Deadlift Stall Advice

[Mike Mantzouris]

I am 43 and weigh 191 lbs @ 5'9.5". Been lifting on a novice progression for 16 weeks. Before that, I was lifting dumbbells and pullups since about Jan 1 2010. 16 weeks ago I was 163 lbs at a pretty low BF and I started half-assedly drinking milk on June 14. Gained 10 lbs before I went "all-in" with the milk on Aug 8.

My question is about the deadlift. I was gaining weight rapidly and feeling very strong so I may have gotten too greedy but I am not sure. I was adding 10 lbs to the deadlift and performing it every other workout. After I hit 300 lbs, I switched to 1x/week DL and started added 15. Last Friday I got 345x5 but it was VERY HARD like nothing I have ever felt before. Today I lifted DL again and instead of adding 15, I added 7 lbs. I could lift 352x2 but couldn't get the 3rd rep past the top of my shins. I was so mad that I waited 5 minutes and lifted 345x5. It was heavy but not as heavy as last week. I did not think that my 5RM would be so close to my 2RM. My question is, "How should I proceed?" The options I have come up with are: a) Try 350 next week. b) Try 345 next week. c) Reset to 315 and go up by 10's. This was my first ever fail on the deadlift.

My other lifts are as follows: Squat 3x/week up to 265x5x3. I previously reset for form correction and worked with a strength trainer to learn to hit depth. Still adding 5. Bench alternate with OHP. Bench - Failed at 220 two workouts ago (4/3/3). Reset to 195x5x3 today. OHP - Previously failed at 110 but reset and worked back to 115x5x3 by 5's. Still adding 5.

My impression is that I am coming the end of my novice gains but I would really appreciate the advice of other people my age who have had similar experiences.

After reading what I have written here and thinking about it, I would probably choose to reset my Deadlift and start back up again until I stall for the second time.

Thank you for any and all advice.

Best,
Mike

[MikeC1]

Try 320 next week and go up by 5s, once a week. Get some 1.25 lb plates for your bench and press.

[Cambero]

Try 320 next week and go up by 5s, once a week. Get some 1.25 lb plates for your bench and press.

That exact same thing worked for me.

[Mike Mantzouris]

Try 320 next week and go up by 5s, once a week. Get some 1.25 lb plates for your bench and press.

Thank you MikeC1 and Cambero. I will try that with the reset. And it's about time I dust off my Iron Woody fractionals that I bought a couple months ago.

[ColoWayno]

Are you using double overhand? I'm guessing not, but if so it might be time to switch to mixed.

[Mike Mantzouris]

Are you using double overhand? I'm guessing not, but if so it might be time to switch to mixed.

I use double overhand through the warmup to 315x1 and switch to mixed for the work set. When I started lifting, I thought that grip strength was going to be a problem but the mixed grip feels very strong.

[TomF]

I dunno what your workout order looks like ... but another thing that helped me was putting deadlifts first (after decent warmup) on deadlifting day, rather than putting squats first as I do other days. I switched about the same time to include a light day for squats - and I put it on deadlift day.

[Audun Runde]

Do you use chalk?

If not, I'd highly recommend it. Even though I did not have grip problems on my deadlift, adding chalk made my grip "stick" in a very different way, and I felt much stronger. Old news to many, I'm sure, but I thought I'd mention it.

Nice progression, by the way!

[franklie]

was your grip fatigued in any way?

for myself I cannot do any grip work at least 3-4 days before I deadlift. As a matter of fact I do all my pulls (pullups and rows) after I deadlift to allow my grip to recover by the next time I deadlift. shrugs, dumbbell rows I use straps to save my grip for deadlifts which I do strapless.

I also have small hands

[Mike Mantzouris]

I dunno what your workout order looks like ... but another thing that helped me was putting deadlifts first (after decent warmup) on deadlifting day, rather than putting squats first as I do other days. I switched about the same time to include a light day for squats - and I put it on deadlift day.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try that when I start adding in light days which I think will be soon.