Improving Deadlifts: More of These, Lots of Those, Bigger You

Whether you're a strongman, powerlifter, crossfitter, or gym bro, you probably want a bigger deadlift. If you're willing to put in the time and work, here are some things that I learned over the course of my training.

More volume. 

Programs such as Cube Boss, Coan-Phillipi, Ort-Mag are not magic formulas. They simply prescribe more volume than you are used to. Cube Boss uses a variety of deadlifts and multiple sets giving you the bulk of your volume by actually deadlifting. Coan-Phillipi really just makes you do explosive sub max work and a variety of assistance work. Ort-Mag pushes you to do more reps. Think about why these programs work and what you need before you try them.

More reps. 

I pulled heavy singles for a while and noticed I always used the same weight. That's because heavy singles didn't help. I started doing reps but they were touch and go and my max still stayed the same. So that didn't help either. Dead stop reps from the floor finally got my numbers moving again. I tend to work in the 3-6 range. This will do a lot for your starting strength than singles or touch and go reps.

More rows. 

Your back just isn't big enough. Pull-ups are great but you need rows. Barbell rows and dumbbell rows are best. Use heavy weights here and do lots of reps. 

Leg press. 

Don't be afraid to use this machine to put size and strength on your legs.

Grip. 

Farmers carries are best because they train support grip. This is the kind of grip you need for deadlifting. Crushing grip and pinch grip don't really help so much here so put the grippers and shit away unless you want to be good at grippers.

Hamstrings. 

Put some more meat on your backside and use straight leg deadlifts, leg curls, and GHRs. Like the rows, train these heavy. 

Angles. 

This is related to deficits but experiment with different heights and variations. I found 4" block pulls helped me in the past. Unfortunately 18"/rack pulls only made me better at 18"/rack pulls, which is great for strongman when the event shows up. Sumo deadlifts can help too.

My favorite, however, is deficit deadlifts. The longer range of motion means more power off the floor and those extra 2" make the top end a real treat to lockout too. I find that being more powerful at the initiation of the lift does more for my lockout than any hip thrust does.

Strongman effect. 

Strongman training can make your back big and strong in new ways. Lifts such as stones, farmers, and yoke tax the musculature in new ways, particularly because of the increased time under tension of these lifts. It's not uncommon for a new strongman trainee to see a huge improvement in their deadlift by virtue of training events hard.

That's the bulk of my general thoughts on improving your deadlift. If you read some of my other training articles you will see the same theme: more reps and more volume and building more muscle pays off. Good luck.