Good post. I’ll keep that in mind! 
What about snatch grip deadlifts? Because of the wide grip and longer range of motion you can use less weight, therefore less CNS stress.
Wouldn’t the increased range of motion involve more muscle units? When comparing the CNS effects of lifts this is where i get confused.
The rules as i know them:
- more MUs -->higher CNS stressor
- more weight used (often due to #1) -->higher CNS stressor
When does more weight have a higher CNS drain than more MUs?
Correct if I’m wroung but doesn"t the load in most cases dictat the number of motor units involved? and just because you are using less weight do to the less favorable mechanical postion which in turn making it a longer pull thus more work being done per rep/set.
I always thought ( read ) that hamstrings ( leg bisceps ) are composed mostly by fast twitch fiber and because of this, they ( coaches ) recomended low reps, high sets, long rests and very high loads for exercises like curls for example.
Making generalisations about specific muscles and the muscle fibre composition is not always safe -with a few exceptions, of course, to make up for the rule (e.g., soleus) and/or for certain people.
Hamstrings’ function, work rate and their muscle fibre arrangement is such that don’t allow it to be trained in the same way as other muscles (e.g., quads) irrespective of their composition per individual.
Also, the fact that they are working in such a way is one more reason to always try and “protect” them.
Lastly, the higher number of reps helps the conditioning of hamstrings, as they tend to lose some of their density/mass easier than other muscles, I believe.
Hope it helps!
Others?
I use to follow a 3x3 RDL session when i wasn’t doing squats. I don’t know what %RM i was using because i didnt know what my 1RM was at that time, i just know that i’ve been using my 3RM because there’s no way i can pull a 4th rep. What happened was it affected the way i sprint a little bit. Rather than dependng on my quad, i tend to use my hamstrings more when i run, in the end, i realized that i’ve been focusing on my hamstrings so much that my quad is too weak 
Edit: the above post of mine for lower intensity and more reps (e.g., 8) refers to SLDLs… 
Sprinting utlizes the most MU followed by cleans then Plyo’s then deadlift. Speed of execution also utitlizes more MU then doing a strength exercise at normal speed. Therefore, if you are doing SLDL/RDL at 20-60% (of 1RM)
at a fast speed it does become more CNS intensive then doing SLDL/RDL at 20-60% (of 1RM) at normal 3RM speeds.
Whats the reasoning for deadlifts to be done after accels?
Not sure what you mean… You could do them before, if this is the way you are working with weights! This is up to you…
You could easily use Squat as well; it depends on what you want from your training -hitting it, or spreading the load…
It also depends on how the two lifts are comparing for the athlete and which one brings about the desired effect.
i have a question that can be answered please. My previous max for deadlift was 275lbs, a week and a half ago i got a new WHOPPING PB unimaginable to my being at 350lbs. I initially wanted to just do romanion deads to build up my posterior chain cause of dipping back in parallel squats, but as i got through the sets at 225lbs at the fourth set it felt very light, so light i didnt need to concentrate and was thinking WTF did i misplace the weights? But i dont think its weak now, and my best in the squat is 300lbs(might be tech). Reading this thread im thinking of sticking to light loads for romanion deads or sldl at 50%. I was doing 5x5 method before i decided to max on just deads, whats strange was at around the 4th set 225lbs felt so light it was strange so i decided to go for the max. Wished this feeling happened for the squat dammit. So aside from what i mentioned what suggestions you have for deads. Also in terms to sprinting i hear deads are good for starting strength on the blocks, in mechanics of running im not so sure other then stabilizing the body during flight.
350 isn’t really unexpected from a 300lb full squat (if that is in fact what you squat). I went from 315 to 405 in 4 weeks in the deadlift simply trying it out some more and of course, improving in other lower body lifts. The deadlift does not take much technique and many of the best deadlifters rarely deadlift, so I am not surprised you improved your PB after doing just squat training.
With the way people are talking about it, and the weights used, I didn’t even think about it, but now I’m a little confused.
SLDL = Single Leg Dead Lift??
Stiff leg deadlift. It really fries the hamstrings.
I agree. You don’t need that much weight to achieve good results with the stiff legged deadlift (another name for the romanian deadlift).
Because it is more of an isolation exercise (relatively) its a good one to use for hamstring strength.
According to Mike Stone it is also useful for teaching female athletes to contract thier glutes and hamstrings together during deacceleration. This helps reduce ACL trouble.
TC
Yes, not much weight and more reps vs. other lifts.
The latter, good point! Thanks!
I’ve also found good to do this exercise not long after a track session, somewhere in the middle of weights’ training; if you leave it at the end with “colder” hamstrings, the stiffness the next day is rather more.
Similar experiences on this? Just me?
ahh, that makes more sense. Thanks heat. mortac8’s 405 stiff legged is nothing to laugh at, but it’s no 405 Single Leg. Glad I asked.
I will have to chime in and agree that doing moderate or submaximal lifting may be best (especially in proximity to racing season). Doing deadlifts, stiff leg deadlifts, or glute ham raises with big weight really takes alot out of you (CNS)…this is especially the case with intermediate/advanced lifters.
In the past, I thought that huge lifting #s (squat,deadlift) were necessary to run fast but after talking to a bunch of fast guys over the years, I’ve learned it’s certainly not the case.
Like Charlie says, quality & consistent sprint work will transfer to your lifting. Personally I no longer see any reason to put great effort towards the pursuit of big lifting numbers.
Actually as I understand it the stiff legged deadlift (SLDL) and romanian deadlift (RDL) are two different movements. You can read about this difference here: