The beginner Series: deadlift accessories.

The beginner series from James Kennedy continues with some deadlift accessories. 

Cliff Notes - 

Word count - 1350

Time to read - 4.5 minutes. 

Main Points - Deadlift variations and strengthening the legs and back are your most effective way to improve your deadlift. 

The deadlift is fundamentally a simple lift - accessory work for the deadlift is also simple.  The primary muscles involved in the deadlift are the hamstrings and the muscles of the back, primarily the lats.  To improve the deadlift it is important to drive hypertrophy in these muscle groups. The deadlift is usually the lift which allows you to lift the most weight and is therefore the most taxing on the central nervous system. The accessory work for the deadlift can also be used to address grip strength issues. 

For improving hypertrophy in the muscles involved in the deadlift, the best option is for some close variation on the deadlift that allows you to work the muscles involved from a similar position than the standard deadlift. These include, but are not limited to, paused deadlifts, block or rack pulls, deficit deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts and stiff legged deadlifts. Alongside these close variations of the deadlift there are more general compound exercises which will help drive hypertrophy in the back muscles - primarily bent over row and the pendlay row. Isolation exercises are also useful for deadlift accessory work - with glute ham raises, hamstring curls and lat pull downs all useful exercises. Within this article we will go through the main deadlift variations, compound and isolation exercises that form the basis of deadlift accessory work. 

The deadlift variations all help address specific technical and strength related issues in the deadlift. Paused deadlifts are deadlifts with pauses at some point in the lift - usually just off the floor or at knee height. The paused deadlift is a great accessory pulling exercise for beginners to correct balance issues and stay in the right position throughout the lift. This is especially valuable for people who are transitioning from conventional to sumo deadlifts -a pause just off the floor stops you shooting your hips up and just performing a wide stance, conventional deadlift.  

Performing a paused variation of a lift will usually reduce the amount of weight you can use. Block pulls or block deadlifts are a deadlift performed with the plates elevated on blocks or mats 2-8 inches of the floor. This shortens the range of motion and allows you to lift more weight. This can be used in two ways - it can be done for low reps and supra maximal loads or for high reps with sub maximal loads. Performing block pulls for triples would allow you to get used to handling weights above your deadlift one rep max which can remove some of the psychological hang ups around performing heavy deadlifts, as well as training your muscles and CNS to handle heavy weights. Alternatively, and more likely with Danny Lee’s coaching, you can also perform block pulls  for high reps. This allows you to perform high reps at heavier loads, than you usually would, driving hypertrophy in the hamstrings and back. Personally, I have found this a very effective training technique, building up to 3x10 @ 200kg block pulls whilst having a competition best of 220kg. When I next competed I hit a 25kg deadlift PR - block pulls were a great exercise for me. 

Deficit deadlifts are the opposite of block pulls as they increase the range of motion. To perform a deficit deadlift you elevate your feet on a plate or box with the deadlift bar on the floor. This increases the range of motion, which can be helpful for people who are weak off the floor and help develop the hamstring muscles as they are working through a greater range of motion.

The snatch grip deadlift is another variation which increases the range of motion through which you lift the weight. To perform a snatch grip deadlift you take a wider grip - similar to the grip taken by olympic weightlifters whilst performing a snatch - usually with your hands outside the rings on the bar. This increases the range of motion at both the bottom and top of the deadlift as the bar locks out higher, closer to your hips making it a great accessory exercise for people who are weak off the floor and at lockout. When you are performing a snatch grip deadlift, it is helpful to use lifting straps. As you’re taking a wide grip on the bar, it can be difficult to hold the bar unless you’re using a hook grip, which becomes uncomfortable when you’re using high reps.  

The Romanian Deadlift (RDL) and Stiff-legged deadlifts are both great variations for targeting the hamstring specifically without taxing the back. Romanian deadlifts are primarily a hip hinge movement from the top down. To begin a RDL you either perform a normal deadlift from the floor before the first rep or set the bar in a rack around hip height, picking it up and stepping forward. Once you are stood up with the bar in your hands, arch your back and slightly bend your knees. Then hinge forward at the hips until you feel a stretch in the hamstrings and stand back up. 

The stiff-legged deadlift variation are similar to the RDL. You begin with the bar on the floor and perform a deadlift with your knees slightly unlocked and perform the rep by just hinging at the hips. This variation requires you to have a greater degree of hip mobility than the Romanian Deadlift. 

The final deadlift variation is the single leg deadlift. Single-leg work is typically unpopular with powerlifters; they’re hard and you have to use low weights. However, single leg deadlifts are a great exercise for stretching and strengthening the hip muscles, primarily the abductors and external rotators which can help keep the hips healthy - increasing longevity and keeping you feeling good for your heavy squats and deadlifts. 

Outside of deadlift variations, there are a couple of good accessory compound and isolation exercises which help develop the muscles used in the deadlift. For the hamstrings, glute ham raises,  nordic curls, leg curls and single leg curls are useful for developing hamstring hypertrophy. To perform these exercises requires some equipment - either a glute ham raise or leg curl machine.  These exercises can be done for high reps, 10-20 reps, for multiple sets. 

For hip and glute hypertrophy the best exercises are squats, deadlifts and there close variations. Alongside these exercises, hip thrusts are a great additional exercise. To perform these, rest with your back against a bench with a barbell across your hips. Thrust up with your hips and drive the barbell towards the ceiling and contract your hips when you reach lockout. By targeting the hips and glutes, you will drastically improve your lockout strength for the deadlift. 

The final set of accessory exercises for the deadlifts are barbell rows and their variations; the barbell row, the underhand row and the penally row. These exercises all target the muscles of the back and help keep the shoulders healthy for bench press. Generally speaking, deadlifts are the best exercise for developing the back muscles but rows are a great option to help develop the lats and deltoids. Rows - and their variations - should be an accessory work in your program to help protect the shoulder from heavy pressing work, but they’re a great exercise for developing back strength for the deadlift. 

The deadlift is an exercise where the accessory work is most similar to the main lift. For most lifters, issues within the deadlift are either technical - i.e. the hips raising too fast - or weakness at a specific position within the lift - e.g. at lockout. Deadlift accessory work therefore attempts to address these issues by replicating the movement closely with subtle variations to target these weaknesses. The muscles involved in the deadlift: the hamstrings, glutes and lats; all receive significant hypertrophic stimulus from the deadlift and its variations. Additional isolation work to target these muscle groups will help improve the deadlift by making the muscles involved bigger and stronger - with hamstring curls, glute bridges and rows all excellent choices.  Combining your main deadlift with a well targeted accessory variation to address weakness with some hamstring and back isolation work to drive hypertrophy will have you pulling a PR in no time!

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