Deadlifts and hypertrophy

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi,

First up - thanks for all the content. Still at the stage where I am lapping up all the excellent information and barbell wisdom! There are a some other sources that apply rigorous science to powerlifting (though very few), but Barbell Medicine also focus on integrating this with health outcomes (which is the reason I came to lifting in the first place, rather than purely increasing the weight on the bar).

I’ve seen Jordan post somewhere that deadlifts are not particularly great for hypertrophy outcomes, does this relationship also work the other way? - i.e. is your deadlift 1RM less related to muscle size vs lift mechanics/practice? I’m wondering as although my squat, bench and press numbers are increasing, my deadlift seems pretty stuck at the moment (no progress in 6-9 months, whereas other lifts are up 5-10% in this time. I’ve also been doing a gradual bulk, up 4kg in that time frame). Just trying to tease out some information that might help me increase my deadlift! - Would like to devote some training time and energy to this specifically. I’ve tried your strength and hypertrophy templates and now on your group programming.

2

Mart,

Thanks for the post and the kind words.

In general, cross sectional area of muscle is related to strength potential. With that in mind, yes, getting bigger muscles tends to drive one aspect of strength improvements. That said, neurological adaptations are extremely important for 1RM performance and I’d be curious of your programming given your reported plateau.

-Jordan

3

Thanks - you probably need some background details -

40 yrs old (so I don’t expect lightning progress, just enjoying the process), 1.71m, now 77kg, lifting for about 18 months. This year have done the 7 week GPP hypertrophy, followed by 4 day hypertrophy and strength II templates (have stuck to leg presses where there was a choice in RDL/leg press in strength template). Since April 1RM bench and squat have increased from 100kg to 107.5kg, and 135kg to 147.5kg (so definitely not fast progress). Deadlift has been stuck on 165kg, and progress with it seems to follow a set pattern - relatively quick progress (or feels like improvements), followed by a stall and then regress over a month or so. Prior to this year (so in the first 9 months of lifting) I had 2 back tweaks from deadlifting, which might have caused an issue re how far I have ended up being willing to push myself. Both times I needed to deload to <80% for about 6 weeks owing to pain (I have followed your pain science information, and just decreased load to tolerable level and worked up).

What I find particularly difficult with deadlift is the judgement of RPE - I can really grind out a set with pretty similar looking slow reps, unlike bench for example where I can be pretty sure how much is left in the tank. This might affect mental attitude to deadlifts given I am likely wary or scuppering progress with another back tweak.

The templates I have done so far have generally had 1 deadlift exercise, and one deadlift accessory per week. Might it be sensible to add a few other deadlifting sets via second accessory? - that being said I’m on the group programming (intermediate), and probably best not to deviate from what is prescribed as I’m only 2 months in… (feel I have been getting good results from improved form through the video checks in group programming).

4

Mart,

A few things here:

  1. I would not expect slower progress based on your age.
  2. It sounds like you’ve had ~3 months of missed deadlift training, which may compromise your results in addition to training a variety of rep ranges compared to routinely practicing singles or focusing on low repetition strength.
  3. I don’t know that you need more deadlift training, but rather I’d suggest doing Strength I or II and repeat them 2 or 3x in a row while you become more trained.

-Jordan

5

Thanks for this. Really helpful.

Looking back, the main reason I got the back tweaks was probably owing to the attitude developed in linear progression programming - adding weight to the bar every session I was likely at RPE 10 for deadlifts when I started doing your templates, and only doing a single set of 5. I probably expected immediate progress, and the extra volume (deadlifts sets plus deadlift accessories) plus not really knowing what RPE 8 was (or really sticking to it anyway) meant that the stress became excessive.

Anyway - I’ve learnt my lesson, will stick to RPE 8-9 tops rather than obsess about needing to add weight to the bar every single session. Whilst I also slowly try to work out the optimal training volume, intensity and stress that gives me the best overall long term progress (i.e. work out some of my nuances!).