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Originally Posted by
Crimmy
Hello,
There's a lot of crap that's been happening over the last few months. Rib injury, minor hip/knee injury, and I've been losing weight while trying to maintain my lifts on TM (and progress when I can).
With that said, my last PR DL was 200kgx2. The week I attempted 202.5 was when I injured my rib (injured my rib the day before while sneezing). That, and the following two weeks I failed to get the bar off the ground with any weight north of 180, though my squats were fine. I'd usually try to pull 200 first, then work down 5kgs at a time until the bar went up and I'd call that my workset for the week. 200kgx2 wasn't that difficult the first time, to be honest, so I don't know why I've regressed so much.
I also started lifting on my Romaleos2 during that period. I usually lift in my socks, but my feet were getting smelly 'cause of the shoes never leaving my bag. So I decided I'd try and lift in them. Well, it's been maybe 2 months now. First, I reset my DL work set to 185 hoping to pull 5. Could barely get the bar off the floor and only did 3. Then I reset to 180. Same thing. 175, same thing. What I've noticed is that I can't get the bar off the ground unless I dip my hips down a little. That's not the way I normally set up, and I know you're not suppose to lower your hips. I also noticed my back rounding quite a bit, much more than I feel is acceptable even for a heavy pull relative to my current strength. In fact, I felt like I could probably pull a 4th, maybe even a 5th rep, but not with a relatively flat back.
So I'm wondering if this is a clear sign that pulling in heeled WL shoes is not the optimal choice for me, or if my strength has just regressed. My squat has maintained itself more or less. My BP was reset this week. My P still has another week or so before I may need to reset. My PC and PS have always sucked so they're not worth mentioning. Should I continue to use my shoes and lower my hips a little more, setup differently, or go back to lifting barefoot? Unfortunately, DL shoes are not an option =/. Not at this point in time anyway.