Just came here to brag

[dalan]

What David said. Also a 50% improvement in one session is what I would call a big win. That's the problem with the deadlift, there's too much shit to remember to do.

[tiny&mighty]

Good points, gentlemen! And when I look at the last warm-up set (185 lbs, no belt), it looks spectacular. Textbook bar path, flawless back. Maybe I just need to lift lighter weights...

Just kidding! Looking forward to pulling 230 lbs next time.

[Bill Anders]

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

What David said. Also a 50% improvement in one session is what I would call a big win. That's the problem with the deadlift, there's too much shit to remember to do.

Excellent points have already been made.

So I'll just say that I am already grinning at the prospect of your 2x bodyweight deadlift, coming soon to a home garage near you!

[tiny&mighty]

Well, well, well.

I returned from Trip 1 last night. The visit itself went well, but the travelling portion was draining, especially on the way back. A 10-hour drive in inclement weather.

Today was my first training session since Saturday. My everything felt stiff from the lack of movement over the last days, and the stupid bible cyst was quite sore today (though it is almost ripe enough to be smashed). It did not bother me much for the press, but it made the squat grip very painful. Normally, I could have gone a bit narrower.

Intensity press (strict), 4 X 4 at 84 lbs (PR)

I could not hit 5 reps today, so I did 4 sets of 4. Last spring, this happened upon reaching 75 lbs. Though I was hoping to reach 85 lbs with sets of 5 this time around, that is still considerable progress. I will need to work on mastering the press 2.0 sooner than later.

Volume squat, 3 sets of 5 reps at 182.5 lbs

I bumped up my volume squat by 2.5 lbs since achieving 5 X 5 at 180 lbs last week. Not that anyone cares about RPE, but this felt a lot harder than expected. I decided to stick with 3 sets like I did when I first attempted sets of 5 at 180 lbs. Given the circumstances, I think this is a good approach for volume squats. To widen the gap between my squat and my deadlift without de-loading, slowing things down a bit seems like a reasonable thing to do.



Having received my new tripod, I moved the rack like Bill had suggested. 1) I should not have done this immediately prior to today's training session and 2) I should not have done this alone. This took me about half an hour (unload the plates from the rack, move the temporary deadlift platform, move the rack) while it would have taken 5 minutes with my husband's help. Silly me.

That said, it was indeed an excellent suggestion. It is easier to load the bar, to spot the bench, and to record sets with the proper angle. Here is the result.

Now I am having a bit of a dilemma about tomorrow's training session. Trip 1 and Trip 2 are stretching my training schedule; my last deadlift session was on Saturday and, if I follow my planned training sequence, my next deadlift session will be on Tuesday due to Trip 2 this weekend. So I am considering adding an extra deadlift session to tomorrow's workout instead of doing chin ups. This would afford an extra opportunity to practice my new cues and to increase the gap with my squat (currently at 25 lbs). But I am still undecided. More to follow tomorrow.

[Bill Anders]

Great way to jump back into it during your quick break from travel. Don't sweat not being able to hit 5 on the Press or the squats feeling a lot harder than you expected. The travel will do that. A 10-hour drive in inclement weather is draining! Just think of these sessions as maintenance sessions until you can get back to more consistent training. Having said that, I'd prioritize the deadlift tomorrow over the chins. Keep your schedule as is. Saturday-Tuesday is only 10 days, which is not a long break between heavy deadlifts (see BBRx NLP Advanced Novice Program 1D, pg 193). Besides, with all of this travel, it is beating you up a bit, as you found.

I'm glad that the suggestion helped. Moving the rack by yourself sounded like a great warmup!

[tiny&mighty]

Oops... I had not noticed Bill's edit until now!

Intensity bench, 5 sets of 3 at 123 lbs (PR)

Amazingly, the bench was somewhat interesting today, instead of being its normal boring self. First set was very grindy, to the point where I seriously questioned the likelihood of a successful session today. Then, from one set to the next, it felt easier and easier until set 5. The last two reps were very grindy. The last one was definitely the grindiest bench press rep of my life.

Going up another lb next time. I will stick with 5 sets of triples for as long as it keeps working and, when it does not anymore, I might reduce the volume of the work sets (like 2-3 triples or 3-4 doubles) and add some back-off sets. They sound like fun and I have yet to use them.

Deadlift, 2 sets of 3 at 230 lbs (PR)

I was on the fence about this until starting my first work set. I was not sure it was a great idea to begin with. On top of that, my hamstrings and back were a tad sore from yesterday's workout, which is odd given that I rarely experience muscle soreness. The bench press session was also more draining than it usually is; my arms and shoulders felt quite beaten afterwards. So I started doing the warm-up sets for the deadlift, thinking I could always reassess on my way up. By the time I got to my last warm-up set (which again looks spectacularly textbook), there was no point in calling it a day. So I loaded the bar, hoping for the best.

Honestly, this was hard, but not as much as I expected. I must say that I have been abundantly well fed over the past week. I am glad I put all this glycogen to good use. 3 PRs in 2 days!

Form wise, I will have to take a deeper look at my videos, but I believe there is a mild improvement since my last training session on Saturday. Bar path is straight but my back could still be straighter.

Speaking of food, my husband is cooking bison filet mignon tonight, and we are having fondue at my mother's tomorrow. So I will be getting plenty of tasty, high quality protein to recover from the last two days.

[dalan]

It's been a PR fest at your place lately! Good job!

[Bill Anders]

Brava! Keep that PR train rolling!!

My edit was pretty late in the day. It popped into my mind out of the blue this morning as I was sipping coffee and I knew there was a chance that it would be too late, but had to edit it anyway.

Enjoy the protein loading!

[tiny&mighty]

Now back from Trip 2 and looking forward to resuming a regular training schedule.

Today's sessions was:

Intensity squat - 3 X 3 at 202.5 lbs

Volume press - 5 X 5 at 75 lbs


So no PR today. Given that it had been 10 hectic days since my last intensity squat session, I decided to use the same weight for today's workout. I was hoping to complete 2 sets of 4, but that was not in the cards today. The last rep of each triple was again in leap-of-faith territory. Thankfully those squats do not look half as bad as they felt. They even seem slightly better than those I did on 17 December.

Though my shoulder and traps felt very stiff today, the press went well again. I just need to ensure I keep getting enough rest between sets.


In case you have not seen it, there is a new video about the deadlift. I just love how often the movement is being demonstrated throughout.
Some Help for Your Deadlift with Adam Fangman - YouTube

[Bill Anders]

And just in case you haven't run across this article by Nick—Rack Pulls 101—it covers right about where you are, and looks like where you are thinking of going.

I've had it sitting in my reference list for a while now (since August), knowing that I would get there too.