What I did was switch to mixed grip.
Straps might work, hook grip might work, I haven’t given either a fair go because mixed grip does everything I need.
Whatever way you choose to do it, grip shouldn’t be a limiting factor on your deadlifts.
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For smaller folk like me, this is the way to look at it.
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7WP, Deload - d6
Friday - 19 November 2021
Workout: Bench + extra conditioning, 0755-0850 (55 minutes)
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0813; End: 0838; Duration: 25 minutes
Bench - 105x5, 130x5, 155x5 | 180x5, 205x5, 230x5, 255x5
Deficit reverse lunge - L/R - 2x20 lbs - 30, 20
Chin-up - BW - 15, 10
Band pushdown - red - 25
BPA - red - 10 high + 10 mid + 10 low
Push-up - 25
50 1-pump burpees + 24-kg KB swings - 2x25, 25-second rest between
Assistance totals:
Push - 50 reps
Pull - 55 reps
Single-leg/core - 50 reps
Fasted. Another decent day. Bench felt strong; not easy, but strong, like I had full mastery of the weight. That top set might have even been a rep PR. (My old spreadsheet only tracked 1RM PRs, so I actually went looking through my physical log notebooks yesterday to see if I could find my previous 5/3/1 rep PRs, but I couldn’t find the entries… I was in a hurry, maybe I’ll try again today.)
We have a swim meet this weekend, and we’re hosting, which means an even earlier start on Saturday and Sunday than for away meets. Just a quick weighted vest walk and the daily burpees + swings tomorrow, so that shouldn’t be a problem, but Sunday will be trickier—workouts might end up being later in the day than I’d like.
Edit: Just checked again, and the paper logs I have don’t go back that far. The older ones must have been purged at some point, maybe during the garage-to-gym conversion? Whatever, not a big deal. I’m making steady progress on all of my lifts regardless, so it’s only a matter of time before all of my old 1RM PRs fall to new rep PRs!
Also, note to future self: you need to break out your battle ropes again—there are some brutal conditioning workouts to be done!
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Damn surprised you are pulling what you are pulling and grip only being an issue now.
Second this (despite still being weak) never had a grip issue with mixed grip
Ahh the good old bicep tears from accidently curling the bar with the inverse hand. And it COULD cause posture issues/ muscle imbalances if you constantly pull with the same mixed grip but that is easily avoided by switching which hand is over and which is under.
Yeah a lot of people including Joe Defranco preach about how measuring your grip squeeze is an indicator of how hard you can push yourself that day. Don’t think it’s regarding grip failing in a constant isometric hold (like multi rep deadlifts) but more of how much force can you exert
For a deload week this seems like a tad too intense/ too much work…
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Yeah, I’m violating the 7WP, Deload rep scheme this week: want to know my TMs are correct heading into the 5/3/1 & Widowmakers anchor, so I technically ran the 7WP, TM Test reps instead. It’s a difference of about 6-8 reps across the 90% and 100% TM sets for each lift, which isn’t much. And compared to the work I had been doing in the three weeks prior, this week has been super low-volume.
But I definitely won’t blame JW if I fail miserably over the next 3 weeks.
Edit: Your comment here:
got me thinking: I’m still not convinced grip actually is an issue yet: given how the first rep felt slow off the floor, I’m thinking I just wasn’t setup quite right. Yes, I just “grip and go,” but there’s a pre-deadlift ritual I hit up to feel ready.
I’m going to be cognizant of grip throughout the anchor, and if it remains problematic, I will certainly heed the advice I’ve received here!
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That’s a decent bench set mate. Nice job.
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7WP, Deload - d7
Saturday - 20 November 2021
Workout: Easy conditioning, 0450-0540 (50 minutes)
25 1-pump burpees + 24-kg KB swings
Weighted vest walk - 24 kg - 35 minutes
25 1-pump burpees + 24-kg KB swings
Fasted. Natural wake-up just after 0400. Cold out there this morning, actually felt kinda good. And so ends the deload.
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Agree with others, 255 x 5 is some nice benching. 
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Dude, you’re getting strong. Outstanding!
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@simo74, @shaneinga, @TrainForPain - Thanks a lot, guys!
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7WP, Deload - summary
Interesting week: I know I needed the rest, physically and mentally, but I’m itching to get back at it—definitely not enough activity this week. But then again, that’s the point, right? Being ready to go again? Yeah, let’s do it.
