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Deadlifts - when?

Ted Shred

Ted Shred

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Howdy. New member here.

I've been training for a couple months to get back into shape and gain some muscle mass. I'm on a basic 4-day weight routine: Upper body on tues/sat (bench, military press, variety of back exercises - wide/narrow grip pulldowns; wide/narrow seated rows; shrugs; back extensions);legs on wed/sunday (squats, leg extensions, ham curls; variety of calf exercises).

I'd like to start doing deadlifts, but am a bit confused from what I'm reading on the interwebs. Should I do them on upper b day or leg day? Should I do them on both days (ie tues & sat if upper b or wed/sun if legs) or just one of the two? Maybe once a week, alternating between an upper day and a leg day?

Feedback would be most appreciated.

Cheers
 
I do them on my back day once a week,
 
I don't like squatting and deadlifting on the same day, so I just have a squat day and a deadlift day. People will debate all day when deadlift fits. Personally, I think it deserves it's own day.
 
Thanks for the input. Hmmmn... I guess I posed the question knowing the answer might not be black or white. Just got back from the gym and did some DL's after bench and shoulders but before back. Definitely have to work on form, particularly keeping my back straight, so I think it'll be a couple/few sessions before I start cranking things to the max. For now, I think I'll keep it on upper day. Sounds like DL's might work better in a routine with a different split than I have going right now but, with my work sched and the distance to the gym, tue/wed/sat/sun is by far the best for me so I'll see how it goes with DLs on tue/sat.
 
Deadlifts are a leg lift not a back lift. You should do them to train legs. You can do them on same day as squats or alternate between deadlifts and squats on your leg days.
 
After I run and after I get my post-run high protein, light snack. Or after I hit the heavy bag or skip rope.

Kind of a full body exercise.
 
physics. Where is the fulcrum? Hips.

It is a posterior chain movement with the primary movers being hamstring and glutes. The quads do help with the first phase of the lift (which is why some people -dos Remodiso -consider it to be a knee dominate movement) but the movement is still focused on driving the hips forward. Everything else is stabilizing the load via the limbs and torso (where the back comes into play). This exercise should be on leg day. It is not as if you do barbell bench press on "shoulder" day despite that fact that a majority of pressers in the gym get more stimulus at the anterior delts than pecs.

This is one of the major problems of splitting the body up into many parts instead of movement patterns. We start to work against our natural (and optimal) neuromuscular/biomechanical patterns.
 
You recommend squats and deads on the same day?
 
To jump in on the thread here, the OP works out legs twice a week. His situation is ideal for utilizing squats on one day and deads on the other.

And yes, IMO, it's okay to squat and dead in one session. Why wouldn't it be?
 
Yes Deadlifts, if done correctly mainly hit the hamstrings, glutes and quads. but it also works lower back, abs, shoulders and chest...i personally do stifflegged deads on back and leg day.
 
Traditional Deads - Back day

Straight-legged Deads - Leg day

That's how I roll anyway...
 
Even though there's differing opinions, and maybe even because of it, this is all good info - thanks. From all this, and given my current routine, I think what I'm going to do, well... once I get my DL form down and can start crankin' the intensity, is cut back my squats to once/week and do DL's on the following leg day followed by leg press instead of squats. So Wed. legs will be squats and Sunday will be DLs/ L. Press.

I have some form issues to work on (I do the traditional DLs and gotta keep my damn back straight!) but man I'm lovin' the whole DL thing. It just feels so freakin' athletic! The stance, the grip... I dunno even know how to quite explain it. What really struck me yesterday (first time ever doing DLs, mind you) was how, even though I wasn't maxing out during sets so wasn't really in any kind of distress (the good kind) like I strive for with my last few reps of a squat set, after each DL set it was like my whole body was taxed. I wasn't expecting that, considering I was more just getting used to the movement than anything else. I have a feeling that once I can do these things properly they're going to be a cornerstone of my workout on par with squats.

edit: actually, cuzza my bad DL form yesterday, I think I might substitute leg press for squats this afternoon.... it's nothin' major but I'm definitely feeling it in my lower back this morning.
 
