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Deadlift Training - Bruce Wilhelm

Bruce Wilhelm

Bev Francis

A Mini Deadlift Clinic


by Bruce Wilhelm

I have always considered myself to be somewhat of a natural deadlifter.


However, when I got into serious Olympic lifting in 1975, I began doing some
exercises which I feel had a very strong positive effect on my deadlifting ability.

Of course, I had always done power cleans, but my deadlift training per se was
very infrequent. Nevertheless, when my ability in the power clean reached 385, I
found I could deadlift over 700 without a great deal of specialized training on the
lift itself.

However, as I got more involved in Olympic lifting, I worked pulls and bent-leg
good mornings really hard. And of all the exercises that I keyed on, the latter, the
bent-leg good morning, boosted my deadlift the most . . . to over 800 in fact.
Hence, I would work power cleans, hi-pulls and good mornings, and on occasion
do a limit deadlift.

Before the Worlds Strongest Man competition in 1978, I worked particularly hard
on the deadlift in order to get my back strength up for the various demanding
events in this contest. And this extra effort paid off, as only Don Reinhoudt a
specialist on the deadlift, having done nearly 900 pounds surpassed me by just
five pounds in the car lift, which is a similar test of back strength.

Here is the routine I came up with and followed in preparation for this contest.
The poundage and reps given indicate my maximum output.

Tuesday
Power Snatch up to 330 or 352 x 1.
Snatch Grip Hi-Pull up to 396 for 2 sets of 3 reps.
Stiff-leg Deadlift 474 x 10.
Back Squat 683 for 2 sets of 3.

Thursday
Bent-Leg Good Morning to 396 x 5.
Push Press 462 x 3.

Saturday
Power Clean and Jerk to 452 x 1.
Clean Grip Hi-Pull 507 x 2 sets of 3.
Back Squat 485 x 5 sets of 3.

On the following Tuesday I would do a couple of triples in the snatch with 286
and then some snatch grip hi-pulls with 330 for triples, plus some light good
mornings three sets or 10 reps with 198 pounds. Then on Thursday, Id go for a
maximum deadlift.

I was able to cycle this routine three or four times and found that it gave me
tremendous strength.

I know that there are many lifters who feel that its crazy to do power cleans,
power snatches and other Olympic lifting assistance exercises to improve the
deadlift, but they do work. Some caution should be observed, though, when
doing good mornings, as the bar should be comfortably set on the shoulders, the
knees bend, and the head kept up throughout the movement.

Squatting also has a strong influence on ones success in the deadlift. The leg
strength derived from this exercise really helps when moving the weight off the
floor.

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