DL With The Finnish Masters 1 & 2

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TweetDeadlifting with the Finnish Masters

By Sakari

When Marc was in Finland for the WPO Semi-Finals in November of 2005, he met some great people from all over the world that he has forged friendships with. This has been helpful because he is now able to draw from the knowledge of incredible lifters from everywhere. One gentleman that Marc trades secrets with is Sakari from Finland. In the following e-mail Sakari sets up a great training cycle for the deadlift, put toegether by some of Finland's greatest deadlifters. He graciously offered that we publish this cycle on our website. Trying to bust out of rut in your deadlift training? Trying to work on speed off the floor, or improve the power in your hips for a truly strong sumo deadlift? Have you seen the FREAKS coming out of Europe that can pull crazy deadlift weights and use that awesome deadlift magic? Well then we think this routine is for you. Try it and let us know what you think

Spud,

How is the bench going ? Did you get any plans on how to boost bench with same kind of hybrid like in the squat ?

I sat down with some guys and shared my ideas. There was several great deadlifters like Virtanen, Kumpuniemi, Nieminen and Juha Hiltunen. He is not famous but has done 881 in the gym, in the bodyweight of 220. Yes - 881 @ 220. He is in my opinion one of best experts here in the sumo pull.

Attached is a 16 week outline. It starts with sumo pulls standing on 1-2 inch block. We felt no higher is recommended, it will destroy form. You will end up sitting hips way back too long or pulling hips too high. Stop each rep on floor.

The second wave is Romanian DL´s. It fill fix you for a condition to pull big. Keep your back arched and use glutes and hams to move the bar, keep back arched. Do not let the bar touch floor.

The 3rd mini-cycle I pretty much stole from George Herring. He is one smart guy with 800+ pull in the 220´s at 47 age. It features reverse band pulls with sumo. Set the bands so that actual weight hits you in the knees. This is to fix the second sticking point at knee level and to get used to big weights. Aim for 100+ % on 3rd week.

The 4th wave is to deload, use both styles to let hips rest. Basically, only sumo sets are done for perfecting form.

Let me know what you think of this, feel free to comment. I have an idea of putting this out for lifters to try out. Maybe through EFS, what you think. If you want to put this on your site it´s sure fine with me.

Did big Donnie got married ? Tell him congrats from Finland ! How is his lifting going ?

Thanks, Sakari


Finnish Program:
Week 1: sumo pull standing on 1-2" block 6x2
Week 2: sumo pull standing on 1-2" block 6x2
Week 3: sumo pull standing on 1-2" block 6x2

Week 4: rest - no pulls

Week 5: romanian DL 4-5x5 pyramid 1 heavy set
Week 6: romanian DL 4-5x5 pyramid 1 heavy set
Week 7: romanian DL 4-5x5 pyramid 1 heavy set

Week 8: rest - no pulls

Week 9: reverse band DL 5-8x1 sumo style
Week 10: reverse band DL 5-8x1 sumo style
Week 11: reverse band DL 5-8x1 sumo style

Week 12: rest - no pulls

Week 13: Speed DL 5x3 65-75%
Week 14: Speed DL 5x3 55-65%
Week 15: Speed DL 5x3 45-55%

Week 16: KISA !

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TweetDeadlifting with the Finnish Masters, part 2 – The Sumo System
By Sakari

The first part of the article raised a lot of interest and also a lot of questions. How to set up a successfull routine ? What type of pulls to use as main exercise ? Should I work for speed or go to max effort ?

The next part of this article is a system that is built for sumo lifters. It consists of parts that have proven to work but never tested together as a whole. So, you can take some parts of it or use it as it is. Pick the parts you think are crucial for your progress. Do not choose your favorites but rather pick up something you have never tried or suck at.

Weeks 1-4

This program is a hybrid of several 4 week waves, like Mark “Spud” Bartley´s squat routine. The first mini-period is sumo pulls standing on a 1-2” blocks or platform. Do not elevate too much, it will break your form. If you are really built for deadlifting, try work off a 3” platform, other wise stick to 1-2” blocks, mats or platform.

The percentage ranges between 60-80%. The most important thing is to keep the proper form and give the hip muscles the extra kick for those big pulls.



exercise

sets



1
sumo pull standing on 1-2" block
6x2



2
sumo pull standing on 1-2" block
6x2



3
sumo pull standing on 1-2" block
6x2



4
rest - no pulls






Weeks 5-8

This wave is a real strength builder. These conventional pulls can be done on either squat day or separate deadlift day. You may want to do light speed pulls during this cycle to keep the speed up and maintain technique.

Do the first rep like a regular deadlift. Then arch your back, push your glutes to the rear and lower the weight above your footplate. Raise the bar by pushing hips back to the bar. The back should stay arched all the time. Some do these standing on 2-4” block, some off the floor. Use big jumps, try adding 60-90 pounds per set. A good goal is to shoot for 5x80% of your max pull in a meet. Ano Turtiainen went 5x727 off floor, 81% of 893WR deadlift done in 2002 Arnold and Janne Toivanen hauled up 4x661 or 82% standing on a 4” block. He did 799 at 1996 IPF World´s.

5
romanian DL

4-5x5
pyramid
1 heavy set

6
romanian DL

4-5x5
pyramid
1 heavy set

7
romanian DL

4-5x5
pyramid
1 heavy set

8
rest - no pulls






Weeks 9-12

If your form is correct you will finish every weight that you can get off floor. That is the reason why specially our old school pulling greats stressed the Romanians and pulls standing on a block.

When the two first parts are designed to build brutal starting strength, the 3rd part is to develop accelerating strength and strong top part. Suspend the bands so that the original weight stays at the lock out. Blue bands reduce the weight 135 on floor. The most common way is to attach bands so that you lift the last inches yourself.

Another option is to attach them so that the original bar weight is lifted up from knee level. This is the part where many fail in the sumo too. This technique requires a doubled purple band or two blue bands per side to get the same amount of deload at floor.

For percentages, I have given a guidance with 10% tolerance. Don not pull 8 singles with 95% on week 11 but rather split the sets inside the given percentage each week.

9
reverse band DL

5-8x1
75-85%
sumo style

10
reverse band DL

5-8x1
80-90%
sumo style

11
reverse band DL

5-8x1
85-95%
sumo style

12
rest - no pulls






Weeks 13-16

This is deload and meet preparation. If your hips are sore from last cycle, use conventional style for some part of the pulls. A good option can be using sumo for half of the sets or every other week, week 14 for example.

Go up to your opener and maybe bit heavier 2-3 weeks prior to a meet. Let your hips recover and the big one wait until the meet day.

13
Speed DL


5x3
65-75%


14
Speed DL


5x3
55-65%


15
Speed DL


5x3
45-55%


16
MEET !















I hope this gives you some ideas and new perspective to your deadlift training. Change is the only permanent factor in the training of champions. With the same training, you get the same results.

Sakari