JW calls for a deload between leaders and anchors, but I ran the TM test rep scheme to be sure my TMs were correct as I head into 5/3/1 & Widowmakers. And they are: I hit all of the sets with 5 reps across all lifts. Finally all of those “projected anchor TMs” I’ve been going on and on about are now actual TMs. Yeah, the top set of squats may have been a bit ugly, and, yeah, I had grip issues with the last few reps of the heaviest deadlifts, but I also set a rep PR with press (achieving the 1-plate goal, too!) and I’m just a cycle or two off from doing the same with bench—really it was a good week and I feel confident in the new TMs.
Nailed three out of my four goals for the week: completed all of the lifting workouts, did the easy conditioning, and got my daily work in as well. I did not eat right, however: wasn’t doing enough work to justify the amount of food I ate, and no amount of work justifies some of the food choices I made. But I’m ready to get back “on menu” again—full steam ahead!
So, the long-awaited 5/3/1 & Widowmakers anchor is finally here. After crushing that, I’ll run another TM test week before running at least two cycles of BBB as leaders, some kind of anchor, and then… Not sure yet. So many tempting options, but I’ve got lots of time to decide.
I’m excited to tackle these Widowmakers again: I get to repeat my success with the squat and deadlift sets, and I get another chance at those failed press and bench attempts as well. I’m gonna kill it.
So my goals for Week 1 are:
- Complete all 4 lifting workouts
- Complete all 20 reps on all 4 Widowmaker sets
- Do (at least) 75 reps in each assistance category
- Complete 4 days of hard conditioning
- Complete 3 days of easy conditioning + direct calf work
- Do (at least) 100 burpees + swings every day
- Make good food choices and eat well
My plan for the hard conditioning is to run variations of Pwn’s The Last Castle using the sled (2 days) and Farmer’s Walks (2 days). JW doesn’t like Farmer’s Walks as conditioning, but I do, and running it The Last Castle style with some other moves will—how does Pwn say it?—“answer the mail,” is the phrase I think.
I’m bumping up the number of assistance reps and daily work, too. I trimmed those back during Widowmaker practice because the 20-rep sets were on top of the 5x5 FSL sets in the previous leader. Now each WM is the FSL set, so I’ll be doing far fewer reps in each workout than I had been in the run up to my deload.
Finally, the TMs for this cycle are:
Press - 135 lbs
Squat - 275 lbs
Bench - 255 lbs
Dead - 315 lbs
and the FSL Widowmaker percentages are 65%, 70%, and 75% in Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3, respectively.
So congratulations if you’ve read this far. I wish I had a prize for you, but…
Right—I’m still feeling like a monster, and this train is leaving the station. Let’s rock 'n roll!
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LOL! It’s so good to read about all the progress you’re making! You can (and should) be justifiably proud of yourself.
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And thank you for the kind words here, as well!
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5/3/1 & Widowmakers - c6w1d1
Sunday - 21 November 2021
Workout: Easy conditioning + calves, 0440-0545 (65 minutes)
Weighted vest walk - 26 kg - 35 minutes
Jump rope tabata - 8x40/15 - 1 round
SL CR - L/R - 30x12, 35x10 | 40x8 + isohold: 18s
Fasted. Natural wake up just before 0400. A few minor changes today: bumped up the weight in the vest by 2 kg (26 kg total) and moved to 8 sets of 40-second “on” intervals and 15-second “off” intervals in the JR tabata (same total work, a bit less total rest).
Planning on Pwn’s The Hills Have Eyes conditioning workout later today. Looking to get at least 10 rounds or go for 25 minutes, which ever comes second. That workout will knock out my daily swings, so I’ll also hit up the daily burpees and BFPs.
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5/3/1 & Widowmakers - c6w1d1
Sunday - 21 November 2021
Workout: Extra conditioning, 1320-1405 (45 minutes)
2 rounds of:
a) 25 1-pump burpees
b) 25 BFPs - red
c) 25-second rest
Pwn’s The Hills Have Eyes
a) 10 KB swings - 24 kg
b) 10 Devil’s presses - 2x20 lbs
c) 30-second rest
12 rounds, 26:12
2 rounds of:
a) 25 1-pump burpees
b) 25 BFPs - red
c) 25-second rest
Pwn’s The Hills Have Eyes is everything it promises: I hate it. And I only did 12 rounds! Nice to have that one in the rotation. Did half the burpees and BFPs as buy-in, then the other half as buy-out. Seemed to do the trick, as my glutes and lower back are toast and I’m sweating like a pig.
