How to Deadlift 100 kg: Your First Big Pull
A practical guide to pulling 100 kg from the floor. Realistic timelines, technique cues, and programming for your first milestone deadlift.
Most healthy men can deadlift 100 kg within three to six months of consistent training. Women typically reach this milestone in six to twelve months. It is the first weight that genuinely feels heavy in your hands, and clearing it marks the transition from learning the movement to actually training it.
One hundred kilograms is two plates and a pair of tens on each side. The bar bends a little. Your grip has to mean something. This is where the deadlift stops being an exercise and starts being a lift.
What 100 kg Actually Requires
You do not need exceptional genetics or years under the bar to pull 100 kg. You need basic proficiency in the hip hinge pattern, enough grip strength to hold the bar for a single rep, and a program that adds weight consistently.
Most beginners stall before 100 kg not because they lack strength but because they lack consistency. Showing up three times a week for twelve weeks beats showing up five times a week for three weeks and then disappearing.
Conventional or Sumo at This Stage
Pull conventional. At 100 kg, the weight is light enough that stance selection barely matters for performance. What matters is learning to brace, hinge, and lock out. Conventional teaches all three without the hip mobility demands of sumo.
If you have unusually long legs and a short torso, sumo may feel more natural. That is fine. But do not overthink stance selection at this weight. Pick one, get strong at it, and revisit the question when the bar is heavier.
Technique That Matters Now
Three cues will carry you to 100 kg and well beyond.
First, push the floor away. Thinking about pushing rather than pulling keeps your chest up and prevents the hips from shooting too early. The deadlift starts with your legs.
Second, squeeze the bar before you pull. A loose grip means a loose back. Crush the bar, set your lats by pulling your shoulders down, and then initiate the lift.
Third, lock out with your glutes, not your lower back. The top of the deadlift is a hip extension, not a lumbar hyperextension. Stand tall. Squeeze your glutes. Stop there.
Grip at 100 kg
Double overhand should work fine for most people at this weight. If your grip is failing before your legs and back, add dead hangs and farmer carries to your program. Do not rush to mixed grip or straps. Building raw grip strength now pays dividends for years.
If double overhand truly cannot hold the weight, use a mixed grip for your top sets and double overhand for everything else. Hook grip is another option, though most beginners find it painful until the thumbs adapt.
Programming to Get There
A simple linear progression is the fastest path. Deadlift twice a week: one heavier day working up to a top set of five, and one lighter day focused on technique with sets of eight to ten at a lower weight.
Add 2.5 kg to your heavy day each week. If you start at 60 kg, you reach 100 kg in sixteen weeks. That timeline is realistic and sustainable.
Do not overcomplicate accessory work. Romanian deadlifts for hamstring strength, barbell rows for upper back, and planks for bracing. That is enough.
Where Strena Fits
Strena automates this progression. You tell it your starting weight, and it handles the increments, deload timing, and set-rep adjustments. No spreadsheet required. When you stall, it detects the plateau and adjusts before frustration sets in.
For a milestone like 100 kg, having a program that adapts session to session removes the guesswork that causes most beginners to spin their wheels.
Common Mistakes at This Weight
Ego loading. Adding 10 kg per week instead of 2.5 kg because the weight feels easy. It is easy until it is not, and jumping too fast builds sloppy habits that become dangerous at heavier loads.
Neglecting warm-up sets. Even at 100 kg, you should ramp up through 60, 70, 80, and 90 before your working weight. Each warm-up set is a chance to rehearse technique under lighter load.
Deadlifting in running shoes. The compressible soles shift your balance forward and waste energy. Pull in flat shoes, socks, or dedicated lifting shoes.
What Comes Next
One hundred kilograms is a foundation, not a ceiling. From here, the path to 140 kg is straightforward with continued linear progression or an early intermediate program. The technique habits you build now determine how far the deadlift takes you.
Enjoy this milestone. It is the first one that feels real. Then show up next week and put more weight on the bar.