Power cleans vs. speed deadlifts

[Kerpal]

Mr. Rippetoe -

What is your opinion on power cleans vs speed deadlifts for improving one's deadlift? Power cleans are obviously a great exercise for athletic performance, but I've been thinking about it and it seems to me like speed deadlifts are more specific to actually deadlifting.

Here's my thinking - with a clean, the first pull is very similar to a deadlift, but it's supposed to be "slow and controlled". You don't "explode" until the 2nd pull, when the "deadlifting" part of the lift is already over. But on a speed deadlift, you can just do the same exact movement fast with a light weight, which may be better for "teaching" your body to deadlift explosively.

Also, what do you think about pulling against bands for speed work? I do power cleans now and they're a great exercise, but I've been thinking about incorporating some speed deadlifts too, and speed deadlifts against bands seem quite popular with the powerlifters at my gym. In fact, I'm the only person there I've ever seen do cleans and snatches.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Do both. Cleans cannot be done slow, and once you learn how to do them they will definitely be moving faster through the middle part of the pull than the comparable range of motion for a DE deadlift, or even a clean hi-pull. The commitment to getting the bar up on the shoulders makes a huge difference in the way the pull is approached, and a lifter that is advanced enough to use DE deadlifts should already know how to clean well enough that the bar is accelerated off the floor, moving faster at the knee than a deadlift of any type. And the deadlift stops at about the place where the bar will reach peak velocity in a clean, so it is impossible to avoid slowing it down before this point if you're not going to rack it. But I see no reason for an advanced lifter not to be able to use both in his training.