Double bodyweight deadlift

[LukeV]

I can't get more than 1.7xBW with double over-hand, no matter how hard I try. Been training grip go going heavy with farmers walk but it doesn't seem to be working. My max deadlift is 2.3xBW so I'm comfortably above 2x but it's frustrating to have to use mixed grip as I find it very uncomfortable on the shoulder. Any advice?

 

[Maine-ah KB]

hook grip or become a monster double overhanded!

 

[Anna C]

I can't get more than 1.7xBW with double over-hand, no matter how hard I try. Been training grip go going heavy with farmers walk but it doesn't seem to be working. My max deadlift is 2.3xBW so I'm comfortably above 2x but it's frustrating to have to use mixed grip as I find it very uncomfortable on the shoulder. Any advice?

Yeah, hook grip! I am double overhand hook gripping ~1.5x bodyweight here. Having huge hands helps a lot

 

[Steve Freides]

I can't get more than 1.7xBW with double over-hand, no matter how hard I try. Been training grip go going heavy with farmers walk but it doesn't seem to be working. My max deadlift is 2.3xBW so I'm comfortably above 2x but it's frustrating to have to use mixed grip as I find it very uncomfortable on the shoulder. Any advice?

Swing a kettlebell.

-S-

 

[Abdul-Rasheed]

hook grip

I have to ask. Isn't it painful? Does it go away after getting used to it? I tried it once and it was not pleasant. The thumb felt jammed with the weight of the bar. May be I am not doing it correctly.

 

[DavThew]

@LukeV - heavy rack pull and holds (for a few seconds) in the grip you want to use might help.

 

[Anna C]

Isn't it painful? Does it go away after getting used to it? I tried it once and it was not pleasant. The thumb felt jammed with the weight of the bar. May be I am not doing it correctly.

It can be a bit painful, but you do get used to it. It's two things -- 1) just practice with your warm-up sets and other lighter weights and work your way up for exposure, and 2) realize that pain does not equal tissue damage. It's just pain. You know the trick of grabbing your earlobe and squeezing until it hurts? Did you feel pain? Yes. Did you damage anything? No. It's a demonstration of how there is a buffer zone between pain and tissue damage. Pretty soon you learn to ignore it because there's so much else going on the deadlift to focus on. As far as getting used to it, I think it's sort of like the knees and the get-up. When I do them regularly, my knees are just fine, and I wonder, why are people's knees so sensitive that knee pain is even an issue? Then I quit doing them for a while and when I do them, my knees are back to being a bit sensitive, and I think, oh, yeah... I get it.

All that said, there is some technique to it as well. It's much easier for people with longer fingers. Ideally you want the fingers to lay over the flesh of the thumb, not the thumbnail. But I'm not an expert at this so perhaps others have more to contribute....

 

[Steve Freides]

I have to ask. Isn't it painful? Does it go away after getting used to it? I tried it once and it was not pleasant. The thumb felt jammed with the weight of the bar. May be I am not doing it correctly.

@Abdul, it's not for everyone. One of my hands got used to it but the other never did.

Start _very_ light and see if you can find a way to do it comfortably, and build up gradually from there.

-S-

 

[Glen]

I've done double overhand with more than twice my bodyweight (x 2.25), think grip is one area of the body which just seems to respond quickly with just direct work in the main lift. Hook grip matches my mixed grip but took a little while to get used to the pain (never goes)

Hook grip will let you lift more than a standard double overhand but won't IMO improve your double overhand.

One thing I believe is your double overhand strength can be a good gauge to other things and can give out as a neurological protective mechanism -much like the breaking point of your teeth being a few Lbs below the breaking point of your neck for frontal impact. As a protective mechanism your grip might give out to protect other areas in your body. I feel this is potentially one of the reasons straps, wraps etc can lead to more chance of injury.

No proof but that's my thoughts on it.

 

[LukeV]

Swing a kettlebell.-S-

Oh man! I've resisted kettlebell swings for over two decades hoping that they were just some fad that would fade away. It's not that I don't recognise the benefits it's just that they offend my sense of human dignity.

