4 Special Deadlift Exercises to a New PR

I believe that the Deadlift is really the most beneficial exercise people can do regardless of what population they’re in or what their goals are. I also believe that the Deadlift will ruin more training cycles than any other single exercise when pushed in excess. Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell famously wrote that get a bigger deadlift you shouldn’t deadlift. This threw people off because they hadn’t seen the training that was replacing it. What he meant was simply to stop deadlifting with straight weight off the floor every week. This lead to a ton of special variations being created to help people break through to new levels of strength. This article is a look some of those variations, how to use them, and how you benefit from them. 

Block Pulls

Elevate the weight onto mats anywhere from 1.5-3 inches off the floor and pull. Many people would think the decreased range of motion would mean it’s easier to lift bigger weights. That’s not always the case. It really comes down to strength, weaknesses, and leverages. For many people, like myself this is a difficult position to begin from because it removes the leg drive out of the initial pull and places more emphasis on the glutes and lower back to begin the lift. Set personal records on various heights using both sumo and conventional stances and it will help you find where you’re strong or where you need more work. 

Max Effort - Work up to a 1-3 Rep Max

Dynamic Effort - 5-8 Sets of 1-3 Reps

Deficit Deadlifts

This is the opposite of the block pulls and now the person is elevated anywhere from 1.5-3 inches off the floor. We did use some extreme heights at different times, but wouldn’t recommend them to a beginner or novice lifter. It would be easy to think that because the range of motion is greater, then it’s a more difficult exercise. This isn’t true for people like me who get a big advantage of the extra leg drive out of the bottom. These should also be done from various heights using different stances. This lift will really target the low back and the glutes to finish the rep because of the extra time under tension. 

Max Effort - Work up to a 1-3 Rep Max

Dynamic Effort - 5-8 Sets of 1-3 Reps

Mini Band Deadlifts

Of every deadlift variation we did, this was the one that taught me the most. This lift is purely to teach acceleration since the band tension will add anywhere from 100-250lbs at the top of the lift. This will make the lifter think of pulling the bar faster from the floor to achieve lockout as fast as possible. Some people will load up the band tension on these, but it’s important to remember there should still be a good portion of weight on the bar so you can feel it from the floor and not have such a drastic shift at lockout. This is great for acceleration and teaching people to lock out their movement. These should be performed at different times using both stances. 

Max Effort - Work up to a 1-3 Rep Max

Dynamic Effort - 5-8 Sets of 1-3 Reps

Pin Pulls

These are what Josh Gutridge always referred to as a bar fight. Set the bar on Pins 1,2, or 3 and then simply pull up. The difference between the pin pull and block pull is you won’t have the flex in the bar on a pin pull making it much more difficult. My first time doing these at Westside, I had just made a 600lb Deadlift in a meet. I was floored to find out that I couldn’t even budge 545 off of Pin 3. That’s when Lou told me that my low back was way weaker than my legs and it was holding me back. While this exercise helps the lifter find different start points and which one might be easier or more difficult for them, it also teaches people to think while under strain longer than a normal deadlift. This is essentially learning body awareness which is critical to any sport. Perform these in both stances and as you advance in your training you can add quadded mini, monster, or light bands. 

Max Effort - Work up to 1 Rep Max

Dynamic Effort - 5-8 Sets of 1-3 Reps

When figuring out how to structure your deadlift training, I would make 1-2 Max Effort Lower training sessions each month a deadlift variation and then for Dynamic Effort, use one of the variations for 3 weeks at a time. The dynamic effort is beneficial as it teaches you to have several perfect attempts at a high velocity. The max effort training is important because it recruits the most muscle fibers. Use each of these variations as assessment tools using them to figure out where you need more strength. 

Nick Showman

Showtime Strength & Performance

www.showtimestrength.com