My Top 3 Tips For A Stronger Deadlift!!!!
1) Lift with purpose & intent!!
Think about being explosive and accelerating through the entire lift as fast as possible! This is called Compensatory Acceleration Training (CAT). This will help overcome sticking points when going heavy while maximising force production with submaximal loads and recruiting more high threshold motor units which means greater gains in strength & muscle mass! For athletes especially this is important don’t train to be slow train to be fast & explosive!
2)Use Repeated Singles Method or High sets low Reps:
Because the deadlift starts concentrically off the floor there is no stretch reflex as opposed to a squat or bench press! Therefore pulling the bar off the floor from a dead start requires greater starting strength than say a squat or bench press. So by using a set/rep scheme such as 6×4, 8×3 or even a 15×1 you are getting more exposure to first Rep Deadlifts, while at a higher intensity or load giving you greater gains in starting strength. This gives you superior gains in your 1 Rep Max Deadlift like you have never seen before! However be aware not to go go balls out every set every week! Grinding out those last couple reps is a huge strain on your nervous system therefore maxing out with 4 reps or less every week will only blunt your progress over the mid to long term. Adjust your intensities using loads ranging from 60-90% of your 1RM and if you are using the CAT principle above you will still develop your power & speed with lighter loads while having a break from short periods when you are working above 90%. You will still make great gains without grinding out reps week in week out which is incredibly difficult for most of us to recover from not in terms of muscle recovery but recovery of your central nervous system which can take up to 14 days to recover from lifting super heavy!
3)The most common mistake I see in the deadlift are the hips shooting upwards before the shoulders! This is never a good thing because it will mean once the weight gets heavier it will not move off the floor ! While placing excessive strain on the lower back & throwing off proper lifting biomechanics! Here’s 3 easy & effective cues to fix this: 1. Always take the slack out of the bar first before lifting explosively! Think pull 15% of the weight first keeping tightness in your lats & bracing the abdominals outwards then Leg driving the floor away from you as hard as you can!!! 2. Think “Drive the floor away from you!” And/or Pretend there is a monkey on your back and you are trying to throw it off behind you!! 3. From the starting position look up and ahead roughly 3-4 meters is ideal! This will help maintain a better torso position, prevent excessive neck extension while firing up recruitment more of your posterior chain to help lift more weight!