 

[Rif]

I agree. The first time I pulled 500+ weighing around 170lbs at that time I was doing a Stu McRobert Brawn style program and I was squatting followed by SLDL's for 1 set only once per week. I had some cousins come in from Ohio and we started messing around with the weights and that night I hit a 485lbs squat, 340lbs bench(T-n-G) and pulled 510lbs.

This definitely stands for me. Seems like the more I deadlift the worse I get at it. Don't know if its mental or that the lift just drains my nerves. Strange enough, I also found this with the Olympic lifts. One per week of both lifts was the best for me.

On the 2xBW note...how many here have managed it double over hand grip no hook? I pulled 370lbs easily just a few weeks ago and tried 380lbs and it slipped out of my hands 3 times. I want that lift! Actually I want 400lbs+ double over hand no hook, but that may take a minute or two.

Actually this is quite common. Many do some deadlifts after a layoff, perform well, then start to train it in earnest and it goes backwards! The great Bill Starr wrote about this back in the '70's with his No Deadlift Deadlift routine where he focused on the barbell high pull barbell rows and other back exercises ( as well as squats) to build the muscles used in the DL.

this is similar to the later WSB approach. The DL is very potent medicine, a little can go a long way for some people.It's a HUGE CNS stimulant and lends itself to overtraining very easily

I'm like that for instance.
Back when I was powerlifting I could not pull 500 in the gym no matter what but pulled 545 and just missed 562 in a three lift meet

I relied on heavy squats and DL assistance exercises and just trained the DL for speed ( 70 % for singles ) and form

Bottom line you have to find out what works for you

 

[Steve Freides]

Oh man! I've resisted kettlebell swings for over two decades hoping that they were just some fad that would fade away. It's not that I don't recognise the benefits it's just that they offend my sense of human dignity.

Nothing like them as DL grip assistance, IMHO.

-S-

 

[Geoff Chafe]

I have to ask. Isn't it painful? Does it go away after getting used to it? I tried it once and it was not pleasant. The thumb felt jammed with the weight of the bar. May be I am not doing it correctly.

Hook Grip does and will hurt. The heavier you go or faster you pull the more it will hurt. For me the pain doesn’t rush in until the lift is finished and the blood moves back in.

 

[Jeff Roark]

For those that are having loads of pain with the hook grip, learn to to tape your thumbs. It helps tremendously. Don't tape too tight or it will actually make the pain worse.

 

[Steve Freides]

For those that are having loads of pain with the hook grip, learn to to tape your thumbs. It helps tremendously. Don't tape too tight or it will actually make the pain worse.

I know Olympic lifters tape their thumbs. I wonder if that's legal at a powerlifting meet? Some, but not many, PL'ers use hook grip.

-S-

 

[Glen]

I know Olympic lifters tape their thumbs. I wonder if that's legal at a powerlifting meet? Some, but not many, PL'ers use hook grip.

-S-

Yes it is, I looked at the link you sent me for USAPL (?) When looking at rules for deadlift in TSC and it states in there that taping thumbs is fine as I do it with my deads when going over 400lbs and hook grip.

Think your finding a lot more powerlifter doing it recently and there's a few 400kg pullers doing it (I.e tom Martin etc)
Tom Martin on Instagram: “Fuelled clearly by what must at this point be entirely self loathing and a death wish, a 400kg / 881lb beltless deficit deadlift with hook…”

 

[Abdul-Rasheed]

This video has been very instructive to me. One thing I see is demonstration of tightening/tensing/packing of your body as hard as possible and perfect form.

 

[Anna C]

Thanks, Abdul... "perfect form" is debatable... I'm always willing to hear commentary and observations. Yes, getting tight is certainly key.

 

[Jeff Roark]

Thanks, Abdul... "perfect form" is debatable... I'm always willing to hear commentary and observations. Yes, getting tight is certainly key.

Anna,

Looks super to me. I think your deadlift would carry over to the Olympic lifts in a hurry. Definitely strong!

Jeff

 

[Anna C]

Thanks, Jeff! I am chasing a 300 lb DL... at age 50. As for Olympic lifts, I am working on power clean and up to 110 lb. The technique is challenging, but I'm making progress.