Pull Day Question

[GracieStriking]

hello,

i have began to deadlift heavy as the 1st exercise on pulling day, and i noticed it absolutely ruined my strength for other back exercises later on in the workout. now usually i wouldnt worry about this, but im trying to improve my rowing strength at the momment - and i want to improve my deadlift and rows at the same time.

now that i do deadlifts first, rather than rows or pull ups - i have gone from being able to do 6 pull ups with 30kg added weight, to 8 pull ups with ZERO added weight, and i am weaker in weighted inverted rows now that i am doing them later in the workout - not exactly shocking i know, but heres my question..

the heavy deads effected my pulling strength in other exercises so much, that im considering moving deadlifts to the 2nd exercise, so i can do a row or pull up as my 1st exercise. is this an absolute "no-no" ?

many thanks

 

[DrBdan]

Whatever you do later in your workout will suffer and since Deadlifts are the "money" lift ideally they should be done first when you are fresh. As long as all of your lifts are increasing (either in reps or weight) then you should be happy. That said, if you move deadlifts to second and are still improving on them then go for it.

 

[flak]

If your primary aim is to increase maximal strength, ie. "one-rep max strength," then you should be doing the biggest, most demanding lifts first in each workout.

It's not unusual to be seriously weakened after the big lift. That's why many programs call for a big lift first, followed by one or two assistance exercises that are smaller lifts done with lighter poundages for higher reps. Example -- deadlifts 5 sets x 5 reps followed by bent-over rows 3 sets x 8 reps.

What you could do is alternate between deads, rows and pull ups/chins as the big lift for each pull workout.

Example --

Week 1 -- Deadlifts 5 sets x 5 reps, bent-over rows 3 sets x 8 reps

Week 2 -- Bent-over rows 5 sets x 5 reps, Romanian deads 3 sets x 8 reps

Week 3 -- Weighted pull ups 5 sets x 5 reps, one-arm dumbbell rows 3 sets x 8 reps

Also, bodyweight inverted rows aren't that useful unless you really want to work endurance or you really want to pull at a 45 degree angle relative to your torso.

 

[berserker]

Do your pull ups/horizontal rows on one of your press days as an accessory.

 

[redbeard]

You want to primarily improve your rowing strength, but want to improve your deadlift too, then do them on separate days rather than overthinking push/pull/back/chest/day/split/whatever.

 

[ZisDeadBaby]

You probably just need to develop some conditioning or longer rest periods... I deadlift heavy every back workout and row heavy and make PRs on both... just took time.

 

[GracieStriking]

i see. there was a few different suggestions here, i understood and liked all of them, and will use the ideas that came up.

many thanks

 

[cXs808]

Heavy deadlifts will help improve your rows. If you are that serious about rows, do them on your bench day.