Deadlift Plateau

[vision1]

Thanks for all the responses, it's certainly given me something to work on.

Just to clarify, I do sets of 10-15 on week 1, sets of 5-10 on week 2 and sets of 1-5 on week 3. I also weigh 100kg so bodyweight isn't much of an issue.

You're changing the reps too much
2-3 rep difference per week is plenty.

 

[ASUThermo]

Thanks for all the responses, it's certainly given me something to work on.

Just to clarify, I do sets of 10-15 on week 1, sets of 5-10 on week 2 and sets of 1-5 on week 3. I also weigh 100kg so bodyweight isn't much of an issue.

Body weight will almost never be a factor for a healthy adult male that desires to pull 200kg. If you are dedicating 1 day a week to the deadlift this is a great calculator for the Coan/Phillipi Deadlift Program. liftvault.com also has a bunch of free programs, some may require a second day, which you can most likely add to one of your other 2 workouts.

 

[Oblivian]

You likely aren't at a good enough bodyweight to break past the 400 pound plateau. Likely a diet question rather than programming. Sets of 10-15 is fine depending on the context.

This is one of the strangest responses that I've seen on here.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

This is one of the strangest responses that I've seen on here.

This is just wonderful news! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Volador]

I agree that, if you have been training this way for a while, your training probably is simply not specific enough, and it may be too little volume as well.

If you did a 10-12 week cycle where you got to practice singles often and lift relatively heavy (in the 3-6 rep range), you could probably break that PR as long as you manage fatigue properly. If all your training is limited to one day, you might need a 2nd, maybe lighter/less specific, DL slot during the week. This could be a variation like deficit/rack pulls/bands/etc.

 

[hardheart]

I don't think there's much point to those excercises in breaking a 200 kg plateau if you are a healthy male.

Ya, well, the guys who lift 400+ kg think they are important, so your opinion not only doesn't matter, it's wrong.

 

[Smato_rules]

I tend to get stuck where you’re at too. I’ve done the rack pull, haulting, and conventional 3 week cycle to break past some barriers, but honestly I made better progress doing Dan John’s even easier strength. Although my 5rm felt harder, I broke previous prs relatively easily.

 

[gspieler]

I don't think there's much point to those excercises in breaking a 200 kg plateau if you are a healthy male.
I'm sure there are all kinds of special circumstances that might warrant them (like when you have some chronic physical debilitation that prevents you from deadlifting too often, or, I dunno, if you are really pressed for time or don't have access to proper deadlifting equipment et cetera).
But in general, If your goal is specifically to deadlift more than 200 kg, you should focus on doing deadlifts. Find the sweet spot weightwise where it is heavy enough to suck, but light enough where you can still plug in 5x8 or whatever regularly - try to maximize volume while still staying at a weight heavy enough to matter.
At that level, all other excercises are suboptimal choices that just takes time, energy and mental focus away from what you ought to be doing, which is more deadlifts. They can still have all kinds of other benefits, just not for increasing your deadlift.

At higher levels, say 250kg +, some diversification might be in order. But breaking 200 kg is just about drilling the movement often enough, without injuring yourself. Seems to me most people reach the point where they have to internalize that fact to progress right around the 200 kg-ish mark.

Well, something has to be the limiting factor in your DL. It makes perfect sense to try to identify it, and do extra work for that factor, IMO.

 

[hardheart]

Well, something has to be the limiting factor in your DL. It makes perfect sense to try to identify it, and do extra work for that factor, IMO.

Literally the opinion of every pro powerlifting coach I've ever read, listened to, or watched.

 

[Halge]

Well, something has to be the limiting factor in your DL. It makes perfect sense to try to identify it, and do extra work for that factor, IMO.

It's easy to identify: You need to do more deadlifts, and not get hurt while doing it.

 

[Halge]

Ya, well, the guys who lift 400+ kg think they are important, so your opinion not only doesn't matter, it's wrong.

Go back and read my post in its entirety. That'll save us both some time.

 

[JimRussel]

Well, something has to be the limiting factor in your DL. It makes perfect sense to try to identify it, and do extra work for that factor, IMO.

It can be things that don't need extra exercises to fix. Lots of people have issues with basic technique. A 200 kg deadlift isn't level of strength where I would automatically assume those are eliminated. If someone is pulling 6-700+, I would be more inclined to assume they don't have basic technique issues.

Has OP even posted a video? He's already posted that his programming is shit. Fixing that would be a big start. Then, we could start working down the line to positioning and maintaining proper positioning throughout the duration of the movement. Lots of people have issue with that too. You see it all the time with people who think have "lockout issues." They'll hammer rack pulls and shrugs like there's no tomorrow, when the core issue is actually just their positioning and not lockout or upper back strength. They start the pull, get out of position, and then have to battle through extra work to finish the lift.

Ya, well, the guys who lift 400+ kg think they are important, so your opinion not only doesn't matter, it's wrong.

This is a dumb as fuck take.

 

[JimRussel]

Literally the opinion of every pro powerlifting coach I've ever read, listened to, or watched.

This shitty lifter named Ed Coan preaches something different and told me something different in person when I was doing deadlifts in front of him.

 

[JimRussel]

There is so much bad and unnecessary advice in this thread when we haven't even seen OP's deadlift.

 

[JimRussel]

You likely aren't at a good enough bodyweight to break past the 400 pound plateau. Likely a diet question rather than programming. Sets of 10-15 is fine depending on the context.

Yeah bro, you have to be super heavy and jacked to break the incredibly lofty 400 lb deadlift plateau. Good call.

 

[gspieler]

It can be things that don't need extra exercises to fix. Lots of people have issues with basic technique. A 200 kg deadlift isn't level of strength where I would automatically assume those are eliminated. If someone is pulling 6-700+, I would be more inclined to assume they don't have basic technique issues.

Has OP even posted a video? He's already posted that his programming is shit. Fixing that would be a big start. Then, we could start working down the line to positioning and maintaining proper positioning throughout the duration of the movement. Lots of people have issue with that too. You see it all the time with people who think have "lockout issues." They'll hammer rack pulls and shrugs like there's no tomorrow, when the core issue is actually just their positioning and not lockout or upper back strength. They start the pull, get out of position, and then have to battle through extra work to finish the lift.



This is a dumb as fuck take.

Yeah, his limiting factor could be technique, programming, or muscle failure(or any combo of). In any case, TS needs to identify it, and work more on it.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

Yeah bro, you have to be super heavy and jacked to break the incredibly lofty 400 lb deadlift plateau. Good call.

That is a superb catch man being that I never said any of those things!

 

[JimRussel]

That is a superb catch man being that I never said any of those things!

What were you saying there, then? Break it down for us.

Why did you delete your other post saying "is he also who you learned about steroids from," in reference to Ed Coan?

Even for you, that's a particularly low IQ take.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

What were you saying there, then? Break it down for us.

Why did you delete your other post saying "is he also who you learned about steroids from," in reference to Ed Coan?

Even for you, that's a particularly low IQ take.

No its not low IQ at all secondly I was trying to make sure there wasn't other factors relating to OPs deadlift other than just programming issues. That is all.

 

[vision1]

No its not low IQ at all secondly I was trying to make sure there wasn't other factors relating to OPs deadlift other than just programming issues. That is all.

So "likely" wasn't the correct wording in your original post.
"very unlikely but possibly" would have been more accurate.