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Become a good Deadlifter without Deadlifting
Matt R. Wenning
Head BSU powerlifting Coach
My deadlifts are one lift that I had to fight every step of the way.
Unlike the bench and squat, which progress for me just by sneezing
at times, the deadlift was one large puzzle. When I first started to
train, I used many reps in the deadlift and very little assistance
exercises; this got me to 600, but after that was useless. I was
stuck for over a year at the 600 mark, with lots of confusion,
depression, and general denial. My old coach as a kid used to tell
me I would never be a good deadlifter, and from that moment on, I
was out to prove him wrong, and prove to myself that I would be
great deadlifter.
To me the deadlift is one of the most admirable lifts in our sport.
It takes serious balls, endurance after heavy squatting, and a
general fondness to pain. We have had some serious deadlifters in
our gym. Some that come to mind would be Michelle Amsden with 400
pulls in the 123 class, Torrey Stott with 725 pulls in the SHW,
Myself at 700 at the 275s, and Jay Massey with mid 600 pulls in the
220s. We have also had many others that have pulled serious weights
in there own respective weight classes.
So what’s the secret? Well in my own experimentations as well as
advice from others, we decided to pull very infrequently and switch
to exercises that mimic the deadlift instead, or only do the
movement in pieces, unless its for speed. The exercises that mimics
the DL the most is the Good morning. This is the stable for our back
and hamstring development, and we do these in some variation or
another every week. Deadlifts are very taxing to the nervous system,
but good mornings seem to hit the muscles just as hard or harder,
without the longer recuperation time. We use regular bars, safety
bars, bands, chains, concentric good mornings, and just keep finding
new GMs to try. The result is deadlift PRs every time we test or go
to a meet. Another reason BSU is known for DL strength is that we
train raw very consistently. Many times my lifters have a harder
time with the gear than the weight, but in my opinion, raw strength
will help them in the future, so I’m not willing to sell them short
for gains today.
Another huge factor is the amount of extra workouts and exercises we
do in order to develop the deadlift muscles. Many reverse hypers,
glute ham raises, and other extra erector work and hamstring work
have been our key to success. By doing this, I took a 6-foot tall
rookie that was in the 148 class (a total rail boy), and had him
pulling in the Mid 400s in a matter of months. Now with distance
runner genetics, not too shabby. His lower back was very weak and
inhibiting his process. So he would do extra hypers about 2-3 times
per week. Now his form on the DL and the squat has improved
dramatically, and we hope to see him at nationals next year.
Remember also when training for deadlifts to not forget the
abdominal region. If your abs are weak, you will absorb tons of
transferable energy out of the bar and into your core, which means
less force applied to the external stimulus. I personally do abs at
least every other day in many variations, but mostly standing. This
has helped every lift in my ability to become more rigid and
powerful.
Another big secret is to take in all the air you can while standing,
then reach to the bar and go. Don’t wait at the bottom, get used to
setting your feet and ripping the weight. By going down to the bar
for an extended period of time your loosing muscle elasticity and
stretch reflex that is required for you to move that bar off the
floor. GRIP AND RIP.
Deadlifters are in things for the long haul. Many times for a
lifters back, hamstrings, and abs to become strong enough to reach
their maximum potential, it could take as long as 3 to 5 years. They
are small muscle groups that adapt quickly to exercises, but grow
slowly, and must be carefully trained.
For all coaches not in the powerlifting realm, what is the weakest
link in every athlete? My answer is the posterior chain (erectors
spinea, glutes, hamstrings). Making these muscles strong will
decrease back injury; increase the amount of force that can be
applied to all lifts (especially Olympic lifts and squats). But it
must be an all year process. This is where the reverse hyper comes
into play. This machine has no vertical compression with maximum
contractions, so they can be done quite frequently (4 times a week).
Matt Wenning
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