Take it easy on deadlift to focus on squat

[Scaldrew]

Hi Rip,

I've been on a successful run of 4-day TM since August: got my bw up to around 96kg at the moment (up from 90, not stopping till at least one hundo) and all of my lifts have gone up as well. Lately, though, I've been having a bad time performing on Friday, the last workout of the week, where I do intensity squats and volume deadlifts. I feel sluggish and uncoordinated, but fresh and in control every other day of the week. It's mostly the squats that go poorly. I've frankly barely made progress on heavy squats, especially compared to my other lifts which have all gone up at least 10% or more. I'm still pulling a max set of five on deadlift though, with very minor form breakdown on the last rep.

But I think me pulling a max set of five is negatively impacting my intensity squats later in the week. I'm otherwise a very busy guy, and my sleep and diet are definitely things I need to clean up. I'm committing more time to sleep and diet now to ensure that it's as smooth as can be, but I honestly need a second opinion. Should I move to 2x3 and 5x1 deadlifts to aid recovery or not?

(For numbers, my last 1x5 deadlift was 192.5kg (3 weeks ago) and I pulled 195x3x2 today since it's my first week back from vacation; that's the last weight I deadlifted two weeks ago. Squat 1x5 is 155kg and 165x1x3.)

Thanks

[Mark Rippetoe]

Exactly much cleaning up does your sleep and diet need?

[Scaldrew]

I wake up every night to go to the bathroom, so it's not uninterrupted or as much as I'd like. Sometimes I sleep 7 hours, sometimes 7 and a half (sweet spot, I think; I feel better sleeping 7&half), 8, sometimes 6 and a half, or even 6. Never less than 6, but often I'll have one day in the week where I only sleep 6 and a half hours. I usually also only go to bed at around midnight, sometimes a bit later.

Diet is mostly good. I like my sweets a bit too much and I'm dialing that back now. I also average around 200g of protein daily, now aiming for 250g again. Total kcal is about 3800 a day right now, still gaining weight. I need to eat more veggies, too, so I've found a way to incorporate more into my diet.

Workable stuff, nothing too bad if I say so myself.

[Mark Rippetoe]

What would happen if you reversed to intensity squats and volume deadlifts on Monday?

[Jeff LC]

I wake up every night to go to the bathroom, so it's not uninterrupted or as much as I'd like.

I literally without fail wake up every two hours to pee no matter what, every single night. Maybe, if i am EXTREMELY burnt out from an intense workout plus bad sleep the night before, i will make it through the night with only 2 wake-ups, but that is rare. Never, ever, in my adult life, have i actually went to sleep at a normal time, and then woken up 7-8 hours later without waking up multiple times to pee. Ever. It really bothers me.

[Scaldrew]

What would happen if you reversed to intensity squats and volume deadlifts on Monday?

I'd be more rested for the intensity squats, and possibly still get a good workout in on Friday since the squat weight is lighter than the deadlift weight. I'm willing to give it a shot.

For clarification, are you suggesting I do: lower (Mon) upper (Tue) upper (Thu) lower (Fri)? Or simply that I switch Tuesday's and Friday's workout?

I literally without fail wake up every two hours to pee no matter what, every single night. Maybe, if i am EXTREMELY burnt out from an intense workout plus bad sleep the night before, i will make it through the night with only 2 wake-ups, but that is rare. Never, ever, in my adult life, have i actually went to sleep at a normal time, and then woken up 7-8 hours later without waking up multiple times to pee. Ever. It really bothers me.

I've done some Googling to no real effect. Waking up multiple times could be medical, though, anything from diabetes to kidney stones. I'm not a doctor, but I heard some doctors say it on Fox News. Take that for what that's worth.

One of the changes to my diet is that I'm dropping about 500ml of cottage cheese in favour of something with a little more bite. I'm hoping limiting my fluid intake in this way will stop me from having to go to the bathroom. Then again, some people have pointed out that urine production stops and that you only have to go because you're awake. So it's awake first, then pee, not pee waking you up. In that case, waking up is probably more stress-related. Nothing I can reasonably do about that at this time.

[凤凰来仪]

I literally without fail wake up every two hours to pee no matter what, every single night. Maybe, if i am EXTREMELY burnt out from an intense workout plus bad sleep the night before, i will make it through the night with only 2 wake-ups, but that is rare. Never, ever, in my adult life, have i actually went to sleep at a normal time, and then woken up 7-8 hours later without waking up multiple times to pee. Ever. It really bothers me.

I have had this habit since I was a child. Getting up to do something for 1-2 minutes allows me to fall asleep again. If I do not, I may lay there semi-awake for a long time. It is just an irregular sleep pattern for me.

[dmgetz]

I literally without fail wake up every two hours to pee no matter what, every single night. Maybe, if i am EXTREMELY burnt out from an intense workout plus bad sleep the night before, i will make it through the night with only 2 wake-ups, but that is rare. Never, ever, in my adult life, have i actually went to sleep at a normal time, and then woken up 7-8 hours later without waking up multiple times to pee. Ever. It really bothers me.

Any chance you have apnea, or some other kind of sleep disorder? This sounds exactly like the situation I was in before I started using a mouthpiece. I did not meet the formal criteria for apnea, but was a loud and persistent snorer.

[Mark Rippetoe]

For clarification, are you suggesting I do: lower (Mon) upper (Tue) upper (Thu) lower (Fri)? Or simply that I switch Tuesday's and Friday's workout?

Switch the two workouts.

I have had this habit since I was a child. Getting up to do something for 1-2 minutes allows me to fall asleep again. If I do not, I may lay there semi-awake for a long time. It is just an irregular sleep pattern for me.

I have been getting up to pee once a night since I was 12. I really don't think this is abnormal.

[Scaldrew]

Switch the two workouts.

Yessir! Thanks for your time.

I have been getting up to pee once a night since I was 12. I really don't think this is abnormal.

May not be abnormal, but very annoying. Short on time as is and I need half an hour to fall asleep again afterwards. I also didn't have this problem up until recently which just makes it even more annoying.