Deadlift form check

[Nick-H]

Pulled 362.5 for 3 today and failed my 4th rep... was suppose to be or a set of 5 so I did a double after a bit of rest. Hows the ol form lookin? and is there any visible signs as to why I failed that last rep? I am currently trying to eat a caloric deficit so I want to make sure I am failing because of that, not my form.

http://youtu.be/ZIxJud8vldk

[Paul Horn]

Form looks ok. Why are you pulling singles? More importantly, why are you in a "caloric deficit"?

[Nick-H]

Is there anything I should be focusing on improving right now? I finished my LP a while ago and decided I would like to shed some chub prior to beginning the long haul on intermediate programming. So I am running a HLM program. It was suppose to be a set of five.. lol I know my rest time is excessive though these were very tough. Last weeks set was much better so I am wondering if recovery was an issue or my weight jump was too much probably a combination of the two.

[Paul Horn]

Well, if last week's set was actually a set of 5 (meaning your hands stayed on the bar for all 5 reps) and this week you could only manage 3 singles, then yes, I would say something went wrong with your recovery. My first guess would be that you are in some sort of "caloric deficit." Just a hunch.

Not knowing anything about you or your training it seems odd that you finished your LP "a while ago" but your DL is only in the mid 300s as of now. That's not intended to be a dig. You just look like a young and healthy dude; did something go wrong along the way?

Your technique looks fine.

[Nick-H]

I have never really deadlifted with my hands on the bar throughout the entire set. I lift with dumbass 12 sided plates or however many and it is an absolute joke. After every rep I stand up reset my position and pull. I don't take as much time between each reps as shown in this last video though. Usually take a breath or 2 and get at it.

I definitely botched my deadlift during LP. In the very beginning I was not educated enough about the program and didn't establish a good lead on deadlifts above squats. So for a while I was squatting and deadlifting close to the same numbers then my hip flexors started to try and kill me from the infamous knee slide, So after my squats my hip flexors were trashed and I would end up skipping deadlifts so then my deadlift fell short of my squats. As it went on my squats continued to go up and I would get so beat from squats I couldn't make my deadlift increases... yada yada it was a mess. Stupidity in the beginning got the best of me lol

But lately I have brought my deadlift up quite a bit, I believe I finished LP at like 300 I would have to check my little journal dicked around with TM for a little while then Decided to hop on the HLM train and bring the calories down. Since being on the HLM I have been able to make 5lb jumps every week with the deadlift though.

[Paul Horn]

How much weight have you gained since you started? What is your squat right now? Just curious.

[Nick-H]

Gained a whoppin 50 lbs and I am squatting 350X3X3. Nothin to fancy but I started off at 135 so I am pretty pleased with my progress so far

[Paul Horn]

Alright. Keep going. FWIW, I used to lift in a gym that had those plates. I ended up buying a pair of stiff 25lb bumpers and lugging them with me. They lifted the plates off the ground just enough to roll it. Then I found a better gym. Do what you need to to make your sets of five actual sets, not singles.

[Nick-H]

Lol I seriously considered buying some bumpers, especially when I was learning my cleans and couldn't get the bar at the correct height without em but I decided against it. I am switching gyms soon so it wont be an issue much longer. Will a set of five be not removing your hands at all? I have kinda read here and there that a small break is fine as long as it isn't excessive?

[Paul Horn]

In a real set your hands won't leave the bar. If you can't do that safely due to sub-optimal equipment, then do what you can to mimic the conditions of a real set (i.e. don't go walking around the gym in between reps!!!). More importantly, switch gyms.