Let’s Discuss Deadlift Varieties – Blocks and Deficits.
The Deadlift is now a standard pattern in nearly all gym-goer’s repertoires.
I’m not going to go through the how-to’s and I have to keep you reading, so let’s break this lift down and today look at two of the most popular ways of overcoming sticking points and blasting through your plateaus. You have a client, and they have a terrible sticking point in the deadlift – the bar drags at the mid-shin point, slowing the lift, turning it into a grind. As a more experienced trainer or coach we smile and say “No problem”; it’s time for Heavy Rack Pulls (deadlifts from the blocks/rack).
Maybe they have a slow start and the bar doesn’t move swiftly from the floor. Again we smile, and come out with the solution “Deficit Pulls from the 2 inch-blocks”.
Firstly, I have to ask myself does this client have the capacity (as in work capacity), experience and/or training economy for the extra load?
They do? Okay, cool. Let’s have a look at the why’s and how’s of these two variations.
Slow from the Mid-Shin
Now, let me add a caveat to this from the start. I am talking about a lifter with a good level of experience, who has practised the movement and has very tight form.
Firstly, ask yourself if you are simply programming too heavy weights for your client? Perfect technique never comes without the perfection of the movement at reasonably submaximal weights.
And secondly, I’m also assuming that if the focus is a bigger pull from the ground, there is a day that is dedicated to and/or based on exactly that. If we don’t dedicate sufficient time to a movement then, you guessed it, we’re not going to get any better at it!
So not just speed work after a squat session, this refers to a day that is constructed around the movement itself. Or in Strength and Conditioning terms, a max effort lower-body day with the deadlift as its focus.
Which muscles are most likely to be weak if I grind halfway through the 1st phase of the pull (from the floor to the knee)?… The hamstrings.
There is still pelvic tilt in this portion of the rep, and the backs of your legs should be firing on all cylinders.
The solution? Get them stronger. The hamstrings flex the knee and they help extend the hip in this movement. Use single legged deadlift variations, curl variations, Romanian deadlifts, stiff-legged variations (be careful with these), good mornings, hyper and reverse hyperextensions, glute-ham raises and Nordic curls. As well as pull-throughs and lunge variations to build strength in the posterior chain with a hamstring bias.
Then Enter the Rack Pull and Block Pull Deadlift Variants.
We have a weak point identified. This is where we want to start from the rack, or from blocks. Now, I know it always depends, but most clients are going to see the greatest crossover from a rack pull from beneath the knees.
This is where your coaching will need to identify at what point they should start. Remember most racks and facilities in the commercial gym setting only have so many settings. This movement, when performed correctly, will provide massive carry-over to the deadlift.
Benefits of pulling from a Rack or Blocks
- Solid grip strength.
- Great gains in strength and size in the traps and the middle back.
- Strength and muscle gain in the spinal erectors and the glutes, and the hamstrings.
- It also gets the lifter used to greater loads and therefore creates a neural overload.
Where to place it?
We are specialising so, therefore, we will be pulling twice a week. So on a separate day to the deadlift, commonly post a max effort squat. Cycling in the rack pulls for a period of 3-6 weeks starting at 4 working sets of around 80% of your max deadlift weight to start. I’m not going to cover programming here and now. Remember, we are building strength in a portion of a lift. Not showing people how much we grind up in the gym. So It must be appropriate loading to match the client’s goals.
Then from the Floor…. The Bar doesn’t budge!
Without the obvious exception of the weight being too heavy and there being energy leaks in the set-up, speed is the key.
Building more explosive power. The faster your rate of force development the easier it will be to move the immovable. Some people find there is great cross-over from regular plyometric work (in the case of the hinge pattern, a broad jump would be a solid example).
Another more specific way to develop speed in the pull is to work with lighter loads and create greater velocity. Speed work is exactly what it says on the tin. And here the inclusion of bands and chains start to make an appearance. The bands and chains are accommodating resistance. They alter the effect of the strength curve. The deadlift is an exercise with an ascending strength curve, which refers to the exercise getting easier towards extension (the top of the lift).
Adding bands and chains are going to slow the ascending strength curve. This, in turn, means that the lifter has to accelerate into the (accommodating) resistance to finish the lift. This generates a greater rate of force production over time. These lifts are typically performed with lower percentages of your 1 rep max (55%-75%), with slowly periodised levels of load and band tension, dependent on where the athlete is in terms of programming.
Like in the mid-shin position, the hamstrings could be weak as the pelvis is in full anterior rotation. Once again programming the right accessory exercises as I listed above will assist this. Also when we look at why the deficit pull (which we will get to!) is so effective. We realise that due to the greater knee flexion, the quads are a huge player in that movement. So strong quads will help drive the bar from its resting place. Aside from the deficit pull, we have all the squat variations, safety bar work, box squats, and hand-assisted work. Plus Bulgarian split squats and the leg press to name but a few.
The squat slowly gaining momentum will always have great carryover to the deadlift…
You may find the grip on the bar is too wide. Whenever I pull I can feel the inside of my arms as I am pushing my legs out into them, creating airtight tension.
Another important factor is the rep work. As the name suggests the deadlift is from a dead stop. If we bounce the rep work, we are not performing the exercise correctly and not getting that all-important practice of a perfect set-up every time.
Time for Deficit Pulls (The Deficit Deadlift)
Today’s 2nd featured cure is the Deficit pull. This is a deadlift variation where the foot position is elevated by starting on a 1-inch or higher matt or block (commonly 2-inch or 20 kg bumper plate). If the client has the requisite mobility, and this is a very big if, a strong deficit will generate fantastic pulling power from the floor.
For programming, the lift can be cycled in a similar manner to the block pulls. I prefer lower reps on this, as it is a very high-skill pattern. The position has to stay super tight as this great exercise has a high level of risk-reward. Perhaps once again 3 working sets of 2-5 reps with 80% of the regular deadlift maxes. And similarly placed in programming behind the squat pattern.
I will also add as a point of note that a deadlift day devoted to both the deficit and block pulls together has worked for many very strong ladies and gentlemen.
The benefits of the deficit pull.
- Great levels of mobility are required and the pattern demands this.
- Amazing leg strength, power and development.
- Serious lower back and posterior chain strength and development.
- In a similar way to the block pull, a greater rate of force production.
- A better set-up carryover to the regular deadlift.
- Most importantly the ability to MOVE MORE weight.
As a final note, remember that on their own, both of these movements will generate fantastic results, but they will only strengthen their own ranges of motion. They can be cycled in and out, but at the end of the day if you want greater numbers from the floor, then you must practise your full deadlift!
Coming up soon, yielding and overcoming isometrics, bands and chains, reverse bands and paused rep tactics, trap bar and snatch grip deadlifts!
Stay strong.
Coach Fletch.
Author - Fletcher Dalrymple - Personal Trainer & Mentor
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