Anyone a fan of Deficit Deadlifts?

[barbell001]

I've recently just started doing these from a deficit of 2", I've begun to realise that my quad strength or lack of is probably the main reason why I am nowhere near where I feel I should be in terms of my max deadlift.

Up until now I have only ever used deadlifts to train deadlift and I just seem to be going round in circles with it.

Does anyone else do these or found they are good for adding strength to the movement?

To me it literally feels like holding a bar in a leg press and thats purely where I feel the weakness in the exercise rather than higher up the range of motion in my lower back.

 

[theotherguy]

I've recently just started doing these from a deficit of 2", I've begun to realise that my quad strength or lack of is probably the main reason why I am nowhere near where I feel I should be in terms of my max deadlift.

Up until now I have only ever used deadlifts to train deadlift and I just seem to be going round in circles with it.

Does anyone else do these or found they are good for adding strength to the movement?

To me it literally feels like holding a bar in a leg press and thats purely where I feel the weakness in the exercise rather than higher up the range of motion in my lower back.

I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of them, but I have used them in training. I believe it makes you better off of the floor, but other than that I cannot say it serves much purpose.

If you’re slow off the floor, which is sounds like you are based off your post, they may work well for you

 

[Someguy22]

There are other variations as well. Snatch grip / just a wider grip in general puts you at a deficit. I find the low handles on a trap bar like the Rogue TB 2 just wrecks your quads. I've prob made more deadlifts gains doing the trap bar VS deficit dead lifts but to each your own. Try a bunch of variations and see what you like / works for you.

I find you also don't need to focus solely on big compounds to grow those lifts. Whatever your weak point is in the lift cycle in a bunch of isolation movements in your work outs to address those. In your case you said it feels like your quads are holding you back. Perhaps heavy leg press work? Add in some quad extensions? Lunges, etc....

 

[theotherguy]

There are other variations as well. Snatch grip / just a wider grip in general puts you at a deficit. I find the low handles on a trap bar like the Rogue TB 2 just wrecks your quads. I've prob made more deadlifts gains doing the trap bar VS deficit dead lifts but to each your own. Try a bunch of variations and see what you like / works for you.

I find you also don't need to focus solely on big compounds to grow those lifts. Whatever your weak point is in the lift cycle in a bunch of isolation movements in your work outs to address those. In your case you said it feels like your quads are holding you back. Perhaps heavy leg press work? Add in some quad extensions? Lunges, etc....

Certainly snatch grip puts you into a deficit, but that also taxes your upper back a lot more, and it’s more likely tha you’re going to fail from a weak upper back than failing due to the deficit portion of the deadlift

 

[JesterBOB]

Deadlift deficit is my favorite deadlift. Which allows me to work qualitatively on the initial phase of the breakdown from the floor of the bar. And after a certain amount of time, my back and legs work harder and more in sync.

 

[Juicy AF]

Great if your sticking point is off the floor.

 

[JesterBOB]

I am sure that this is one of the most effective exercises for increasing the result in deadlift.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

I like beltless deficits for volume work. Good way to get some work in without going too heavy. Deficits paused about an inch off the floor are good too for that sticking point.

If you're looking for a quad focused deadlift variation I would look to high handle trap bar deadlifts.

To me it literally feels like holding a bar in a leg press

Trap bar is very close to what you're describing here.

Edit: box squats with your feet in your deadlift stance and the box height just below your starting point on deadlift would be another good one.

 

[barbell001]

I like beltless deficits for volume work. Good way to get some work in without going too heavy. Deficits paused about an inch off the floor are good too for that sticking point.

If you're looking for a quad focused deadlift variation I would look to high handle trap bar deadlifts.



Trap bar is very close to what you're describing here.

Edit: box squats with your feet in your deadlift stance and the box height just below your starting point on deadlift would be another good one.

Hey Bud Funnily enough the 2 sessions of deficits that I have done so far after normal conventional have been beltless! Plus I really don't fancy my thick belt digging into my stomach at the bottom lol Its definitely been my leg strength holding me back as it showed up straight away in deficits just from being up about 1.5 inches. I find them so much slower and tougher than normal and I feel it all in my legs all the way up!

Perhaps you could help me out here with this too as I seem to remember you are a pretty good deadlifter - don't you pull in the 700's? I'm low 600's and for some reason I have always sucked at them compared to my bench.

I don't actually compete so have always done them strongman kinda style where you start off almost in a squat and roll the bar towards you then both squat and pull the bar up. After watching many a powerlifter I noticed the style is completely different where its a case of keep your legs straight (when using straps) then just dip down and use the rebound to pull back up without rolling the bar. I have been trialling this method for some time now but I am just nowhere near as strong as I was in the strongman style - it just feels like I am purely pulling with hamstrings and lower back. Do you think its because I am not dipping down low enough to bring in the quads? I know its difficult for you to say without seeing my form.

