Deadlifts question

[q011519]

I just started implementing Deadlifts into my works outs about a few weeks ago and I was wondering how many times a week I can do them safely. Currently I do them one day a week.

I talked to someone at the gym and he recommended doing it maybe one day every 2 weeks. He reason for this was if you do it to frequently it can mess up your back.

Now I'm pretty sure any back injury cause will be mainly due to bad form but I would like a second opinion on how many days out of the week I can do this. I would like to move to doing them may 2 days out of my 5-6 day workout week.




Side note: Ever sense I started doing them my Leg Press weight has gone threw the roof! I went from barely doing 6 reps of 360lbs (4 45plates on each side) to 8 reps of 540lbs!!! (6 45 plates on each side)

 

[Deeko]

i do them either every week or every other week. No more frequently than once a week.

 

[MegaVovaN]

IMO doing them three times in 2 weeks is fine.

Leg press machine does not mean anything.

 

[brikis98]

There are two primary factors to consider about the deadlift that make it different than most other lifts:

1. The muscles of the lower back tend to heal and recover slower than most other muscles in the body. Since the deadlift hits these muscles very hard, most people can't do it too often without fatiguing their back. Overly fatigued back muscles will lead not only to a weaker deadlift, but also impact other exercises (squat, cleans, press, etc) and possibly expose you to more injuries since it'll be harder to keep a fatigued back in proper extension. So, no, the deadlift, when properly done, does not "mess up your back" - if anything, it's one of the best tools for strengthening it and preventing injuries. However, this lift does tend to punish form breakdown more harshly than just about any other.

2. Most people can move more weight on the deadlift than any other exercise. This means that if you do the same amount of sets/reps for deadlifts as other exercises, the volume of weight moved will be far higher on the deadlift. More volume, combined with the fact that the deadlift uses a ton of muscles in the body, can easily fatigue your central nervous system (CNS) too much. If your CNS does not have enough time to recover, you will start to experience the symptoms of overtraining, which include slowed performance on your lifts, lack of energy, inability to sleep, and so on.

Taking the two above, this usually means you won't deadlift as often as you do other similar exercises. However, the final answer depends on a number of factors:

* Your weight lifting experience: in general, the more advanced of a lifter you are and the more weight you deadlift, the less frequently you'll do it. Beginners can deadlift ~2 times per week, because the weight is light enough to not wreak havoc on the lower back or CNS. Intermediates usually deadlift once per week. Advanced lifters might deadlift once every 10-14 days.
* Your routine & goals: if you are doing a strength training routine, the deadlift will be a central component, probably second in importance only to the squat. If you are developing GPP, such as in Crossfit, you'll deadlift light fairly often, but heavy only periodically. If you are training for a marathon, you probably won't deadlift much at all.
* Genetics: some people have a CNS that recovers quickly, some people don't. Some people have crazy strong back muscles and can deadlift twice a week, while others can tolerate it at most once every two weeks.

 

[dealmaster00]

With Stronglifts I did them 3 times every 2 weeks, now I'm doing them once a week on Bill Starr 5x5.