6 Tips To Increase Your Deadlift Strength
The deadlift is my all time favorite exercise! It is one of the best exercises to improve your overall strength and power, it works multiple muscle groups including your entire posterior chain, and you feel like a badass while doing it. In this article I’ll share 6 effective tips that can elevate your deadlift game, helping you hit new PRs like the King/Queen you are. Alright, let's get into it!
1. Increase Your Deadlift Frequency
The best way to get better at anything is to practice. Think about things that you are currently awesome at. I’m sure you weren’t always as good at them as you are now, but the more you practiced or did them the better you got. Or think about a football quarterback. He’s going to improve his arm strength, accuracy, and timing more if he practices multiple times per week compared to only once. That’s the way you should look at lifting. By deadlifting more often you will continue to get better at it over time. Everytime you go into the gym I want you to think of it as practice. You are practicing deadlifting, and trying to improve your technique to lift more weight.
Basically, by increasing the frequency of deadlift training, you can stimulate neurological adaptations and improve technique faster. You are teaching your body how to lift more weight over time.
Recommendations for Deadlift Frequency
I wouldn’t recommend “heavy” deadlifting multiple times per week because it’s such a taxing exercise, but that doesn’t mean you can’t perform the exercise or a similar pattern multiple times per week. One way to do this would be to deadlift heavy and close to your max 1 day per week, and another day you could lower the weight and focus on technique, address weak points (sticking points), or work on explosiveness (speed deadlifts). I will go over examples of how to do this in other sections.
What do I mean by “heavy?” Heavy would mean anything above 80% of your 1RM. There is an exception to the rule of only lifting heavy once per week though. If you are a beginner, you most likely aren’t lifting enough weight yet for this to be as big of an issue, so if you are newer to deadlifting you may get away with performing it 2 times per week.
2. Prioritize Technique
Performing the deadlift properly will not only help you lift more weight, but also prevent injuries. Make sure you keep form a priority. In a future article I will go over the proper way to set-up and execute the deadlift, so that you can learn to perform the lift optimally. I recommend filming yourself periodically, so you can give yourself a form check.
You’ll also want to make sure that you reset after each rep. Don’t perform touch and go deadlifts if your main goal is to increase your strength. By resetting each time you will be taking the momentum out and you will need to generate more power to get the bar off the ground at a deadstop. This will also make it easier to focus on your technique and form. After each rep, stop for a second, reset and re-engage all your muscles, and then lift again.
3. Training Your Weaknesses
This is one option to incorporate if you want to deadlift multiple times per week, or you can do a whole training block focusing on your weaknesses if you desire. The most common “sticking points” in the deadlift are right off the floor or at the lockout. Figure out which area you need to work on the most and include one or a couple of the options below in your training.
Deficit Deadlifts
This is my favorite variation if you are weak off the floor. This exercise involves standing on a platform or plates that elevate you slightly off the ground (I recommend 2”), forcing you to pull from a greater range of motion. Deficit pulls primarily target the initial phase of the lift, helping to strengthen your starting position and improve your ability to break the bar off the floor.
If your are weak at lockout
Block Pulls/Rack pulls
This variation involves elevating the weight on a raised surface or in a power rack. Because you will be lifting the weight through a shorter range of motion, you can pull more than you normally can off the floor. This means you will be able to overload the lockout position, and improve that portion of the lift.
Pause Deadlift
For this variation you will perform the deadlift normally but pause the bar wherever your “sticking point” is. This will help you target and strengthen the area you struggle with, and it forces you to maintain tension and stay tight throughout the movement.
Using Chains or Bands
By adding chains or bands to the bar you will essentially be increasing the difficulty towards the top of the lift, and putting more emphasis on the lockout portion.
4. Incorporate Speed Deadlifts
Speed deadlifts involve moving sub maximal weights at maximal speeds. Incorporating these will improve your explosive power and enhance your ability to generate force quickly. It’s a great way to add frequency and improve your performance without taxing your body as much.
The key is to lift light loads for multiple sets and low reps. You don’t want to accumulate too much fatigue. An example of this could look like
8x2 @ 65-70% of 1RM (45 sec rest)
These are great to perform with bands and chains also.
5. Improve Your Grip Strength
Grip strength is vital for heavy deadlifts, and is a common limiting factor. I always recommend to my online coaching clients to use a double overhand grip as long as possible, so that your grip strength will continue to get stronger as the rest of you does, but still it doesn’t always keep up. What do you do once your grip starts lagging behind?
One option is to use a switch grip (one hand overhand, one underhand). This should help out a lot. I would still use a double overhand grip on your submaximal weights though and only use the switch grip when needed. Also, just a tip, I would vary which hand is underhand, so that you don’t develop muscle imbalances.
Another option is lifting straps. Same rules apply though. I would only use them when necessary, and don’t use them on every set.
Other ways to improve your grip strength:
Deadhangs
This is a simple bodyweight exercise that involves hanging from a pull-up bar or rings with your arms extended and feet off the ground, and can be practiced several times a week. As you hang, your forearm muscles are engaged, which can help strengthen your grip.
Farmer Carries
Farmer carries can be a great exercise to improve your grip strength among other things. Another simple exercise, hold heavy dumbbells, kettlebells, or a trap bar, and walk for a set distance or time. Continue to progressive overload and increase your weight, distance or time.
Plate Pinches
Place two plates together. Grip the top edges of the plates with your fingers on one side and your thumb on the other side. Your hand should be in a pinch position. Hold the plates for as long as possible.
Wrist Curls
You can use dumbbells or a barbell for these, and can perform them seated or kneeling. You will hold the weights in your hands with your palms facing up. Rest your arms on a bench or your knees, and let your wrists hang over the edge. Curl the weight up by flexing your wrists, and then slowly lower it back to the starting position.
Romanian Deadlifts
Romanian Deadlifts require a decent amount of grip strength to perform. They can be a great exercise to improve grip strength, because they can be done with such a heavy weight.
All of these are great supplemental ways to increase your grip strength, but honestly one of the best is to keep practicing your deadlift with a pronated (double overhand) grip.
6. Lift Heavy
This is last on the list, but one of the most important things to focus on. To increase your deadlift you’re going to need to lift HEAVY. Lifting weights that are closer to your max are crucial for increasing strength. Like I said earlier, think 80% of your 1RM or more, and only deadlift heavy like this once per week if you are not a beginner.
Lifting weights that are close to your 1RM for fewer reps is better for increasing strength compared to lifting lighter weights for more reps. This is because lifting heavy improves your neuromuscular coordination to a greater degree. You will train your body to recruit more muscle fibers at once, and for your muscles to work together to increase your control and power. Your body will learn to become more efficient and you will get stronger over time. Some examples of heavy sets could look like
5 reps @ 80% of your 1RM
4 reps @ 83% of your 1RM
3 reps @ 85% of your 1RM
2 reps @ 88% of your 1RM
These are just a few examples. There’s an abundant amount of possibilities and you can vary the intensities.
Alright, that’s it! I hope these tips help you break through a plateau, or increase your deadlift strength faster! Let me know if you’ve implemented any of these into your training, and which ones you find the most helpful. If you want a free 6 week program that includes deadlifts, fill out the form below, and I’ll send that right out to you.
