Artificially Weak Deadlifts, Part 1: Perception vs Reality | Robert Santana
Hey Coach Santana,
Thank you for that insightful article. While I was reading it I felt as if you were speaking to me personally. I have struggled with an artificially weak deadlift, which has fallen behind my squat since my initial LP.
I am 50 years old, 180 lbs (up from 158) and 5'8". My pull has hovered in the high 200s/low 300s for months, using the hook grip and chalk. I considered switching to the alternate grip, but I am concerned about the shoulder asymmetry and the potential problems which can arise from it. I am going to give straps a try today.
I am on a 4 day heavy/light split currently:
M-heavy bench/light press
T-heavy squat/light pull
Th-heavy press/light bench
F-heavy pull/light squat
My pull suffers most noticeably on weeks that my squat goes up. Do you think a squat de-load is in order, until my pull gets consistently ahead of it, or should the use of deadlift alternatives like halting dls and rack pulls be incorporated, as I seem to be sensitive to too much deadlift volume (tried increasing volume previously with negative results)? Thank you for your time. Any insight you could provide would be appreciated.
Will
Thanks for the kind words. What is your squat? You aren't a young man but you aren't insanely old either. I'm sure this can be remedied.Quote:
Originally Posted by Will Still
Hi Coach,
My squat is 275 right now, being ramped back up after some unscheduled time off in August. I anticipate it being back in the low 300s in a month or so. I had hoped that those couple of weeks off would have helped my pull, but I detrained in that movement along with the others. I pulled 300 for five without the straps today and did a back off at 255 for five after the initial work set, as recommended by Coach Wolf earlier in the year.
Pull the squat load back to 225 and ramp that up. By the time your squat gets back up to 275 you should be pulling in the mid 300s.
Thanks coach! will do.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Santana
