I harp on this regularly, but most don't like to hear it...

You don't have to deadlift to make your deadlift stronger.

As an example, my training partner Curtis didn't have access to a gym through quarantine. So he did the typical bodyweight workouts. 8 weeks back into training and he pulled a relatively easy 815. His previous deads were hovering in the mid 700's.

There are cases where deadlifting more will improve your deadlift - that typically applies to lifters that are built to pull. The movement is less taxing for them, so repetition and frequency can help.

But if you're struggling with your deadlifts, consider this alternative- Your next 6-8 week block, deadlift 1x per week....

Week Bar weight Acc. Resistance
1 45% -
2 50% -
3 55% -
4 45% 3 chains total
5 50% 3 chains total
6 55% 3 chains total

 

Your assistance work will be a carry. For my crew, we'll be doing farmers carries. If you don't have farmers handles, you can do DB's. If you don't have DB's, you can do SSB walks. If you don't have an SSB you can do straight bar front rack carries or better yet, zercher carries. Point being, you have no excuse as to why you can't do this.

After carries you can throw in additional work for your posterior chain - direct hamstring work and lat/back work is my advice.

 

Week Bar weight Distance Reps
1 RPE 7-8 100 ft 4
2 Same as WK 1 100 ft 6
3 Same as WK 1 100 ft 8
4 RPE 8 50 ft 8
5 Add 20lbs 50 ft 6
6 Add 20lbs or RPE 9 50 ft 4-6
*Week 6 should be increasing weight up to the top 5-6 sets

 

 

Again, the focus on this 6-8 week period is technique and bar acceleration on your competition deadlift, and then building your strength with carries. Be conservative early on with the carries, but as you acclimate, give it hell!

 

strongman-header7 home