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

[Guinness5.0]

I couldn't possibly do 4 "easy" weeks. I couldn't even keep speed dl's going for four weeks- I had to turn 'em to reg. dl's off plates .

Seriously though, no straps on the 15 rep set either. I have no idea if it's good or not. Seemed good though. My form was great throughout. It really surprised me. I think the fact that I was completely enraged about missing my previous reps helped A LOT!

 

[Jim Ouini]

Nice, no straps. I have to shake the hands out after 5 reps

And I have to try the enraged thing. I'm more of a cerebral lifter, I may have to enlist one of Bally's finest to karate chop me in the back before a big lift

 

[blut wump]

Apparently ammonia works well on the more cerebral lifter. I have trouble with rage, too. I'd be more likely to laugh than lift.

The more I think about those 15 reps, the more impressive they become.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 4

FRIDAY

Squat: 135x?, 225x?, 275x5, 315x5, 315x5, 315x5
Bench 4x5, 1x4: 285
DL: 225x12, x5, 275x3, 315x3, 315x15


Comments:

-Weird day I know. It's a quasi-deload day. I really wanted my bench PR and look how friggin' close I came! I'm actually pretty happy with it since the last reps of the last 3 sets were damn near stalled on the middle. I just couldn't summon enough willpower for the very last one. I'm gonna be sore tomorrow, I can tell you that, as I left nothing on the table.

-DL was fun. I just wanted to see if tuesday was a fluke, and though Jim was joking I had to be sure that I didn't in fact do them touch-and-go (I suppose the last couple were rest-paused but in my book that's OK). It was tougher today b/c I didn't have the genuine rage I had then. I had to fake it a little. System of a Down and redline got me througn it. It was fun b/c I had an audience halfway through- I started basically dropping the weight on about the 7th-8th rep and a lot of people were watching. I don't normally like being watched but for some reason it fueled me a bit. Maybe I'm a closet exhibitionist

 

[blut wump]

Guinness5.0 and his dancing deadlift, they came from miles around. Congrats on hitting it again.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Nice lifts all around, sounds like a monster workout.

I hear once you get a taste of the spotlight you can't go back. You probably won't be able to lift without a big crowd cheering you on now

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 5

MONDAY

Squat: Buncha warmups, 275x3, 315x3, 345x3
Bench 1x3: 295
GM 1x3: 225

Comments:

-I couldn't even get my deload weights on squat. I had to stop short due to back pain . I'm really hoping my back stops hurting soon or else this program is shot. BTW i've dropped pause squats as I think they're the main culprit in my hip pain, so I was planning to use my deload weight from my original 5x5 run on regular ATF's. Also, after driving for twenty or so minutes my hips have been causing me to limp a bit for the first few steps once I get out of the car (this is the only time they bother me). Then all's well.

-I must have loaded well as bench for 1x3 was about as tough as it was for 1x5 last week. If I remember correctly a 10-15% decrease in performance means you're pretty loaded up. Since I have no upper body injury/pain issues I'll figure load/overreaching to be the culprit.

-It's weird that my back hurt on squat but not GM IMO. I guess compression hurts it but not whatever type of load GM's with an arched lower back place on it. Whatever.

-I'm feeling a little bleak based on this back pain. It's nothing major but it feels like it could be something bad if I let it get that way. Weds. and Fri. will be very telling.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Hmm too bad about your back...I wonder if pulling deads off a plate might've contributed? I know keeping my back flat was a challenge when reaching down for the bar lower than usual.

I had to tell myself 'butt down, chest up' but as the weights got heavier it was harder to do...

Anyway, good luck with it, hopefully you can reap the benefits of your program. I really hate to hear about injuries...today my friend told me he hurt his knee. He'd been front squatting with me last week and going deeper than usual (he usually does 1/4 squats) and he told me that's what caused it. Man did I feel guilty

 

[Guinness5.0]

Hmm too bad about your back...I wonder if pulling deads off a plate might've contributed? I know keeping my back flat was a challenge when reaching down for the bar lower than usual.

I had to tell myself 'butt down, chest up' but as the weights got heavier it was harder to do...

Anyway, good luck with it, hopefully you can reap the benefits of your program. I really hate to hear about injuries...today my friend told me he hurt his knee. He'd been front squatting with me last week and going deeper than usual (he usually does 1/4 squats) and he told me that's what caused it. Man did I feel guilty

I got a little careless when I was using 365 last week. Not awful, but I've got a feeling that being elevated amplifies any rounding that may occur.

 

[blut wump]

I felt movement in my lower back last volume phase of the 5x5. It's easy to lose form as you get fatigued and it's a constant worry for me in the Korte. Since I was only dl-ing once per week it had recovered by the following week.

Would dropping to a 2x per week deload for one or two weeks work? You won't lose your strength and it certainly won't harm the recovery from the loading. If you're hurt then you have to heal and maybe dropping to 2x might be all it takes. You can bounce straight back to 3x per week as soon as you feel ready.

On my last 5x5 run, I came out of the loading phase with my hips completely fried and the 2x per week gave me enough rest to allow them to recover. I intended two weeks but I ended up running three weeks of 2x per week and it didn't seem to do any harm to progress. I just made it into a 10-week program by running 3 weeks of a 3x per week intensity phase.