Frequency is the number of times a lift is performed each week, and it always seems to be a hot topic in powerlifting. Many lifters and coaches claim that higher frequency has helped their lifts a ton while others are staunch advocates for lower frequency training. In order to understand the optimal training frequency for the deadlift, we must first understand the benefits and drawbacks of higher and lower-frequency training as a whole.
Higher frequency training is a great tool for many lifters as it provides more exposure to competition lifts, allowing more opportunities to improve technique. For newer lifters or lifters implementing big technique changes (such as switching from conventional to sumo deadlifts), these additional exposures can rapidly increase the speed of technique acquisition. The downside, however, is that it’s also incredibly fatiguing. Anyone who has done a heavy deadlift before can tell you the last thing they want to do the next day is yet another heavy deadlift. Yet, higher-frequency deadlift programs often call for lifters to perform multiple deadlift sessions within just a few days of one another. While this may be realistic for newer lifters still using lighter loads, this becomes nearly impossible for most people to recover from at a certain level of strength.
Lower frequency advocates will highlight the improved recovery allowed by this training strategy. Deadlifting a week after your last deadlift session will almost certainly allow you to come into the session more recovered than deadlifting say two days after your last heavy pull, theoretically resulting in more weight on the bar. However, will you be able to nail your technique after not touching the movement for a week? Newer lifters may struggle to remember and execute correct technique, and even experienced lifters may struggle to get technical changes to click simply because they will have fewer reps done in the same amount of time and more time for their skill proficiency to degrade between sessions.
So, what’s right for you? Let’s consider a few key factors that impact optimal deadlift frequency.
The number of times a lifter should deadlift each week is a highly individual choice, primarily driven by experience level. This is not only due to the previously discussed technical expertise, but the fatigue generated by heavier deadlifts as well. Experience level is a simple enough concept, as lifters who have been deadlifting for years are less likely to see significant technique degradation with a week between deadlift sessions, while newer, less experienced lifters may see a significant loss of technique over this short period. Fatigue on the other hand, makes the discussion much more nuanced. Contrary to popular belief, you usually have to do less as you train more. While this is a broad statement, it makes sense upon further examination. With more time in the gym, lifters will continue to add more muscle, and more strength. However, while their muscles may grow, their nervous system remains relatively the same in regards to fatigue management. Yes, we will see increases in neural drive, proprioception, etc. with training over time, but we don’t see massive reductions in the generation of central nervous system (CNS) fatigue. Simply put, heavier deadlifts take more time to recover from than lighter deadlifts. As you get stronger, it may actually be a good idea to deadlift less often. This also explains why lifts you aren’t able to do as much weight on, such as the bench press, often benefit from higher frequency. Lower weight means lower CNS fatigue and thus, less time is needed to recover between sessions.
Another factor that is often overlooked in these conversations is what exactly is a deadlift day? Is it just a competition deadlift? Are we not counting it if a sumo deadlift pulls conventional? What about a paused deadlift? How about block pulls or deficit pulls? RDLs? With all of the potential variations considered, it becomes nearly impossible to define exactly what is considered a true “deadlift day.” I’ve previously heard the approach of categorizing a deadlift day as any day you did a movement with the goal of it being to improve your competition deadlifts, however, this argument begins to fall apart when you try to apply it to a program. In my own training, I’ll often perform RDLs after I squat. Does this count? What about lat pulldowns or rows performed after my main barbell work on a bench day? Lat work will obviously translate to my deadlift, but it will help my bench as well.
Clearly, this is a much more nuanced conversation than simply categorizing a training program as having X number of deadlift sessions per week. Instead, I tend to focus on the amount of fatigue that a session generates in the relevant muscle groups and a lifter’s overall CNS. This can even be individualized for each lifter, as something like a block pull may be extremely fatiguing for some, while it may be relatively easy for others. This can all be fine-tuned further and further over time as you or your coach look back on all of the compounding months of training data that have been compiled. Don’t get wrapped up in the weeds of “I deadlift X times per week.” Instead, simply experiment with different training paradigms over time, noting what did and didn’t work for you. Did two comp sessions work well for you? What about one conventional and one sumo? Were your numbers increasing more when you did RDLs after deadlifts or were things moving better when you did them after squats? While we’ve evolved past the need for “guess and check” in many aspects of training, it remains one of the best ways to find an optimal training split for yourself.
As you can probably tell, how many times per week you should deadlift is a complex question that requires more than a simple numerical answer. Newer, weaker lifters can likely benefit from deadlifting two or even three times per week in order to speed up their rate of technique acquisition, and the weights are likely low enough to allow sufficient recovery. Stronger, more experienced lifters will likely do best on a lower frequency program, as one time per week is enough for technique maintenance at this point in their lifting journeys and the weights are likely too high to allow sufficiency recovery with higher frequencies anyway. Most of us sit somewhere between the two and can benefit from one comp session per week and some kind of secondary day (paused deadlifts, RDLs, block pulls, etc.), the specifics of which should be individualized and perfected over time as you accumulate more training data.
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