Deadlifting Programming

[Eric K]

I invoked your name because of a comment you left in Gilchrest's log (sorry Gil...I stalked without commenting) about having sad feels if no one else did the 275 press contest.

He likes to make me watch from inside the closet sometimes, so I don't think he minds.

Brah, if you're doing meets, I wouldn't fuck around with 'unconventional programming'.

Is it greedy to want a 1500 total and 295 press at a body weight of 185?

That said, I think you, CheB, & I are at about the same level of press advancement, so whatever general template I devise should work for all of us.

Your assessment of my press seems generous. It would be interesting to see how it goes, though.

[John Hanley]

Is it greedy to want a 1500 total and 295

I want that too.

A 295 press at 185...makes 1500 seem like a cake-walk

[manveer]

1500@185... 451 Wilks. That would be pretty good.

[Eric K]

I was good for 1300 two years ago, but I got greedy on the deadlift and ended up with a 1289. I also cut a lot for the 24-hr weigh-in, so judge me as you will. But I got stronger last year (435 x 5 squat, 470 x 5 deadlift), gained too much weight (peaked at 225), then lost a lot of strength due to poor training choices, and new family member. I am trying to "do it right" this year, and so far I've gotten back down to ~188, and am applying "smarter" training priniciples. We'll see how it goes, I guess. Got 455 x 5 deadlift today, but my squat is shit (375 x 5?).

[Tom Narvaez]

Determining volume needs is an annoying process of logging and tracking everything for about six months.

People get thrown off by all the following things and more:
1) Transient reduction in performance/recovery caused by poor sleep, nutrition, outside life stress
2) Accumulation of fatigue
3) The Mythical "Bad Day"

To suss those things out, you have to log your sleep, nutrition, and note any potential outside stressors for at least 3-4 training cycles. You have to remember that you can't indefinitely increase performance at the same volume loads so volume must increase within training cycles and between training cycles (over time). You have to remember that by increasing volume within the cycle, fatigue will accumulate. If you set PRs for 4-5 straight weeks, and then performance declined, that can be due to accumulated fatigue rather than hitting MRV+ in your last session.


A "good enough" way to do it is to plan a 4 week training cycle where you add 1-3 hard sets per week (you can use a % of relevant tonnage (~70%+ work) if you prefer). If you get to the end of the 4 weeks still setting PRs the whole way and the deload feels almost unnecessary, start the next cycle with a higher baseline volume value in Week 1. Repeat this enough times and you'll get a good idea of what you can handle on each lift.

Keep in mind that your frequency and intensity will play a big role in the exact values you get. You aren't going to be able to handle large volumes if your plan is grinding @10 sets of 5 for the entire fucking training cycle.