake on deadlifting.

#Deadlifting heavy all the time.

I read it some where, but forgot.
Click to expand...

I've heard that you can overload your cns, but I'm still more or less a novice, and end up with a 5-10 lbs pr on most days, so I don't think that it should be too much of an issue for a while.
 
How much time in between your 3 rep max? Personally I try to take about say 10-15 seconds in between so that I can fully reset my starting form and get my mind ready for the next pull. This will probably help your form. If you don't want to take that long, make sure that you don't just jump from one rep to another. At the very least, let go of the bar after each rep and reset your lifting form.

Another thing I do when attempting a 3 rep mx is to have the set before it near the weight, but only one rep. The reason I do this is so that I don't make a huge jump but also don't completely tire myself out before the last set. Not sure if that's the best thing to do though. That is more on the opinion side really.
 
morganfreeman said:
I've heard that you can overload your cns, but I'm still more or less a novice, and end up with a 5-10 lbs pr on most days, so I don't think that it should be too much of an issue for a while.
Click to expand...

Eh well everyone is different but I did notice that when I started to get around 400, I would burn out a lot faster if I deadlifted every week.
 
I think a lot of people are pro lower rep DL for the reason you outlined with rep form. For some reason the DL seems to get a lot of focus of really killing your recovery if you do it often. I've actually grown into higher rep DL and it's worked well for me - but as you pointed out, I have to be very concious of form.

With the lower rep stuff, I'd say you'd be ok as long as you leave enough time between deadlift sessions (maybe 10 days rather than the standard 7) and you take a break from the lower rep stuff every once in a while - a week or two of higher rep SLDL or something, then back to the lower rep stuff.

The deadlift is the king!
 
When you do your reps, make sure to fulley stand up after each and every rep. Grab the bar, squat down, deadlift it, come down, then LET GO of the bar and stand back up, then repeat. This will save your back big time. Low reps are great, but one has to mix it up. Don't go to faliure that often at all. -2-3 weeks do sets of singles 5-15 of singles..( this depends on how often you dead, if you dead more often, less sets ). Then couple of weeks, so 5x5 system, then 3x3, 5,4,3,2,1 ..1 NOT being your MAX..

Changing the way you dead helps. Using Lighter weights and standing on blocks working on exploding too..

I would invest in some clubbell or kettlebells. Doing this instead of deads willl save your back, CNS and actually make your stronger in the dead. This is slowly getting more popular among powerlifters to work in KB,s in their training.

Just some tips, hope it helps.
 
Sean S said:
How much time in between your 3 rep max? Personally I try to take about say 10-15 seconds in between so that I can fully reset my starting form and get my mind ready for the next pull. This will probably help your form. If you don't want to take that long, make sure that you don't just jump from one rep to another. At the very least, let go of the bar after each rep and reset your lifting form.

Another thing I do when attempting a 3 rep mx is to have the set before it near the weight, but only one rep. The reason I do this is so that I don't make a huge jump but also don't completely tire myself out before the last set. Not sure if that's the best thing to do though. That is more on the opinion side really.
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That seems like a pretty good idea. I've been letting the bar drop completely and taking a couple of seconds to reset, but maybe extending the interval a bit longer would help. Out of curiousity, how many sets do you generally do on deadlift day, and how long are your rest intervals? 10-15 seconds between reps seems like an awfully long time, but I'm going to give it a try.

As for performing one rep before a three rep max attempt, that seems sensible enough. I guess the question is more than anything, what is the point of doing multiple reps with deadlift? It is just such an awkward lift to have to do more than once, it is quite taxing, and there really isn't any special focus on the eccentric phase of the motion. I've been doing sets of 3 and 5 just because that is what I've been told to do, and I'm not really sure what the value is, other than maybe strengthening connective tissues. My major limiting factor with regards to this lift seems to be a lack of muscular endurance (ie my grip and/or back are fried from previous sets). While strong connective tissue and muscular endurance can't hurt, I just wonder if they can be more efficiently be built up with other excercises that can be more easily performed to multiple reps.
 
morganfreeman said:
That seems like a pretty good idea. I've been letting the bar drop completely and taking a couple of seconds to reset, but maybe extending the interval a bit longer would help. Out of curiousity, how many sets do you generally do on deadlift day, and how long are your rest intervals? 10-15 seconds between reps seems like an awfully long time, but I'm going to give it a try.

As for performing one rep before a three rep max attempt, that seems sensible enough. I guess the question is more than anything, what is the point of doing multiple reps with deadlift? It is just such an awkward lift to have to do more than once, it is quite taxing, and there really isn't any special focus on the eccentric phase of the motion. I've been doing sets of 3 and 5 just because that is what I've been told to do, and I'm not really sure what the value is, other than maybe strengthening connective tissues. My major limiting factor with regards to this lift seems to be a lack of muscular endurance (ie my grip and/or back are fried from previous sets). While strong connective tissue and muscular endurance can't hurt, I just wonder if they can be more efficiently be built up with other excercises that can be more easily performed to multiple reps.
Click to expand...


The reason I shoot for the 3 rep max instead is it's less taxing overall from what I understand. It's close to the limit strength gained by maxes, but doesn't burn the cns as much. This is just what I've found works for me. People like Carnal do more of what you are touching on which is just keep 1 repping up to your max. So really, it's just what works for you. With that said, I do max out about once a month.

I'm probably considered really bad when it comes to rep schemes. This is what I did the last time I maxed.

3@225 3@315 3@365 1@405 3@415 then I did 1@440 because I felt like maxing.
 
I normally do deadlifts 3 sets of 3, once a week. I may rotate SLDL with normal DL though, will give me something new to do.
 
Have been doing a 5x5 for a while now also. Form gets kinda bad at the end. After each rep I reset my grip real quick also. I was thing of doing a 3x3 but heavy, but not sure how to start. I tried maxing last week, but winded up doing 340x4 for my 5th set even though I really thought that would be my one rep max. Just looking to change things up a bit.
 
Ted-P said:
Big mistake on deadlifting.

#Deadlifting heavy all the time.

I read it some where, but forgot.
Click to expand...

I believe the article about deadlifting in the faq talks about not DLing heavy all the time...
 
RaposaBJJ said:
Have been doing a 5x5 for a while now also. Form gets kinda bad at the end. After each rep I reset my grip real quick also. I was thing of doing a 3x3 but heavy, but not sure how to start. I tried maxing last week, but winded up doing 340x4 for my 5th set even though I really thought that would be my one rep max. Just looking to change things up a bit.
Click to expand...

Is your question on how to max on DL?
 
there is one rule to deadlifting:









singles, doubles, triples, and 5s are okay. the random high rep "challenge of the month" is okay once in a while (once a year is plenty) but under no circumstances......








NEVER EVER DO 4 REPS.



WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?
 
The only reason to never do 4 reps is because it is bad luck?
 
Donut62 said:
Is your question on how to max on DL?
Click to expand...

Looking to get stronger and bigger. I rarely max or anything. But I was just kinda stuck on this 5x5, well two variations of it actually. I was worried about just plunging into another rep scheme with now real know how. Thats why I TTT the thread. Thanks all.
 
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