Deadlifts!

[zaga]

Should I be doing my deadlifts on my leg day? or back day? Should they be done with my knees bent?

[Big_G1986]

Thats entirely up to your routine and I pray to god you bend your knees.

[AU stu.]

Like Big G said, it really is up to you. I used to do them on back day but I know some people do them on legs. I always felt them in my back more but that is just me.

If you keep your legs straight it's called a straight-leg deadlift, which is a hamstring exercise. Here: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...gDeadlift.html

[sanpedro]

maybe when you're a beginner you can do it on legs day

but once you start heavy squatting you will be SPENT of energy and you won't be able to deadlift as much with as many reps

i tried it the other day and basically wasted my lower back, now i have to figure out when to do it again =\

[daYDreAmErX]

I spend so much energy on deads I can't imagine doing them on leg days.

[dirty-jersey]

Originally Posted by daYDreAmErX

I spend so much energy on deads I can't imagine doing them on leg days.

Yep. I second that. If you are not spent after doing squats or deads you're simply not putting enough effort. The only time when you shouldnt be spent after doing such exercises is when you are new and you are just learning.

[iKermit]

I used to do them at the beginning of my back day but it drained me too much. Now I do them at the end of my back workout. I was able to get over a plateau switching them to the end too.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by sanpedro

maybe when you're a beginner you can do it on legs day

but once you start heavy squatting you will be SPENT of energy and you won't be able to deadlift as much with as many reps

i tried it the other day and basically wasted my lower back, now i have to figure out when to do it again =\

Damn, me too!!but I would do deadlifts on back day.In my case,I do back and legs in the same day.I usually end up regretting it,but Since i do them on friday,I have the weekend to recover.

[papi93]

Originally Posted by zaga

Should I be doing my deadlifts on my leg day? or back day? Should they be done with my knees bent?

It really depends on your goals. It can be placed on either day. Bodybuilders like to use the deadlift on back day, as their first exercise. The bent-knee version is the choice of deadlifting style. On leg day, they might use a Romanian or Stiff-Legged Deadlift to concentrate on hamstring work.

[heatwave13]

If you do deadlifts any justice, you will not be able to do them on leg day. I've been through cycles that were focused soley on the deadlift. My workout plans were determined based on when my deadlifting was to occur. I made my best strength gains when I did workouts using ONLY heavy (85% of max) deadlifts and overhead presses. That's it....two exercises.

But, yeah, deadlifts can totally leave you KO'ed, so I would not do them on the same day as legs (squats).

[John Prophet]

sort of depends on how the whole routine is set up...usually, if you are doing both deads and squats you have to set up everything around those.....because you are not going to want to do squats on one day, then deads the next....usually you want to space them out a few days


me personally I am not going to be squatting and deading on the same day, lol


if you have a seperate leg day, then id do deads as my first exercise on back day....like legs on Monday, deads and back on Thur or Fri

[Juggernaut33]

I do deads on back and traps day. I also do them as my first exercise of that day when I have the most energy.

[stritt45]

I do mine on back day..... In my routine there are a fews days between back day and leg day because im so sore so you might want to think about that also.

[thehappytech]

Originally Posted by dirty-jersey

The only time when you shouldnt be spent after doing such exercises is when you are new and you are just learning.

Or during a time when your routine has you doing a % of you 5 rep max.

[zaga]

Thank you guys!

Another question. How many reps should I be doing for maximum strength gain? Is 5 reps ok? or should I lower the weight and do 10 reps?

I train each body part 2 times a week, thats: chest and triceps on Monday and Thursday, back and biceps on Tuesdays and Fridays, and Legs and Shoulders on Wednesdays and Saturdays... There is no way Ill have a Leg day without doing squats, so its difficult for me to not do Squats and Deadlifts on consecutive days... is this bad?

