View Full Version : Dead Lift Frequency
Simple question, how many times a week/month do u deadlift?
I used to deadlift once a week and what I found was that my progress stalled. I now dead lift every other week and I feel much better, my progress has also picked up again. Perhaps I was not letting my CNS recover enough. I was watching a video on you tube that Stan Efferding posted where he is deadlifting in a warehouse or something and he said that he only dead lifts every two to three weeks. I have followed this path for a few months now and I really like it. The weeks I do not deadlift I concentrate on basic back exercises. I really feel fresh when I dead lift now and I also look forward to eat.
yoitsalbert
04-02-15, 2:04 pm
I had the opposite problem, in the past I would only deadlift once a week and I saw almost no progress. But then I cut down on squatting and started dead lifting twice a week with a little more volume, and my dead lift just shot up. I'm guessing it just has something to do with me being newer and not having a very big deadlift, its always been a problem for me.
I deadlift one week and squat the next, I never do it on the same week. My legs are fresher that way.
Up until recently I ran the Magnusson/Ortmayer deadlift program, which is three weeks on then one week off. According to Travis Ortmayer in his write up on the program he used the fourth week to squat heavy, so I did that too. There is a 12 week version floating around, (which still works in the fourth week off), but I just did the 3 week cycle. I saw progressive gains over nine months, seeing my 1RM increase by a rep, although I never tested my actual 1RM.
I think Stan Efferding's point about deadlifting once every few weeks may hold some validity. Not just because he is a badass, but because programs like Smolov don't incorporate deadlifts at all and people still make progress using this. I love deadlifts. They are probably the purest of the big three in that the weight goes up or it doesn't, but they do have a tendency to smash your body to pieces if you go full on with inadequate recovery.
I was runnin with Ed cohens program for awhile and saw some nasty gains, it's only been this past year that my body has started to need more rest inbetween deadlift seasions.
ironbound
04-02-15, 10:39 pm
I did Sheiko programming for 6 months and stalled out on my deadlift. Now for the first time ever, I am deadlifting twice per week. One day is more intensity focused, and the other day is more submaximal volume after squatting. I seem to be responding quite well to it.
If what you're doing is working for you, keep doing it. I don't know what level you're at as a lifter, but I do know that Stan Efferding is an extremely elite athlete who has already built a massive deadlift, pulling numbers that are extremely taxing on the CNS. So for him, that approach makes sense. For an intermediate such as myself though, I don't believe that is nearly enough volume for maximal gains.
Deadlift and Squat once per week. Bench twice per week.
With proper nutrition, hydration, sleep, and recovery, you should have no problems deadlifting at least once per week.
Deadlift and Squat once per week. Bench twice per week.
With proper nutrition, hydration, sleep, and recovery, you should have no problems deadlifting at least once per week.
I think everyone is different. If I deadlift HEAVY every week, just pulling singles and doubles then it will take my CNS at least 2 weeks to recover for my next HEAVY day.
Strength Cleveland
04-08-15, 7:50 pm
I deadlift once a week and squat once a week on separate days.
Maccabee
04-09-15, 12:54 am
I deadlift every other week. I feel more energetic and stronger. I used to feel beat down when I deadlifted weekly. It's all about recovery.
I agree, when I would deadlift weekly it was a chore. Now every two/three weeks I dead, and it's amazing how much more energy and focus I have. I feel stronger as well. Also, it does not feel like a chore anymore, I look forward to it now. Also, with the extra recovery my lifts have gone up.
Jay Nera
06-30-15, 12:44 am
I say just listen to your body and pay attention to your fatigue levels.
INterestingly, people talk about squat everyday all of the time….but i've never heard anyone discuss deadlift a day…. hmmm..offseason?
KettleBellFreak
06-30-15, 4:25 am
I say just listen to your body and pay attention to your fatigue levels.
INterestingly, people talk about squat everyday all of the time….but i've never heard anyone discuss deadlift a day…. hmmm..offseason?
Deadlifting every training day wouldn't be bad if you only trained 3-4 days a week. Just moderate weights/volume with ample recovery time and you had serious calories coming in on the daily
Nmowery
06-30-15, 11:15 am
I say just listen to your body and pay attention to your fatigue levels.
INterestingly, people talk about squat everyday all of the time….but i've never heard anyone discuss deadlift a day…. hmmm..offseason?
Personally, I don't at all understand the assertion that deadlifts are so taxing that they have to be done with little frequency, but squats are fine to do 3-4 times a week if not more often. I've just started to focus solely on powerlifting, and am squatting and deadlifting each 2x/week, but you just have to be smart about it. Squatted heavy yesterday and followed with light deficit deads. Will do moderate weight block pulls Thursday, followed by light front squats.
Next Monday I'll squat a few heavy triples, but keep the volume low so that I can pull heavy from the floor the following Thursday. I think the trick is to just stagger the volume and intensity of each from week to week so that you're putting in work regularly, but not running yourself into the ground.
