Everybody loves variety right? Sometimes variety is great for training, sometimes it’s the death of your training.
Variety just for the sake of variety is not really a productive way to go about things in the gym. The caveat to that, for me, is on the margins – when we’re dealing with exercises that are not part of our primary group of core barbell lifts, then a little variety is fine. It keeps things fun and interesting in the gym without sacrificing productivity and efficiency.
Does it matter if we barbell curl or dumbbell curl? No. Does it matter if we train triceps with a cable machine or an ez curl bar? Not really. Sit ups or leg raises? Who cares.
But what about variety on the main lifts? Squats, Presses, and Deadlifts. What’s better – switch things up all the time or stay consistent?
It seems like I write the next two words in just about every article I write – it depends.
For novices we know that the basics are plenty. 4-6 exercises repeated over and over again, add a little weight each time, done.
But it gets trickier as an intermediate and advanced lifter. Its not as simple as just adding a little weight to your sets of 5 each time you go into the gym. As an early intermediate, we don’t train much variety on the exercises. Most good strength coaches I know have found that early intermediates still need a bit of frequency on the core lifts for optimal progression. Maybe not heavy 3 days per week, but most do better with at least one heavy session per week on each of the main exercises, and most probably do better on 2 sessions per week on the main lifts, even if one is heavy and one is light. It varies from lifter to lifter based on age, absolute strength, overall goals, etc. But basically the variables we manipulate for early intermediates tend to be in terms of sets/reps/frequency, but not so much exercise selection.
However, after many months of early intermediate style programming, you start to run out of set/rep manipulations for all the exercises. It’s helpful to have some other variables to play with to keep a lifter progressing and growing.
That’s where we get into exercise selection.
Basically the way I think about this is by breaking things down into 2 different categories: Variants & Assistance.
To me, assistance work is your “weak link” training. Some will say that if you just do the primary barbell lifts often enough you won’t have any weak links. I disagree. Most assistance work is isolation type work (though not always), it’s done for higher reps and usually involves apparatus other than a barbell – dumbbells, bodyweight, cables, machines, etc. But over time, I think all later stage intermediates and advanced lifters do better when they regularly perform some assistance work to build muscle mass and strength in specific areas of the body that can help in the performance of the primary barbell lifts.
Then we come to lift variations. These are exercises that mirror their parent lift both in performance of the lift and in load. These include all sort of variations performed for partial ranges of motion inside a rack, variations that use accommodating resistance (bands and chains), the use of specialty bars (safety bar squats, axle presses, etc) or even just changes in the way we carry the bar (front squats, close grip bench, etc).
Lift variations are an important component of long term programming, but are trickier to work with than assistance exercises. Why? Well, because they mirror the parent lifts so closely they create a lot of stress. Stress is a good thing, but when overdosed or mismanaged it can screw up the program. You don’t just haphazardly throw in some Rack Pulls at the end of the workout the way you might haphazardly throw in some bicep curls. It has consequences for the rest of your week, or even the rest of your month.
So in this article, let’s look at some popular Deadlift Variations. The purpose of this article is NOT a “how to” for the actual mechanical performance of these exercises. This will simply be a short expose of how I like to best utilize some of these variations in a client’s programming.
Deadlift Variant Category #1: Partials / Top End / Overload
These types of variations are highly stressful. Because they actually use more weight than a deadlift they are quite taxing on the nervous system. These movements also tend to place a high load on the lower-back and should be used with caution.
Rack Pulls / Block Pulls
Rack Pulls and Block Pulls allow us to pull some very heavy loads for a reduced range of motion. This has the benefit of being extremely stressful to the central nervous system (i.e. we get good at straining against super heavy weight) and also directly targeting the lumbar muscles in a way that no other exercise even comes close to. The downside to Rack Pulls and Block Pulls is the same as the upside – they fry our CNS and our lower backs.
For this reason, they must be used with extreme care. Frequency must be limited to every other week at most, although I think once every 3rd week might be even better for longer term usage. When you go all out on a Rack Pull it takes a while to recover. I’ve seen guys come in and pull 600×5 on and the following week they can’t budge 500 off the pins for a single. You can’t do them heavy weekly. Rack Pulls should be rotated with regular deadlifts or with other deadlift variants explained in this article as part of a rotation of movements that get included in a lifters “heavy” pulling day.
For volume, 1-2 sets is optimal. And this would be 1 heavy set in the 1-5 range followed by a back off set of 5-8 reps at a reduced load. If each set is maximal or near maximal, I can’t see a reason to do more than 2 sets of Rack Pulls.
So even though Deadlifts are technically lighter than Rack Pulls, you could never set up a Rack Pull as a Heavy Day, and a Deadlift as a Light Day. Way too much stress in a single week for most lifters.
