Starting to fail on the pulls. What now?

[DaveNJ]

First some background...

Age: 36
Recovery: Diet, sleep, etc. all pretty solid
Started: 6/5/2012 -- Currently 4 weeks in

I already knew from doing CrossFit/Wendler what my 1RM and 5RM were for the lifts so I used these for the starting points. I pretty much just picked up from my last 5RM sets for squat, deadlift, and power clean -- probably a bad idea. I went much lighter on the bench and press and am just hitting my previous 5RM maxes now -- probably a good idea.

My starting points and last fully completed sets:

Squat: 200 -> 255 (+5 lbs per session)
Bench: 135 -> 160 (+5 lbs per session)
Deadlift: 260 -> 320 (+15 lbs per session)
Press: 100 -> 112.5 (+2.5 lbs per session)
Clean: 150 -> 165 (+5 lbs per session)

This week, I failed on cleans and deadlifts:

Tuesday: Cleans, 5x3, 170 lbs: 3, 2, 2, 0, 0
Thursday: Deadlift, 1x5, 335 lbs: 2 reps
Saturday: Cleans: 5x3, 170 lbs: 3, 3, 0, 0, 0

With the cleans, on both days the initial reps were challenging but not too bad and then I just hit a wall. It felt like someone snuck in and put a bunch of extra weight on the bar when I wasn't looking. The problem seemed to be fatigue leading to a slow pull from the ground. I experimented with rest time between sets but it was clear that no reasonable amount of time was going to let me get the reps.

I wasn't expecting my deadlift to keep going up at the rate it was going forever so that wasn't too surprising but I was surprised that I could only get 2 of the reps. I'm guessing the days of 15 lb increases on the deadlift are over so I think I will back that off to 10 lbs. Not sure if I should try again at 335 next time or back that off?

I am also thinking that it may be time to switch over to the next SS template that has less frequent deads and cleans since fatigue on the pull felt like the issue with the cleans rather than strength or technique. Would this be a good idea at this point?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Back your cleans off to 160 and start again with 2.5 lb jumps. In the meantime, go deadlift 325x5 next session and continue on with 5 lb jumps. Hopefully your deadlift will keep moving (it should) and as it grows a little bit, it will unstick your cleans.

[DaveNJ]

Thanks for the advice. I went with 325x5 today on the deadlift and only managed to get 4. Ugh! I guess I will focus on making sure my eating is right and then see how the rest of the week goes.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Get a form check from Rip too.