DLing 315 IS Inspirational!

Training Bodybuilding
61

Quote:
“Perception is everything”

If “Higher Game” is giving 100% (as I hate the use of the phrase 110% as its freaking impossible) and he has had to fight to hit 315 then good for him.

I think the point he was trying to make is that not everyone can pull big numbers, as there may be several factors keeping that number lower (Training age, equipment avail-glute ham raise, kids, days in the gym, etc).
So the actual weight isn’t the point, the effort is!

If someone started at 135 and 6 months later can pull 350, I would wager part of that is neuromuscular adaptation (that whole 40% of the first strength you get when beginning lifting thing) as well as just learning leverage and form.

In six months to more than DOUBLE a lift seems as though you had a beginners training age (no matter your years doing other lifts).

If I could double ANY compound lift in 6 months I would think I were damn near godlike or more likely I wasn’t doing something right when I was lifting less. An example is a power lifters bench going up x% because of form corrections (elbows, back, etc). But to go up DOUBLE in 6 months seems surreal to me.

Going from 500-600 is a 20% increase right? (Went to public schools)
But going from 135 to 315 is more than 100%

Now, I understand that what you do to get from a 200 DL to a 300 is very different than from 500 to 600, but my point is that if you are REALLY pushing yourself and can only pull 135 then pulling 315 is impressive for that individual.

All that said, If you have been deadlifting for a few years and are stuck at 315 then you need to look at the individual pulling muscles to see what?s weak (see countless articles on that subject). Point is that most mature lifters don?t see HUGE gains in short periods of time if they have been lifting for a while.

I know a guy who couldn?t DL 225 to save his life and now he pulls close to 500 but he also had his form corrected and began other accessory lifts, but he got to 435 in 6 months because he hadn?t been DLing for very long to begin with. Getting from 435 to 500 took years because he had learned to use all the muscles correctly and for his size he was giving all he had.

So maybe a little slack for folks who HONESTLY are trying to improve because you never know what their story is unless you ask. They could have had a stroke a year earlier, or had to learn to DL from internet pics, but either way it is better to talk to them and make a lifting friend than laugh at what they are lifting because you lift more.

Thus endth sermon

62

[quote]Eric Cressey wrote:
detazathoth wrote:
Reyno109 wrote:
Well now i feel kinda crappy. I just hit 315 on the Dl yesterday. Although i’ve been training for 2 months and started off not being able to do 95 lbs(damn knee).

Maybee i will feel better when i hit 4 plates.

Don’t worry, I only started doing Deadlifting this past January, 135 for 8, and now the last time I tried a PR it was 315x5 2 weeks ago. So 4 plates will come to the both of us soon.

Come by the Berardi seminar at Excel in a few weeks and I’ll personally coach you to 400 on the spot. Just did it for a guy at the seminar I did at Oxford University a few weeks back. It’s all about tinkering with the little things.[/quote]

Damn, what an offer.

Eric, you are one generous sob. When are you going to be in VA? j/k

63

[quote]WS4JB wrote:
Phatshady912 wrote:
My first time ever attempting a deadlift was 300 lbs @ 17(Nailed it) 2 months later I pulled 4 plates… I’d say 6 plates is inspirational, 3 could be inspirational, if you weigh 130 I guess…

Not to be a douche or anything, but wasnt your first attempt at 300 about BW at the time ?

But i do agree that plenty of people hit something around there their first time deadlifting. My freshmen year of high school when we were tested on the big 3, myself and 2 of my good friends all hit either 300 or 315, and only one of us was over 165 pounds at the time. I guess you can take into account the fact that we were all athletes, but none of us had practiced the deadlift before.

–JB[/quote]

Actually I was down to about 250 from 294, after a 2-3 month starvation diet, which was preceeded by a year of sitting on my ass playing World of Warcraft, so as you can see I built all that fat up bulking like a powerlifter so it is definitely the reason for my strenght.

64

[quote]Eric Cressey wrote:
detazathoth wrote:
Reyno109 wrote:
Well now i feel kinda crappy. I just hit 315 on the Dl yesterday. Although i’ve been training for 2 months and started off not being able to do 95 lbs(damn knee).

Maybee i will feel better when i hit 4 plates.

Don’t worry, I only started doing Deadlifting this past January, 135 for 8, and now the last time I tried a PR it was 315x5 2 weeks ago. So 4 plates will come to the both of us soon.

