When do you set your valsalva on the deadlift?

[KarlM]

It seems a lot of coaches advocate to take your breath at the top, then grab the bar, get into position (lots of technical stuff here) and then pull (e.g. RTS has videos on this). For those of us who hook grip, that simply takes too much time. I'd pass out before I even set my grip. I generally set my grip, then pump my legs out, breath and set my valsalva, then bring my shins to bar, then pull. However, I feel like I'm leaving some core stability on the table with this approach. What do other people do?

[Wilhelm]

I do it pretty much that way. Hook, conventional.
Set my grip, raise my butt and breath in, brace and get into position from there.
I do my best to pull the slack out of my shoulders and lean back against the bar a little.

I can tell on warmups i float the bar.
Hopefully some of that is still in effect on heavy pulls.

I do wonder about how i could get tighter. I just do the best i can with this approach for now.
I wear my belt looser than on squats, and have it high in front.
I can easily get another notch if i want to. It's not comfortable though.
I should try some days with it tighter here early in my new cycle.
I may be missing out on something there, though i have also felt like i do worse with it tighter.
It deserves a revisiting though.

[cwd]

I set my valsalva later: feet, hands, shins to bar, valsalva, set back, pull.

But then I'm shaped just right for deadlifting, with long arms and short legs. So getting into the starting position is easy.

[Stenson]

I've just started using a "top down" setup and it has been a bit of an epiphany for me. I've always had a problem with tightness in my setup, taking a breath at the top has helped with that dramatically. I use hook grip and haven't had an issue with it.

[nkupianist]

I pull hook and set my valsalva up pretty much very last before I pull. Grab bar, fiddle with hook till fully secure, shins to bar/legs out, set back + valsalva simultaneously, pull.

[Les]

For the first rep, once I get my hands on the bar, I take my breath, brace, and then start to pull it into position. On every other rep, I breathe at the top. I know that isn't the "right" way to do it, but it seems to work for me.

[KarlM]

Thanks for the replies. In my case I definitely don't feel like I'm "floating" the bar, and I also have a problem with dizziness. Since some people can breath at the top, set their hook grips then pull, perhaps I should spend some time testing that out. I fiddle with setting the hook grip, but perhaps I can speed that up.

[Wilhelm]

Thanks for the replies. In my case I definitely don't feel like I'm "floating" the bar, and I also have a problem with dizziness. Since some people can breath at the top, set their hook grips then pull, perhaps I should spend some time testing that out. I fiddle with setting the hook grip, but perhaps I can speed that up.

One thing 15 months of my SSPT singles program has done, is make setting my hook grip is pretty automatic at this point.

[Stenson]

Thanks for the replies. In my case I definitely don't feel like I'm "floating" the bar, and I also have a problem with dizziness. Since some people can breath at the top, set their hook grips then pull, perhaps I should spend some time testing that out. I fiddle with setting the hook grip, but perhaps I can speed that up.

One thing 15 months of my SSPT singles program has done, is make setting my hook grip is pretty automatic at this point.

How has the SSPT program been working for ya? I recently started implementing only singles on my comp days, I really like it so far.

[Wilhelm]

Thanks for the replies. In my case I definitely don't feel like I'm "floating" the bar, and I also have a problem with dizziness. Since some people can breath at the top, set their hook grips then pull, perhaps I should spend some time testing that out. I fiddle with setting the hook grip, but perhaps I can speed that up.

One thing 15 months of my SSPT singles program has done, is make setting my hook grip is pretty automatic at this point.

How has the SSPT program been working for ya? I recently started implementing only singles on my comp days, I really like it so far.

It appears to work well for me.
I DL once a week in ten week cycles, and have been bumping the target weight everytime.
I actually use a 1rm target number higher than what i expect to pull, and then the 95% single in the last week is what i use for my meet goal/2nd attempt. I do well with the high percentage stuff, and maybe underperform on that very last (target) weight with what would be expected from SSPTs usual lifters. That doesn't worry me at all, because i succeed in pushing my PR up each cycle.
Last meet that was 435, and i got that and pulled 441 on my third.
This time it's 452lb/205kg. The percentages are based off of 475 this time. If i hit my 205kg second, i'll just go 207.5 for a third.
205kg is a 5kg a meet PR. I add a week to the cycle, so hit that last single twice before the 9 days off from pulling pre meet. That makes me know it is pretty much a sure thing and i can go for a true PR on my 3rd.
I don't do the exact last week again, rather it's a first and second attempt dry run scenario.
This time i had less than 20 weeks before the nexrt meet, so i ran 5 weeks of a cycle ( up to 390X1X8) at an inbetween weight bump, and then started over with the remaining weght bump to run a full cycle for the meet.

I'd say if i can continue for another year, i can then say unequivocally it works amazingly well.
It definitely allows me to advance my numbers while limiting fatigue.

tldr - I freaking love my SSPT scheme.

