Coan/Phillipi Deadlift Program REVIEW
Let me start out by saying that this is a solid foundation for a program, but it needs modification for the natural lifter who can barely find time to hit the gym 4 times a week anyway (like most people). The volume is a bit much, but the theory is great; slow progression over 10 weeks and speed work accompanied by pertinent accessories with some heavy lifting.
The idea of working up to a high percentage for a couple sets and then doing your speed work is so logical and effective that you will wonder why you never did it before. I have done this with my overhead work in the past and received great results, but never applied it much to the lower body. The drop in weight within a workout does a few things: 1) it raises confidence and thereby focus, 2) makes speed weight feel much easier, 3) speed work doubles as recovery exercise for the heavy lifts. Most people just lift heavy and go straight to accessories afterward, but would you just stop in the middle of a high intensity run and just sit down or go straight to stretching? No, you cool down first. Same basic idea, but applied in a more appropriate manner for powerlifting.
So heres how my program looked with a goal of 615lbs raw:
*Light warmup before ALL workouts, working up to heaviest weight*
Week 1
Deadlift (75%): 1x2 @ 460 lbs
Speed deadlift (60%): 8x3 @ 370 lbs (90 sec rest b/w sets)
Accessory Work 2x8:
Stiff-leg deadlift
Bent over row
Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown
Arched back good morning
Week 2
Deadlift (80%): 1x2 @ 490 lbs
Speed deadlift (65%): 8x3 @ 400 lbs (90 sec rest b/w sets)
Accessory Work 2x8:
Stiff-leg deadlift
Bent over row
Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown
Arched back good morning
Week 3
Deadlift (85%): 1x2 @ 525 lbs
Speed deadlift (70%): 6x3 @ 430 lbs (90-120 sec rest b/w sets)
Accessory Work 2x8:
Stiff-leg deadlift
Bent over row
Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown
Arched back good morning
Week 4
Deadlift (90%): 1x2 @ 555 lbs
Speed deadlift (75%): 5x3 @ 460 lbs (90-120 sec rest b/w sets)
Accessory Work 2x8:
Stiff-leg deadlift
Bent over row
Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown
Arched back good morning
Week 5
Deadlift (80%): 3x3 @ 490 lbs
Speed deadlift (65%): 3x3 @ 400 lbs (120 sec rest b/w sets)
Power shrugs (with DL weight): 3x5
Stiff-leg deadlift: 3x5
Bent over row: 3x5 or Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 3x5
Arched back good morning: 3x5
Week 6
Deadlift (85%): 1x2 @ 525 lbs
Speed deadlift (70%): 3x3 @ 430 lbs (120 sec rest b/w sets)
Power shrugs: 3x5
Stiff-leg deadlift: 3x5
Bent over row: 3x5 or Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 3x5
Arched back good morning: 3x5
Week 7
Deadlift (90%): 1x2 @ 555 lbs
Speed deadlift (75%): 3x3 @ 460 lbs (120 sec rest b/w sets)
Power shrugs: 2x5
Stiff-leg deadlift: 2x5
Bent over row: 2x5 or Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 2x5
Arched back good morning: 2x5
Week 8
Deadlift (95%): 1x2 @ 585 lbs
Speed deadlift (70%): 3x3 @ 430 lbs (120 sec rest b/w sets)
Power shrugs (with DL weight): 2x5
Stiff-leg deadlift: 2x5
Bent over row: 2x5 or Underhand (reverse) grip lat pulldown: 2x5
Arched back good morning: 2x5
Week 9
Deadlift (97.5%): 1x1 @ 600 lbs
Speed deadlift (70%): 2x3 @ 430 lbs (rest as needed b/w sets)
Power shrugs: 2x5
Stiff-leg deadlift: 2x5
Week 10
Deadlift (100%): 1x1 @ 615 lbs
Speed deadlift (60%): 2x3 @ 370 lbs (rest as needed b/w sets)
This is not what you will get if you enter your info into the Coan/Phillipi program calculator, because I have tried it before and it was just too much work. I could get it done, but was still recovering a week later from it. I followed this almost exactly. The only thing I didn't pay attention to was rest times and sometimes I switched an exercise for something very similar. Sometimes I went faster and sometimes I went much slower. It just all depends on how you feel that day. Also, you will notice that the accessories have no weights by them. I just used the most weight I could to get through the accessory work without puking, haha. Early in the program I used 225-315 on any given accessory, later I got up to 405 on some. Just depends on the total reps and sets and what you know you can do.
Even this modified program has limitations. You must set a reasonable goal for yourself from the beginning. You may want to underestimate your max by 20lbs and set your desired max around 5-8% over your old max. Ex - Actual current max=405 x 1.05 = ~425lbs. Start the program assuming you have a 385 max, so that the build up is a little more friendly. If you get the 5% (425) then try 8% (call it 435) right after. To add even 20lbs to your max in 10 weeks is very very good! We all want to see an extra plate on each side but this is very unrealistic.
A program is only there to keep you on track, but you must decide if the goal is truly attainable. The first time I ran through this program I expected FAR too much and ended up burning out before I even hit my old max weight.
This program can also be applied to upper body and leg work with some minor tweaks. I will be trying it as a squat program next I believe.
So use my 'template' and record what you have been doing because when you look back you will be able to pinpoint what went wrong. I will definitely be using this program again once I experiment with some other things.
Good luck!