Come by the Berardi seminar at Excel in a few weeks and I’ll personally coach you to 400 on the spot. Just did it for a guy at the seminar I did at Oxford University a few weeks back. It’s all about tinkering with the little things.[/quote]

Eric, if you could do that for me, I’ll be forever in your debt. Thank god I’m from Boston. Where do you live Eric? I live in Andover.

65

[quote]detazathoth wrote:
Eric Cressey wrote:
detazathoth wrote:
Reyno109 wrote:
Well now i feel kinda crappy. I just hit 315 on the Dl yesterday. Although i’ve been training for 2 months and started off not being able to do 95 lbs(damn knee).

Maybee i will feel better when i hit 4 plates.

Don’t worry, I only started doing Deadlifting this past January, 135 for 8, and now the last time I tried a PR it was 315x5 2 weeks ago. So 4 plates will come to the both of us soon.

Come by the Berardi seminar at Excel in a few weeks and I’ll personally coach you to 400 on the spot. Just did it for a guy at the seminar I did at Oxford University a few weeks back. It’s all about tinkering with the little things.

Eric, if you could do that for me, I’ll be forever in your debt. Thank god I’m from Boston. Where do you live Eric? I live in Andover.
[/quote]

Live in Newton and work in Waltham.

Here’s the info on that seminar:

http://www.ericcressey.com/johnberardiseminar.html

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[quote]Eric Cressey wrote:
detazathoth wrote:
Eric Cressey wrote:
detazathoth wrote:
Reyno109 wrote:
Well now i feel kinda crappy. I just hit 315 on the Dl yesterday. Although i’ve been training for 2 months and started off not being able to do 95 lbs(damn knee).

Maybee i will feel better when i hit 4 plates.

Don’t worry, I only started doing Deadlifting this past January, 135 for 8, and now the last time I tried a PR it was 315x5 2 weeks ago. So 4 plates will come to the both of us soon.

Come by the Berardi seminar at Excel in a few weeks and I’ll personally coach you to 400 on the spot. Just did it for a guy at the seminar I did at Oxford University a few weeks back. It’s all about tinkering with the little things.

Eric, if you could do that for me, I’ll be forever in your debt. Thank god I’m from Boston. Where do you live Eric? I live in Andover.

Live in Newton and work in Waltham.

Here’s the info on that seminar:

http://www.ericcressey.com/johnberardiseminar.html [/quote]

Shit…some other time then, 'cause I don’t have the bank for $300 at the moment. I’m sorry, hopefully another seminar will come by, and I’ll deff be at that one.

67

[quote]Reyno109 wrote:
Well now i feel kinda crappy. I just hit 315 on the Dl yesterday. Although i’ve been training for 2 months and started off not being able to do 95 lbs(damn knee).

Maybee i will feel better when i hit 4 plates.[/quote]

So you’ve been training for only two months and are upset you aren’t hitting “inspirational” or elite numbers?

315 is a good start, but who expects to be elite after 2 months? People do this for years.

68

[quote]ExNole wrote:
Reyno109 wrote:
Well now i feel kinda crappy. I just hit 315 on the Dl yesterday. Although i’ve been training for 2 months and started off not being able to do 95 lbs(damn knee).

Maybee i will feel better when i hit 4 plates.

So you’ve been training for only two months and are upset you aren’t hitting “inspirational” or elite numbers?

315 is a good start, but who expects to be elite after 2 months? People do this for years.[/quote]

I think he is providing an example of why a 315 DL is not inspirational.

69

[quote]dhuge67 wrote:
I have a hard time believing the 195 lb bench at a body weight of 125. Was it dumbbell bench?

[/quote]

I wish. lol It was a barbell bench.

70

Hmm I thought 315 is a fairly solid goal for bench press, never for deadlift. Im currently trying to hit 315 I started training this year seriously. I should hit it in a few months hopefully. How do you build up your grip stregth though the 400 500 deadlifts seem to want to tear off my hands ><. I mean I can do pretty high weight for squats but those deads at high weight really mess up my hands.

71

My friend is 132 pounds at 5’8", and he DL’s 315. He’s been weight training for 6 months.

72

[quote]ExNole wrote:
Reyno109 wrote:
Well now i feel kinda crappy. I just hit 315 on the Dl yesterday. Although i’ve been training for 2 months and started off not being able to do 95 lbs(damn knee).

Maybee i will feel better when i hit 4 plates.

