Where Is The Missing Link On My Deadlifts?

[powerlifterjay]

I have a few month before my next full power meet. First one in a year and a half. My deadlift has become my number 1 priority. I do no pulling from the floor. Which is a first. My bench and squat are perfect so i need no help there. So I brought in a westside guru for his deadlifting help. He has me doing ..

week 1 rack pulls. Up to 620 with no straps. from right below the knee. Then i put straps on and got 700lbs. Grip is weak.
then we do good mornings. Seated i go up to 405 for 3 to 5. Standing i lose some form and go around 400 for 3 . With standing good mornings we have found that my hams might be the weaklink.

week 2 Stiff legged deadl ifts. Did these for th efirst time last week. off a 3 inch block i did 315 x5 405 x 5 455x1 could have doen a couple more but back was TIGHT!
then we did reverse Hypers. I am weak at this. got up to 200 lbs for 5 or so. But got good reps going up.

But this is just a sample of what we did the last 2 weeks. Dont know what i can dead lift though. Everyone thinks it is one minor thing holding me back, wether its my hams my grip or what.

My last heavy box squat i did from about 1 1/2 below parallel with just briefs and belt, no wraps or anythign i did 660lbs on my max day. Last week i did 10 sets 0f 2 going up to 545lbs and lost no speed. Tonight is max night on the box and will go 675 on the box. I should have peopel from my gym that see me lift vouch for just how wide i squat. My toes actually hang off the side of the power rack. So my hip gotta have some strength. But i bet i would struggle a 565 pull right now. And i dont understand why i cant fuckin pull!

Help any suggestions?

 

[ZZuluZ]

Maybe, and this is my very humble opinion....you just haven't deadlifted enough. Maybe it's not a question of a weak link.

I know, I know.... Westside training doesn't do actual deadlifts, but still. Your nervous system has to learn the lift, you'll probably get better by simply doing deadlifts.

Take this for what it's worth, my total is probably about 1/3rd of what yours is. It might be worth a shot.

GL man, your totals are amazing,

-Zulu

 

[1-dawg]

Actually Westside does dl from the floor now, almost weekly. The pull with 50-60 percent of their max for multiple singles.

Where are you missing?? If you are having trouble getting weights off the floor -- check where you are lining up at, if you are weak inthe middle and lockout -- glute and hams. I haven't seen too many people who pull conv who are weak off the floor. My grip is always holding me back - just keep working on it. Just remember your dl is all about lower back, glutes, hams, abs. Make them all stronger and your dl will most definitely go up. Rack pulls have never done a damn thing for me and I have tried just about everything. If you able to pull 700 form the rack then you are not putting th ebar where you are weak,. YOu need to start at your weakpoint. If you start too far below it you will just blast right thru it w/o working it. If you start abv it then you competely ignore the problem.

 

[Screwball]

Deadlift Help...

I assume you pull Sumo to take advantage of your wide squat stance. If you are pulling conventional then I would try to transition to Sumo. Where are you getting stuck in your pull? Off the floor? At your knees? At lockout? The plan you have put together for the past two weeks looks good. Stiff-legged deadlifts and Romanian Deadlifts will definitely help your pull especially if done off of a block. I like seated good mornings a lot. It's like a prestretch of your entire lower body (hams, quads, hips, glutes) with a heavy good-morning to finish it off. I like them better than standing versions of the good-morning.

My best heavy-max box squat (1" below) is 575 lbs. with just a belt. I can't squat in the power rack in my gym because my feet fall outside of the cage. I squat in front of the rack so when I dump it's going to the floor. I pull around 625 lbs. with just a belt. My grip also holds me back, I think I could pull 25-30 lbs. more if my grip were better.

I don't understand why you can't pull more. I know you're strong enough so maybe it's your technique. Have you had experienced lifters critique your form?

These are some suggestions...

Exercises to increase your deadlift:

Heavy Rack Pulls
Stiff-legged Deadlifts (off blocks)
Romanian Deadlifts
Seated Good-mornings
Good-morning Squats
Squat exercises that throw your center of gravity forward such as Front Squats, Hack Squats, Overhead Squats, Zercher Squats and Belt Squats to help maintain an upright position instead of the unwanted rounding
High Pulls, Power Cleans and Hang Cleans to add explosiveness to the deadlift

Exercises to increase your grip:

Heavy Barbell & Dumbbell Static Holds for time
Hanging Bodyweight (added weight, 1-armed) static holds for time
Farmer's Walk
1-arm Deadlifts with a barbell
C of C Grippers
Plate Pinches (2-25's are hard for me to hold for any significant time)
Standard Wrist & Reverse Curls

Hope this helps!

- Screwball

 

[powerlifterjay]

Thanks for all the replys. First off for those that dont know i pull conv. I think my weak spot is between my shins and knee. Not sure though. Cause i have pulled 585 to my knees in the past when i pulled a 550 in the gym. But in the rack i pull from the bottom 2 pins. That 700 was my last workout and it was from the 2nd pin right below the knee. On the first pin i have pulled 630. Big difference 2 inches made. I feel like the bar does move off the floor quick but then stops, right below the knee. As of now i havent pulled in almost 1 year now. So i dont know where i am at. Not sure i wanna know yet! I know when i could pull 530lbs in the gym i couldnt budge 585 off the bottom hole in the power rack. And i Box squat only when i aint suitting to hit a big one. So box squats have helped. 1 dawg where is the best place for your feet to be when the start of the pull begins? I usually start with my shins on the bar. If that helps. I will concentrate on the hips , glutes , lower back and get those numbers up. We did farmers walk for grip last week in the gym. Holy shit! Those could work. I have a cheap little gripper and realize the hand that gives out (my left ) is way weaker then my right. The left is a under hand grip also. Should i try to change hands? Oh ya i forgot though i squat extremely wide i do not pull sumo basically cause it feels awkward to me. Very. Thanks guys.

 

[GRIMMER]

When i started to pull with the bar about 2 inches away from my shins instead of scraping them i got stronger. It helps keep your shoulders behind the bar. Dave tate just wrote an article on pulling. I can't remember where i read it though , somebody posted a link to it somewhere on here.

Have you guys started to shirt up for march yet?

 

[GRIMMER]

Heres where the article is. www.testosterone.net its in the past article section #194 called The Dead Zone.

 

[brianmincher]

that article Grimmer is talking about can be found on testosterone.net. Go to the search function and punch in Dave Tate, it will be in there amongst a bunch of other stuff. I read that article and immediately pulled a 30 or 40 lb P.R.

I am shirting up for a meet in march, but unfortunately it will be a long ways west of you guys.

sumo's always felt real weird to me as well, but I tried pulling sumo with my squat suit on and the straps up, and hit the PR mentioned above. Still not much of a deadlifter, but every little bit helps.

B

 

[I'D RATHER BE DEADLIFTING]

I am a weak squatter.


That being said, I find deadlifting frequently to keep my deads moving up. It is my best lift and my progress totally sucked when I started doing a lot of rack work. What got my deads up the best and still seems to be working are heavy sldl's and heavy pulls from the floor.


Also, you may want to do some heavy pull throughs which seems to work my muscles that I finish the lockout on a dead with. Just really focus on that squeeze at the top.

 

[powerlifterjay]

Grimmer we are shirting up MOnday for the meet. I will check out the article. Anything will do for me at the moment. Brian keep us up on your shirt lifts. I will give accounts of what we do leading up to the march 16th bench meet. Thanks guys i will just keep plugging away at it. If ya'll think of anything else throughit in for me please.