How to Increase Your Deadlift

A concrete eight-week plan with loading percentages, accessory work and technique fixes that add 10 to 20 kilograms to your deadlift.

For most people the deadlift stalls because of bad planning, not because of a lack of strength. If you have spent months doing the same thing, one heavy set to failure every week, your body has no reason to adapt and your back never gets time to recover. What follows is a concrete way to move your max by 10 to 20 kilograms in eight to twelve weeks.

Start from a real number

Without a starting point everything else is guesswork. You do not need a true one-rep max. One clean set of 3 to 5 reps is enough, then estimate:

3 reps is roughly 93% of your max
5 reps is roughly 87%
8 reps is roughly 80%

Example: five clean reps with 140 kg means an estimated max of about 160 kg. Calculate every percentage below from that number and round down to the nearest 2.5 kg plate change.

Two sessions a week, only one of them heavy

One day a week is not enough stimulus, three is too much for the lower back of someone working eight hours a day. Two days, at least 72 hours apart, is usually the sweet spot:

Heavy day: the working sets from the plan, 3 minutes rest between sets.
Technique day: 5 sets of 3 reps at 65 to 70%, 90 seconds rest, every rep starting from a dead stop on the floor with no bounce.

The eight-week plan

Weeks 1 to 4

Heavy day: 4 sets of 4 reps. Start at 72.5% and add 2.5% each week, so 72.5 / 75 / 77.5 / 80%. The last set should finish with 2 to 3 reps left in the tank, no fewer.

Weeks 5 to 8

Heavy day: 3 sets of 3 reps at 80 / 82.5 / 85 / 87.5%. Rest goes up to 4 minutes. If bar speed drops noticeably in week five, repeat the same weight the following week instead of adding.

Week 9: deload and test

Five days with no heavy pulling, just 2 sets of 3 reps at 60%. Then the test: warm up at 40, 60, 75 and 85%, then take one attempt at 102.5 to 105% of your old max. If it moves smoothly, add another 2.5 kg and take a second attempt.

Accessory work that actually pays off

Romanian deadlift: 3 sets of 8 reps at 60 to 65% of your deadlift max.
Deficit deadlift from 5 cm: 3 sets of 5 at 65 to 70%, fixes a weak start off the floor.
Barbell row: 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps, your back has to hold the load, not just your legs.
Squat: 3 sets of 5, if the bar leaves the floor slowly the legs are usually the limit.
Loaded carries: 4 rounds of 30 metres for grip and trunk.

Two or three of these per session is plenty. Do five accessory lifts and next week your main lift pays for it.

Technique: where the kilograms go missing

Bar over mid-foot, about 2 to 3 cm from your shins before you bend down.
Pull the slack out first: take the play out of the plates until you hear a quiet click, then pull.
Shoulders just in front of the bar, hips neither too high nor too low.
Breathe into your stomach and brace hard before every rep, exhale only after the bar is back down.
Finish standing tall with the glutes squeezed, no leaning back.

If your upper back rounds at 90%, the problem is usually not back strength but the fact that you skipped the weeks at 80%. Go back a step and repeat that percentage.

Grip and gear

For most people the grip gives out before the back does. Use a mixed grip (one hand over, one under) only for sets above 85%, and swap sides from set to set. Chalk helps more than anything else. Save straps for accessory work and sets where you are not testing grip. Footwear: a flat, firm sole or bare feet, never soft running shoes.

Recovery and food

Protein 1.6 to 2.2 g per kilogram of body weight per day, which is 130 to 175 g for an 80 kg lifter.
Carbohydrates at least 4 g per kilogram on heavy days, roughly 320 g at 80 kg.
Sleep 7 to 9 hours. At these loads the difference shows clearly after a few weeks of 5-hour nights.
A small surplus of 200 to 300 kcal per day if pure strength is the goal.

When to see a doctor

A tired lower back for a day or two after heavy pulling is normal. See a doctor if you get pain running down the leg below the knee, numbness or weakness in the foot, pain that wakes you at night, or pain lasting more than two weeks despite rest. Loss of bladder or bowel control together with back pain is an emergency, go to urgent care the same day. Talk to a doctor before moving above 85% if you have uncontrolled high blood pressure, a known hernia, or are pregnant, since loading in those cases needs to be planned individually.

The short version

Measure or estimate your max and base every set on it, otherwise there is no plan.
Pull twice a week: one heavy day and one technique day at 65 to 70%.
Eight weeks: 4x4 from 72.5 to 80%, then 3x3 from 80 to 87.5%, then deload and test.
Two or three accessory lifts per session, not five, and 1.6 to 2.2 g of protein per kilogram daily.
Pain down the leg, numbness or a weak foot means a doctor, not one more set.