Should You Do HEAVY Deadlifts?! | Dan John

[@Altoseb]

I think there is a certain weight for each person that going beyond is incurring more risk than reward.

[@dbjmk8083]

But it's relative, and it depends on how you feel. I think if you prime your body with a heavy but guaranteed single you perform better for your drop down work. The best powerlifters hit singles they feel confident about and they do it often like Jamal Browner.

[@SmurffNationn]

Agree. I used to deadlift 415 lbs, but I seldom go above 225 lbs these days. I typically just do high volume (sets of 20) in the 135-225 lbs range to minimize risk of back injury. The whole reason I lift is to be healthy, and incurring a back injury from a heavy deadlift that puts me out of commission 6-8 months is not worth it to me. Some gym-goers give me a hard time about it, but I am in it for the long haul and have a healthier back than 9/10 of them!

[@K4R3N]

yeah, Attia says for older guys we need to watch out for injuries. We simply cannot afford "sofa time" recovering from dumb gym injuries. There's still adaptation happening at lower RPE 5-6 range according to Barbell Medicine guys. I stick to barbell rack pulls now, starting height set to mid shin. 275lbs for 5 feels good enough. I've done a 315 off the floor for a triple last year, also ripped my left left glute med shortly after doing that.

[@pacman531984]

Gotten older so I’ve opted to not go over 90% of max. Not worth risk but typically I like to 70-80% range but I’m a big softie now😂

[@FitFighter15]

Very few people have SKILL to explain the things well and to make others listen to it carefully. I have found you and J.M Blakely are rich of it.

[@DanJohnStrengthCoach]

WEll, thank you.

[@Dukejames776E]

Dan would you recommend an older lifter to squat more often in the week ? With 7 days would you say something like Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday? Then on the other days Deadlift? What kind of reps n sets for this type of lifting got to say I just don't know if my joints will take as well as they did when I was younger? I have been doing basically one big lift every 7 days n thinking it was working Great ? What's your thoughts. Thank you Eric 🏋‍♂️

[@DanJohnStrengthCoach]

Well, I think the most important thing is to figure out how your built and how you recover. As you age, those small differences in structure seem to really add up. I can squat three days a week and still do my cleans and snatches but I certainly don’t think I could squat three days a week and three days a week so it just kind of depends.

[@Dukejames776E]

@DanJohnStrengthCoach Thank you Dan for your opinion. About 8 years ago I stumbled across training one big body part then a smaller one and that seems to be producing the best results in 25 years of lifting. As natural weightlifter and how my body seems to recover from lifting - it seems to work the best. For now. However I do enjoy once and a wile a full body workout, a more of a bodybuilding workout and then taking several days of recovery, eating well - it definitely seems to get the ball going again too. Thank you for your years of wisdom. Eric 🙏 🏋‍♂️

[@davidwelburn]

What do you mean by "very high rep" squats? Also, if someone has problems pulling from the floor, due to lower back issues, what would you recommend? Rack pulls? RDL's? Or something else? Thanks

[@DanJohnStrengthCoach]

Sets of 30 to 50 with bodyweight. I like rack poles a lot. I’m getting the sense that you were new to my work?

[@davidwelburn]

@@DanJohnStrengthCoach Yes, thanks, I've been looking at a lot of your videos over the past week or so, but before that, I'd never heard of you. Sorry.

[@RobertBeauchamp-i6g]

Done both high intensity (90kg for AMRAP in 10 minutes) once per week and later squatted every day (up to max plus back offs 5 days a week). Both worked BUT as Dan says you lose practically ali of your other qualities due to fatigue, time and once-a-week high rep (60-70 in one set plus whatever i could get in the time left) crippling SORENESS. Could try limited squats - three different loads (heavy medium light) and three different time blocks (10 5 3 minutes) and do AMRAP or ladders (1 2 3) in that time, planned or roll a doe to determine the session. I find APRE particularly the bracketed version to be the best method due to autoregulation of workload. Trap-bar or an adjustable Rickshaw (Rack DLs) is what i use and with clients - risk vs reward of pulling off the floor but certainly do not DL three days a week. Again as Dan says use another hinge - Hip Thrust.

[@DanJohnStrengthCoach]

Excellent

[@RoidfreeSenior]

I typically train conventional deads every other week, with in between week being rack work, sumos or some other variation. I can't imagine squatting hard 3 times a week, working on 2 good leg sessions every 8-10 days now

[@reaccionapr]

Comment for the algo. Don’t forget to 👍🔁✅🛎️

[@abereid4315]

will olympic lifts and training ruin my knees? i've heard a lot of people or athletes that do olympic lifts end up with bad knees for life.

[@tobiasloudil576]

No. The best way to ruin the knee is playing soccer or Tennis. Whenever you rotate the direction under pressior. Heavy load is relativ safe. When running the load on the knee is heavier than under the barbell. Up to 8 times your bodyweight on one knee.

[@skipaddle]

The opposite is true. I have a complex meniscus tear and focal hole in my medial articular cartilage. Probably caused by tennis and trail running. Now I avoid those activities. However, I started doing Olympic lifts a year ago and I found now all the kinetic chains in my body function so much better, and I can do a full squat now. And allowed me to continue alpine skiing even with a bad knee because my lower body and core can support the knee so much better. For me, Olympic lifting has saved my knee so I can keep doing things I like doing.

[@Coover90210]

@abereid4315 I'm not an expert but I have never heard that, fwiw. Intuitively, Olympic lifting involves (slightly) lighter weights moved through maximum range of motion. My understanding is its good for joints. Now, bro lifting - slowly moving as many plates as possible through a quarter squat while belting and wrapping everything to hide the weakness of connective tissue -THAT would concern me.

[@perman07]

​​@@tobiasloudil576After 10+ years of mainly lifting and becoming strong, I've been able to play pick-up soccer regularly with no significant injuries for years. I think any blanket statement of any activity being inherently injurious is always wrong personally. It's always a matter of dosage and whether or not you're adapted to an activity. I for instance only play soccer at work and we all take it easy. Which is completely different from playing in some rec league with various people doing psycho tackles.