Reasons for squat and deadlift dropping 5-10% in a week?

[holyinstantrice]

Hey all. I had this weird problem happen to me recently upon returning to school:

-Monday I squat 335 for 3 sets of 5 and hit 405 on the deadlift for a single
-Wednesday I take very light
-Thursday I'm on a plane all day flying from CA to PA
-Friday I can barely hit 355 on my squat for a single

At first I thought it was a short-term effect of having sat around on a plane for however many hours, but the next Monday I try to continue my TM progression to 340 for 3 sets of 5 but can only manage a sad fucking triple. However, my bench and press decide to come out of their plateau and shoot up 15-20 pounds each in the ensuing 2 weeks.

So my current hypotheses are:

1. Travel by flight will dehydrate you and generally fuck your shit up
2. Some atmospheric or otherwise hardly tangible differences between CA and PA that cause my body to function drastically differently
3. Systematic overtraining that had been creeping up on me and finally manifested itself over the course of a week
4. ???

Any ideas, guys? I'm now back on a linear progression to rebuild my lost lifts but I would like some insight as to why they dropped in the first place. Thanks!

[Carlos Daniel]

If I understood correctly, you are at a different gym now. Is there any possibility that the new gym has heavier squat bars?

[Carnivroar]

Shit happens. No mystery.

[holyinstantrice]

If I understood correctly, you are at a different gym now. Is there any possibility that the new gym has heavier squat bars?

Hey Carlos! Thanks for the input. Oddly enough, the bars at my new gym are older and thinner in diameter. I had considered the possibility of weight disparities in equipment between my new and old gyms but the total load difference at 350+ lbs shouldn't be on the order of 25-30 lbs. This also doesn't take into consideration the fact that my bench and press have gone up--I use the same general bar for all my exercises.

[holyinstantrice]

Shit happens. No mystery.

Understood in the general context, but in the span of one week? This is the mystery--and that I haven't fully recovered my squatting and pulling yet after three and a half weeks.

[Carlos Daniel]

How have you been eating? Do you by any chance take creatine?

[Max Faget]

Understood in the general context, but in the span of one week? This is the mystery--and that I haven't fully recovered my squatting and pulling yet after three and a half weeks.

If you aren't at least 30% body fat and a health risk, you have no business asking this question. Go drink more milk and get fatter and then you can master the squat.

[holyinstantrice]

How have you been eating? Do you by any chance take creatine?

I don't track my diet rigorously, but it's been enough to fuel my progression consistently all summer. Now that I'm back in school, I have that much more available to eat--my current goal is to break the USAPL record for the squat in the 181s for the 18-19 category so I've increased my intake to get me from 170 to ~181 BW. I estimate my diet nets me 180g protein, 3500+ cal daily.

[holyinstantrice]

If you aren't at least 30% body fat and a health risk, you have no business asking this question. Go drink more milk and get fatter and then you can master the squat.

Weeeell shiiiiiit.

[Carlos Daniel]

I don't track my diet rigorously, but it's been enough to fuel my progression consistently all summer. Now that I'm back in school, I have that much more available to eat--my current goal is to break the USAPL record for the squat in the 181s for the 18-19 category so I've increased my intake to get me from 170 to ~181 BW. I estimate my diet nets me 180g protein, 3500+ cal daily.

Well, then I can't tell what went wrong. I asked about the creatine because of a personal experience, I spent a week without it and lost quite a bit of strength because of that, so I was wondering if something similar happened to you.

[48Dodge]

Just being in a new environment can mess me up a little bit. A few years ago I used the golds gym in my parents' hometown and I was off on all of my weights by a good bit. When my local gym closed down and we were absorbed by my current gym, I was off a little bit then, too. A little less noticeable that time since I had been blowing off going to the gym pretty regularly back then.

[BrotherIron]

How have you been eating? Do you by any chance take creatine?

That's a big factor. Sleep is another one that people always forget about. Not to mention, flying always fucks people up. It's no big deal. Give it a lil time and you'll be back at it in no time. Even just switching gyms can affect your lifting, sometimes pos and sometimes neg.

[LimieJosh]

Traveling affects my lower body lifts considerably more than my upper body lifts. I assume its an issue of sitting in a cramped position (I'm 6'2") for hours on end in constant hip and knee flexion having a residual affect that takes a few days to shake.