I say just listen to your body and pay attention to your fatigue levels.
INterestingly, people talk about squat everyday all of the time….but i've never heard anyone discuss deadlift a day…. hmmm..offseason?
Pavel's Grease The Groove program mentions low intensity frequency. I tried it with deadlifts when I was recovering from surgery on my leg. Set a bar up with about 60% in my garage gym and just did a single every time I passed it on my in and out of my garage. Most days this ended up being only two reps but occasionally it was more if I was working in the yard etc. That moved me from barely 500 to a 525 competition pull once I'd fully recovered from surgery. I squatted, benched and overhead pressed once per week on their normal training days. Apparently it works because it makes the lift more like what you'd do if you worked a manual labor job.
Here's a link to the original article: https://humanmachine.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/grease-the-groove-for-strength/
moparguy55
07-15-15, 11:54 am
I pull monday bench wednesday squat friday. Saturday shoulder and more upper back accessorys. Each day of main lift some accessorys too.
I have been making gains by only going heavy low reps on either squat or pulls in a week. I did heavy deads monday1-3 reps, so friday will be a lighter squat 5 rep range. Then next week lighter pulls more reps and heavy squat.
If i try to just train each lift heavy each week and add more there is noway my body cant take it.
Jay Nera
08-27-15, 12:22 am
Personally, I don't at all understand the assertion that deadlifts are so taxing that they have to be done with little frequency, but squats are fine to do 3-4 times a week if not more often. I've just started to focus solely on powerlifting, and am squatting and deadlifting each 2x/week, but you just have to be smart about it. Squatted heavy yesterday and followed with light deficit deads. Will do moderate weight block pulls Thursday, followed by light front squats.
Next Monday I'll squat a few heavy triples, but keep the volume low so that I can pull heavy from the floor the following Thursday. I think the trick is to just stagger the volume and intensity of each from week to week so that you're putting in work regularly, but not running yourself into the ground.
I find a huge difference between shearing forces on my spine versus compressive forces. So deadlifts beat up my body a little more than squats. (I squat upright though so thats just me.)
RomeyGBOD
08-28-15, 1:43 pm
For one everyone is different and had different factors that affect their training/ recovery/ energy. Also the amount of weight someone is pulling puts an emphasis on it as well. You pull 800lbs your gonna need sometime between your next session lol. Another thing I feel is people hear you shouldn't pull more than once a week or every other week and follow that without trying anything. Sure when you being pulling more than once a week you will be sore but after a week or two you will adapt and you will get used to it. Konstantin Pozdeev said "to deadlift a lot, you have to deadlift a lot". That's coming from a 893 puller. Or even look at Dan green. He's been pulling a lot recently and he just hit a 881 prepping for BOB2. Also look at tee cummins. He pulls 3x a week sometimes. He's a 700lb puller conv and sumo. I myself have pulled up to 4x a week. With that being said my squat frequency was 1-2x a week. But typically I'll pull after squat each squat workout and may have 1-2 other pull days that week. don't be afraid to experiment and try it. But also don't go straight into 4 days a week of pulling. Start with 1-2 and add in a day when you feel the need to.
msktyshha
09-04-15, 1:50 am
Any program will only run for some time, then the body will adapt and gains will come slowly or just stall. Anything that you are not doing will most likely work for you. Like me, I do deadlifts and keep my rep range between 3 and 5. But when Sometimes when I do drop sets to deadlifts then the next week my deadlift shoots up. Your body just needs a shock sometimes to keep things going. On the other hand you need rest from deadlifts also. So every 6 weeks just take a week off from deadlifts, even if everything is going fine and you don't want to rest, still do because if you decide to take a week off only when you think you need rest, then it's too late because your body already got over trained and damage has happened already and that's why it's asking for rest, so don't even let your body get to that level, just take a break before it gets burned out.
I like to do 2 weeks on, 1 week off.
As we know there is no universal rule for training method. Some people can handle going hard on deadlifts 3-4..even 5 weeks in a row..but by some people I am referring to the outliers.
skibasgym
09-28-15, 8:22 pm
I work off the Westside Method for deadlifts -- one week I work max effort, and the next week I work speed. This works well for me.
Jay Nera
09-30-15, 1:08 pm
Injured currently…but when healthy….I still do 1 sq and 1 dl a week. BUt i go moderate intensity and high volume.
I like to do 2 weeks on, 1 week off.
As we know there is no universal rule for training method. Some people can handle going hard on deadlifts 3-4..even 5 weeks in a row..but by some people I am referring to the outliers.
Please teach me your ways
I'll just throw this out there: Deadlift frequency for peaking is different than what it could be for just building strength. And not all deadlifts take the same toll on the body.
I generally like 2-3x per week sometimes even 4, but when I'm peaking there are very few heavy days.
skibasgym
10-26-15, 8:44 pm
I deadlift one week, and then do deadlift assistance exercises the next.