Deadlift frequency?

[kreszentia]

But the best deadlifters in the world pull multiple times a week.

Is that:
a. chemical assistance
b. they are built to pull
c. X factor
d. Some or all of the above?

[mlentzner]

The book, Easy Strength by Pavel and Dan John from Dragon Door, is well worth your time, IMO. I grew up on Rip's training philosophies, but this is a completely different way of looking at things.

The program Greg and I are on is "Even Easier Strength" or EES which is a specific implementation of the larger template as outlined in the Easy Strength book.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

I have no idea, I am not an elite deadlifter, and I don't coach any elite deadlifters.

Here is my DL resume:

My best pull is 565. I have done rack work with weights in the low and mid 600's. Whoopie.

I coach normal people with varying degrees of genetic potential and levels of motivation. Being a personal trainer in the suburbs you can imagine the typical personal training client. Lots of out of shape working adults mid 40's to 70's. Lots of high school kids age 15-18. Handfuls of college athletes in the spring and summer.

Assuming clients are motivated enough to follow my programming, diet, etc, I can get just about any kid in his late teens or twenties to deadlifts in the mid 400's. Of that group, a handful will make it to the high 400's or low 500's.

For male clients in their 30's and 40's I can almost always get them into the mid 300's and a handful will make it to the 400's. A very small percentage make it to the high 400's, low 500's.

For clients in their fifties, I can usually get them to break 300. A small handful will make to the 400's.

In the sixties you see a wide discrepancy of ability level and injury history. It is not uncommon to go into the mid 200's and a very small % have made it to 300's. Some may not make it out of the 100's.

In their 70's I am just happy if they pick anything up off the floor in decent form without getting hurt.

I do all this with basic novice and intermediate programming for the deadlift. The methods I use for my clients are basically what you would read about in PP.

9/10 of my adult clients have no lifting history whatsoever. Most of my high school and college kids do, albeit completely wrong and misguided.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks for posting this, it's always good to get an empirical set of stakes in the ground to see how I'm doing. In my early 40's I pulled 405 a few times and racked myself good every time I did it. So I stopped doing them and squats entirely until last year at shortly after I turned 61 to take care of my back. After getting my deadlift form hammered into place by stef at the Costa Mesa seminar I now can do this without hurting myself. In the last two months, having gotten my form issues smoothed out and solidly ingrained I managed to work up to a 395 single and have every intention of pulling 405 on Sunday. Then 410 a little later and then declare a temporary victory for now while I back off, celebrate my golden years for a little while, regroup, and then see if I can exceed that later this year.

[Bazza20]

I made good gains deadlifting 3 x per week, worked up to 530lb for 5 reps and should be able to beat that now.

[kreszentia]

I have no idea, I am not an elite deadlifter, and I don't coach any elite deadlifters.

Here is my DL resume:

My best pull is 565. I have done rack work with weights in the low and mid 600's. Whoopie.

I coach normal people with varying degrees of genetic potential and levels of motivation. Being a personal trainer in the suburbs you can imagine the typical personal training client. Lots of out of shape working adults mid 40's to 70's. Lots of high school kids age 15-18. Handfuls of college athletes in the spring and summer.

Assuming clients are motivated enough to follow my programming, diet, etc, I can get just about any kid in his late teens or twenties to deadlifts in the mid 400's. Of that group, a handful will make it to the high 400's or low 500's.

For male clients in their 30's and 40's I can almost always get them into the mid 300's and a handful will make it to the 400's. A very small percentage make it to the high 400's, low 500's.

For clients in their fifties, I can usually get them to break 300. A small handful will make to the 400's.

In the sixties you see a wide discrepancy of ability level and injury history. It is not uncommon to go into the mid 200's and a very small % have made it to 300's. Some may not make it out of the 100's.

In their 70's I am just happy if they pick anything up off the floor in decent form without getting hurt.

I do all this with basic novice and intermediate programming for the deadlift. The methods I use for my clients are basically what you would read about in PP.

9/10 of my adult clients have no lifting history whatsoever. Most of my high school and college kids do, albeit completely wrong and misguided.

Interesting feedback. The dropoff between kids in their 20s and guys in their mid 30s to 40s is sad. Because it reflects my own reality. I'm turning 37 this summer. With a lot of hard work this year I might hit 405 for a single. I've been lifting for going on 3 years. I made it to 315 quite easily, but everything since then has been a month by month season by season struggle.