The Deadlift

Above, Bill “Peanuts” West doing modified “rack” pulls while training with his crew in his garage!

I have found the deadlift to be a tremendous exercise for developing overall strength and packing muscle onto your entire body which can only rival the benefits of the squat.

I have experimented with many set – rep variables as well as frequency of deadlifting.

I have found that when deadlifting, I go back to the less is more principle.

A few good sets of no more than 5 reps per set.

Once in a while I’ll crank out high rep deads with 225 lbs for 2 – 3 sets, but once again, less is more.

Sure I can do 5 sets of 20 reps but instead, with the deadlift, I hit it just hard enough, no more, no less.

I suggest you do the same. Experiment and find what works best for you.

You can deadlift once a week to get the technique down, one week go heavy, next week go lighter and use submaximal effort.

Every 4 weeks take a week off from the deadlifts to allow the lower back to recover.

Rather than always utilizing the bent knee deadlift, you can also perform the Romanian Deadlift (RDL), the Sumo Deadlift and rack pulls as well.

No matter which deadlift you use, make sure your technique is text book perfect, no exceptions.

Be ready to start slapping on slabs of rock hard muscle on every ounce of your body with the deadlift!

And if you Really wanna take your strength and muscle building to the next level, then train like a Gladiator and add
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