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Hannah’s Deadlift Progress: How She Went from Zero to 115kg
- samuandmelfitness
- Jul 11
- 3 min read
When new members walk into The Pride and see Hannah deadlifting over 100kg, they’re amazed. “Wow, she’s strong!” they say.
And she is.
But what they don’t see is how it started.
When Hannah first joined The Pride, she was in the same boat as many beginners: starting with just the bar. No weights. Just learning how to move. She would look at others lifting big numbers and think, “that’s crazy, I could never do that.”
Fast forward 16 months and Hannah deadlifted 115kg—with the whole gym cheering her on.
In this post, I’m going to walk you through Hannah’s entire deadlift progress—from day one to triple digits. If you’re new to lifting (or just feeling stuck), this is exactly how you can build real strength, too.
Below is Hannah’s actual deadlift progress graph. You’ll notice it’s not a straight line. There are bumps. Dips. Setbacks. But she kept going.
Phase 1: Learning the Basics (Month 0 - 1)
We started at square one—an empty 20kg bar.
No pressure to lift heavy. No chasing numbers.
The first few weeks were about building confidence, mastering technique, and simply showing up. You’ll notice in the early graph how the line wobbles—this was intentional.
That’s because we weren’t too worried about lifting heavy weights. In this initial phase, all we cared about was moving well and building Hannah's confidence.
Lesson: Don’t rush. Learn the movement. Confidence and strength will follow.
Phase 2: Building the Foundation (Month 1 - 7)
Once Hannah had the basics down, we started to build.
But—not in the way most people expect.
No big jumps. No ego lifts. Just small, consistent progress.
Not once did we ever jump more than 1.25kg either side (2.5kg total). That’s it. And she only deadlifted once per week.
In this phase, we focused on moving well and slowly built up her tolerance to lifting heavy. Bit by bit. That might sound slow, but over time those tiny jumps really added up.
Lesson: Consistency beats intensity. Focus on doing the simple things really well.
Phase 3: The Setbacks (Month 7 - 11)
Life happens. For Hannah, that meant a couple of minor injuries—A tweaked back on a camping trip and an elbow niggle. For most people, this would mean an excuse to quit the gym and ‘rest’ for a month.
Not Hannah.
She didn’t disappear from the gym.
Instead, she kept showing up. Some days were light. Some days we subbed deadlifts out entirely. But she moved. She adapted. She maintained consistency. No matter what your injury, it is almost ALWAYS better to keep moving.
Lesson: You don’t need to be perfect. But you do need to keep turning up.
Phase 4: Rebuild (Month 11 - 15)
Before the setbacks, Hannah was deadlifting around 80kg. After taking it easier for a while, she was feeling good again.
Did we go straight back to 80kg? Nope.
We dropped her back to 65kg and started building again. Slow and steady. Just like before—2.5kg total each week.
We stuck to the plan. She trusted the process.
Lesson: Rebuilding takes patience—but skipping steps is what leads to injury.
Phase 5: The Peak (Month 15 - 16)
After months of consistent training, Hannah was ready to test her max.
Her goal was to lift 110kg…
… She walked in, warmed up, and smashed it!.... So we tried 115kg… and she smashed that too!
As the bar dropped, the room erupted. Cheers, high-fives, smiles. Hannah went straight out the door and told her workmates what she’d just done. It was a good day.
115kg. One year and four months after starting with an empty bar.
Lesson: Set bold goals. Train hard. Celebrate big.
6 Key Lessons from Hannah’s Deadlift Progress
If you want to get stronger—whether it’s deadlifts or anything else—here’s what Hannah’s journey teaches us:
Never compromise technique to lift heavier. Form first. Always.
Slow, steady, consistent wins. Master the basics. Build your pyramid wide.
Have a plan—and stick to it. Don't wing it. Structure creates progress.
Listen to your body. Adjust the plan when needed, not your commitment.
Expect setbacks. They’re part of the process, not a reason to quit.
Show up. Do your best. Keep going.
Final Thoughts
Hannah didn’t set out to lift 115kg. In fact, she thought that was crazy.
But she stayed patient. She chipped away. And one day, she became that strong person others look at in awe.
If Hannah can do it, so can you.
Want help getting started with strength training?
Join our next 6-Week Transformation Challenge and let us coach you every step of the way.
Click here and let us know what your number one fitness goal is. (Only a few spots open at a time to keep it personal.)
You’ve got this.
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