Example #1 (4-Day Texas Method)
Week 1 Week 2
Monday – Intensity Squat / Light Pulls Monday – Intensity Squat / Light Pulls
- Squat 5RM -Squat 3RM
- Power Cleans 5 x 3 -Power Snatch 5 x 2
Thursday – Volume Squat / Heavy Pulls Thursday – Volume Squat / Heavy Pulls
- Squats 5 x 5 -Squats 5 x 5
- Deadlifts 1 x 5 -Rack Pulls 1 x 5
Example #2 (Heavy – Light – Medium)
Week 1 Week 2
Monday: Monday:
- Heavy Squat 4 x 5 -Heavy Squat 4×5
- Medium Press 3 x 5 -Medium Press 3×5
- Medium Deadlift: Stiff Leg Dead 3×5 -Medium Deadlift: Power Clean 5 x 3
Wednesday: Wednesday:
- Light Squat 2 x 5 -Light Squat 2×5
- Bench Press 4 x 5 -Bench Press 4×5
- Light Deadlift: Power Clean 5 x 2 -Light Deadlift: Power Snatch 5×2
Friday: Friday:
- Medium Squat 3 x 5 -Medium Squat 3×5
- Heavy Press 4 x 5 -Heavy Press 4×5
- Heavy Deadlift 1 x 5 –Heavy Deadlift: Rack Pulls 1 x 5
Rack Pulls and/or Block Pulls could also be used as a back off exercise immediately following a set of heavy conventional deadlifts. For instance, the lifter might perform 1 set of 1-5 reps off the floor and then move the barbell up onto some blocks about 6″ off the floor. Following a 5-10 minute rest period and an adjustment of the load, he might pull a set off the blocks for 3-8 reps in order to train the top end of the lift.
Banded / Reverse Band Deadlifts
Although set up differently, both ways of using bands to deadlift change the load at the top of the lift. Banded Deadlifts and especially Reverse Band Deadlifts should be used like Rack Pulls / Block Pulls as “heavy day” variations that are programmed in place of regular heavy deadlifts during the week. Assuming the lifts are being trained hard and heavy, banded and reverse band deadlifts do not fit into a light or medium training day.
Banded Deadlifts especially make an excellent way to perform back off work after regular deadlifts. It’s quite simple to strip some plates off the bar, throw a band over the top of the barbell and perform 1-2 additional sets in the 5-8 rep range. Especially if the lower back is considered a weak point in the lift, banded deadlifts as a stand alone heavy day exercise or as back off work is an excellent choice.
Speed Work
Banded Deadlifts make an excellent choice for Dynamic Effort or Speed Work. My favorite way to perform speed work is with about 60% of my 1RM plus some light band tension. I’m not a fan of very heavy band tension for heavy work or speed work if you are a raw lifter. But 5-10 singles at 60% + light band tension is an excellent formula to increase power. If used in this context, I’ve found that Dynamic Effort Deadlifts are suitable for medium day type work and can be used with heavier deadlift versions later in the week.
Example (Heavy – Light – Medium)
Week 1 Week 2
Monday: Monday:
- Heavy Squat 4 x 5 -Heavy Squat 4×5
- Medium Press 3 x 5 -Medium Press 3×5
- Medium DL: Speed DL 10x1x70% -Medium DL: Speed DL 10x1x60%+mini bands
Wednesday: Wednesday:
- Light Squat 2 x 5 -Light Squat 2×5
- Bench Press 4 x 5 -Bench Press 4×5
- Light Deadlift: Power Clean 5 x 2 -Light Deadlift: Power Snatch 5×2
Friday: Friday:
- Medium Squat 3 x 5 -Medium Squat 3×5
- Heavy Press 4 x 5 -Heavy Press 4×5
- Heavy Deadlift 1 x 5 –Heavy Deadlift: Rack Pulls 1 x 5
Deadlift Category #2: Extended Range of Motion
Extended range of motion variants are obviously those that target certain links in the deadlift chain for greater stress by increasing their range of motion by altering the mechanics of the lift. Generally these lifts are done with lighter loads than a regular conventional deadlift and with the exception of one, seem to be less stressful overall, making them good candidates for light/medium pulling days for some lifters.
Stiff Leg Deadlifts / Romanian Deadlifts / Goodmornings
All 3 of these deadlift variations place a tremendous amount of stress on the hamstrings. If you need extra work on the hamstrings, you need to be doing at least one of these exercises. They also hit the lower back hard (although not as hard as rack pulls).
Stiff Leg Deadlifts (SLDLs) and Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs) often get used interchangeably from a terminology standpoint. Technically, the difference is that an SLDL starts from the ground and is de-weighted between reps on the ground like a conventional deadlift. RDLs start in the hang position, usually pulled out of the rack about thigh height, and use a stretch reflex in the hamstrings to return to the top.
Some people only take RDLs down to their knees…..I personally do not see the point of this. If you want a partial range of motion, do a Rack Pull. It will work better for partials. RDLs are meant to train the hamstrings and hamstrings are trained better when they are taken through a LONG range of motion and STRETCHED DEEPLY at the bottom of the rep. That’s why I prefer SLDLs or RDLs for a full range of motion (plates hit the floor), or even better…..I like to stand on a small elevated platform (2-4 inches) for an increased range of motion and deeper stretch in the hamstrings.
