When I used to deadlift, I would do it every week. I never went for weight more than I could do 5 times in a row though. Some people will tell you once a month, but I know Olympic guys who would do a huge heavy 1RM and then do light deads another day. Hell they did powe cleans too and that is just a dead lift + extra shiznit. I would only NOT do an exercise if it caused me pain. Not soreness, but pain. Hooray deadlifts I was reading some lower back safety article and got the same advice, 5 reps, maximum weight. Thanks to the mix-up at work with the gym passes I missed 3 deadlift days and had to drop down the weight a little but I'm back to 1x a week. Funny thing is not many people where I go to the gym do dealifts. They are all huge from the waist up. Not many people do dead lifts in comparison to everything else a gym has to offer, for what ever reason. I've been doing a 5x5 program suggested from Starting Strength by Rippetoe, but I'm only doing 145lbs. Dead lifts are one of the more complete singular exercises, but form is paramount.