Part 1, Ed Coan and Mark Phillipi Deadlift Routine

I know I’m not the only one guilty of this, but far too often, individuals like myself go online and search for workout routines, help, or guidance. In most cases, we’ll find some sort of article on T-Nation, EliteFTS, Westside Barbell, or DeFranco’s website and be ecstatic at the mere possibility of adding some sort of new exercise into our current workout routine. However, there are also individuals who will find a full workout routine with the name of a famous lifter attached to it such as Ed Coan and Mark Phillipi’s deadlift routine; Brad Gillingham’s deadlift routine; Bill Starr’s bench, squat, and clean routine; or even a basic Westside template. What do all of these have in common? They can easily be manipulated. By that I mean that they can be custom fit to an individual’s needs such as with my first example, the Ed Coan/Mark Phillipi deadlift routine.

From personal experience, this is a serious hardcore training program. This is no joke folks. If you have the will to go through this program, it will kick your ass in a way that has never been done before. The problem with this program is that it, along with many routines, are so focused on percentages that people decline to think it through. They determine their 1-RM on a particular lift and then proceed to just go through the program. One serious and fatal flaw is that people (I myself am guilty of this) don’t take the time to think about other consequences or circumstances that may affect them from completing a routine that is as demanding as this one.

The basic layout is as follows:

Week 1

(75%) X 2 reps

(60%) 8 sets X 3 reps (90 seconds rest between sets)

Week 2

(80%) X 2 reps

(65%) 8 sets X 3 reps (90 seconds rest between sets)

Week 3

(85%) X 2 reps

(70% ) 6 sets X 3 reps (90–120 seconds rest between sets)

Week 4

(90%) X 2 reps

(75%) 5 sets X 3 reps (90–120 seconds rest between sets)

Week 5

(80%) 3 sets X 3 reps

(65%) 3 sets X 3 reps (120 seconds rest between sets)

Week 6

(85%) X 2 reps

(70%) 3 sets X 3 reps (120 seconds rest between sets)

Week 7

(90%) X 2 reps

(75%) 3 sets X 3 reps (120 seconds rest between sets)

Week 8

(95%) X 2 reps

(70%) 3 sets X 3 reps (120 seconds rest between sets)

Week 9

(97.5%) X 1 rep

Week 10

(70%) 2 sets X 3 reps (rest as needed)

Week 11

(100%) X 1 rep

Week 12

(60%) 2 sets X 3 reps (rest as needed)

Meet day

The accessory lifts are as follows for the first four weeks:

·        stiff leg deadlifts

·        bent over rows

·        underhand grip lat pull-downs

·        arched back good mornings

The next couple of weeks the accessory lifts are:

·        power shrugs

·        stiff leg deadlifts

·        bent over rows

·        underhand grip lat pull-downs

·        arched back good mornings

After that you do only power shrugs with percentages of your deadlift max. If we examine this program further, you’ll see that this isn’t a clear cut plan. The way that I manipulated this program to my own needs follows.

Look at the percentages of the program. If you follow them to a tee, you’re pretty much right on. Don’t go too crazy though because this was just in my case. Some people aren’t able to handle that much volume of deadlifting every week. So for your average Joe lifter who’s just trying to get 315 lbs off of the floor, you may want to reduce the amount of volume and concentrate on technique more so than trying to increase poundage. I think my technique is pretty good so I didn’t focus too much on technique for the deadlift because I was going for pounds.

So for the first part of the routine, we can manipulate the following:

·        reduce volume

·        concentrate on technique and form

·        increase volume

·        increase the amount of weight lifted*

(*Note: Some people I’ve spoken with have said that they can handle that much volume without much difficulty—whether drug free or not is irrelevant—so this could be the case for an advanced lifter.)

Now onto the accessory lifts. Personally, I hate stiff leg deadlifts. I’ve never gotten anything out of them. This isn’t because I can’t do the correct technique but rather because of an injury that I sustained playing football years ago. This is a prime example of circumstance and consequence. You should know yourself and know your body when doing a lift. If something hurts to do it, then don’t do it. What’s the point in hurting yourself so that you’ll be out of action for a few weeks, months, or even a year and miss out on that time training and getting stronger?

I can’t do stiff left deadlifts, but I can do Romanian deadlifts and I get a whole lot out of them. So I decided what the hell? I’m changing this out. So I replaced stiff leg deadlifts with Romanian deadlifts, and I’ve received much better results.

I don’t see any problem with bent over rows if you have correct form and don’t try to let your ego get in the way and do more weight than you can actually deadlift. It’s stupid to do so. Leave your ego at the door! However, I’ve spoken with people who reach this point for bent over rows and aren’t able to do them because their lower back tightens up or they have improper form or a lack of strength to do them or they think GPP sucks. You could replace these with a chest supported row or a dumbbell row. Really, any sort of rowing exercise could easily fit in here.

The underhand grip lat pull-downs are a solid exercise if done correctly and if you don’t swing your body too much. However, the problem again is that some people have injury problems and aren’t able to put their hands into a double underhand position. I know of a training partner of mine who has elbow problems from years and years of lifting and is unable to do this particular exercise. Again, that’s ok! You could easily do a behind the neck lat pull-downs with a double overhand grip. That’s the only real alternative that I can think of.

Many people love the arched back good mornings. I do too and get great gains from them. If you can’t arch your back for whatever reason, you can easily just do your good mornings seated, chain suspended, or straight back. There are so many variations of the good morning that I’m sure you can find one that will work for you.

Power shrugs are a staple of the program from what I’ve seen and done. A power shrug is where you explode off of the floor as if you were going to do a clean and then you just shrug the weight up as high as possible. It really can kick your ass if your form is correct. If for whatever reason, you have difficulty doing them with a barbell, you could easily do this exercise out of a power rack or with dumbbells or kettlebells.

So you can manipulate this program all around by doing deadlifts, reducing the volume, concentrating on technique and form, increasing the volume, and increasing the amount of weight lifted.

As far as the accessory lifts:

·        Stiff leg deadlift: Switch these out for Romanian deadlifts if you want and get great gains.

·        Bent over rows: Replace these with some sort of rowing exercise, chest supported rows, or dumbbell rows.

·        Underhand grip lat pull-downs: These really work the lats. I’d replace these with behind the neck pull-downs.

·        Arched back good mornings: Find a variant of good mornings that works well for you and go for it!

·        Power shrugs: You can do normal shrugs, dumbbell shrugs, shrugs with kettlebells, or power shrugs from a power rack.

Any training program can be manipulated and custom fit for any individual. However, not many people are willing to take the time to figure out where exactly things should go and what should be taken out. The next time that you try to do a program think about whether you need to do certain exercises or whether an exercise will hurt you or aggravate an already existing injury. If that’s the case, don’t do it. Think hard and then train harder!

Feel free to critique this because I know it isn’t perfect. I hope you enjoy it and don’t laugh too hard.