SLDLs and RDLs make excellent choices for light/medium day pulling variants with a regular heavy deadlift day later in the week. SLDLs and RDLs are best trained for sets of 5-8 repetitions for 1-3 heavy work sets. I don’t like putting the hamstrings in a maximally stretched position with insanely heavy loads which is why I don’t often have clients perform SLDLs or RDLs for less than 5-reps.
My personal favorite use for an SLDL is as back off work after regular heavy deadlifts. This is a great way to add volume to a heavy deadlift session without frying your nervous system for the next week. After the completion of a heavy deadlift set in the 1-5 range, its simple, and very logistically efficient to strip off a few plates and perform 2-3 additional sets of stiff leg deadlifts in the 5-8 range.
Three Example Uses of an SLDL:
4-Day Texas Method Example #1
Monday – Intensity Squat / Volume Deadlift
- Squat – 5Rm
- Stiff Leg Deadlift 3 x 5
Thursday – Intensity Deadlift / Volume Squat
- Deadlift – 5RM
- Squat 3 x 5
4-Day Texas Method Example #2
Monday – Volume Squat
- Squat – 5 x 5
Thursday – Intensity Squat/Intensity & Volume Deadlift
- Squat 5RM
- Deadlift 5RM
- Stiff Leg Deadlift 2 x 5
The second example is one of my favorite protocols for lifters of 40. Its how I set things up in one of my featured programs: Strength & Mass After 40.
On a 3-Day Heavy-Light-Medium Program….
- Monday (Heavy) – Deadlift or Rack Pull 1 x 5
- Wednesday (Light) – Power Clean or Power Snatch for 5 x 2
- Friday (Medium) – Stiff Leg Deadlift 3 x 5
Goodmornings kinda looks like a squat variation to a lot of people, but they are technically a deadlift variation. The only similarity they have to a squat is the position of the barbell across the back, but mechanically they are much closer to deadlifts. Goodmornings, done correctly probably stress the hamstrings more than any other movement. A few tips for Goodmornings:
- Do them deep. Take them down to torso at parallel with low back in hard extension. Lower them to pins in the power rack and briefly pause. This will ensure you get to parallel each and every rep if you set the pins up at the right height.
- Use a cambered bar or safety squat bar if you have one. A traditional barbell will keep rolling up your neck and is a general pain in the ass although it still works. My favorite bar for these is a Cambered Bar but Safety Bar is good too. Much easier to control when the weight gets heavy.
- Train in the 5-8 range for 2-3 sets across.
Deficit Deadlifts
Whereas SLDLs and RDLs manipulate the range of motion of a deadlift in order to place extra stress on the hamstrings, deficit deadlifts place extra stress on the quads. By standing on a 2-4 inch block and doing regular deadlifts, the trainee is forced into a deeper squat position prior to initiating the exercise. If you need a little more horsepower breaking the barbell off the floor on a conventional deadlift, this is a tremendous exercise to try.
It is very important to NOT turn this exercise into a stiff-leg deadlift which is easy to do if you get sloppy with form. The idea is to keep the quads engaged in the movement for a prolonged period of time, so keep your butt down, your chest up, and drive you and the barbell straight up! Don’t let the ass come up first and turn this into an ugly SLDL. It happens all the time.
Deficit Deadlifts can be used in a variety of ways in your programming. These are very very stressful however, and I really do prefer that trainees use these on a heavy training day. I would not advise attempting to make heavy deficit deadlifts into a light or medium day exercise. It’s simply too much for the long term in my opinion. Deficits can be used in place of regular deadlifts on an every other week rotation, or as part of a longer series of 3-5 deadlift variants that all work across the heavy pulling day.
Deficit Deadlifts also make an excellent choice for back off work after regular deadlifts. After a set of heavy deadlifts, you can strip about 10% off the bar and do 1-2 sets of deficit deadlifts to gain some volume.
Deficit Deadlifts can be trained in a variety of rep ranges. For a very heavy day, top sets of 1-5 reps are appropriate, and for back off work, sets of 5-8 work well.
In Summary……
So why do we make things so complex? If I just want a bigger deadlift why don’t I just do deadlifts? For some people this works. They make great deadlift progress simply by manipulating sets/reps/frequency. For others there will be a physical and sometimes mental/emotional need to do something different.
When you deadlift gets legit “stuck” and you can’t make progress, I’ve found that the best method of unsticking the lift is to spend some time setting some PRs on deadlift variants that carry over well to the conventional deadlift.
In other words – take your Stiff leg Deadlift from 315 x 5 to 365 x 5. Take your Rack Pull from 455×5 to 500×5. Take your Deficit Deadlift from 365×5 to 405×5.
Even if you did just those 3 exercises for several months and didn’t Deadlift at all, I can just about guarantee a new Deadlift PR when you get back to pulling conventional.