This is my template -


Rest times start at 15-45 seconds, then 60-90 and they say "as long as necessary" when you get to 90%

2X and 3x week templates midway down the page. Seems like a lot of fluff besides.
https://marylandpowerlifting.com/2014/1 ... -deadlift/

This has the rest times, and Matt gary talking lol. Basically, just lift on short rests, set up fully each time.
I've started pulling three singles in a rowwithout stepping away. Makes it go faster than resetting the camera each time.
But i always stand, take a few breats, and reset my grip. This is also great if you hook grip.

[windflower]

I think this is really overthinking it. If you don't pass out during the lift, you're doing something right!

[SeanHerbison]

It seems a lot of coaches advocate to take your breath at the top, then grab the bar, get into position (lots of technical stuff here) and then pull (e.g. RTS has videos on this). For those of us who hook grip, that simply takes too much time.

Since some people can breath at the top, set their hook grips then pull, perhaps I should spend some time testing that out. I fiddle with setting the hook grip, but perhaps I can speed that up.

I moved to hook grip largely because it took me less time to set up. So I think it's something individual from person to person, rather than anything inherent with the grip.

[mgil]

For the first rep, once I get my hands on the bar, I take my breath, brace, and then start to pull it into position. On every other rep, I breathe at the top. I know that isn't the "right" way to do it, but it seems to work for me.

Yeah, breathing at the top makes more sense to me simply because your chest cavity isn't under compression at the top like it is while bent over.

Regarding an interesting take on sets, I follow this guy...



IMO, he can count that as a triple. Furthermore, since he resets every time, he's ideally mitigating issues that occur when trying to DL for reps. His method seems to be working out ok.

[Les]

For the first rep, once I get my hands on the bar, I take my breath, brace, and then start to pull it into position. On every other rep, I breathe at the top. I know that isn't the "right" way to do it, but it seems to work for me.

Yeah, breathing at the top makes more sense to me simply because your chest cavity isn't under compression at the top like it is while bent over.

Regarding an interesting take on sets, I follow this guy...



IMO, he can count that as a triple. Furthermore, since he resets every time, he's ideally mitigating issues that occur when trying to DL for reps. His method seems to be working out ok.

I used to workout with a guy that did the same thing. He would reset like that between each rep. His idea was that the first pull is the one that counts. So he gets a lot more practice this way. I've noticed for myself that sometimes the second rep is easier than the first, so a method like this would force me to make sure my first rep was perfect.

[Wilhelm]

I've been doing my singles in groups of three. Like that, but i think i rest about twice as long as he does.
Timed it on playback, and it was 35 seconds from start of pull to start of pull.
Was turning the camera off and on for each single, but this way goes much faster, and i can manage to count to three w/o losing count.

As my weights go up, the reps go down, and rest times can increase, so at some point i'll be back to emom.

[KarlM]

It seems a lot of coaches advocate to take your breath at the top, then grab the bar, get into position (lots of technical stuff here) and then pull (e.g. RTS has videos on this). For those of us who hook grip, that simply takes too much time.

Since some people can breath at the top, set their hook grips then pull, perhaps I should spend some time testing that out. I fiddle with setting the hook grip, but perhaps I can speed that up.

I moved to hook grip largely because it took me less time to set up. So I think it's something individual from person to person, rather than anything inherent with the grip.

I just watched your deadlifts from your last strength lifting meet. You aren't kidding! You set your hook grip like Bruce Lee! Hook grip and rip! I'm going to try this out. By the way, I grew up in Benson Arizona, just a little ways from where you've landed.

I have made some progress on getting tighter with my set-up. First I set my hook grip, then straighten my knees, breath as deep as I can (which obviously won't be as deep as if I was standing tall), set my valsalva, THEN bring my shins to the bar while I'm trying to pull the slack out of the bar. I get much tighter this way but it's also WAY harder to set a flat back. I need to get some video to see if my back is in fact flat.

[SeanHerbison]

IMO, he can count that as a triple.

I'd call it more of a "weightlifting triple". Like a typical set of three cleans. Not that the terminology matters much.

I used to workout with a guy that did the same thing. He would reset like that between each rep. His idea was that the first pull is the one that counts. So he gets a lot more practice this way.

From what I've read, Matt Gary generally programs singles only for deadlift. There was a discussion on the RTS forums, back before it became a spam wasteland, where Mike T respectfully disagreed. I appreciate that about him, and I think it's one reason he's been able to continue progressing his method, rather than stubbornly stagnating on one idea.

First I set my hook grip, then straighten my knees, breath as deep as I can (which obviously won't be as deep as if I was standing tall), set my valsalva, THEN bring my shins to the bar while I'm trying to pull the slack out of the bar.

I don't generally plan on doing that, but after I've grabbed the bar, if it doesn't feel quite right, I end up doing it fairly often anyway.

[KarlM]

I'd appreciate feedback on my set up (and anything else you may see). My last session was 335 X 4 X 4 (that's about 74% of my recently tested 1RM). Below is set 2.

[mgil]

From a first pass view of that set, things look good.

[Asdatore]

Always did it at the bottom, but I can see why some bigger people prefer doing it at the top.