The deadlift is an extremely taxing exercise, and one that powerlifting experts suggest doing only once or twice a week—some even suggest it once every other week. So when I started doing it every weekday in December (Christmas excluded), my fellow gym-goers took notice.
“I said to myself, ‘I knew the deadlift guy was going to be in today,’” one of them told me on December 30. “The Deadlift Guy” isn’t a bad nickname for someone who spent most of their December workouts on the platform, but I’m sure anyone who saw me deadlifting daily was wondering why I would do this and put myself at risk of a lower-back injury.
If you’re a regular M&F reader, you might remember that back in October, I took on a challenge called “Squatober,” where I squatted five days per week with the goal of increasing my max for the king of lifts. The program upped my PR by 40 pounds, so I figured the same could happen with my deadlift max. I didn’t quite achieve that, my raw deadlift max went up from a shaky 365 pounds to an easy 385 in the 30 days.
Like Squatober, Deadcember was created by the masterminds at the exercise equipment company Sorinex. For the past two years, it’s been run by Daniel McKim, the company’s Midwest rep.
“You see all this division on social media and people calling each other out for their lifts,” McKim says. “This was just about finding a way to bring people together around this really brutal lift.” The @sorinex_deadcember Instagram page, which uploaded each day’s workout, is followed by more than 10,000 faithful lifters.
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McKim’s program is simple—at the beginning, you’re lifting a lot of volume, followed by low reps of heavy weight. “It’s all about linear progression,” he says. “And hopefully at the end of it you get a massive PR.”
Want to give Deadcember a go next year? Here are some of my takeaways from the program.
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Eating Enough Is Key
For me at least, deadlifting five days a week required a shocking amount of calories. Other than sticking with the lifting program itself, McKim stresses that sleep and nutrition should be top priorities.
In addition to being the mastermind behind this program, McKim is a brand ambassador for Little Debbie Cakes, and he recommends one or more treats as a post-workout snack. The brand’s Christmas Tree Cakes—one of his and my personal favorites—clock in at 200 calories and 30 grams of carbs a pop. They’re not a terrible choice post-lift, and I was happy to indulge him.
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Bojan Milinkov
Accessorize to Save Your Back
What do ab rollouts and planks have to do with increasing your deadlift max? Quite a lot, as both are great for strengthening your core and your trunk. Both exercises are featured throughout the Deadcember program to protect the back while deadlifting every day.
“I don’t want to have a couple of hundred people coming after me complaining of a bad back,” McKim says. “I had to find a way to strengthen the trunk.”
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Serghei Starus
Pace Yourself
McKim’s program was riddled with tri-sets, or three exercises done back-to-back-to-back with no rest between. I learned quickly that to make it through this muscular blitzkrieg, I needed to keep the weight lighter on my accessory lifts. This doesnt mean I lifted featherweights, though. I went just light enough that I had a couple of reps left in the tank for each move—and had enough energy to limp back to the apartment.
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Try it Yourself
Here’s an example day from the full program. If you’re interested in trying the full routine, check out McKim’s Instagram page @mckimdaniel or the Sorinex page.
Barbell Deadlift — 5 reps at 70%, 4 reps at 80%, 3 at 82%, 2 at 85%, and 1 at 92% of your 1-rep max
Bench Press — 5 reps at 70%, 4 reps at 80%, 3 at 82%, 2 at 85%, and 1 at 92% of your 1-rep max
Band Pull-apart — 3 sets of 20
triset with Diamond Pushups — 3 sets of as many reps as possible