[heatwave13]

If you want maximum strength, you should go very heavy, but keep the volume low. A while back I did six months of a cycle in which I deadlifted four days per week....but I only did two sets of five...or 3x3. The weight needs to be very heavy. One set would be with 85% of my max, while the other set would be with 70% of my max. I did this on a mon/tues.....thurs/fri schedule and never burned out. If you want max. strength, don't ever do any set till failure.....always feel like you're keep a rep or two in the tank. Stay relatively fresh. This goes for squats, bench, whatever. Stay in the groove by doing this more frequently but with less volume. Remember, this is if STRENGTH is what you're after. I followed this format and gained 65 lbs. on my deadlift in six months, while staying fresh.

As for legs day, you'll just have to find a balance in how you'll work the DL and/or squat. Personally, I've never included BOTH in the same cycle. I choose to do one or the other and work the piss out of it. If you choose to focus on the squat, you can choose to do a form or derivative of the deadlift, like RDL's or clean pulls. Conversely, if you choose to go with a DL focus, you can do a squat derivative such as overhead squats or leg press.

[zaga]

Originally Posted by papi93

It really depends on your goals. It can be placed on either day. Bodybuilders like to use the deadlift on back day, as their first exercise. The bent-knee version is the choice of deadlifting style. On leg day, they might use a Romanian or Stiff-Legged Deadlift to concentrate on hamstring work.

Whats the difference between a Romanian and an oridnary deadlift? Is Romanian the same as stiff legged deadlifts?

[heatwave13]

zaga, I'm not papi93, but maybe I can help with this question. With RDL's, your knees are very slightly bent with your butt sticking out a little more. Also, with RDL's, your back is in a simlar position to the traditional DL. RDL's don't seem to place as much strain on the quads as regular DL's. Both SLDL and RDL's can really cook the hamstrings.

I don't know if this helps or not. Maybe someone else can provide a better explanation, or better yet, a website with a video clip.

[Crizzle]

Originally Posted by zaga

Should I be doing my deadlifts on my leg day? or back day? Should they be done with my knees bent?

I agree with everyone pretty much, its really tough to do them on leg day; however, i started a routine where i go upper, lower, rest, upper, lower, rest.
so on the first lower day i begin with squats and then go to leg press, and on the second lower day i begin with deads then go to leg press.

[papi93]

Originally Posted by zaga

Whats the difference between a Romanian and an oridnary deadlift? Is Romanian the same as stiff legged deadlifts?

Romanian deadlifts are a single-joint exercise (movement at the hip joint) and deadlifts are a multi-joint (movement at the hip and knee joints) exercise.

Here is the differences between the Romanian deadlift, and stiff-legged deadlift (two variations): http://forum1.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=883217

[il_chacal_78]

Originally Posted by zaga

Whats the difference between a Romanian and an oridnary deadlift? Is Romanian the same as stiff legged deadlifts?

Romanian deadlift is performed with straight legs AND a straight back. It is an isolation movement on the hamstrings/glutes. There's actually another variation, the straight leg deadlift, which is a compound movement that targets the lower back (erector spinae) in addition to hamstrings/glutes. It is usually performed while standing on a box platform so that you can go as low as possible with the barbell. And when doing this variation you actually round your back to work the erector spinae.

[jamsy]

my solution is simpel
do them on chest day lol (no relaly thats what i do)

[chrisSA84]

OK to all those who say you cant do deadlifts on a legday, why the hell cant u? Theres no reason, if u get tired, push harder, just cause u cant hit your max dead every time u train it, does not mean that you arent growing / progessing! Also if you arent doing deads? how are u training your hamys? (regardless of whether you are doing stiff or normal deads).

It all comes down to what your goals are, if you are going for build (body building) then on your leg day included squats and deads, where u do 2 sets of 20 reps to warm up on each exercise then hit 4 x 20 on squats (please go just below parallel), and 5 x 5 heavy deadlifts, take about 1min break between the sets. If you can do that good on you! Finish off with 4 x 20 leg press and 2 x 30 leg extensions and 4 x 25 calf raises!

