HLM deadlift

[WeightsAreHeavy]

Hey Andy, first off big thank you for all the free advice you provide here. It’s a big time help.

Stats: 32 y/o make, 5’8” 210lbs.
Squat 405x3x5
DL 425x5
BP 245x3x5
Press 170x3x5

I’m moving from advanced novice programming to early intermediate and just looking to confirm a few things, mainly with the deadlift. My plan is to do 1 set of 3 (starting with 430lbs) then a back off set of 5 like you say in the YouTube video. My question is what percentage would you back off of that set of 3 for the set of 5? Also, do you recommend doing a rotating rep scheme (first week triple, next week double, next week single, restart and add 5 lbs) or are sticking to triples best? The rotating rep scheme sounds like you only add 5 lbs every 4th week...that doesn’t sound like much.

My goal is to get stronger (duh) and maybe try a PL meet in 2018 to see if I like it.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Assuming a heavy 3 is about 90% of 1RM and a back off 5 is about 80% of 1RM, I'd back off about 10%. For Deads you aren't going to get long sustained progress doing a top triple each week. For Deads I actually prefer something more like this:

Week 1: heavy triple + back offs 5-8
Week 2: medium volume - 5s across
Week 3: heavy double + back offs 5-8
Week 4: medium volume - 5s across
Week 5: heavy single + back offs 5-8
Week 6: medium volume - 5s across

reps in the 1-3 range are all 90%

[WeightsAreHeavy]

Cool I haven’t seen this scheme yet. Thanks Andy!

Going off of my max1x5 weight, what would you start the medium volume weight at? Also, is that 2 sets of 5?

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Exact sets, reps, and %'s can vary a bit for each lifter. I prefer you look at your own recent training history and try to get an idea for yourself about the appropriate volumes and load for each training day. This doesn't just go for you, but for everyone.......force yourself to think about your own training and try and make some of these decisions on your own based on the info you have read.

However, since you are still fairly new to this here is how you might think about laying this out using %s. Hint: I really only like % as a starting point for a training cycle just to get everything set up right. After that, I only use % as a reference point not as a strict guidepost for programming.

Let's assume that a 5RM is about 85% of 1RM. Based on your 425 x 5, that puts your 1RM @ 500 lbs, although I'd hedge that down a bit to say 475-485 since you don't have much experience pulling heavy singles. So you could use the %'s below based off a 485 max if you want to be conservative or a 500 max if you want to be aggressive.

Something like this:

Week 1: 90% x 3, 80% x 5-8
Week 2: 75% x 5 x 3
Week 3: 95% x 2, 85% x 4-6
Week 4: 75%% x 5 x 3 (add 5 lbs or add a set or add a rep - i.e. improve something)
Week 5: 100% x 1, 90% x 3-4 (add a rep or add 5 lbs - i.e. beat your 90% effort from week 1)
Week 6: 75% x 5 x 3 (add 5 lbs or add a set or add a rep - i.e. improve something)

Don't have to do this verbatim...just an idea of some simple % based programming that has worked for me with clients for a number of years.

[WeightsAreHeavy]

Wow this is so much more of a response than I was expecting. Thank you Andy! Love your work!

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

You caught me when I was in a good mood and not busy with other stuff.