Deadlifts - barbell too heavy! EZ or dumbbells?

[DaztardlyAriel]

I use a very small gym. Newish to lifting and loving it. I've been doing deadlifts with a barbell that has 20kg fixed weight on it. However, I need to up the weight. The only other barbell at the gym is too heavy: I can't lift the barbell let alone put weight on the ends! Should I use the EZ bar, which is a bit lighter, or dumb bells? I have a great PT when I'm at home, but I'm on fieldwork a lot and that's when I use this small gym. Not due home for a couple of months now. Thanks for any advice.

How heavy is the other barbell? Generally a bar weighs 20kg, I've occasionally seen a 25kg - is it much heavier than that?!
I don't think you'd get the same form if you use dumbells. I'd stick with the weight you can lift and make it harder - so either up your reps, or stand on some plates and have the bar on the floor so you're lifting from lower.

I don’t understand. A standard bar weighs 20 kilos. And then you have 20 kgs fixed so that’s only 40 kilos. Does the other bar really weigh more than 40 kilos?

Can you put bumper plates on the heavier bar so there’s negligible extra weight?

Depending on your age and experience it should be possible to lift up to around 70 kilos with relative ease.

Are there any kettlebells? They can be good for starting out with deadlifts.

Or could do RDLs with the dumbbells to build strength.

I can’t see a way of doing deadlifts themselves with dumbells. And an EZ bar is going to sit too low to the ground.

I’d focus on building strength and practicing a hinge with RDLs until you’re up to the barbell weight. (I’ve not come across barbells that are much heavier than 20kg though. The ones that look bigger are often hollow so not actually heavier)

Thanks everyone - some really helpful suggestions which I shall try out. I don't understand why the other barbell in the gym is so much heavier than 20kg, but I'll try out the other things you've suggested. @ParmaVioletTea , 70kg is clearly easy for you, but not for me. Fortunately a qualified PT and friendly gym gave me the confidence to begin lifting with a low weight and improve - as I am doing.

@DaztardlyAriel70kg is bodyweight ish for a lot of people which is a really big deal and an awesome achievement. Everyone started from the start. I absolutely remember building up what was heavy to me and being so proud of myself. Keep going and keep loving it 💪

Oh sorry @DaztardlyAriel I wasn't saying hit 70 kilos straight away! Just that you'll surprise yourself if you keep trying. People can lift a lot heavier than they think (me included).

|I think you need confidence more than anything. It took me ages to get over the mental hurdle of a really heavy lift. Nowadays, because I know that I can rep out a heavy deadlift, I get it done more easily. Go figure ...

I'm still not clear about your current lift, though - is the whole bar + weights 20 kilos?

Keep going, but try to add weight onto that 20 kilos (or is it 40 kilos?) - just another 1.25 kilos each side, and then another 1.25, and so on. (At my gym, we have the teeny tiny plates that weight 500 grammes - I've used those to keep pushing up my 1 rep max!)

@RayKray 's suggestion of kettlebells is a good one for building strength, but in my experience, they feel heavier than a loaded bar! My PT has me doing farmer's carry for a minute with 2 x 32 kilo kettlebells, and that is far far harder than a set of deadlifts at 64 kilos. They're far less stable.

So maybe try with 2 x10 kilo KBs, and then go up to 12 kilos? then you're doing more than 20 kilos, so you build confidence, because I bet you're already strong enough to lift more than 20 kilos. And if you can do it with kettlebells, a loaded bar of the same weight will seem much lighter!

Have fun. It is the best feeling in the world, lifting heavy stuff up off the floor - I'm over 65 and I can deadlift 1.5 times my bodyweight. It took me a year to get to bodyweight, and then 6 more years to get over 100 kilos - but if I can do it, anyone can, particularly if you're younger. You get such a strong back and legs - useful in everyday life, especially if you're travelling.

You could try deadlifting with dumbbells instead if they have a good selection of those at the gym.

Deadlifts with kettlebells is one in front of you lifted with both hands. It would be hard to get a deadlift with one in each hand as it would introduce too much instability. That’s why RDLs are also an idea as then you can use one db in each hand but you’re not doing the off the floor part of the movement where you need the stability so much.

I'd second the idea of using one heavy kettlebell if they have them. I also think it's quite likely that you have the strength to lift the full size bar without realising it - it will almost certainly weigh 20kg because you can't really buy bars heavier than that (if they're made they're usually a 'novelty' item eg for strongman competitions) It may be that the bar feels heavier because it's unwieldy, especially if they're stored upright and you have to lift it first to carry it.
You say your PT is when you're at home, is there anyone at the gym you can ask to help you try it.

I know you said it's a small gym, does it have a squat rack? If you could use the full bar, or work up to it, you could do rack deadlifts. The thing about deadlifting is you need the bar to be high up enough from the floor to lift it safely. The distance it sits off the floor depends on the size of the weight plates. So if you can lift 20kg or a bit higher, but not enough to use larger weights plates on the bar, you can set the bar up on a rack so it's at a better height for you to lift. That can allow you to build up with smaller weight plates.

Good luck! Most people find that their strength increases pretty rapidly in the early days, you might surprise yourself.

I would do RDLs with the dumbbells - although the barbell is more satisfying!