What to do when deadlift once per week stalls?

[Wlodyd52]

Insurance doesn't cover my TRT, I just pay out of pocket. Probably in the same boat since my test levels at 310 are "normal" as you alluded to. But overall cost really isn't all that bad. I'm going to a low-T clinic with some family ties, so I do get some discounts, but I'm pretty confident there's cheaper ways to get it done and get it done right. You could see if doc can write you a prescription and go the GoodRX route or something like that as @darktater mentioned. I personally don't know enough about that to advise it, but there's a lot of information out there on this so do some research. I wouldn't recommend doing it all yourself by any means, get a doctor that knows what he's doing with this and make sure you're getting regular blood work done.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Look up a clinic that actually is in the business of prescribing, they're few and far between unfortunately.

They're all over the place here.

[Schrodinger23]

Perhaps consider CBT and work on the anxiety.

Spent a year working on that and it didn’t help, which is why I tried anti-anxiety medications afterwards. Didn’t like side effects of one though it helped with anxiety and sleep. The other was less severe with side effects, but didn’t help the sleep issue, so I’ve use CBD oil since then and it is okay.

Hopefully the testosterone test will come back low again, and this will be something different to try. If not then might try other anxiety medications, as it might take several to get one that helps and I could live with.

[JJ23]

I know this has shifted to a TRT thread, but in addition to that potential issue, I think you're underweight. But even so, it's got to be in a million posts and podcasts that when Deadlifts stall you should switch to alternating block pulls and haltings.

[wojciech]

Currently the best help I get is from 0.9 mg of melatonin each night

0.9mg of melatonin is very little. Unless you misremembered something, you definitely should try more, as much as 10mg.

[GioFerrante]

Spent a year working on that and it didn’t help, which is why I tried anti-anxiety medications afterwards. Didn’t like side effects of one though it helped with anxiety and sleep. The other was less severe with side effects, but didn’t help the sleep issue, so I’ve use CBD oil since then and it is okay.

Hopefully the testosterone test will come back low again, and this will be something different to try. If not then might try other anxiety medications, as it might take several to get one that helps and I could live with.

You might need to try a few therapists till you find one that is capable enough to help, most suck.

Ned makes a good full spectrum hemp oil that works, but its expensive.

That said, a 430 lb deadlift is nothing to sneeze at. In another thread Nick D stated you can basically switch to rack pulls at this point and do haltings if you want to.

[Schrodinger23]

0.9mg of melatonin is very little. Unless you misremembered something, you definitely should try more, as much as 10mg.

For long term use it is recommended to keep the dose to 0.3 to 0.9mg. The higher doses are okay if taken temporarily, but if you take those large doses long term you can mess things up where your body doesn’t produce as much melatonin as before. You won’t be able to find low doses like this in stores, you will need to look online. It is best to get a time release pill or I use a spray sublingual that has 0.3 mg per spray. I make sure to not do more than three sprays total as I wake up throughout the night.

Got back the testosterone test results.

2019: Total was 392 and free was 76.1
2022: Total was 266 and free was 43

It’s hard to believe that my squat is at 345x5x3 and my deadlift is at 430x5, with the testosterone levels of an 80 year old man. This in addition to the fact that my insomnia is pretty bad. I’m going to get in to a clinic and see if I an get treated as soon as possible. Maybe I can run another LP, if treatments fix my sleep issue too.

I used Lazarus Naturals CBD, since they make a lower cost full spectrum one. Recently I switched to their sleep blend of CBD, CBN and CBG. It works a little bit better for sleep for me. Not great, but enough to use it.

If TRT doesn’t help with sleep I’m definitely going to look into a different therapist.

[GioFerrante]

Keep us posted after TRT, I'd be interested to hear the results.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Let's back up: you're not doing any power cleans. Power cleans are in the program for a reason.

[Schrodinger23]

Let's back up: you're not doing any power cleans. Power cleans are in the program for a reason.

About 20 years ago, in college, I took up recreational running. I slowly increased the distance that I ran up to 3 miles over the course of a year. A friend told me about a heart rate monitor that I purchased and realized that I could run much further than that if I just keep my heart rate between 150 and 160. Then I had the bright idea to increase running from 3 miles to 5 miles to 7 miles to 10 miles over only a couple of weeks and I messed up knees to where I couldn’t run anymore without a lot of pain for the next week or two afterwards. I would limp around just trying to walk.

After reading the Barbell Prescription, the authors discussed how many masters probably shouldn’t be doing the Olympic lifts. I didn’t want to aggravate things further with my knees to where I couldn’t squat or deadlift just to give the power clean a try. My knees are better now than before, but when running out the squat on an HLM, my knees didn’t feel great when I got down to singles. I have wanted to try the power clean at some point in the future, to see if I could do it without problems, but the closest Starting Strength gym is about 1.5 to 2 hours drive each way, depending on traffic. I’m not so sure it is a great idea trying to learn it on my own without having at least a month working with a coach to nail down the technique.