Just came here to brag

[Bill Anders]

I find that the bar drifts for me when I've increased my tempo, which makes the reset quicker, and suddenly the bar isn't on the legs anymore. It's almost always this cue.

Looking forward to hearing your success!

[tiny&mighty]

Whenever I read that deadlifts are very taxing for men, I am sure the struggle is real but cannot relate much. Rip et al. are correct when they say that women can tolerate more deadlift volume and frequency, and that they can recover from deadlifts faster. At least this has been my experience so far.

But Sunday’s third set changed my perspective. That training session hit my hard well into the next day. I think I got a taste of what you guys go through after a heavy deadlift session.

Normally, I would have waited until tomorrow for my next workout. But I might travel next week, and since I am on a bit of a roll lately, I am hoping to get as many training sessions in as I can before taking a forced break.

I was still on the fence when I came back from work this afternoon. Then my husband announced he was making burgers for dinner (one of my two favorite meals on training days). A very compelling argument to get changed and start today’s training session.

Intensity press, 3 X 5 at 83 lbs (PR)

Despite a bit of tightness during my warm-up sets, I again got my 15 reps in 3 sets of 5.

Oddly enough, the last reps of sets 1 and 2 were quite grindy, but the 15^th rep went up so well that I had to double check the recording to ensure I had not stopped at 4!

After reviewing the videos, it looks like I just need to speed things up a little. From the un-rack to the 5^th rep, set 3 was the quickest. I also need to pay attention to rest between sets. I was probably too quick to start set 1 after the warmup and set 2 could have benefited from an extra minute of rest. For me, 5 minutes of rest seems optimal between heavy press sets.

Volume squat, 5 X 5 at 180 lbs

Though the angle is not optimal due to my current setup, I recorded those sets from the back to do a bit of a depth check. When recorded from the front, my squats sometimes appear high, but an actual lack of depth seemed highly unlikely. I tend to have the opposite problem after a lifetime of ass-to-grass squats. Today’s videos confirm that depth is not an issue I need to worry about.

I think my form was quite good today. Some knee caving occurred on the last 2 reps of sets 4 and 5, but nothing that I could not control and rectify on the spot.

Also, my grip width has improved tremendously thanks to Pete Troupos’ precious guidance. Not perfect yet, but I am still making noticeable progress with my grip.

I was able to do all 5 sets, and today’s 5^th set felt easier than last week’s 3^rd set.

On a last note, I got to say that, as much as volume-squat day sucks, I really appreciate what I think it does for me. It seems to help me build bar speed under a heavy weight. I can see how this is likely to benefit heavier squats on intensity days. I recently came to realize that the faster I can do my reps, the more likely I am to successfully complete the set, and the better my form remains throughout that set.

[dalan]

I saw training stuff, training stuff, hamburgers, training stuff. I could probably live on hamburgers and sushi.

[tiny&mighty]

Hahaha! My husband's cooking has been a tremendous asset to my gainzzz! On my next training day I hope he will make some pasta...

I like sushi too but I feel full after 4 pieces. Very odd phenomenon. Not great for keeping up the gainzzz.

[dalan]

I'm a bit opposite. I can eat sushi until there's no more sushi to eat but I don't care for pasta and almost never eat it. I'm weird, I know.

[Bill Anders]

Well, it certainly helps that your husband lifts and understands the requirements, not just of fueling, but motivation to get under the bar. At least he knew your carrot!

Re: deadlifts. Yeah, they will start to beat you down, but they are my favorite lift, since you have to get it moving, as opposed to the squat, bench, etc., where gravity gets the bar moving. Age difference notwithstanding, you are pulling at about 180% of your bodyweight and just starting to feel that (although remember that you did an extra x3!!!) while I'm at about 150% and I feel the x5 every single time for days afterwards. So much so that I really enjoyed the switch to BBRx Program 1D, which decreased the frequency to once every 9 days. That was a game changer!

Re: video angle - if you have enough space overall (it looks like you do), consider moving the rack ~0.5m away from the wall. That should give you the space for that best angle.

Lastly, re: sushi. Mmmmmmmm, sushi. I can eat the hell out of some sushi. When we lived in Tokyo, my wife would run down to the corner takeout sushi store and pick up a tray meant for 2-3 people and drop it off while I was at work. That would be a nice dinner. Good thing that I was running a lot at that time. But I would still be put in my place by a few of our Japanese friends, specifically the women, who probably weighed about as much as you, Tiny, but could sit for hours and just put tons of it away. It was fun to go with them to the conveyor belt sushi places and watch the plates stack over their head. Expensive, but hilarious.

[tiny&mighty]

Well, looks like I will be travelling twice over the next 10 days. I have to adjust my training schedule accordingly.

I did tomorrow's workout today.

Intensity bench - 5 sets of 3 at 122 lbs (PR)
Every rep is a grind, but I was still able to do 5 sets of triples. 1 X BW achieved; next goal is 125 lbs. I have also decided to keep doing 5 sets while it is still working. I think frequency and volume is key to improving my pressing movements at the moment.

Chin ups - 7, 5, 4, 4, 4
No improvement since last time, but I had skipped my last chin up session due to the laundry incident. At least it did not get worse. Chin ups are another thing that I need to do regularly if I want to improve. Since listening to Robert Santana talking about how chin ups contribute to press improvements, I am more motivated to do them consistently.

With the first trip starting this Sunday, I will be doing my weekend training session on Friday and Saturday. Then I might combine the next 2 when we come back from the first trip (19-23 Dec), and resume normal training after the second trip (25-26 December).

I better get going. Tacos on tonight's menu!

[tiny&mighty]

Intensity squat, 3 X 3 at 202.5 lbs (PR)

Not my prettiest squats, but decent overall. Grip and tempo were good, but there was quite a bit of movement in the knees on the way up. I really need to focus on the "knees out" cue, now that I have overcome the fear of being crushed by the weight on the bar.

Volume press, 5 X 5 at 74 lbs

This is fun. Also using those volume sessions to press without the belt. Freedom!


On a sad note, I broke my tripod today. Recording the deadlift will require some creativity tomorrow. I am really looking forward to that session!

[tiny&mighty]

Volume bench, 5 X 5 at 108 lbs

Hard but boring.

Deadlift, 2 X 3 at 227.5 lbs (PR)

I was looking forward to trying new cues to fix my bar path and back angle. Engage lats, squeeze armpits, elbows back. That in addition to all the other cues I have to keep in mind…

Well, those cues are effective, but today, the miracle I was unrealistically hoping for did not occur.

Set 1
Rep 1: bar path A+, back angle A
Rep 2: bar path B-, back angle B+
Rep 3: mystery (phone fell forward due to the impact of rep 2)

Set 2
Rep 1: bar path A+, back angle A
Rep 2: bar path B+, back angle A-
Rep 3: bar path A, back angle A

I got to say that the weight did feel lighter to pull than it has over the last month or so, though my grip started giving up towards the end of set 2. Besides this minor issue, I can tell that my pulling mechanics were more efficient today.

I conclude that this will require some more time and practice. There are a lot of things to think about during step 4, and I just suck at focusing on several things at the same time. Also, the lats have always been a weakness of mine.

So this was not the 100% magical solution I was dreaming of, but definitely a 50% improvement from my last deadlift session.

[David Hooper]

To be fair, a PR deadlift is a war no matter what fixes are being made. :-)