If you are going for power then just hit the Deads on one day and squats a day or so after! and build up the deads and Squats, light and high reps, to heavy and low reps,

[stealth_swimmer]

Originally Posted by sanpedro

maybe when you're a beginner you can do it on legs day

but once you start heavy squatting you will be SPENT of energy and you won't be able to deadlift as much with as many reps

i tried it the other day and basically wasted my lower back, now i have to figure out when to do it again =\

Why can't you do deadlifts first then? I personally think it's a much better exercise so long as form is good.

[Enyap]

I perfer to deadlift on back day and do good mornings on leg day.

[weezel32]

When I was powerlifting, it was squats on tuesdays, deadlifts on back day Friday. Right now, I am only doing romanians, which I do on leg days. It really does depend on what you are going for. You said strength gains, so split them apart from legs.

[phoenix8]

oh yeahhhhh...deadlifts are the best. i just hate them b/c the first 2 days or so my lower back gets super sore

[tdzzzonia]

I prefer doing stiff legged deadlifts once a week, and squats once a week, since those are the two primary "lower body" exercises that work many muscles at once. Theres no way I could do both on the same day, that would be overtraining. I do not do back or any upper body exercises on "lower body" days. I know that (stiff legged) deadlifts get the back muscles working but its not so much that I would call it a back day. The hamstrings, glutes, and LOWER back is what should be sore. A lot of you sound like you are borderline overtraining when you describe your routines. Also, I dont see the point of doing leg presses if you have a really good deadlift or squat session before that. I prefer to polish less-used muscles such as calves, etc. when the primary exercise(deadlifts or squats) are completed. Stiff legged deadlifts work out the hams, glutes and low back, and squats work out the quads primarily. But both exersises incorporate the entire lower body very effectively. There are articles on this site that point out deadlifts and squats to be the two lower body exercises everybody has to do, the rest is up to the individual. But of course, it also depends on the individual. So for me, deadlifts are not only done on leg day, THEY ARE LEG DAY!!! But I have two leg days a week, I do squats on the other day.

[Horseradish]

Originally Posted by tdzzzonia

I prefer doing stiff legged deadlifts once a week, and squats once a week, since those are the two primary "lower body" exercises that work many muscles at once. Theres no way I could do both on the same day, that would be overtraining. I do not do back or any upper body exercises on "lower body" days. I know that (stiff legged) deadlifts get the back muscles working but its not so much that I would call it a back day. The hamstrings, glutes, and LOWER back is what should be sore. A lot of you sound like you are borderline overtraining when you describe your routines. Also, I dont see the point of doing leg presses if you have a really good deadlift or squat session before that. I prefer to polish less-used muscles such as calves, etc. when the primary exercise(deadlifts or squats) are completed. Stiff legged deadlifts work out the hams, glutes and low back, and squats work out the quads primarily. But both exersises incorporate the entire lower body very effectively. There are articles on this site that point out deadlifts and squats to be the two lower body exercises everybody has to do, the rest is up to the individual. But of course, it also depends on the individual. So for me, deadlifts are not only done on leg day, THEY ARE LEG DAY!!! But I have two leg days a week, I do squats on the other day.

Agreed. This is just like my routine. I'll start hamstring/calf day with deadlifts, sometimes I go very heavy (485 lbs. for a triple yesterday), and sometimes I just do very strict straight leg deadlifts with a lighter weight (no more than 225 lbs. or so). Then I'm off to do hamstring curls, glute/ham raise, then time to pulverize my calves.

Back day (more like "pull day") for me is currently Yates rows, T-bar, face pulls, rear delts, and preacher curls.

[EoR]

Originally Posted by sanpedro

maybe when you're a beginner you can do it on legs day

but once you start heavy squatting you will be SPENT of energy and you won't be able to deadlift as much with as many reps

i tried it the other day and basically wasted my lower back, now i have to figure out when to do it again =\

I agree with this if strength is your primary goal.