I do have long legs, medium length arms and short in comparison torso so my leverages have always made the exercise seem very awkward for me even after 5 or so years of doing them so I just wonder if I am forever doomed to be crap at them!! lol I am 200lb's BW btw.

 

[JesterBOB]

I like beltless deficits for volume work. Good way to get some work in without going too heavy. Deficits paused about an inch off the floor are good too for that sticking point.

If you're looking for a quad focused deadlift variation I would look to high handle trap bar deadlifts.

I like it more when the height of the elevation is somewhere around 6-10 cm, I feel that my back works more and it allows me to feel the involvement of the muscles more and I also do it without a belt.

 

[JesterBOB]

Hey Bud Funnily enough the 2 sessions of deficits that I have done so far after normal conventional have been beltless! Plus I really don't fancy my thick belt digging into my stomach at the bottom lol Its definitely been my leg strength holding me back as it showed up straight away in deficits just from being up about 1.5 inches. I find them so much slower and tougher than normal and I feel it all in my legs all the way up!

Perhaps you could help me out here with this too as I seem to remember you are a pretty good deadlifter - don't you pull in the 700's? I'm low 600's and for some reason I have always sucked at them compared to my bench.

I don't actually compete so have always done them strongman kinda style where you start off almost in a squat and roll the bar towards you then both squat and pull the bar up. After watching many a powerlifter I noticed the style is completely different where its a case of keep your legs straight (when using straps) then just dip down and use the rebound to pull back up without rolling the bar. I have been trialling this method for some time now but I am just nowhere near as strong as I was in the strongman style - it just feels like I am purely pulling with hamstrings and lower back. Do you think its because I am not dipping down low enough to bring in the quads? I know its difficult for you to say without seeing my form.

I do have long legs, medium length arms and short in comparison torso so my leverages have always made the exercise seem very awkward for me even after 5 or so years of doing them so I just wonder if I am forever doomed to be crap at them!! lol I am 200lb's BW btw.

I would try to pull not from the dynamics, as the strogmen pull, as you described rolling the barbell on yourself. But still with a hard setting of the starting position. The pelvis should not be lowered much, namely, to create rigidity in the thoracic region and bring the shoulder blades together and fix the lower back and start lifting the barbell of the upper back, when the barbell is in the area under the knee, pull the shoulders back and the pelvis forward, so it seems to me that it will be harder to pull and movement is more efficient.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

Hey Bud Funnily enough the 2 sessions of deficits that I have done so far after normal conventional have been beltless! Plus I really don't fancy my thick belt digging into my stomach at the bottom lol Its definitely been my leg strength holding me back as it showed up straight away in deficits just from being up about 1.5 inches. I find them so much slower and tougher than normal and I feel it all in my legs all the way up!

Perhaps you could help me out here with this too as I seem to remember you are a pretty good deadlifter - don't you pull in the 700's? I'm low 600's and for some reason I have always sucked at them compared to my bench.

I don't actually compete so have always done them strongman kinda style where you start off almost in a squat and roll the bar towards you then both squat and pull the bar up. After watching many a powerlifter I noticed the style is completely different where its a case of keep your legs straight (when using straps) then just dip down and use the rebound to pull back up without rolling the bar. I have been trialling this method for some time now but I am just nowhere near as strong as I was in the strongman style - it just feels like I am purely pulling with hamstrings and lower back. Do you think its because I am not dipping down low enough to bring in the quads? I know its difficult for you to say without seeing my form.

I do have long legs, medium length arms and short in comparison torso so my leverages have always made the exercise seem very awkward for me even after 5 or so years of doing them so I just wonder if I am forever doomed to be crap at them!! lol I am 200lb's BW btw.

Yeah, that's me. At one time anyway. Hoping to get back to pulling decent weight again this year.

Hard to really say without seeing it. I doubt that you're starting too high though. You really want your hips to start as high as possible because you can generate more power that way. Within reason anyway. Like how you're stronger from a half squat position compared to a full squat position, you know?

A lot of people do start too low and their hips shoot up to where they need to be anyway and they end up coming forward and stiff legging it. Two things will have to happen before the barbell leaves the floor. Your shins will need to be vertical and your hips will rise to where they need to be if they're not already. Might be what's going on with you if you're used to rolling the bar and squatting it up.

Take about 60% 1RM and record yourself straight from the side doing a few reps. After the first rep when you go to set it down and do the next rep pause it and look how your body is positioned in that moment. That's going to be the way you want to set up as far as hip height, back angle, and shin angle. Definitely shouldn't do the rolling thing.

^^^ this guy above me has the technical terms that I'm lacking. I'm totally self taught and uneducated lol.

Also with those proportions you might be better off pulling sumo too. I'm not exactly built for sumo, but I'm 100lbs stronger pulling sumo compared to conventional. Idk if that's something you've ever explored. It's way more technical though. It does sound like it might be better for you so you could be more upright.