MDR said:
I don't like squatting and deadlifting on the same day, so I just have a squat day and a deadlift day. People will debate all day when deadlift fits. Personally, I think it deserves it's own day.
Click to expand...

This. Deadlifts deserve their own day.
 
Give it it's own day. It screws with your other lifts too much to do it on the same day as anything else. I've started doing deadlifts and grip on the same day.
 
^agree

i've tried it with back days and i've seen better gains in strength and mass once i've gave deadlifts their own day. but hey thats just me
 
You guys go in to the gym and just do 1 lift? I thought I was an efficient lifter, but I'd be feeling like I'm wasting my time only doing 1 exercise, even if it is deads.

And to the OP, since you're new to deads, you'll be seeing a lot of carryover in to your other lifts. I feel like when your body gets accustomed to lifting a lot of weight straight off ground, it gets used to lifting heavy weight in all other motions. You'll be setting a lot of PRs soon.
 
Regarding when to do deadlifts...
Sure you could do them on their own day, but when is that day? Two days after squats? Three days? Four days, but then when do you do squats again?
The same questions apply if you do them with back.

If you do deadlifts on leg day, simply rearrange things a bit. When you decide an order in which to perform exercises on leg day you usually select something like squats as the primary movement. As secondary you may select something like leg press or fronts squats, good mornings or stiff-legs and so on.
When you're thinking this thru for the day simply substitute the would-be primary with deads.
What's the big big mystery?
 
Last edited:
I do them on my lighter chest/back day

and I do them first thing while I am at my strongest. Deads should not be an afterthought. Better to go home after just deads than to do a whole workout and skip your deads imo.
 
squigader said:
Give it it's own day. It screws with your other lifts too much to do it on the same day as anything else. I've started doing deadlifts and grip on the same day.
Click to expand...

I use dead day as a potpourri day that I can rotate other exercises that I may miss during the week into. I use it for dumbbell pullovers and right now I'm using it as an extra dip and pullup day. Sometimes I use it for arms instead...just whatever I feel I haven't hit hard enough between chest/back, leg, or shoulder day.
 
HeavyBomber said:
Regarding when to do deadlifts...
Sure you could do them on their own day, but when is that day? Two days after squats? Three days? Four days, but then when do you do squats again?
The same questions apply if you do them with back.

If you do deadlifts on leg day, simply rearrange things a bit. When you decide an order in which to perform exercises on leg day you usually select something like squats as the primary movement. As secondary you may select something like leg press or fronts squats, good mornings or stiff-legs and so on.
When you're thinking this thru for the day simply substitute the would-be primary with deads.
What's the big big mystery?
Click to expand...

I usually pull on Saturday, mostly because it is a long day. I like to pull and then focus on accesory work all based on the deadlift. I Squat and do squat related movements on Tuesday. I like at least 72 hours to recover between squatting and deadlift days. Bench is on Monday, with a light day on Thursday. On Thursday, I might work in some overhead press work as well. Sometimes I'll go in on friday and do a VERY light leg workout, but nothing that will compromise deadlifting the next day. More to limber up and stretch a bit than anything. My focus is on powerlifting, so I do very little in the way of isolation movements.
 
HeavyBomber said:
Regarding when to do deadlifts...
Sure you could do them on their own day, but when is that day? Two days after squats? Three days? Four days, but then when do you do squats again?
The same questions apply if you do them with back.

If you do deadlifts on leg day, simply rearrange things a bit. When you decide an order in which to perform exercises on leg day you usually select something like squats as the primary movement. As secondary you may select something like leg press or fronts squats, good mornings or stiff-legs and so on.
When you're thinking this thru for the day simply substitute the would-be primary with deads. ...
Click to expand...

If any one post sums up my thinking in how I resolved this for myself, it's this one. Will probably end up tinkering with my whole routine as time goes on, but right now the plan is squats etc on Wednesday then DL/L Press etc on Sat then back to squats etc on Wed.
 
Last edited:
GMO said:
Traditional Deads - Back day

Straight-legged Deads - Leg day

That's how I roll anyway...
Click to expand...

Yeah that how I roll too. Traditional deads is its own day.
 
for your split, i suggest one week do straight leg deads on back day then the next week do full dead lifts either back or leg day. i get more of a leg workout when form is proper.
 
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