Journal- Improving my deadlift without deadlifting: A four-week experiment

[Guinness5.0]

I'm sure MC will let me know if this is just plain insanity

Hey madcow,
I know you're real busy right now but if you've got a second I'd like to see if you think this'll be a decent plan (as I'm typing this I've got an hour before I head to the gym). Specifically I was wondering if doing push press and pullups twice a week is overkill, and if my pull variants are good choices. Obviously a lot of this is individual but I'm sure you would notice potential problems with this better than I. Thanks.

 

[Madcow2]

It's not bad. I imagine even worst case scenario you'll do well for a while as it's not massively more than you've done in the past (i.e. you may just hit overreaching sooner than predicted without getting your biggest weights in). I see no issue with pushpress twice a week - probably a good thing to concentrate on. Pullups are pullups, see how they go and if you feel it's too much drop to bodyweight if that works for you. I figured they'd point out some technique issues in your clean, most football coaches aren't so good at teaching it (hence Rippetoe's Starting Strength book to show them how to teach the lifts).

 

[Guinness5.0]

Thanks a million. That's pretty much what I was thinking and I just wanted to make sure, especially since mindset is such an important variable for me. I'll keep the journal updated of course

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 1

MONDAY

Pause squat 5x5: 275
Bench 1x5: 275
GM 5x5: 135
decline situps: 4x10

Comments:
-I really like pause squats and would reccomend them to anyone who questions their squat depth (for a while I was unsure if I was truly ATF). There is NO questioning depth when you just sit there for a two-count w/ your hams on your calves- it's impossible to go lower.

-Maybe it's unreasonable but I'm still a bit intimidated by GM's. This week will be light for sure. They felt better today than friday, so that's a good sign.

-I'm looking forward to training more frequently. We'll see how long that lasts once the weights go up . Will I get buried under this workload? Stay tuned....

 

[Tweakle]

pause squats help a LOT

I did a couple of sets of 3 last time I could squat (before my ham popped) and found a weekly increase in deadlift strength as my pause squat went up

 

[Guinness5.0]

pause squats help a LOT

I did a couple of sets of 3 last time I could squat (before my ham popped) and found a weekly increase in deadlift strength as my pause squat went up

Thanks for confirming that. I tried 'em for just for grins during my deload week and it was like a light went on over my head after the first set.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 1

TUESDAY
Low clean pull 5x5: 265
Push press 5x5: 155
Pullups 5x5: bw
Speed dl's off two 45 lb plates 5x5: 225

Comments:
-I'm out of shape. I was gassing after a few sets of power cleans (did 'em light for form work and warmup).

-Low clean pull was awkward. It was hard not to just keep going into a power clean as I'm kinda used to those. The weight was quite light but the coordination was odd. I was trying to make things "just right" with timing my transition from driving through my heels to exploding on to my toes. I think this is a case where more weight will actually HELP form. I'll keep the increases steady though. I'm gonna get plenty of practice at 2x/week

-Push press was awkward too. Should grip on these be narrower than military? It seemed like it should be so that's what I ended up with on my last couple of sets and it did seem to feel more natural. I got some funny looks doing these (of course my shin was bleeding down into my sock from the clean pulls, so there was plenty to gawk at )

-I was surprised at how light I had to stay with speed deads. 225 was actually somewhat challenging. I'm definitely very weak right at the point of initiation, so hopefully these will improve rapidly.

-This is going to be brutal unless my capacity increases magically in the next week or two. Also, I can ALREADY see improvement in my traps, and traps have always been one of the strong points of my physique.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Nice update. I bloodied my shins pretty bad on those clean pulls too. I like it

Check the front squat topic here, MC2 has some pushpress words of wisdom.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Nice update. I bloodied my shins pretty bad on those clean pulls too. I like it

Check the front squat topic here, MC2 has some pushpress words of wisdom.

I don't think there is any chance of this thing healing. I should install some sort of catch-can and hit up the red cross on tuesdays and fridays.

Funny you should mention the front squat thread- I just got done reading it

 

[Tweakle]

cool bro, glad you like them - pause squats are awesome, I got up to 495 for a couple sets of 2 and my dead was literally going up 10lbs every week. I didn't do any other assistance other than pullthrus - those things are wonderful