It's all in the mind...

[Wayne Beaton]

Hello Folks.

I've been 'coaching' my sister-in-law, Charlotte, for a wee while now and the weights are now heavier and harder. As a result her mind is beginning to falter and she's failing her deadlifts, when I know she can do it. She went from being able to do 1 x 5 at 55kg (120lbs), to only managing 1 rep at 57.5kg (125lbs). In order to give her a little break and hopefully boost her confidence I reduced the weigh 10% and we worked up again to 55kg - and this time only 1 rep!

She's admitted that she's no dreading the deadlift sessions. The most annoying thing is that she's a natural athlete and learns very quick, but despite my encouragements I can't seem to inspire her enough. I've tried telling her to focus on each rep and to trust in the technique, but, again, to no avail.

Any tips and advice will be greatly appreciated by both me and Charlotte!

[Steve Hill]

Are you sure you haven't messed up the programming? See the sticky for programming related question information. This sounds like a recovery issue, not a "headspace" issue. Although it may now be one.

[Wayne Beaton]

Hi Steve.

I didn’t consider the programming because we only work together twice a week and we’ve gone up slowly and steadily on all the lifts. We’re microloading everything except the squats and deads and we just started power cleans a few weeks ago, around the time that she first hit 55kg for a set of 5, actually.

Maybe I started power cleans too soon? (I was trying to keep PC around 50% of her deadlift.)

She’s a vegan too, but she’s been trying to get the required amount 120g (she’s around 122lbs bw).

[Karl Schudt]

You can't encourage someone enough to make them improve force production if they can't do it. If she's going backwards, she likely needs recovery. I'd also like to see the form. Any chance you can get down to London to see our man in the UK, Carl Raghavan?

Without seeing her form, I can't tell what's going on. Height? Age? Other activity? Protein intake? Vegans likely eat very poorly for strength training.

[Steve Hill]

Hi Steve.

I didn’t consider the programming because we only work together twice a week and we’ve gone up slowly and steadily on all the lifts. We’re microloading everything except the squats and deads and we just started power cleans a few weeks ago, around the time that she first hit 55kg for a set of 5, actually.

Maybe I started power cleans too soon? (I was trying to keep PC around 50% of her deadlift.)

She’s a vegan too, but she’s been trying to get the required amount 120g (she’s around 122lbs bw).

”see the sticky for progamming related question information.”

See the link in Karl’s post below. He’s politer than I am, and better read.

[Karl Schudt]

Go here:

Necessary Info for Programming Questions