Benedikt Magnusson Deadlift Routine

Benedikt Magnusson Deadlift

Benedikt Magnusson is arguably the best deadlifter in the world (though Eddie Hall may have something to say about that). He has broken the world record for raw lifting with straps and almost managed to lift 500kg (1102lbs) which has only been achieved once in history.

Here’s Benedikt Magnusson’s deadlift routine, as told by Stefán Sölvi (fellow Icelandic strongman).

Week A
Deadlift warm up to about 80%
80% 8 set x 2 reps
Platform deadlift about 3-4 inch high
Train with weights from 40-70%
4-6 sets x 4 reps Speed!
Then go down to about 40-50% 2 set x 8 reps

Week B
Deadlift. Work up to 3 rep max.
Platform deadlift about 3-4inch high
With weights from 50-75%
4-6 sets x 3-5 reps Speed
Then go down to about 50% for 2 sets x 8 reps

Week C

Jeff Jet Method Deadlift …When you do Jeff Jet Method deadlift you start by doing a rack pull. Then your training partners take the rack away and you go down and then up! Then your partners put the rack back in! The rep starts up by your thighs then you go down and up again ( I hope you get it )

A guy from America told us about this. His name is Jeff Jet. We started doing this because pretty much everything me and Benedikt can pull up we can do more reps! So we thought this would be a great way to do work with much more weight to shock the body! It worked!

Jeff Jet Method Deadlift – Go up in 1-3 reps max ( Do what the day allows!! )
Platform deadlift about 3-4 inch high
4 sets x 4-6 reps with weights from 50-60%

Details

We train deadlift every week. The last 3 or 4 workouts before a meet we just do regular deadlift off the floor and work in singles. We never go heavier than the starting weight at the meet though. Remember the day of the meet is the day you want to be the strongest!

More Info on Benedikt Magnusson’s Workout Split (including deadlifts)

The content below about Benedikt Magnusson’s deadlift schedule we got from the great man himself who published his program on Facebook in 2013. As he himself pointed out though, the program is designed for him, and you may need to adjust it to suit your own goals and abilities.

The program that he showed us is not exclusively aimed at deadlifting, it also includes squatting and bench press. A standard powerlifting routine, but with deadlifting prioritised. Anyone who is looking to boost their deadlift is probably also going to want to increase squats and bench too, so here’s the details below:

Pre-Conditioning (2-6 Weeks)

Monday Session – Squats

  • 5 sets of warm up squats with no weight on the bar
  • Magnusson recommends squatting using a narrower stance that reflects your deadlifting position.
  • Using a lighter weight perform 5-8 reps
  • Perform each rep explosively, this is about generating dynamic strength
  • Increase the weight working your way up to around 50-60% of your 1rm
  • Hamstring Curls 4 x 12-15
  • Leg Extensions 4 x 12-15

Tuesday Session – Bench Press

  • Warm up using a light weight, high reps and no lockout of your arms
  • Concentrate on stretching the pectoral muscles
  • 5 sets of 5-12 reps
  • Rear Delt Flyes 6-9 sets 8-16 reps

Thursday Session – Deadlift

  • Powercleans as a warm up, 3-4 sets 10 reps
  • 120kg deadlifts for 4-6 reps concentrating on form, increase weight each week
  • Sprint at 70% max effort
  • Several sets of pull ups

Saturday – Bodybuilding Routine

  • This is basically a shoulder workout
  • Standing Shoulder Press 6 sets 8-16 reps
  • Military Press 1 set light 1 set heavy 8-12 reps
  • Pull Downs 6 x 8-12
  • Rear Delt Work

As you can see from this program, the deadlift only makes up a small part of the total training time. However, everything that is done is based around how it can improve the deadlift. The squats are narrower so that they can replicate the deadlift stance for example.

Muscle Building Phase (4 weeks)

After pre-conditioning, Magnusson concentrates on increasing strength and muscle mass. He follows a three days on, one day off training week, and trains six days out of seven.

Day One – Squats

  • 5 sets of warm up squats with no weight on the bar

· Magnusson recommends squatting using a narrower stance that reflects your deadlifting position.

  • 3-4 sets of 3 reps light weight
  • 1 set 3 reps heavier weight
  • 1 set 3 reps heavier weight
  • 1 set 3 reps heavier weight
  • 1 set 3 reps heavier weight
  • Leg Extension Pump Workout – don’t count reps!

Day Two – Chest, Shoulders, Lats

  • Train the muscles that you believe were holding your deadlift back last time out
  • In his example, Magnusson mentions his chest, triceps, and lats
  • Bench Press
  • Military Press
  • Lateral Raises/Front Raises/Rear Delt Raises Pump Workout
  • Lat Pulldowns

Day Three – Deadlift and Back

  • Warm up 4 sets of 6-12 reps
  • Increase weight slightly and perform 3 sets of 5 reps
  • Increase weight (Magnusson was lifting 200kg aiming for 500kg during comp) 1 x 5
  • Increase weight again 1 x 5
  • Drop down to warm up weight for 8-12 reps
  • Dumbbell Rows 4-8 sets low reps

Final Thoughts

As you can see, the second workout program is fairly vague. The impression that we get is that Magnusson has a good idea of what works for him but does not follow a set routine from a particular strength coach. The results speak for themselves.

Magnusson and his brother were genetically built to lift ridiculously heavy weights. If you are going to follow his program then you’ll have to edit it to suit your needs and test it out over time. Even if it doesn’t help you to lift 500kg, it really should help you to shift a lot more weight than usual.

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Contributors

Steve Shaw

Steve Shaw | Writer

Steve Shaw is the original founder of Muscle and Brawn, an experienced powerlifter with over 31 years experience pumping iron. During competition he’s recorded a 602.5lb squat, 672.5lb deadlift and a 382.5lb bench press.

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