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Best Deadlift Programs for 2023

These powerlifting deadlift programs, many of which are designed for peaking, will help you achieve some new PRs on the king of the lifts! Enjoy these free spreadsheets.

Popular Deadlift Routines:

Many of the below routines are general "peaking programs" that can be applied to whichever lift(s) you wish to peak. Therefore they have been included in this deadlift program section.

Deadlifting Resources

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The latest deadlift programs are also available below.

10 Week Off Season Deadlift Program Spreadsheet

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This is a 10 week deadlift program designed for building up work capacity during the competitive off-season. It was shared by Alex Bromley (Empire Barbell) on his YouTube channel, where he shared his experience using this style of deadlift training to help prepare for a strongman competition.

[Read more…]

Ancient God 10 Week Deadlift Peaking Program Spreadsheet

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The Ancient God Deadlift Routine was developed with beginners and low intermediates in mind. It is low-medium in volume, which leaves plenty of recovery room for accessories.

The goal is to add kilos to your max deadlift while making you comfortable with working with weights closer to your max for doubles and triples, all without leaving you drained for the other sessions of the week. [Read more…]

Deep Water Program Spreadsheet (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)

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Deep Water is a 4 day (or 5 day if you do the recommended active recovery) strength program designed by Jon Andersen. It runs for 6 weeks and is infamous for its “100 reps in as few sets as possible” workouts for squat, deadlift, and push press. For this reason I have included this program in the squat program and deadlift program collections as well.

You could run this only for the squat, deadlift, or overhead press, though that was not the original intent of the program. [Read more…]

9 Week Conjugate Powerlifting Program (Squat + Deadlift Only)

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This is a twice per week, 9 week conjugate strength program that only programs for the squat and deadlift. It was put out by Nick Spataro and you can see his video overview of the program below. [Read more…]

Vince Anello 14 Week Deadlift Program Spreadsheet

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Updates:

  • February 23, 2020 – Fixed mix up between pin squats and partial deadlifts. Thanks to a reader for pointing out the misinterpretation via the contact form.
  • July 29, 2019 – Fixed permissions for the spreadsheet. You should be able to make a copy of it now. Apologies for any inconvenience.

This is a spreadsheet for Vince Anello’s 14 week deadlift program. [Read more…]

8 Week Deadlift Program Spreadsheet – GC Performance Training

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An 8 week deadlift specialty program that utilizes high block pulls, low block pulls, and competition style deadlifts to help build maximal deadlift strength. [Read more…]

12 Week Strongman Deadlift Program Spreadsheet

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A 12 week deadlift program found on Strongman Ontario. Is it strictly a strongman program? Probably not – I’m sure it would benefit anyone looking for a ton of deadlift volume. [Read more…]

Candito 10 or 14 Week Advanced Deadlift Program Spreadsheet

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Released in February 2018, this deadlift specific program is the latest in a long line of excellent powerlifting programs from Jonnie Candito.

This is an advanced deadlift program and should not be used by novice lifters. For the novice and intermediate lifter, check out Candito’s 6 Week Program or Linear Strength Programs.

The advanced deadlift program is structured as follows: [Read more…]

Weightrainer Peaking Programs #1 and #2 Spreadsheets

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Weightrainer.net published these two peaking programs: one designed especially for the bench press (#1) and another program (#2) for squat, bench, or deadlift.

The two programs are pretty similar, but here are some key differences: [Read more…]

Dan Alexander 10 Week Powerlifting Peaking Program

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10/1/19 Edit: Fixed the rounding and added support for lbs and kgs! 🙂

Dan Alexander’s 10 week Powerlifting Peaking Program is designed to improve the 1RM of the squat, bench, and deadlift by 5%. Spread across the three lifts, this can result in a sizeable boost to a lifter’s total on the competition platform.

This program is a hybrid of Korte’s 3×3 program and Verhoshansky’s Soviet peaking routine. [Read more…]

Tom McCullough 14 Week Peaking Powerlifting Program

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Edit: Updated to support lb or kg rounding.

This 14 week peaking powerlifting program is similar to many other old school peaking programs on Lift Vault: 1x weekly session per lift, descending reps, increase intensity and a 5-10% 1 rep max increase at the end of the cycle. [Read more…]

Classic 9 and 12 Week Powerlifting Peaking Program Spreadsheets

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As old as time itself, these peaking programs can be run for squat, bench, and deadlift when preparing for a powerlifting meet. Both seek to improve your 1 rep max by 5% after the end of the cycle.

The differences between the 9 week and 12 week peaking cycles can be seen below: [Read more…]

Classic 11 Week Deadlift Peaking Program Spreadsheet

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This is truly a no-frills 11 week peaking program for the deadlift. Since it does not program in any accessory work, it will be up to the individual lifter to program in accessories to compensate for their individual weaknesses.

Format:

  • Deadlift 1x weekly, 11 weeks
  • Rep range declines from 10 to 1
  • % of 1RM increases from 63% to 110%

[Read more…]

Ed Coan Program: 12 and 14 Week Peaking Program Spreadsheets

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Ed Coan, arguably the GOAT of powerlifting, has a few popular programs floating around, including the Coan Phillipi Deadlift Routine. Here are two popular powerlifting programs in 12 and 14 week versions. Rep schemes for each program are included below the spreadsheets. [Read more…]

6 Week Soviet Peaking Powerlifting Program

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Update: Spreadsheet now rounds weights to the nearest 5 (lb) or 2.5 (kg).

This 6 week program is designed to help peak the bench press, squat, or deadlift. It is based on training twice each week: once heavy, once light. After 6 weeks, it aims to increase your 1 rep max by 5%.

It was designed by Soviet coach Yuri Verkhoshansky and described to John Abdo, who brought it back to the USA. It has been described as “intense.” [Read more…]

Greg Nuckols 28 Programs Spreadsheet

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Greg Nuckols released 28 program variations through his site, Stronger by Science.

In addition to these programs, I strongly recommend you check out The Art & Science of Lifting and the free lifting guides he authored. He also co-authors the best monthly round-up of cutting edge research on strength, hypertrophy, and related subjects. It’s called MASS and it’s absolutely worth a look. He even has a free issue available as a preview.

See also: Greg Nuckols High Frequency Program (free spreadsheet) [Read more…]

nSuns 5/3/1 Complete Program Collection (4 Day, 5 Day, Cap3, and More)

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nSuns 5/3/1 is a linear progression powerlifting program that was inspired by Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 strength program. It progresses on a weekly basis, making it well suited for late stage novice and early intermediate lifters. It is known for its challenging amount of volume. Those who stick with it tend to find great results from the additional work capacity.

Redditor /u/nsuns assembled a 5/3/1/ LP spreadsheet complete with 4, 5, and 6 day variants in addition to deadlift and squat specific workloads to help everyone get stronger.

Use the table of contents to jump to your desired spreadsheet or read on below to learn about which nSuns program you should run.

[Read more…]

Ed Coan Deadlift Program Spreadsheet

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The powerlifting GOAT, Ed Coan, designed this deadlift program for Mark Phillipi. If you’re looking to make serious deadlift gains, give this 10 week program a try. It programs the athlete to deadlift 1 time per week. Each session includes a heavy triple followed by a high number of speed deadlift triples, then barbell shrugs.

[Read more…]

How many times a week should I deadlift?

Many novice lifters can see good progress deadlifting just once per week. When progress deadlifting once a week becomes difficult, it can be helpful to add a second deadlift training session in the week that utilizes lighter weight. Using a deadlift variation on this second deadlift day, like defecit deadlifts or paused deadlifts, can help improve weak points in the movement.

Should I do sumo or conventional deadlift?

This depends on many factors, including the proportions of the lifter’s body (arm length, torso length, and leg length) as well as individual preference. BarBend has a pretty indepth article on this subject, as does Powerlifting Technique.

Tip: Try both and see which feels more comfortable for you. Conventional can be simpler to teach to a novice lifter, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s in their best interest to pull conventional forever.

What is a good beginner deadlift program?

Any good powerlifting or strength program will include deadlifts, so a “good beginner deadlift program” is essentially synonymous with a “good beginner powerlifting program.”

How do I increase my deadlift?

This depends on  many different factors that can’t be covered in full detail here. Two popular methods for increasing maximal deadlift strength is to increase training volume and to improve weak points in the lift. For building strength in the bottom of the lift, defecit deadlifts, paused deadlifts, and “1 and a half deadlifts” can be used. Lockout strength can be developed using heavy rack pulls and  banded deadlifts. For more tips, checkout Powerlifting Technique.