Top 7 Reasons Why You Are Hitting Deadlift Plateau

If you are seriously doing strength training, then hitting plateaus is not the new thing for you guys. On top of that hitting deadlift plateau is more frustrating. This article will give you the solution to get out from deadlift plateau and increase your strength..!!!

Hey, everyone, I am back with another article.

Today’s topic is about the lift that is very popular for herniated discs and lower back injuries.

Deadlifts, this exercise either will make you or break you.

Deadlifts are known to be a mass builder exercise with the help of which many have build competition winning back.

As in the previous article deadlift form, I have discussed deadlift form and technique to perform it correctly and safely.

If you watch a powerlifter that is trying to go for a PR in a meet then you will notice that that person is just trying to get the weight up without considering the form.

This can cause many problems in your body as well as it is responsible for you hitting the plateau during a lift.

People say that just pile on the plates and try to lift with as much intensity as possible.

I say this approach is definitely going to take you to an early graveyard.

Most lifters hit the plateau while deadlifting because of many reasons.

However, if you are a newbie and you are just trying to get the weight up without considering your form then I suggest you reduce the weight and focus on the form.

So here are the top 7 reasons for you hitting a plateau in deadlifts:

Trying to pull the weight:

Almost 99 % of the population makes the mistake of pulling the weight from the ground and you hit deadlift plateau.

Actually to say the truth I was also in that 99 %.

However, when I started to feel my lower back hurting I then told my friend to take video of me doing the exercise.

To my knowledge, I found that I was just trying to pull the weight off the ground with just my lower back.

This is very dangerous if you continue lifting like this.

 

Solution:

To bash your deadlift plateau unload the bar and focus on your form.

Focus on each and every muscle group that is involved in the lift.

This will take a while, however, don’t lose patience while doing so as this will have a big impact on your lift.

 

Not bracing your abdomen properly:

Yes, this is also a major issue that I see the lifters face the problem with and results in deadlift plateau.

I have faced this issue myself as I didn’t have a proper mentor to help me fix these problems.

So I researched by myself and found the solutions to each one.

When I heard about bracing I thought that it would be done by taking air into my chest area to have great form.

However, after doing so, I wasn’t remaining tight while lifting.

And I have seen many lifters lose their form as their capacity of lungs to take the amount of air and to hold it is not enough.

 

Solution :

To bash your deadlift plateau fill your abdomen with air and not in your chest area and try to hold it for 10-15 seconds.

Try performing at least 3 sets of this as it will provide you greater lung capacity to take air in and to hold it in your abdomen.

 

Not keeping neutral head position:

The position of your head during the lift also plays an important role to help you lift heavier weights.

When I used to keep my head position towards the ceiling then I used to get a pinch in my lower back and I have faced deadlift plateau due to this issue.

This happened every time when I lifted with my prior head position.

After searching for an answer I found that the prior head position used to set the lower back off the neutral position which blew my tight setup.

 

This position of the head also causes dizziness while lifting.

So stay careful and see your head position during the lift.

 

Solution:

To bash your deadlift plateau keep your head in a neutral position while you are in a tight setup.

To do so when you bend down to grab the bar see the floor in such a way that your eyes make almost 45 degrees to the floor.

This will help you improve your lift by helping you stay in a tight position.

 

You have weak lower back:

Your deadlift won’t take off unless and until your lower back is strong.

This is the same reason why I wasn’t able to get my deadlift up to even 300 pounds.

While my friend was piling 300,320,335 pounds very quickly!

So I then even trying to load the weight and tried to perfect my form.
I got away with some correction in the form however I was again facing the same problem.

So I told my friend to record the whole process while I was lifting.

In that video, I found to my surprise that when I was getting down to grab the bar I was running out of flexibility at my hamstrings.

This cause my lower back to posteriorly tilt which was due to weakness in my lower back.

 

Solution:

To bash your deadlift plateau do exercises that I have discussed in previous articles like back extensions or good mornings to strengthen your lower back.

This will cause your pelvis to take the correct form a bit.

 

You have tight hamstrings:

I am a 6 feet athlete and due to sitting all day long for studying or to do some work over the years I have developed tightness in my hamstrings.

This is another reason for you to hit deadlift plateau.

As I mentioned in the above problem hamstrings are very strong muscles and can weaken your lower back.

So when you try to take a tight position for the lift simply you won’t be able to keep you back straight unless you try to deadlift from a bit higher position where your hamstrings are loaded correctly.

When you try to take the position your hamstrings will load correctly till the point where your lower back supports it.

After that position, your lower back cannot handle the shear force so it bends.

 

Solution:

To bash your deadlift plateau relieve tightness from your hamstrings and strengthen you’re lower back to have a tight setup and break the plateau.

 

You are not using your glutes:

The most important muscles that should fire during the deadlifts are the glutes.

The time where your bar comes up till the point where you end your lift the glutes handle the drive.

If you don’t lose your glutes you are compromising your lower back by putting all the weight on it.

 

Solution:

To bash your deadlift plateau squeeze your glutes just before you start the lift till the point where you end the rep.

 

You are not pulling the slack out of the bar:

Almost 99 % people don’t know how to pull the slack out of the bar.

They just think that they just have to keep their back straight and pull the bar and bar will come up by itself.

However, the major issue is not pulling the slack out of the bar.

If you don’t pull the slack out of the bar then you will lose the tight setup and will round at your upper back and will leak power as now you are using smaller muscles to get the weight up.

 

Solution:

To pull the slack out of the bar you need to squeeze your lats as if you are crushing a fruit in it.

Then push the floor with your legs till the point where the bar just is going to lift from the ground.

And then force the bar up by squeezing your glutes.

Well, this is it for this blog post.

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