Pwnisher Q n A

Training Powerlifting
121

So I got a metal jack conventional deadlift suit for dirt cheap off of powerliftingwatch’s classified section ($110 with shipping included) that had a small tear in it that my wife was able to repair (always marry a woman who can sew) and now all I can think about is testing it out with a deadlift max once my ROM progression cycle has peaked.

Amazingly, I never thought about powerlifting gear until I started doing strongman, but since it tends to be acceptable at contests, I figure now is the time to figure it out.

122

[quote]Ecchastang wrote:

[quote]baugust wrote:
T3hPwnisher: Quick question regarding meet preparation. I think I remember you saying your competition weight was the 198 class. Is that right? Do you prefer to go above that in the offseason, then cut back, or maintain that bodyweight for most of the year? I don’t mean that you literally sit at 198, but maybe hover between 202-205 or so, and then an easy cut down for the meet, compared to attempting to gain as much muscle as possible in the offseason (hitting maybe 210+) then having a more drastic cut.

Perhaps an example will help elucidate my question. I picked a meet for October of this year. I’m currently ~164, and I plan on competing in the 165 class. I want to be competitive in my class, and the maximum amount of lean weight I could gain by October (maybe 5 pounds?) would put me towards the low end of the 181 class.

Would you suggest that I maintain this weight from now until October, or put on weight slowly then cut prior to the meet? I’ve often wondered which method would be ideal for strength gains, but I’m not sure there is a simple answer.

Also, I know you’re currently into Strongman competitions. Do you plan on returning to powerlifting at some point?[/quote]
I know you directed the question at Pwnisher, but I wanted to share my opinion with weight cutting from the perspective of a smaller guy. First off, any cut less than 4 lbs is super easy. Just google water loading, and you will find specific directions. With that, I would focus on trying to gain that 4 or 5 lbs of lean body mass before October because most likely you will be competing against guys in the 170’s that cut down to be in the 165. Then as you get closer to meet, you can gauge where you are at, and make minor adjustments. If you enter meet week 7 days out at around 170 that would be perfect. Also, does the organization have morning of or day before weigh-ins? Day before is much much easier to cut even more if you have to. Another tidbit is that as soon as you weigh in, and start replenishing your fluids, do some pushups and bodysquats just to activate the muscles. This will help them pull fluids in faster. Good luck.[/quote]

Awesome. This is what I was looking for. The two meets that I would be able to attend are both USPA, so I think the weigh-in will be dependent on the director of the meet? The rule book I found online stated the weigh-in may be the morning of or up to 24 hours prior to the meet.

Thank you for your response as well, T3hPwnisher.

123

Ok Buddy, I hit my first ROM deadlifting workout yesterday ( Sunday) 7 inches puts the bar about 3 inches below my knee’s, I was torn wheather to start light at 385 or 405, anyway I went with 405. I generaly have a hard time with block pulls, as I can’t get any drive, or explosiveness, we 've talked about this before, that I’m actually stronger at a small deficit.

Anyway I got 10 reps from the 7 inch blocks, I didn’t bother with the rest pause, as I blew my load with one all out set, and I was pretty happy with the 10 reps.

I found these comparable to 20 rep squats, in that your able to dig down inside, and push yourself past the point where you’d usually stop. The first rep was actually one of the hardest, and every rep past 5, I’d take a breath at the top, and convince myself to try and get one more, and once I got to 8, I somehow knew I could get 10.

This is the first time I’ve used straps years, so this really allowed me to take my time, and get a breath at the top. next week 6 inch blocks, and I’m going to focus on getting 10 reps for the remainder of this cycle, if I can’t get 10 I will use rest pause at that point to get me there. If I can end this cycle with 10 full reps from the floor with 405, that’ll make me pretty fuckin happy :slight_smile:

Couple things, can’t believe how sore I am this morning from one set of pulls, that weren’t even from the floor, but it’s been along time since I pushed myself that hard or that far. I wondered if you’ve worked with anyone else doing these ROM deads besides yourself, or if I’m your big fat guinnie pig.

