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Deadlift Question

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tross0924
tross0924 Posts: 909 Member
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Ok, so I know I have a bit of a mental block with deadlifts. For the life of me I can't seem to pull 500 lbs off the floor. I "should" be able to, but it just won't come up.

Yesterday, I did some rack pulls, and repped 500 fairly easily. After I was done I noticed that the rails were set a little lower than they probably should have been and the bar was actually only about 3" up.

So, is my inability to get those first 3 inches completely mental? Or is there an actual weakness there that I can work on? Anyone know some good exercises to get the bar off the floor?

Thanks in advance for the help

Replies

  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
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    deficit deadlifts (50mm is good)
    speed pulls singles at 75%
    pause deadlifts (stop at knee then lockout)

    HTH

    :smile:

    edit: conventional or sumo? sumo: the hardest bit is breaking the ground. If you are conventional then I think it could be more mental than anything.

    a vid would help
  • tross0924
    tross0924 Posts: 909 Member
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    Thanks for the help.

    It's conventional. I'll try and get a video later this week.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    deficit deadlifts (50mm is good)
    speed pulls singles at 75%
    pause deadlifts (stop at knee then lockout)

    HTH

    :smile:

    edit: conventional or sumo? sumo: the hardest bit is breaking the ground. If you are conventional then I think it could be more mental than anything.

    a vid would help

    I second Chris's recommendations. I would also recommend doing like 3 sets of Snatch-Grip Deadlifts at about 50% of your 1RM for about 3 sets of 8-10 reps. This movement forces you to get a little lower and of course the demand it places on your upper back and grip is redunkulous. I'm positive that adding this movement helped me get from 385 to 405. Olympic Squats (super narrow stance) and getting down to parallel actually has good transfer to the deadlift. You'll want some moderate amount of reps (8-10) as well.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
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    watch the man goods on the snatch grip DL's :laugh:
  • ilovedeadlifts
    ilovedeadlifts Posts: 2,923 Member
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    it could definitely just be that you're not getting good leg drive off of the floor
    if you're nailing the rack pulls, your lower back strength is probably there.


    chris nailed it. i really found deficit deads to help with my power off the floor. i've worked with 3-5 reps from a 1 inch deficit, and i've also done some lighter stuff for reps with a 2-3 inch deficit before. Just don't overdo it to the point where your back is rounded like crazy.

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