How To Work Up To A Big Pull

[Gary Gibson]

Planning to test my conventional DL max next Friday. Pulled a PR set of 5 last Friday.

This Friday, do I:

a) Skip deadlifts entirely so that I am fresh for a new max effort?
b) Deadlift lightly, maybe a couple singles with 445 or even lighter doubles and triples?
c) Deadlift heavy with a new 3RM PR as a ramp up to next week?

Decisions, decisions...

[hatmanii]

I'd venture with option 2 or 3. You will have a full week to recover regardless, which should be more than enough time for recovery.

How do you normally recover from heavy deadlifts?

For me, I could probably shoot for the 3rm and still be good to go for another PR pull by that coming wednesday, but that is just me. You are a bit more advanced in terms of progression than I am, which probably plays into it all, but given that you will have a full week inbetween it really shouldnt matter.

[cjangelo]

Speed pulls.

[Aslin]

Option 1 Garry, I cant fully recover from my DL's in a week, I wouldn't go light either...

[hbriem]

Either 1) or the lighter part of option 2) (200kg singles is too much). It's OK to pull a few ~60-70% singles, but don't go higher than 80% and don't rep out.

A 2 week rest is not too much for a max effort DL session. I definitely can't pull well two weeks in a row.

[MazdaMatt]

I can't yet imagine being able to pull a single so heavy that I can't pull a heavy single again for two weeks... I'm just not at that point.

I think, given that information, it is a very personal thing. You'd have to know how YOU recover. Personally, a 3rm would not stop me from a 1rm a week later, but i know it won't HELP it.

[MikeHawk]

Planning to test my conventional DL max next Friday. Pulled a PR set of 5 last Friday.

This Friday, do I:

a) Skip deadlifts entirely so that I am fresh for a new max effort?
b) Deadlift lightly, maybe a couple singles with 445 or even lighter doubles and triples?
c) Deadlift heavy with a new 3RM PR as a ramp up to next week?

Decisions, decisions...

You don't have a set program where you hit PR's every so often? Set program meaning TM, Starr's, etc?

[hatmanii]

You don't have a set program where you hit PR's every so often? Set program meaning TM, Starr's, etc?

I think I remember that Gary was running high volume russian style squat cycles and was using his squat progress to drive his deadlift.

This is what many advanced lifters do when they cannot squat and deadlift heavy enough to sprun progress and must choose one over the other.

Squat progress will directly increase your deadlift, but deadlift progress has minimal direct effect on your squat.

-Hat

[Gary Gibson]

You don't have a set program where you hit PR's every so often? Set program meaning TM, Starr's, etc?

I call my big PR days "USAPL meets." I will do these PR days two or three times per year. In between I will run up to a mid-cycle max to figure out what numbers I need to plug in to peak for the aforementioned big PR days. After these big days I take off a couple weeks at least. So I end up peaking maybe four or six times per year; half of those are "easy" PRs and the other half are all out efforts done while a bunch of strangers watch me and a smaller group of strangers in blue blazers judge my performance.

Yes indeedy, a max effort pull is starting to feel like something from which I need AT LEAST a week to recover. 10-14 days seems about right, but two weeks intervals are easier to schedule with other stuff. Leaning toward not pulling at all or doing it very, very lightly. I actually feel like I could squat heavy with little problem right now, but my nervous system starts to get upset when I so much as think about deadlifting.

Oh, and what Hat said.

[Paul Sousa]

I was always told practice makes perfect so I would pull as heavy and as frequently as you can between now and then. I would shoot for 5x5 with 99% of your 1rm every day.