Deadlifts – The King of exercises

There is no purer test of strength and power than the deadlift, the movement is one of the simplest in many senses and will get you the most bang for your buck in terms of overall muscle recruitment.  The deadlift simply separates the best from the rest, anyone who has a thick strong back will be able to deadlift a decent weight to accumulate that muscle density.

The deadlift like the squat is also extremely taxing on your cardio respiratory system if you train with intensity and decent reps. This makes this an ideal exercise if you are looking to drop body fat as it will create a larger negative energy balance than smaller movements that don’t recruit as many muscles.

In terms of types of deadlift there are many variations that you can fit into your program, optimally the deadlift works best with your back and can you can also incorporate conventional deadlifts into leg day if required.

Personally, I find rotating through the different variations of deadlifts on back and leg day forces progression instead of sticking to one particular variation. When training back I will use conventional deadlifts and rack or partial deadlifts, normally second exercise into the session.

When trying to program deadlift movements with legs I tend to prefer placing them towards the end of the workout. I will place either stiff leg dumbbell, stiff leg barbell deadlifts, or deficit deadlifts in the legs session. Deficit deadlifts are particularly good at building power out of the bottom portion of the movement for conventional deadlifts as are rack pulls for the top half of the movement.

In terms of rep ranges I have personally found sticking to a rep range of 8-10 reps for around 3 sets working to failure works best. You want to constantly keep pushing yourself on the weights and reps you achieve every week to ensure your physique progresses.

Charles Johnson