Also I did video it, but after 6 unsucessfull atempts yesterday of not being to upload the video, I gave up. I’ll let my wife fuck around with it later today, and I’ll let you know here when it’s up. I followed the ROM deads with 5x5 in the front squats at 225, about 80% for me, and called it a day, this seems like a perfect workout to me, one all out set of deads, followed by 5x5 in the front squats.

The only thing is I wish I had of tried to go max reps with 405 from the floor before I started this, just to be able to see the difference in the end, but I do know that I maxed out with 455x3, the week before I started this, so I can test that after 7 weeks and see where I’m at.

Having fun, and making progress, that’s what it’s all about for me, thanks P !

124

[quote]AnytimeJake wrote:
Ok Buddy, I hit my first ROM deadlifting workout yesterday ( Sunday) 7 inches puts the bar about 3 inches below my knee’s, I was torn wheather to start light at 385 or 405, anyway I went with 405. I generaly have a hard time with block pulls, as I can’t get any drive, or explosiveness, we 've talked about this before, that I’m actually stronger at a small deficit.

Anyway I got 10 reps from the 7 inch blocks, I didn’t bother with the rest pause, as I blew my load with one all out set, and I was pretty happy with the 10 reps.

I found these comparable to 20 rep squats, in that your able to dig down inside, and push yourself past the point where you’d usually stop. The first rep was actually one of the hardest, and every rep past 5, I’d take a breath at the top, and convince myself to try and get one more, and once I got to 8, I somehow knew I could get 10.

This is the first time I’ve used straps years, so this really allowed me to take my time, and get a breath at the top. next week 6 inch blocks, and I’m going to focus on getting 10 reps for the remainder of this cycle, if I can’t get 10 I will use rest pause at that point to get me there. If I can end this cycle with 10 full reps from the floor with 405, that’ll make me pretty fuckin happy :slight_smile:

Couple things, can’t believe how sore I am this morning from one set of pulls, that weren’t even from the floor, but it’s been along time since I pushed myself that hard or that far. I wondered if you’ve worked with anyone else doing these ROM deads besides yourself, or if I’m your big fat guinnie pig.

Also I did video it, but after 6 unsucessfull atempts yesterday of not being to upload the video, I gave up. I’ll let my wife fuck around with it later today, and I’ll let you know here when it’s up. I followed the ROM deads with 5x5 in the front squats at 225, about 80% for me, and called it a day, this seems like a perfect workout to me, one all out set of deads, followed by 5x5 in the front squats.

The only thing is I wish I had of tried to go max reps with 405 from the floor before I started this, just to be able to see the difference in the end, but I do know that I maxed out with 455x3, the week before I started this, so I can test that after 7 weeks and see where I’m at.

Having fun, and making progress, that’s what it’s all about for me, thanks P !
[/quote]

I saw the video you posted, it looks like you have the right idea down. I find that the most helpful thing I can do to get more reps is hold my breath as long as possible on the first pull. I am pretty much guaranteed to get in as many reps as I can while I hold my breath, and after that I will only get in one more rep before I have to set the weight down.

You may have to rest for like 2-3 minutes when you employ the rest pause, and at most you’ll get out 1-3 more reps, but volume is volume.

The soreness is about right. I feel like I got hit by a truck after every deadlift session. This type of training will really brutalize your entire back side.

I know of one other person online that has implemented my exact ROM progression protocol (even bought the exact patio pavers I use) and was able to transition from his 7 mat pull height to the floor with the same amount of reps. When I was training my wife, she used ROM progression as well, but not down to the floor, only from 7 to 5 mats. I know a few other folks that tried, but they were using the wrong equipment to do it (rack pulls instead of mat pulls, pulling off of olympic plates, etc). I think your wood blocks will still work just fine though.