So you’ve been training for only two months and are upset you aren’t hitting “inspirational” or elite numbers?

315 is a good start, but who expects to be elite after 2 months? People do this for years.[/quote]

No I am not upset that I am not hitting inspirational numbers. I said crappy because I was exited that I hit 315 after two months, then come on here and realize I haven’t got that much to be exited about. Great I made a PR but I know I have a long time to go before doing anything exceptional. So the comment had some sarcasm in it.

73

Hey EC,

I’m going to try like hell to get the money together for this event. I live like 10 minutes from Excel but I’m away at school in upstate NY (place sucks, Boston’s the place to be). I’m pulling 375 and have been training the DL for 8 months or so - think you can coach me to 425? :slight_smile:

P.S. I’m really struggling w/ money, will registration be open until within a week of the seminar? Thanks!

74

[quote]cormac wrote:
Hey EC,

I’m going to try like hell to get the money together for this event. I live like 10 minutes from Excel but I’m away at school in upstate NY (place sucks, Boston’s the place to be). I’m pulling 375 and have been training the DL for 8 months or so - think you can coach me to 425? :slight_smile:

P.S. I’m really struggling w/ money, will registration be open until within a week of the seminar? Thanks!
[/quote]

Yes - and keep in mind that there is a good student discount in place. Call the facility if you have questions: 781-890-0009.

www.ExcelStrength.com

75

[quote]shizen wrote:
Hmm I thought 315 is a fairly solid goal for bench press, never for deadlift. Im currently trying to hit 315 I started training this year seriously. I should hit it in a few months hopefully. How do you build up your grip stregth though the 400 500 deadlifts seem to want to tear off my hands ><. I mean I can do pretty high weight for squats but those deads at high weight really mess up my hands. [/quote]

Hey buddy, I gotta say I had a weak ass natural grip. I started doing pull ups 3-4xs a week, never to failure, doing thick bar static deadlift lockouts (“holds” for time), and farmers walks a couple sessions a month… (great, if you have em atyour disposal, i rarely do them anymore).

Also, I make a conscious effort to GRIP HARD, I really focus on squeezing that bar the whole time. I haven’t had a skin tear in months. And I used to get one every time I DL’d like 2 months ago. All you need to do is get a thick bar, build one if you have to, and do pull up variations on the fattest bar in your gym. Lately I’ve been throwing in some wrist roller work for extended time under tension, but I’ll let my arms hang down unlike most skinny kids you see doing the exercise, so I can do like 20x the amount of weight you usually see on the thing. I’m trying to work my grip not my shoulders after all. Also, perhaps most importantly, like everyone says - never use straps. Use chalk.

76

[quote]new2training wrote:

Damn, what an offer.

Eric, you are one generous sob. When are you going to be in VA? j/k[/quote]

New2training - I am in VA (northern) if you ever want to get together and do some pulling.

77

I think it is very hard to say that a 315 deadlift is inspirational (for men) because, in my opinion, a large number of males can do that right now, with very little or no training. I believe if you put a gun to their head or they were in some other extreme situation most men (or at the very least a decent minority like 10-20%, perhaps more) could pick up 315 lbs. And so the simple thought of 315 being pretty average makes it by definition uninspirational, since to me something that is inspirational needs to be out of the ordinary.

78

deadlifting 315 isn’t goint to impress anyone around here. Don’t let that slow down your progress.

If you’re concerned with looking good, or becoming a strong mofo, you’ve gotto take the path of least resistance. Both paths will require you to push yourself and bust your ass in the gym.

That is the bottom line.

79

315 is a poor deadlift.

80

[quote]Reyno109 wrote:
ExNole wrote:
Reyno109 wrote:
Well now i feel kinda crappy. I just hit 315 on the Dl yesterday. Although i’ve been training for 2 months and started off not being able to do 95 lbs(damn knee).

Maybee i will feel better when i hit 4 plates.

So you’ve been training for only two months and are upset you aren’t hitting “inspirational” or elite numbers?

315 is a good start, but who expects to be elite after 2 months? People do this for years.

No I am not upset that I am not hitting inspirational numbers. I said crappy because I was exited that I hit 315 after two months, then come on here and realize I haven’t got that much to be exited about. Great I made a PR but I know I have a long time to go before doing anything exceptional. So the comment had some sarcasm in it. [/quote]

315 is good progress, and sorry if I was at all harsh.