Deadlift rest between reps

[coma]

Hi Coach,

I'm 34, 6'0", ~200 lbs. Started the program this summer, and I'm up to 325 on the DL. It's starting to get a bit hard, to the point where I have to rest after the third rep before finishing the set. The effect is that I'm almost doing a set of three and a set of two, with a short rest between them.

My question is whether there's any reason to discontinue this, and perhaps do something else (e.g. two sets of three with normal rest, or a bit less weight until I can do five without resting), or just carry on as I have been.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Mark Rippetoe]

You've been on "the program" 6-7 months, and you're only deadlifting 325 at 200?

[coma]

Not continuously. I had to take a month off a couple of times for illness and then for work. But yes, that's where I am now.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Make yourself do the reps as a set of 5. It's supposed to be hard.

[wal]

What are your hands like and what type of grip are you using? The reason I ask is Mark Rippetoes book "Starting Strength Basic Barbell Training" emphasises the "grip strength as crucial to the dead lift, have a read if you have a copy, page 107-108 2nd Ed. What I mean is if your hands are weak it is difficult to hang onto the load when it starts to get heavy.

[Dana]

I might be remembering wrong, but wasn't Rip's poster boy Zach deadlifting 325x5 at about 25lbs. heavier after 3 months, when 14 years younger, and after never having missed a workout (i.e. no month off a couple of times for illness).

I might be remembering wrong, but doesn't Rip press 195lbs. at a bodyweight of 400lbs. after taking steroids, devoting his life to this, and giving Bill Starr head for hours on end in order to discover the mystical secrets.

So yeah, "only deadlifting 325 at 200." You completely suck. You're a girly man and aren't fit to park your car in front of Rip's strip-mall gym. Go work for Crossfit or something gay like that.

[coma]

Thanks, but I suppose I should have made myself clearer. The problem isn't grip strength, or that it's difficult to grind out. It's not that it seems like I'd fail to lift the weight because it's so hard; it's more like I'm just out of breath after three reps, and if I were to continue without taking a short break to catch my breath, I'd pass out.

I know I'm not yet at the point that the weight is seriously taxing, but I do wonder if this is a sign that I need to decelerate the linear progression. I may be fooling myself by doing a set of three and a set of two, even if the rest period between them is small. Or maybe it makes no difference.

[plugchop]

I might be remembering wrong, but wasn't Rip's poster boy Zach deadlifting 325x5 at about 25lbs. heavier after 3 months, when 14 years younger, and after never having missed a workout (i.e. no month off a couple of times for illness).

I might be remembering wrong, but doesn't Rip press 195lbs. at a bodyweight of 400lbs. after taking steroids, devoting his life to this, and giving Bill Starr head for hours on end in order to discover the mystical secrets.

So yeah, "only deadlifting 325 at 200." You completely suck. You're a girly man and aren't fit to park your car in front of Rip's strip-mall gym. Go work for Crossfit or something gay like that.

Well, that certainly escalated quickly...

[Mark Rippetoe]

Thanks, but I suppose I should have made myself clearer. The problem isn't grip strength, or that it's difficult to grind out. It's not that it seems like I'd fail to lift the weight because it's so hard; it's more like I'm just out of breath after three reps, and if I were to continue without taking a short break to catch my breath, I'd pass out.

I know I'm not yet at the point that the weight is seriously taxing, but I do wonder if this is a sign that I need to decelerate the linear progression. I may be fooling myself by doing a set of three and a set of two, even if the rest period between them is small. Or maybe it makes no difference.

Are you trying to do the whole set on one breath?

Well, that certainly escalated quickly...

Ignore Dana Paoli of Brooklyn NY. I permit him to ejaculate here about once a month, when his little peepee needs a stroke on the keyboard.

[coma]

No, I breathe between reps, and I'm doing the valsalva maneuver. It's just strangely aerobically taxing for me (or so it seems) relative to other lifts.