Tips for dead lift

know a ton of people that love deads, but are wondering if training them every week with no time off is an issue. To all you people out there, the deadlift is a basic movement. It’s one of the primary movements we as humans perform routinely, as we routinely find a need to bend down and pick sh/t up.

There’s nothing wrong with making exercises you love a staple in your routine as long as it doesn’t interfere with your goals. Let’s say for example, you have 3 herniated discs and your goal is to reduce lumbar load during a rehabilitation period, then deadlifts may not be in the mix of things for you to do.

All that aside, there are many different ways to load, unload, deload, periodize, accommodate, assist, speed up, slow down and do whatever other things you can think of when training your deadlift.

My main concern is that you are not routinely pulling heavy. This will lead to issues. You can’t always move heavy sh/t and not eventually have some kind of problem. Much like everything else in life, it can be used as a stress release technique, although lifting and resistance training causes its own stress, so you need to be careful as to how you utilize it.

A safe way to load the deadlift for a significant period of time is to utilize Jim Wendler’s 5-3-1 program without training to failure on any set. The sets and reps are based off Prelipins chart and are submaximal.

Next, you can perform speed deadlifts. Speed deads are usually performed with 40-60% of your 1RM (1 rep max) and not done to fatigue. They’re a great way to excite the nervous system while stimulating strength and growth.

Another way is to perform them oxidatively. By definition, work becomes aerobic at 2 minutes, so you can perform deadlifts at a steady tempo for 2+ minutes, obviously at low weight, 25% and below. Another variation of aerobic work is interval fashion, perform a higher intensity at a steady tempo for 40 seconds, keep your heart rate within a certain range, once the heart rate drops below that range, get lifting again.

Accommodating resistance is always a favorite with deadlifts. Guys love feeling bad ass when pulling with chains, the sound, the weight, you can tell people how much is on the bar and neglect to explain how it’s only heaviest at the top, it’s pretty sweet. But if done properly, it’s a great way to keep stress off the back initially at the ground where most occurs.

And lastly, shortening the range of motion is always a great choice. For one, it takes the stress off the back from the ground. Next, you can handle more weight and it’s a great ego booster. But again, if done correctly, it’s a very useful tool.
Perform all these variations of the deadlift sub maximally and you’ll be able to perform them routinely with out much of a problem.