125

Thaks P, ill keep you posted week to week here, as well as you visited my log, so thanks and later

oh, i just wanted to mention, that starting with my wife when she video’d it, plus all the comments I’ve gotten, eveyone has said i made it look easy, or in my wife’s words I didn’t look like I was trying. This makes me laugh, because it’s some of the hardest lifting I’ve done all year. must be an illusion, whatever

126

Figured I’d use this to post a recent lifetime deadlift PR. 620x4 touch and go at 200lbs bodyweight

127

Very specific question…

How much of a difference do you see between your off the floor deadlift and using 2-3 mats (or whatever is equivalent to 1.5-2 inches…a small elevation)?

Getting into position and pulling from the floor correctly is extremely difficult for me…I’m thinking about doing my heavier deadlift work with a slight elevation (still far below knees) as I work on my form and technique off the floor with lighter weight.

128

[quote]Sutebun wrote:
Very specific question…

How much of a difference do you see between your off the floor deadlift and using 2-3 mats (or whatever is equivalent to 1.5-2 inches…a small elevation)?

Getting into position and pulling from the floor correctly is extremely difficult for me…I’m thinking about doing my heavier deadlift work with a slight elevation (still far below knees) as I work on my form and technique off the floor with lighter weight.[/quote]

There tends to be a 1-2 rep difference between those heights and the floor. It’s a pretty close approximate, but it still has an impact.

I would personally pull from an even higher elevation if the goal was to get stronger on the pull while incorperating technique work. I trained that way for about a year where I would alternate each week between high rep floor pulls and mat pulls starting at 7 and working down to 5 until I reset at a heavier weight. I’d work the floor pulls up to 20 reps, then throw on chains and work up to 20 reps before elevating the weight on that. It worked pretty well.

129

Like a 20 rep set, or 20 reps over multiple sets?

130

[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
Like a 20 rep set, or 20 reps over multiple sets?[/quote]

1 20 rep set. I’d usually manage about 14 reps at the start, and then over 3 weeks work up to 20.

131

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:

[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
Like a 20 rep set, or 20 reps over multiple sets?[/quote]

1 20 rep set. I’d usually manage about 14 reps at the start, and then over 3 weeks work up to 20.[/quote]

That sounds truly masochistic haha

132

I’m going to play around with pulling off the mats for the next few weeks, see what kind of numbers I can manage, and then likely try the ROM progression.

If someone has a lot of room to grow into their deadlift (can progress more quickly) do you think that using larger increments of ROM and a shorter cycle might be a feasible idea? Using your mats as an example, doing pulls from 6-4-2-0 and then restarting the cycle. Again, this is for the lifter that is looking to add (and realistically can do so) 50+lbs to their 1RM over the course of the year and not a 600lb+ puller who is probably content with a 20-30lb PR.

133

[quote]Sutebun wrote:
I’m going to play around with pulling off the mats for the next few weeks, see what kind of numbers I can manage, and then likely try the ROM progression.

If someone has a lot of room to grow into their deadlift (can progress more quickly) do you think that using larger increments of ROM and a shorter cycle might be a feasible idea? Using your mats as an example, doing pulls from 6-4-2-0 and then restarting the cycle. Again, this is for the lifter that is looking to add (and realistically can do so) 50+lbs to their 1RM over the course of the year and not a 600lb+ puller who is probably content with a 20-30lb PR.

[/quote]

I think if a trainee can grow more rapidly, the normal ROM progression would still work just fine, the goal would be to add more reps each week while they are increasing the ROM.

134

[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:

[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
Like a 20 rep set, or 20 reps over multiple sets?[/quote]

1 20 rep set. I’d usually manage about 14 reps at the start, and then over 3 weeks work up to 20.[/quote]

That sounds truly masochistic haha[/quote]

I try to include a 20+ rep set for both my squat and deadlift workout each workout. I think they’re a pretty important training element, both in terms of improving the lift and improving mental toughness. I feel like the more regularly one can train themselves to endure misery, the better.

135

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:

[quote]Sutebun wrote:
I’m going to play around with pulling off the mats for the next few weeks, see what kind of numbers I can manage, and then likely try the ROM progression.

