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Thread: Deadlift stalled early

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
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    Default Deadlift stalled early

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    Hi Rip and everyone, long time listener, first-time trainee here. As you can see by the title, I've stalled on the deadlift for the reasons I can't understand why yet because my squat has almost reached the deadlift with a relative ease. First stall was I guess a week ago or so trying to lift 195lb in which I couldn't even pull it off the floor but had no problems lifting (except that it was quite hard) 185lb for 5 reps prior to this workout. So I deloaded back to 175lb at the start of the week, and just today as I was going for an another round of 185lb, I just couldn't pull it off the floor after the first rep. I even used straps in this last workout particularly just to test if the problem is with my grip strength but I think not really. Failure to recover might be one of the reasons I thought even though I feel like I'm doing everything pretty great in terms of sleep, diet etc. but I started phase 2 I guess couple weeks late because I wanted to get the form right on the clean.

    Is it the lack of upper body strength because I feel like that's particularly weak since I can't even do a single pull up yet (I'm training with resistance bands though). Should I just decrease increments to 5lb even though the book advises to keep up with 10-15lb jumps for several months? Can it be low-t (I don't fill the criteria for this maybe except that I was sedentary my whole life and had a pretty shitty diet but I jack off pretty much every day so it can't be that low right?) So what am I doing wrong here exactly? Really need help on this. Anything greatly appreciated.


    My stats:
    5'9
    154lb to 167lb (1.5 months)
    18yr old
    Squat: 70lb to 185lb
    OHP: Bar to 80lb
    Deadlift: 110lb to 185lb (stuck)
    Bench: Bar to 120lb
    Clean: Recently started at 90lb
    Diet: I get at least 170g of protein a day and usually go above 3000kcal with whatever I have at home
    Sleep: 7-8h a day

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    North Texas
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
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    Default

    Hey Rip, reporting again. I took your diet advice more seriously and now eating around 4000, 4500kcals w/ protein per my bodyweight while weighing around 180lb. My squat is progressing well without any stalls (I take my time between the sets as well), currently lifting 225lb. OHP is 95, the bench is 140 so all of those are going well except the deadlift again. After failing it twice I deloaded back to 165lb, could pull the 200lb for 5 reps just couple days ago and now I'm stalling at 210lb and can only pull it for 2 reps. Now quite obviously I'm doing something wrong again or rather not doing the program properly be it the form, the nutrition, the increments or whatever so I'll start eating more, and maybe lower the increments for deadlift to 5lb from 10lb if you or rest of the people here think it's necessary. My question is, how should I approach establishing deadlift ahead of my squat after fixing the problem? Or should I just admit defeat in that regard and keep progressing with deadlift being lower than my squat?

    Here's what my form looks like both on deadlift and squat
    200lb Deadlift This is a 5 rep deadlift from a week ago but apparently camera didn't capture the last one.
    195lb Squat This one is from 2 weeks ago.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
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    20

    Default

    Not an SSC, from your deadlift video I think you have to work on your technique:

    • Your feets positioning should be 15° outward in order to recruit more muscle mass, in this case the abductors muscles.
    • You are not fixing your back like you do on the squat, this make you lose a lot of power and put your back in a risky position.


    Wish this helps!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Phoenix, AZ
    Posts
    4,610

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by recentarrival View Post
    Hey Rip, reporting again. I took your diet advice more seriously and now eating around 4000, 4500kcals w/ protein per my bodyweight while weighing around 180lb. My squat is progressing well without any stalls (I take my time between the sets as well), currently lifting 225lb. OHP is 95, the bench is 140 so all of those are going well except the deadlift again. After failing it twice I deloaded back to 165lb, could pull the 200lb for 5 reps just couple days ago and now I'm stalling at 210lb and can only pull it for 2 reps. Now quite obviously I'm doing something wrong again or rather not doing the program properly be it the form, the nutrition, the increments or whatever so I'll start eating more, and maybe lower the increments for deadlift to 5lb from 10lb if you or rest of the people here think it's necessary. My question is, how should I approach establishing deadlift ahead of my squat after fixing the problem? Or should I just admit defeat in that regard and keep progressing with deadlift being lower than my squat?

    Here's what my form looks like both on deadlift and squat
    200lb Deadlift This is a 5 rep deadlift from a week ago but apparently camera didn't capture the last one.
    195lb Squat This one is from 2 weeks ago.
    How many carbohydrates per day are you eating? Your deadlift needs some work on the technique end but I am not convinced that a man your size is struggling with a 210 lb deadlift for a set of 5 even if its been performed incorrectly. Don't get me wrong, it needs to be corrected but it's not that heavy especially when you are squatting 15 lb lighter.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    3

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Kevo View Post
    Not an SSC, from your deadlift video I think you have to work on your technique:

    • Your feets positioning should be 15° outward in order to recruit more muscle mass, in this case the abductors muscles.
    • You are not fixing your back like you do on the squat, this make you lose a lot of power and put your back in a risky position.


    Wish this helps!
    Thank you, I think raising chest a bit more and pointing feet more outward helped. I could pull it for 5 reps today but I think the form and the balance was a bit off in the last rep.

    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Santana View Post
    How many carbohydrates per day are you eating? Your deadlift needs some work on the technique end but I am not convinced that a man your size is struggling with a 210 lb deadlift for a set of 5 even if its been performed incorrectly. Don't get me wrong, it needs to be corrected but it's not that heavy especially when you are squatting 15 lb lighter.
    I'm actually squatting 15lb more than my deadlift haha. I've squatted 230lb for 5 reps today which is why it's so weird to me because not only the squat is relatively easier also because I haven't stalled on it yet unlike the deadlift.

    As of midnight I've eaten 3704kcals with 225g of it being protein, 532 being carbs and 74 being fat. Planning to eat more before heading out to bed.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
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    20

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    starting strength coach development program
    Hey another thing I noticed is that you are not holding your breath, and actually exhaling in the middle of the lift, which makes you lose stiffness in the core. Are you pushing with your legs?

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