I have to use hex plates to deadlift because that’s what my school uses and the closest gym that even allows dl’s is almost 2 hours away (I live in Nacogdoches, Texas so clue me in if you know about any pl gyms around this area).
I started pulling after about a 12 week hiatus from dl’ing because of what I think might have been a si joint issue and I was weak as hell. I hit 365 for 2 singles before I couldn’t do anymore. Considering my best gym performance has been 405 for 3 doubles, that just felt pathetic.
I’m thinking the huge difference is either because my glutes and back were weak, the hex plates make a big difference, my form was bad, or a combo of them all.
If anybody has any idea of what might be happening here, please let me know.
[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
You take a three month break from deadlifting and you think you’ll be as strong as you used to be?
You’re an '09er stuck in 2007.[/quote]
Ok… I see the point that should’ve been obvious to me… (that last part was harsh… damn…). In your experience with taking breaks from lifts (especially for injury related reasons), does it usually come back fast or is it slow.
The SI stress issue is from when I worked out at a another gym with round plates. That was just me being stupid and trying to pull heavyish weight (for me anyway) with a valeo belt instead of a powerlifting belt like what I had been used too.
But that advice is very good to hear. No power rack and only one squat rack (grrr… anger…). At least there aren’t too many people ‘brave’ enough to free squat and I haven’t seen one person do a squat to powerlifting depth. And chalk isn’t allowed, but I’m about to get some cheap dress socks and some chalk, place the chalk in the sock and place it in my pocket and sneak it in like that.
I guess I’ll start using that tip and readjust my deadlift max as well since I’ve gotten so much weaker (God I hope it comes back faster than it took to get there in the first place, at least my squat has gotten better).
Ok… I’m not sure what all this post is about, except mostly thanks for the advise. I’ll be sure to implement it.
As opposed to risk making a mess and getting tossed from the gym, just go to plgearonline.com and order some of the Grrrip. It is under the accesories tab.
We have tested all the chalk substitutes on the market and this is by far the best.
Another idea that popped up in my head is to buy the full diameter light weight Olympic plates, carry them to my gym, and place one on each end of the bar.
Would that be a good idea?
Where can I get them?
What are they called?
I’ve tried googling bumper plates, Olympic plates, and powerliting plates and I haven’t really found much of what I think I would want.
If anything, you’ll get stronger off the floor. I trained at a gold’s with hex plates for 2 years with other powerlifters. It’s not that big of deal. Deadlifting at a meet felt like a rack pull with the bar being higher plus the flex of a deadlift bar.
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
Another idea that popped up in my head is to buy the full diameter light weight Olympic plates, carry them to my gym, and place one on each end of the bar.
The light weight (10 to 15 pounds) ones may get trashed quickly… If you try this, be sure to sandwich them between two full sized hex plates. They are made of rubber, and not designed to support 300+ pounds solo.
You might get told not to bring them. The hex plates are not hex shaped just for style. Another thread pointed out that they are actually shaped like that so people can’t deadlift with them. If a gym has hex plates, it’s probably to keep people from deadlifting in order to reduce liability. On the other hand, hopefully all the employees there couldn’t care less or don’t know. So you’ll probably get away with it.
I called to see if my gym would allow them and they said no and told me that the equipment they have there is all that they want people to use and that it would “encourage unwanted behaviour in the facility”. FUCKING HORSESHIT!!! I called around and scoured the internet a little more to see if there were any gyms that were at least somewhat powerlifting friendly and I found one. It’s a smidgen pricey for my budget (50$/month for one year membership), but I’m thinking really hard about it. At least no one’s told me that I’m not allowed to use my bands at my school gym. I’m going to try deadlifting with the 2.5’s under the weight like apwsearch said.
I’ll see how that feels and how annoying resetting up after each rep will be. If it’s terrible enough, I’ll just sign up for this other gym and cut back on take out, keep the heater turned way down, buy cheaper groceries, drive more fuel efficiently, whatever I have to do.
Tried the DL’s with the 2.5’s under them. It was better, but it still felt off. It still seemed hard to break the ground and I still couldn’t sit back as far I feel I should.
Slightly different request here, but I’m not sure which topic to search - is anyone familiar with round, grip-handle-style, BLACK olympic plates that are NOT IronGrip? I’m looking to outfit the gym I manage with plates for our new cages, but the constraints I’m held to are color (black) and that the plates must have grip handles (not a solid disc). So far, I’ve only been able to find a non-hex style in gray, anyone know if somebody makes these in black?
Hey Fletch…I don’t know what you wound up doing but I went to SFA and then lived in Nac for a year after graduating. I got tired of the school gym and joined Court Club. Court Club is AWESOME! I moved to Shreveport and miss it. You can deadlift and use chalk.
^
Lol, that is what I ended up doing for a while but I can’t afford it atm so I’m just going to HPE in the mean-while. At least there isn’t as much deuchebaggery in there as compared to the rec center. The safety bars go down very low in the squat rack too so I get the depth I need for dl’s. I use straps for pulls b/c I don’t wanna pay 15 bucks (including shipping) for a chalk substitute but my grip is naturally strong and it gets worked pretty hard through bb rows, benching and its variations, and other exercises.
[quote]humanjhawkins wrote:
If a gym has hex plates, it’s probably to keep people from deadlifting[/quote]
Sorry for sounding like a nub, but I’m curious as to how hex plates discourage deadlifting? I’ve always trained with round plates everywhere I’ve been so I honestly have no clue.
[quote]humanjhawkins wrote:
If a gym has hex plates, it’s probably to keep people from deadlifting[/quote]
Sorry for sounding like a nub, but I’m curious as to how hex plates discourage deadlifting? I’ve always trained with round plates everywhere I’ve been so I honestly have no clue.[/quote]
x2
i have always deadlifted with hex plates (relative noob though) as that’s all my gym has, never really thought much about the difference between hex/round before.