Deadlift Struggles - Am I Tapped Out?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
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This is kind of a rant post, but here goes. My deadlift has gone to hell (my other lifts are still progressing). To give everyone some perspective, my all time top deadlift work is 505x6 with an 1RM PR of 555 (I’m in the 215-218 range). That was about 5 years ago and I was “enhanced” at the time (very lightly enhanced, but enhanced nonetheless).

I came off the enhancements, lost some body weight to improve my physique and my DL dropped obviously. But, as recently as September of last year I had gotten my DL back to 505x4 “natural” (didn’t test my 1RM at the time). I had some hectic work travel and a minor back injury so training backed off for a bit but I’ve been back hitting it hard for at least the last 10 months and my DL ABSOLUTELY SUCKS now! I’m starting to think that my combination of age (42) and some nagging small injuries that I’m just not going to be able to get my strength back anywhere near where it was.

I had five >90% singles programmed today and for the second one I did 505x1 and it was the biggest grind of my life. I actually think it was an RPE 11. It was so bad that after that lift I was only able to get 1 more single >90% (455) but after that I was tapped out, did the final two around 80%.

I used to love deadlifting, used to look forward it and would have tons of mental and physical juice for my DL workouts. Now I dread it. I have no juice for my DL workouts. Everything feels heavy. It used to be if I could break the bar off the floor, I could get it up. Now, my sticking point is more in the mid-shin area.

I’ve tried everything I can think of - technique work, more volume, less volume, more accessories, less accessories, more rest days, fewer rest days, high rep accessories, low rep accessories, accessories for hamstrings, accessories for low back, accessories for lats and upper back, going back to old programs that worked, RDLs, deficit DLs, snatch-grip deficits, you name it.

The thing I’ve noticed is that I don’t have near the speed off the floor as I used to. Even on light work/warmup sets. For instance 315 used to feel like it flew up. Now it feels crisp, but nowhere near as fast. That seems to indicate that my ability to generate explosive strength has decreased maybe?

Sorry for the rant, I guess I just needed to vent. But if anyone has any ideas or thoughts that might help me, I’d love to hear it!

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This is likely the problem. Been there believe me.

Are you planning on competing? If not, change gears for awhile and de-emphasize the deadlift. As in, do some rep work on RDLs or stiff legged pulls last in a session. Work hard on something else thats complimentary but less taxing.

I can hear the frustration and burnout in your pos t, lol, because I’ve been there. I think most of us that love pulling just hit that point sometimes. Heavy pulls take more out of you than any other lift.

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Maybe you could try some specific work to build Explosive Strength and Speed off the Floor? If it’s declining with age, you might need to train it back up.

Have you tried stuff like Broad Jumps or Power Cleans or Speed Deadlifts with around 70% for a bunch of fast, smooth, low rep sets?

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I’ve had deadlift woes for over a decade. Some days the weight would fly off the floor, then the next week I couldn’t even move what I previously did for 5. Couple that with my history of back pain and it made for wildly inconsistent performance. It got to the point where I was spending over an hour just repeatedly trying to move a stuck weight and psychologically failing, and then the time wasted would just frustrate me more.

I switched to ROM progression mat pulls (Mythical Strength: RANGE OF MOTION (ROM) PROGRESSION) after getting the idea from @T3hPwnisher and that got me my all-time record of 610 lbs, but my back pain made that inconsistent, too. Same deal: sometimes I couldn’t move the weight at all. I still highly recommend this method though because it did get me progress for years.

What’s working for me now is varying things up and backing off a little. I’ve started sumo deadlifting for the first time in my life and I’m finding it much easier for my back to recover from, even compared to mat pulls. Every few weeks I’ll switch back to conventional and get a few good, consistent sessions in, finally. I’m also pushing Romanian deadlifts more lately and they’re carrying over fantastically.

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May I ask what your other ME lower body movements you’re doing?