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Hah! Yup! And just like a true horror move, you never really get to catch your breath. The 30 second rests are especially brutal, because it’s literally JUST enough time to look at the clock and realize you have to get ready for your next set. Like, it would be kinder to just make it a straight circuit, but the “rest” tricks you with false hope. Good work dude!
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5/3/1 & Widowmakers - c6w1d2
Monday - 22 November 2021
Workout: Squat, 0845-0955 (70 minutes)
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0901; End: 0950; Duration: 49 minutes
Squat - 100x5, 125x5, 155x5 | 180x5, 210x5, 235x10 (rep PR) | 180x20
HLR - 20, 20, 20
Dip - 15, 15, 15
Chin-up - BW - 15, 13, 12, 5
Good morning - 95 - 15
Push-up - 30
BPA - red - 10 high + 10 mid + 10 low
Assistance totals:
Push - 75 reps
Pull - 75 reps
Single-leg/core - 75 reps
And here we go again!
I was really pushing myself this morning. That top set was brutal. I found another old spreadsheet, and while I don’t have an entry for 235, I did have an entry for 240x7 in May 2020, so I would’ve called anything over 8 reps some kind PR—maybe a volume PR? Anyway, I can say confidently I’ve never pushed 235 for 10 reps before, and I sure as hell haven’t done that and followed it up with 180x20. I’ll spare you the details, but the WM was 13 reps followed by 7 singles with 3-5 breaths between. The bar never left my back, rumor has it I was seeing stars during reps 17-20, and unconfirmed reports have me lying in a puddle of my own blood, sweat, and tears afterward. Whatever, that was some good squatting today.
On top of that, I wanted 60 HLRs in 4 sets; I did it in 3. I wanted 45 dips in 4 sets; I did it in 3. I wanted 45 chins in 4 sets; I almost did it in 3—looks like I’ve still got some work to do there.
Yeah, it was a good day. I’m now scared stiff of the Widowmakers again: this week is the “easy” FSL Widowmaker, but every one of those will follow PR sets for the duration of this cycle, and the fact that I’ve done these weights for 20 reps already feels meaningless… But I know my body is capable when my mind gets out of the way, so I’m just gonna have to dig deep and gut 'em out. Again.
Sled work, etc. to follow this afternoon. The sun is shining and the air is crisp, so maybe that workout will be less awful than it otherwise could be at this time of year.
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Thanks, man! It really was awful—just what I needed.
For anyone who hasn’t yet read Pwn’s Little Book, beyond the creative combination of movements that will destroy your soul, part of what makes his workouts so great is the scalability of each one; e.g., The Hills uses a 40 kg KB, but my heaviest is 24 kg, so I just sub it in—still brutal. The Hills says 25 rounds, but I needed something in the 25-minute range, so I just cut it off—still brutal. And so on, and so forth: I’ve made similar mods to other workouts he’s written so they fit what I need in the moment.
Pwn has done the hard work by coming up with the workouts; all we need to do is execute them!
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You’ve absolutely nailed it dude: I shared what I did, but everything can be scaled and adjusted. Heck, some of my own bad ideas were other peoples bad ideas that I just scaled on my own, “The Hills Have Eyes” itself being a mutation (pun intended) of Tactical Barbell’s “Meateater”.
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5/3/1 & Widowmakers - c6w1d2
Monday - 22 November 2021
Workout: Hard conditioning, 1555-1635 (40 minutes)
BFP - red - 4x25
10 rounds of:
odd) Sled push - 50 yds, 135 + sled = 222 lbs; 20 1-pump burpees
even) Sled push - 50 yds, 135 + sled = 222 lbs; 20 24-kg KB swings
Time: 24:16
Sun was going down, air was still crisp—I suppose this workout was about as pleasant as it could be. Which really isn’t pleasant at all… But I got the work in and the HR up.
Switched things up a bit by doing the sled there-and-back and doubling the number of burpees or swings between each trip. Not a great time, but about par for the course (particularly following this morning’s squats).
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