First group deadlift session, interesting results.

[Dastardly]

I have been on the advanced novice programming for the past few weeks. My lifts are modest,

Squat 100kg (2 plates) 3x5

Deadlift 130kg 4-5 with gaps in between.

Bench 67kg 3x5

This past wednesday I rolled up at my local gym and started to do my "light squats" while doing them the much respected "legendary" old guy who works at the gym starts gesturing to the strongest dude that he wants to deadlifts.

This is a really big deal as the old guy has major powerlifting titles but has not deadlifted in over a year because of a shoulder surgery.

Strong Guy tells me old guy wants me to join in and it would be insulting if I refuse. I try to put it off till after my scheduled benching but they are having none of it.

So about 5 of the "serious" guys are rounded up (including me!) for a mammoth deadlift session coached by old guy.

I knew high reps were intended but I made the ambitious choice of "70kg" and pulled 12 reps. I had not done this before and doubted I would make the next set.

It then became apparent 10 sets were intended, as a ladder than went up, then down! 10 reps+ were expected, stronger guys were pulling 15-16 reps of four wheels. 105kg became the base amount on the bar, I was not allowed to take any off. This was daunting considering this was my 1rm not long ago, and my current max was 130kg.

But 10 reps were expected!

So I pushed and got pretty close, lifted much much more than I couldve expected. But I ended up forced to stick to the baseline 105kg for most of my sets and ended up lifting 5 reps per set despite the demanded 10.

What surprised me, was the amount of times I could lift a weight so close to my max for so many successional sets. The lifting volume/total tonnage I ended up with was staggering. It really showed me the reality of icnreasing work capacity by increasing maximal strength. Something that Rip & Scheaffer has written about in his recent article.

But the extent to which this was true was really mind-blowing. I could keep going on & on. Lifting 80% of 1RM for successive sets. And interestingly enough because I had been training 5's, it was 5's that I was the best at doing. And because I was the only guy in the group (except old guy) who regularly squatted, everyone else was moaning about their legs being "dead" while my legs felt ready for a squat session at the end. But my back did not!

This is my log for the session:

Light Squat:
20kg 5 5
60kg 5
80kg 5 5 5 – No Belt.

Deadlifts:
70kg 12
100kg 10
120kg 5
140kg PR Attempt Fail (got 2 inches of ground)
105kg 5 7
Switch to mixed grip
105kg 9 5 5 5
80kg 12

(stupid to try to bench)

Chins: 5½ 1 (no strength left)

Barbell Curls: (something for the arms as I could not chin)
20kg 3x12

Totall tonnage for deadlifts alone was 7180kg if I added it up right, fuck!

That evening I was the tiredest I had been in years and very sleepy.
But when I hit the hay, guess what? I stayed totally awake for the whole night!

I had this phenomena before, when I first started barbell training a year ago. Something to do with CNS overload/homeostasis disruption I guess.

But then the next night, I had exactly the same. So 2 nights of no sleep in the aftermath of the most exhausting thing I have done this year.

My lower back has been expectedly sore & pumped in the aftermath. But surprisingly the back of my shoulders has heavy DOMS too, where I have never felt it before from any excercise.

The unusual experience of joining in the group session has confirmed and taught me a lot. The fact that 1 heavy set of 5 for deads is indeed a great way of improving not only maximal strength, but also for total work capacity. But also without overstraining the CNS, which would leave a trainee too fatigued to progress with heavier weights in the following sessions.

It feels good to "experience" this so lucidly, especially at this point in progression. It also makes me excited about intermediate programming/texas method.

[Learning2Lift]

Wow, Dastardly, that sounds intense!

How was your next session and have you done the deadlift since then?

[Dastardly]

I was due to Squat, press & deadlift today.

I had been dreading it and expecting that I would not be able to squat at all. Ive been stuck at my workset weight for a couple sessions, so was expecting that my extremely fatigued lower back would not be able to handle it.

I surprised myself by finishing my 3x5 at 102.5kg.

I then did my press, but skipped deadlifts. Instead I did some press accessory work (lower end partials) and some leg raises for my neglected abs.
Felt like a pretty decent workout.

I have to do a tug of war competition tomorrow too! (luckily against average people)