Soon
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Iām pretty upset with todayās workout to be honest.
Deadlift: 385lbs x1, 395lbs x1, 385lbs x1
RPE: 8ish, 9, 8.5
This is my last heavy deadlift session before maxing out next week, and Iām definitely weaker than I was about a year ago. In mid April at the end of meet prep I did a very easy 385lbs x4. This was definitely harder. Iām going to need to spend a lot of time thinking about how to get my deadlift up and why itās so weak right now. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Bench: 3x3 with 210lbs
RPE: 8.5, 8, 8
Barbell row: 3x5
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Probs cause u overshot like a few days ago. Trust me I always overshoot and my training is all over the place lol
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I hope thatās all it is. My deadlifts have been feeling weak pretty consistently for the past while. I guess Iāll see how next week goes. Iād be extremely happy with even a 5lbs PR compared to last April (Currently 440), but idek if thatās realistic
Pretty good workout today. This was intended to be my last time squatting before maxing out my squat
Squat: 3x3 with 365lbs
RPE: 8, 8.5,9ish
I missgrooved my last rep of my last set of my last rep pretty badly. I decided to record todayās squats to make sure depth is there. Thankful, it appears to be good. Iām kind of considering adding another easy squat session Before maxing out to ensure Fatigue is low, but Iām not sure yet. Also, I wonāt change my form when I max out, but if anyone has form advice, Iāll gladly take it.
Overhead press: 3x6 with 105lbs
Incline dumbbell seal row: 3x8 with 65lbs
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Record everyday for the gram
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I probably would more often if I could figure out a way to keep playing my music through my headphones while recording
Maybe too much volume and always pulling the day after squatting, with plenty of squat volume. If high volume and high frequency isnāt working too great then cutting back might be the answer.
Your technique looks good, the only thing I can say is that you descend fast and for most people itās hard to stay tight like that. I canāt really tell how tight you are in the video, but you can probably get tighter and if you have to sacrifice tightness to descend faster and get a little more rebound itās probably not worth it and can mess you up on heavy lifts. Descend as fast as you can while staying as tight as possible.
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How much progress would you say you have made on squat and bench on this program?
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Iām going to find out very soon. Iām maxing out next week. I think squat and bench have responded pretty well.
I wonder if this is right. Iāve been reading what youāve been writing about lowering frequency and volume for a while and Iāve been thinking about experimenting with it. I had a lot of success on the candito 6 week program, looking back, On that program I never did more than 4 working sets of comp deadlift per week, with no more than 2 work sets per session. On the second week, which is very high volume for squats, there was actually no comp deadlifting.
The reasons are Iāve been slightly hesitant about lowering my volume and frequency:
1: is I think my technique has some room for improvement.
2, and more importantly I think: I think for long term progress I probably need to build more muscle mass
All this being said, looking at this now, I think I should probably lower my deadlift volume.
This program was mostly linearly progressing deadlift for a 4x4 every week with 3x3 pause deadlifts another day. It doesnāt seem like such high volume to me, but I guess it could be lower
For sure, but 2 things: Deadlifts arenāt very effective for hypertrophy in the first place, and based on some recent studies (which I tend to agree with) too much volume is actually counterproductive. You make better gains in strength and hypertrophy with moderate volume.
That itself isnāt really excessive, but combined with all the squatting and benching it might be too much. Thatās why I ask what sort of gains you made on squat and bench because if those are progressing at a decent rate then the DL issue probably isnāt due to volume or frequency. It could also be that you make better progress on DL with higher RPE sets rather than submax work, I found that to be the case with myself after wasting a lot of time doing a whole bunch of submax deadlifts.
If your deadlift made good progress on the Candito program then something was definitely right for you, compare the programs and see what the main differences are between the two. Candito had you doing AMRAP sets, right?
Also look at where your deadlift was before starting this program and not just last year. I know you took some time off training and you were doing some circuit training type of stuff, do you have an accurate idea of what your deadlift 1rm was at the beginning of the program?
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I think the squat and bench gains on this program have been good, but itās hard to say before maxing out. It certainly wasnāt anything magical like my meet prep last April, but I really canāt expect that at this point (I donāt think). Iām hoping for a 15lbs-25lbs squat PR which Iād be very very happy with, and a 10-15lbs bench PR. I think both are within reach.
Not long before starting the program I pulled 385 for a very hard double. It probably wasnāt a 2RM, but I doubt I couldāve done it for a triple. I set my max at the beginning of the program to 415lbs, thinking it would be a decent, but slightly generous approximation.
I set my bench max on this program to be 240lbs, which is probably lower than my actual max when I started. A few weeks before starting, I benched 235lbs pretty easily out of nowhere when I was doing mostly sets of 8
The candito program has a few amraps for squat and bench, and on the last week a set of up to 4 reps with 97% on all lifts. For deadlift, I and got 4 reps easily and stopped there. The squatting and benching had some pretty high RPE sets throughout the program, but I donāt think any of the deadlift sets were especially hard.
Another factor: last year while running candito program I started doing a pretty fast deadlift setup. I would just grab the bar, set my hips and go. Iāve transitioned away from that because of the concern of not getting my hands in the same spot on the bar each time. Itās possible that Iām able to get more speed off the floor using that type of setup.
Hereās a video of my 375lbsx4 set from back then to show the difference in setup and give a sense of difficulty
I donāt think the change in setup would make that big of a difference.
On the Candito program were you always pulling right after squatting or there were days where deadlift was the main lift? Forgive my vague recollection of the program. It could have to do with carrying less fatigue for heavy deadlifts.
Interestingly, the candito program had deadlifts after squats ever single time. With the exception of the workout that was just that 1 deadlift set above, I squatted before every time deadlifted on that program
Well that confuses things a bit. What about lower body assistance exercises, what were you doing then that you arenāt doing now?
Maybe pause deadlifts make you extra slow off the floor? I donāt really know at this point.
During the candito program I didnāt do any lower body assistance, only the prescribed squat, deadlift and deadlift variation. Leading up to it, I was doing some additional lower body volume from things like pause squats and more deadlift variations etc. Now, Iām not doing anything for my lower body except the prescribed squats and deadlifts.
Great workout today. Last workout before maxing out my squat (I pray the gym doesnāt close because of corona virus, it was almost empty today)
Bench: 225lbs x1. RPE 8.5
Slingshot bench:
255lbs x2
265lbs x1
275lbs x1 (PR)
Deadlift: 275lbs x2
This was insanely easy, I wanted to get a feel for deadlifting one last time because my last session didnāt go too well
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Do you have a recent deadlift video to compare technique? Iām really at a loss for an explanation. You are doing more squat volume now than back then, right? But if you donāt feel beat up and your squat is progressing then that shouldnāt be the issue.
Youāre still in high school, right? Did you hear that schools are closed for 2 weeks after March break due to the virus? Hopefully you can still find a gym.
Do you have a friend with a home gym? That might be your best bet. Otherwise this is going to really suck, there wonāt even be any sports to watch on TV either.
Yes, and yes. Side rand: The school closure is really too bad because Iāve been prepping hard for a math test that was supposed to be right after March break and thatāll be one of the last marks that will be sent to universities for admission.
I unfortunately donāt. Iāll take one of me maxing out.
I unfortunately donāt. I really hope the gym stays open long enough for me to get these lifts in. I might do squat and bench the same day and deadlift a few days later