I like it more when the height of the elevation is somewhere around 6-10 cm, I feel that my back works more and it allows me to feel the involvement of the muscles more and I also do it without a belt.

Using 35lb plates instead of 45lb plates is about right for me. Not sure how many cm that is. Too much of a deficit changes the mechanics of the lift too much in my opinion.

 

[Btcowboy]

Yeah, that's me. At one time anyway. Hoping to get back to pulling decent weight again this year.

Hard to really say without seeing it. I doubt that you're starting too high though. You really want your hips to start as high as possible because you can generate more power that way. Within reason anyway. Like how you're stronger from a half squat position compared to a full squat position, you know?

A lot of people do start too low and their hips shoot up to where they need to be anyway and they end up coming forward and stiff legging it. Two things will have to happen before the barbell leaves the floor. Your shins will need to be vertical and your hips will rise to where they need to be if they're not already. Might be what's going on with you if you're used to rolling the bar and squatting it up.

Take about 60% 1RM and record yourself straight from the side doing a few reps. After the first rep when you go to set it down and do the next rep pause it and look how your body is positioned in that moment. That's going to be the way you want to set up as far as hip height, back angle, and shin angle. Definitely shouldn't do the rolling thing.

^^^ this guy above me has the technical terms that I'm lacking. I'm totally self taught and uneducated lol.

Also with those proportions you might be better off pulling sumo too. I'm not exactly built for sumo, but I'm 100lbs stronger pulling sumo compared to conventional. Idk if that's something you've ever explored. It's way more technical though. It does sound like it might be better for you so you could be more upright.



Using 35lb plates instead of 45lb plates is about right for me. Not sure how many cm that is. Too much of a deficit changes the mechanics of the lift too much in my opinion.

Well said Perrin, and you have more than helped me increase my DL into the 500s which speaks to your thoughts and methods working for others

 

[JesterBOB]

Using 35lb plates instead of 45lb plates is about right for me. Not sure how many cm that is. Too much of a deficit changes the mechanics of the lift too much in my opinion.

Yes, you're right, that changes the mechanics of movement. More precisely, the greater the load on the back and it becomes stronger and stiffer. And I work out the technique of movement in other exercises. It has always helped me so much, to separate the exercises.

 

[JesterBOB]

Also to work on the power quality of the legs and back, but at the same time not losing the usual angles as in the usual sumo thrust. Pauses at different points of movement help well. For example, pause 5 cm from the floor, pause when the bar is under the knee. These pauses can be used together within the same repetition. I practice the pause value from 1-3 seconds, but you need to be very careful with the intensity of the weight. That is, if you have never done it, start deliberately with small weights, for example, 30-40% of your personal maximum and learn and feel the exercise and then increase it. Typically workloads are between 60 and 75%. The number of repetitions is from 1 to 4, the number of approaches is from 3 to 6.

 

[barbell001]

Also to work on the power quality of the legs and back, but at the same time not losing the usual angles as in the usual sumo thrust. Pauses at different points of movement help well. For example, pause 5 cm from the floor, pause when the bar is under the knee. These pauses can be used together within the same repetition. I practice the pause value from 1-3 seconds, but you need to be very careful with the intensity of the weight. That is, if you have never done it, start deliberately with small weights, for example, 30-40% of your personal maximum and learn and feel the exercise and then increase it. Typically workloads are between 60 and 75%. The number of repetitions is from 1 to 4, the number of approaches is from 3 to 6.

For sure adding in a pause makes an already hard lift absolutely Brutal!!! Even just 3 hard reps of pauses has me gassed afterwards.

 

[JesterBOB]

For sure adding in a pause makes an already hard lift absolutely Brutal!!! Even just 3 hard reps of pauses has me gassed afterwards.

Pauses are always hard no matter how many on the bar. But by my own example, I can say that this is a very effective way to increase strength and improve technique. Perhaps this will be useful to someone.

 

[Misterfister]

I've recently just started doing these from a deficit of 2", I've begun to realise that my quad strength or lack of is probably the main reason why I am nowhere near where I feel I should be in terms of my max deadlift.

Up until now I have only ever used deadlifts to train deadlift and I just seem to be going round in circles with it.

Does anyone else do these or found they are good for adding strength to the movement?

To me it literally feels like holding a bar in a leg press and thats purely where I feel the weakness in the exercise rather than higher up the range of motion in my lower back.

Yes absolutely, great way to program deadlifts.

Taking the belt off is great too.

 

[JesterBOB]

Yes absolutely, great way to program deadlifts.

Taking the belt off is great too.

And why remove the belt in order to use the stabilizer muscles to a greater extent?

 

[Misterfister]

And why remove the belt in order to use the stabilizer muscles to a greater extent?

I feel like my posterior chain has become much stronger