Barbell Deadlift with small plates or bumpers ?

[Tom87]

Hello everybody .

I rarely post here, but frequently lurk !

I'm 32, Male, 1.82m, 75kg. Not training to compete. Beginner, about 3 months of proper training (before that, years of calisthenics, mainly dips, pull ups, and pistols, with low volume and low results, due to playing a lot of badminton).

I'm 10 days into the program I found here for deadlift :
INCREDIBLE Deadlift Singles Program Resullts

My choice on this one over a classical LP is mainly based on me wanting to deadlift everyday and not 3 times a week. And also to be sincere, I kinda fell for its beauty .

On to my question :
I read, I don't know where, that using small plates for increasing ROM was a good idea, which is what I'm doing.
Today a coach of the gym advised me against it and said bumpers are better for back health, and less rigid thus less traumatizing for my body when hitting the floor. I said I'm lowering the bar in a controlled manner anyway so I guess rigidity doesn't change much. For the rest I didn't know, thus I thanked him.

The thing is :
1/ I'm never fully satisfied about one person's opinion unless I really know him well, which is not the case,
2/ I'm already 10 days into the program, so that would suck to change the height of my deadlift IF it's not important.

So which is better :
Should I go back to bumper plates to come back to a "normal height" deadlift
OR finish the program and switch to bumper after it
OR keeping small plates forever if I want to, no problem to "deficit deadlift" as a standard ?

My main goal is progressing at DL and becoming strong by doing so, I don't care about being able to lift 20kg more or less due to the plates I'm using, only strength and health.

Thank you all !

Tom

 

[Anna C]

I would advise deadlifting with the standard size and height plates until you're strong (i.e. 2x bodywight deadlift). Then maybe introduce some variety in terms of ROM, etc.

Making a change 10 days into the program should be fine. I also wouldn't worry about how the weights hit the floor in terms of your back health -- your form and programming are much more important for that -- but the bumper plates can be somewhat forgiving for newbies.

 

[Jason Kavanagh]

I would second going back to standard height plates.

ROM can be worked on once you reach a strong deadlift.
Propper set up and form is much more attainable with "higher" plates

 

[Antti]

I don't think there is a magic height for the deadlift to be effective. But form can deteriorate with beginners if they try to use a longer range of motion than they can handle.

The idea of bumpers being better for back health is a load of you know what.

 

[Kenny Croxdale]

I read, I don't know where, that using small plates for increasing ROM was a good idea, which is what I'm doing.

Deficit Deadlifts

Deficit Deadlift build strength and power off the floor in a Traditional Deadlift.

Deficit Deadlift are essentially a different exercise from Traditional Deadlifts. The muscle involvement and the muscle firing sequence change with each method.

The objective determines the choice of the exercise used.

Today a coach of the gym advised me against it and said bumpers are better for back health, and less rigid thus less traumatizing for my body when hitting the floor. I said I'm lowering the bar in a controlled manner anyway so I guess rigidity doesn't change much.

Wooden Coke Crate or Boards

It's hard or at some point it will be hard to get enough small weight plate to make weight heavy enough.

For Conventional Deadlifters, a wooden Coke Crate is great. You end up pulling the Deadlift off your shoe tops.

For Sumo Deadlifters, due to the wider stance, a long enough board will work. I'd suggest nail some rubber mat onto the board, so your feet don't slip.

"Better for the back..."

Bumper plates aren't better for back health, as Antti and Anna stated.

Lowering the Deadlift from the locked out position amount to a controlled free fall to the platform.

Should I go back to bumper plates to come back to a "normal height" deadlift
OR finish the program and switch to bumper after it

Suggestions

1) Alternated Regular Deadlifts with Deficit Deadlift. Research shows that varying exercise increases strength.

2) Use Bumper Plate or not, it doesn't matter.

3) Maintain some guidance, allowing a free fall of the Deadlift, in lowering the bar. It's hard to lower the Deadlift bar slowly (if that is what you mean by a controlled manner) due to the torque.

The Deadlift is more of a Concentric Movement with virtually little to no Eccentric Action.

Kenny Croxdale

 

[godjira1]

If you are having no problems with the ROM of the lower deadlift starting position, I would say keep going! Your mileage will vary, but personally I have found that doing deadlifts from a variety of heights over time (deficit, standard, block/pin pull) keeps it interesting.

 

[Steve W.]

For Conventional Deadlifters, a wooden Coke Crate is great. You end up pulling the Deadlift off your shoe tops.

For Sumo Deadlifters, due to the wider stance, a long enough board will work. I'd suggest nail some rubber mat onto the board, so your feet don't slip.

I like sheets of 3/4" plywood. You can stack them to get the elevation you want. For a conventional stance, they stack securely and don't slide against each other. I have 2x2 precut sheets from Home Depot that work for my conventional stance.

For sumo, I use a 2x2 sheet under each foot, but I don't stack more than one sheet for sumo. I don't find a need for more traction between my feet and the wood, but I'm wary of the sheets sliding against each other for sumo if I stack them (the floor is covered by a rubber stall mat, so the sheets don't slide against the floor (my sumo stance is also on the narrow side, so there is less lateral force than a wider stance). Larger sheets that are long enough for both feet would probably be stackable for sumo, but I haven't tried it just because I don't have room for a bunch of large plywood sheets.

 

[Steve Freides]

On to my question :
I read, I don't know where, that using small plates for increasing ROM was a good idea, which is what I'm doing.
Today a coach of the gym advised me against it and said bumpers are better for back health, and less rigid thus less traumatizing for my body when hitting the floor. I said I'm lowering the bar in a controlled manner anyway so I guess rigidity doesn't change much. For the rest I didn't know, thus I thanked him.

@Tom87, welcome to the StrongFirst forum.

Keep it simple - deadlift. Vary the weight. Get stronger. Don't play with the elevation (changing plate diameter is effectively the same thing).

When you start to plateau, deficit deadlifts may or may not help you - wait until you get there to find out, and come back here for more advice before you try them, including posting a DL video of something fairly heavy for you.

Lowering the weight in a controlled manner - read Power To The People! and follows its guidance to "fall with the weight." Controlled lowering is another thing you can experiment with later in your deadlifting life.

Use whatever hardware you need - for most of us, if deadlifting on thick rubber mats, bumper plates aren't necessary.

-S-

 

[Tom87]

Thanks everybody for these answers !

Given all the different answers, I think I'm just going to finish my program with these small plates, as it feels quite natural for now anyways.
Then I'll switch back to bumper. I should be closer to 2*BW then, so it will be a good opportunity for a little variation, and at the same time allow me to come back to a more conventional height as a standard.
At some point I will try to post a video, thank you for the suggestion !

I will also post back my results about this program, which BTW feels awesome . I'll keep going as long as it feels rather easy despite the weight increases.

Thanks again, be well !