If someone has a lot of room to grow into their deadlift (can progress more quickly) do you think that using larger increments of ROM and a shorter cycle might be a feasible idea? Using your mats as an example, doing pulls from 6-4-2-0 and then restarting the cycle. Again, this is for the lifter that is looking to add (and realistically can do so) 50+lbs to their 1RM over the course of the year and not a 600lb+ puller who is probably content with a 20-30lb PR.

[/quote]

I think if a trainee can grow more rapidly, the normal ROM progression would still work just fine, the goal would be to add more reps each week while they are increasing the ROM. [/quote]

Thumbs up. Advice much appreciated.

I think this will work well. I could pull over double bodyweight but have never been able to do touch and go reps because I couldn’t lower the weight under control. Even one plate!! With just a small elevation
I got in some good touch and go work, and lowering the weight to the floor also improved within the same session.

Gonna give this style my all for the next couple months

136

[quote]Sutebun wrote:

Thumbs up. Advice much appreciated.

I think this will work well. I could pull over double bodyweight but have never been able to do touch and go reps because I couldn’t lower the weight under control. Even one plate!! With just a small elevation
I got in some good touch and go work, and lowering the weight to the floor also improved within the same session.

Gonna give this style my all for the next couple months
[/quote]

Awesome man, definitely keep me posted. I think the shorter ROM works real well for getting more TUT with touch and go, could be a great intro to the movement.

137

I’m loving the ROM deads, there’s a point at about 3-4 inches where I’m actually weaker than I am off the floor, and I’m thinking building strength in this ‘’ sticking point’’ can only help with my full range deads, as well as muscle building.

Ya, life got in the way, and I got called out of town for work half way through my ROM cycle, but I did enough weeks of these to know I’ll be doing them for the remainder of my training life, I’m intriuged by the fact that I’m strongest from the top ( 7 inches) and off the floor, and loose reps and strength in the middle, it’s sort of like finding your weak spot in the bench, than being able to target it. I’ve also never used straps before in my life, and I’m liking taking my grip out of the chain, just beiong able to focus on pulling.

Anyway T, I klnow yopu were following my progress on my log before life got in the way. I should be back home, and in my real gym after May 6, and I plan to start the whole cycle over again, with the same weight, and the same starting height ( 7 inches) and try and get stronger in that middle range. On a side note, the boards I cut were half in thick, instead of one inch thick, what do you think about lengthening the cycle, and only dropping half inch a week. I was thinking I might not loose reps so bad when I get into the 3-4 inch range.

Either way love the ROM deads, I’ll let you know when I fire back up----Life sucks somtimes, but you got to make hay when the sun shines :slight_smile: later

138

That’s awesome to hear man, glad you have found the method so enjoyable. Once you go that way, it’s hard to go back, haha.

I think a longer cycle with smaller jumps in distance would work just fine. You stand a good chance of adding some reps to the end compared to the beginning with that approach, but nothing is guaranteed. May need to deload at some point in the middle of the cycle. Definitely something worth experimenting with, let me know what you find out.

139

Since you’ve been mentioning the use of mat pulls and questioning the use of deadlifts for building muscle mass…

Let’s say you’re deadlifting purely for the purposes of increasing overall muscle mass on a linear progression program (SS, SL, GSLP, etc.). How would you suggest to approach “deadlift” work? Put the bar just under the knee and do pulls like that exclusively? Lower, higher?

140

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Since you’ve been mentioning the use of mat pulls and questioning the use of deadlifts for building muscle mass…

Let’s say you’re deadlifting purely for the purposes of increasing overall muscle mass on a linear progression program (SS, SL, GSLP, etc.). How would you suggest to approach “deadlift” work? Put the bar just under the knee and do pulls like that exclusively? Lower, higher?[/quote]

I never measure by proximity to the knee, simply by height of mats. That said, if I never had to deadlift again, I would exclusively pull from a 7 mat height, which is where I start all of my ROM progression cycles.

This is an old video, but it’s the height I’m talking about