I just competed on Sunday, and pulled 235 kg, a pr. It was heavy and I don't think I could have gone heavier with out breaking form. I think the rack pull/ halting dead arrangement helped my back stay flat. I'm following the Texas Method much more closely now, so I pull either rack pulls or haltings on Monday and power clean of Fridays. The 1.25 jumps seem a little slow, it might be time to change the program a little. Maybe some lower reps with larger jumps?

I haven't tried a conventional deadlift yet, and probably won't until I get closer to competition to find out my opener. What I have noticed is better recovery for my squats, as long as they aren't too close together. I started with 202.5 for the rack pulls and have pogressing at 2.5 kg per workout consistently. The haltings have been less consistent because I'm doing a single set of 8 fo the work set, adding three reps makes the set seem like eternity. I plan to make 5 kg jumps until near failure or failure, back off 5-7.5 kgs and start making 2.5 kg jumps. I'm looking at competing in April, so I'll know more as it gets closer.

I hope this helps.

Adam