This is a sample of a 10-week deadlift cycle for a sumo deadlifter, assuming the meet is week 11. I believe in pulling conventional for most of the training cycle, working in form days every few weeks. This cycle is taken from things that I found to work for me, and things that I have taken from Brian Carroll’s programming for me. So, you are getting the thoughts of two current “Top 5 Deadlifters” in their respective weight classes. This cycle is done mostly unequipped, with the exception of the formwork, so I feel it would also work for a raw lifter. I will first break down the main work, then go deeper into the accessory work.
Week 1:
Work up to a three rep max in a conventional stance, then put the weights up on 6-inch blocks and work up to a max triple there as well. You’ll wear no gear aside from a belt to do this. I like to strip the weight back down to 60-65 percent to start the block pulls. Do not miss any reps and do all sets conventional.
Week 2:
Work up to a two-rep max in the same conventional stance you used the previous week. After this, you’ll put the weights up on 4-inch blocks and pull up to a two-rep max there. Again, the only gear will be a belt, and you will drop the weight to start the block pulls. If you work up to a very heavy double and are thinking about taking another set, make sure that you know you will get both reps. If there is any doubt that you will, save it for the next time.
Week 3:
Formwork in full gear for six singles around 65 percent of your max. Treat it as though the weight is heavy and pull it just as you would at the meet. Follow these up with light stiff-leg deadlifts for three sets of five reps
Week 4:
Work up to a heavy triple from the floor with a doubled monster mini band. You can use whichever stance you prefer here. If you choose the sumo stance, wear your suit bottom or loose briefs. After this, you will go into the rack and work up to a near max triple from just below the knee. This will be conventional and belt only.
Week 5:
Work up to a heavy double against the doubled monster mini bands, same rules as last week. For the rack pulls, you will do triples again - conventional. Try to beat last week’s number, even if it’s only by five pounds. Again, do not miss any reps, this rule applies every week.
Week 6:
Formwork in full gear. You will do this in the same 60-65 percent range and treat it just like you are taking max attempts at a meet. Do six singles and make sure that your form is exactly how you want it. Follow these with stiff-leg deadlifts again, for three sets of five reps.
Week 7:
This week you are going to pull a PR double in a conventional stance, this will beat the double you did earlier in the training cycle. You will follow this up with a PR double with the weights on 4-inch blocks. Go by feel on these,
really feeling it, push it, but get your reps.
Week 8:
Here is where you are really going to make sure your form is dialed in and that you are ready to pull heavy in your gear. You will go to your competition stance and full gear to pull your opener for a double from the floor. You will then put the weights up on 6-inch blocks and pull your projected third attempt for a double.
Week 9:
You’ll start to taper off now. This week will be full gear, competition stance, and you’ll go up to your opener for the meet. This is your last chance to make any form or technique tweaks that you need. The opener is to be done just as you will do it at the meet.
Week 10:
This is your deload before the meet. You will do some accessory work, which I will cover shortly.
As I covered in the introduction to the article, week 11 is the meet. Pick your attempts wisely. You’ll know what your opener is and should be very confident with it at this point. I usually pick a small PR for a second attempt (5-10 pounds). Then, I go for my big goal number on my third attempt. You may need to adjust these attempts depending on how the meet is going. If your squats take a lot out of you and leave your hips or lower back tired, you may not be ready to take a PR on your second and will instead, take a weight that will assure you a PR total, and then go for a PR pull on your third attempt. It’s all about being smart when choosing your attempts. This is where I messed up in my last meet and cost myself a 10-time bodyweight total by being dumb. Learn from my mistakes here.
Next, I’m going to cover the accessory work part of this cycle. I cannot stress enough that people need to pick the proper accessory work to suit their needs as a lifter. You need to be able to take an objective look at where you are weak, and where you need to be strong to make the lift work for you. This can be the hardest thing to do in powerlifting. But remember, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Once your form breaks down from a weakness, the lift is as good as over.
If your hamstrings are weak, do GHRs, and do them two to three times a week. There are many variations of these and they all have one thing in common; they work. If your hips are weak, you need to do wide stance box squats for sets of five to eight reps, preferably with the safety squat bar. This will work your arch while also strengthening your weak hips. If your back has a tendency to round over up top, do bent-over rows for sets of 8-10 reps. If your grip fails, do plate pinches and/or dumbbell holds with the heads of hex dumbbells, I do both of these for time.
deadlifter, so do it and hit some friggin’ PR’s.
Below is a sample of a training session for someone who needs to bring up their hip and upper back strength.
Week 4:
The amount of volume you do here will be dependent on your level of conditioning. Personally I do more than this, but I have slowly increased my workload over time. Some people will do better with less, and some will require even more. You will figure this out about yourself over time. You can see that I used the SS bar box squats to address the hip weakness and the bent-over rows to address the upper back weakness. There are obviously a million variables here, like what works for the individual lifter, and where exactly they are weak. This was just an example of what a training session would look like. The key was addressing the weak points.
So, in closing, be honest with yourself, do the things you suck at, and you will get stronger. If you do this cycle and don’t hit a PR on the platform, feel free to write me some hate mail in the Q&A. I’m confident I won’t get any.
It is common for most people to think that they train intense. If you think your training is hardcore, there are sev-eral ways to compare it, but the most intense way is total weight moved, divided by total exercise time. The truth is, most training doesn’t even come close to the level of training intensity that elite power athletes can do. It’s a simple concept of moving a total of one ton of weight in less than one minute. The training has some obvious drawbacks and isn’t geared for the beginner.
Depending on the body part, the training is tough and obviously speed is of the essence. If you are lifting less weight, then you have to move it quicker and with less rest just to reach the tonnage level. It requires some cal-culation after you’re done, cause there is no time while you are lifting. Stop, and you better be throwing 45 pound plates on the bar, or you’re falling behind.
Doing legs makes reaching the 1:1 ratio simple. It only takes four sets of 500 pounds, in less than a minute.
Doesn’t sound that tough right? Now let’s train for an hour, surviving that cut takes some guts, power and endur-ance. The hour requires an intense training that most NFL athletes can’t reach. When you look at the best teams and the best players, they move the most amount of weight in the shortest distance and can continue to do that over a period of time.
To improve your intensity takes organization, effective training partners and strong lifting. Think ahead to de-termine the type of lifting you’re going to do. Gains or improvement can be done by increasing weight or doing more reps/sets, but they must take less time. Some simple calculations can help you understand your level. This principle is offered by great programs like Westside Barbell. Lou Simmons concluded that if the bar is loaded, you should be lifting it, not looking at it.
Take a second and take a look at the programs below and see how they calculate the total weight moved verses the total time. This is my typical leg routine to offer as an example.