Guide
How to Increase Your Deadlift
Quick answer
A heavier deadlift is a heavier pull that starts where your last one started and finishes locked out, without a hitch you would not count. Conventional, sumo, and trap-bar are three lifts. Progress the one you are trying to build.
The homepage defaults conventional and sumo to the Brzycki formula and asks you to stay at or under about 10 reps. Use a set of 3 to 5 for the estimate. Then add weight the way you would on a squat: smallest plate, after the reps are there.
Estimates only. Testing a true max carries risk; use a spotter or safety arms. Not medical advice.
Deadlift calculatorConventional, sumo, and trap bar, with a percentage chart.Open →On this page
- What has to stay the same?
- How often should you pull from the floor?
- Which accessories are worth doing?
- What do you do when a pull fails?
- Key takeaways
- FAQ
What has to stay the same?
Stance, grip style within reason, and the rule for what counts as locked out. A sumo pull and a conventional pull do not share a max. A trap bar with high handles is shorter and usually heavier. Log them apart.
Straps change the grip limit. A belt changes the brace. If those are part of the lift you care about, use them on the work sets and say so in the log. A mixed grip and a double overhand are not identical either.
How often should you pull from the floor?
Often enough to practice the start, not so often that the low back is always sore. One heavy day and one lighter day, or one heavy day and a squat day that does not also max the pull, is a common split that does not require a named program.
Touch-and-go reps are more fatiguing and easier to turn into a bounce. Dead-stop reps teach the start. Pick one for the sets you are progressing.
Which accessories are worth doing?
Rows and back extensions if the lockout or the posture is the thing that falls apart. Pause pulls just off the floor if the bar never breaks the ground cleanly. Romanian deadlifts if you want hip-hinge practice with less load from a dead stop. None of these replace a pull from the floor.
Grip fails before the back for some people. Holds and double-overhand sets fix that. They do not need to be max deadlifts.
What do you do when a pull fails?
Leave it. A hitched rep that crawls up the thighs is not a rep you should repeat for volume. Drop the load to the last clean set and finish the day there.
LeSuer et al. found that common 1RM equations underestimated the deadlift in their sample. That is a reason to be humble about the formula, not a reason to add 10 kg to the estimate in your head.
Deadlift standards is the page that refuses to mix conventional and sumo into one average. The ramp before the heavy sets is the warm-up, not a second workout.
Key takeaways
- Pull from the same start position you want on the test.
- Heavy sets of 3–5 beat a monthly max-out.
- Accessories earn a place only if the pull needs them.
- A hitch is a different lift.
FAQ
Should I pull conventional or sumo?
The one you can do for a clean, repeatable rep. Switching every month means you never progress either one.
Are deficit deadlifts necessary?
No. They are a variation. Use them if the start is the problem and you can keep a flat back. Skip them if they only teach you to round.
How heavy should a top set be?
Heavy enough that the last rep is honest, light enough that the next set still looks like the first. A single every week is optional and usually unnecessary.
Do I reset every rep?
If you are training the start, yes. If you are doing touch-and-go on purpose, keep the tension and do not bounce the plates.
Can I estimate a deadlift from a set of 10?
You can. The page will warn you. A set of 3 to 5 is the better input, and Brzycki is the default here for conventional and sumo.