Quest for 500lb Deadlift!

Training Training Logs
61

Good luck with the new program. In my opinion though if you want to pull 500 this is not the way to do it and giving 531 only 2 months part of which you were cutting (if I remember correctly) is not a really good way to evaluate a program. I would at the very least consider taking heavier weights on your deadlifts and maybe fewer sets something like 3 to 5 sets of 3 and they all better be over 300 since you can pull that weight seven times, or maybe if you like that wave loading stuff alternate 280 with 315 or something.

How is your form coming on the deadlift and squat? Still haven’t seen any video. Could be that your form was holding you back a bit when you “stalled” on the deadlift.

62

sorry I haven’t updated in a while. I had problems logging on.

Here is today:

1.7.2011

Back and Biceps

Circuit 6 sets:

Wide Grip Pulldown x 9 x 100 lbs plus 10 lbs
Straight Arm Lat Pulldown x 9 x 70 lbs
Supinated Grip Pulldown x 9 x 100 lbs plus 10 lbs

Bicep Circuit 4 sets:

DB Hammer Curl x 6 (25 lb) plus 5 per bell
Pronated Curl x 12 (40 lb)
Band Supinated Curls x 20

Notes:

I am seeing a chiropractor to get some ART done to fix a hamstring issue as well as a forearm issue. It is my second visit and the hamstring might just be fixed but the forearms he said are going to need a few more visits…possibly a trapped ulnar nerve.

However, regarding the new program. I am trying to implement a maxing week every 1.5-2 months where I go all out to see what my max is…specifically on the dead lift and the squat. I am very surprised how easy the 195 x 3 sets are on the squat. The second week in February is my scheduled max test and I am very excited to see what my squat is. I am hoping around 250 for a single? (maybe wishful thinking)

As far as my deadlift when I do my 280 x 3 sets, they ALSO feel very light. I think maybe a 380 pull for a single will be doable for the max test (thoughts?) I appreciate you following along. I will admit though, that there is a mental block with the 405 pull. I had the same thing with the 315, but now 315 is something I could probably pull for 10 reps or so. (depending on the day) I think, if i can pull the 380 for the test, that I will attempt the 405 as well.

I am running on very little sleep so I am trying to find a way to get more sleep. Because I get up at 4:30 every morning, and I have full time work and commitments on Thursday night, and am currently learning 3 different languages (spanish, italian, and chinese(mandarin) I am mentally and physically drained by the end of the week. So I am going to try and just get the “required” hours of sleep each week, knowing that I will be not be able to get the right amount each night.

I need 56 hours of sleep (8x7days) therefore, I am trying the following:

Monday night 7.5 hours
Tuesday night 7.5 hours
Wednesday night 10-11 hours
Thursday night 5 hours
Friday night 10 hours
Saturday night 10 hours
Sunday night 8 hours

Grand Total: 58 hours, which is right about where I calculated. Sometimes I could get more, other times less, but I know that I need it.

Yes, that last part was random, but just generating my thoughts, because I haven’t blogged in a long time.

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Note:

I will be doing legs tomorrow, and so I should be able to get a video of both the squat and the deadlift.

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Squat 195 x 3

65

Dead Lift 280 x 3

66

Oh man… On the deadlift two things: ditch the straps and get your ass down! Seriously, your form is terrible. I don’t mean this as an insult, because it should truly lift your spirits because it means you can actually pull much more than you are. Your back is almost completely flat when you initiate the pull (as in horizontal).

This is the worst possible position. Also look at how far your shoulders are ahead of the bar also the worst possible position. Get those shoulders back via getting the ass down and sitting back a bit. If that feels too wierd you might consider pulling sumo or semi sumo, but first try getting that butt down and try to get your arms vertical (ie shoulders even with the bar).

What is your goal with the squat? It looks like you are doing Oly style squats and they look good for that. I am just curious what you want from them. Max weight?

67

[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Oh man… On the deadlift two things: ditch the straps and get your ass down! Seriously, your form is terrible. I don’t mean this as an insult, because it should truly lift your spirits because it means you can actually pull much more than you are. Your back is almost completely flat when you initiate the pull (as in horizontal).

This is the worst possible position. Also look at how far your shoulders are ahead of the bar also the worst possible position. Get those shoulders back via getting the ass down and sitting back a bit. If that feels too wierd you might consider pulling sumo or semi sumo, but first try getting that butt down and try to get your arms vertical (ie shoulders even with the bar).

What is your goal with the squat? It looks like you are doing Oly style squats and they look good for that. I am just curious what you want from them. Max weight? [/quote]

Haha. Thanks, now I am going to go kill myself :slight_smile: JK. I appreciate the feed back. I am going to do deads on Wednesday and I will film that as well. My back never hurts and it stays arched throughout the lift, but I can see what you are saying. So, bend at the knees more is what you are saying? Note: I used to pull only sumo, but I feel more comfortable (after adaption period) pull conventional.

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The goal with the squat is for performance in sports. I don’t have a desire to compete in powerlifting. I really do like the dead lift and so that is why I want to get to 500. For the squat, I just want to lift some real weight with it, because it is impressive :slight_smile:

69

Oh, also, the straps are for 1 reason: I have injuries on my forearms. I have to be careful with the for now (seeing a chiropractor and getting ART and Graston) and when they are fixed, I will for sure ditch those.

70

[quote]honest_lifter wrote:

[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Oh man… On the deadlift two things: ditch the straps and get your ass down! Seriously, your form is terrible. I don’t mean this as an insult, because it should truly lift your spirits because it means you can actually pull much more than you are. Your back is almost completely flat when you initiate the pull (as in horizontal).

This is the worst possible position. Also look at how far your shoulders are ahead of the bar also the worst possible position. Get those shoulders back via getting the ass down and sitting back a bit. If that feels too wierd you might consider pulling sumo or semi sumo, but first try getting that butt down and try to get your arms vertical (ie shoulders even with the bar).

What is your goal with the squat? It looks like you are doing Oly style squats and they look good for that. I am just curious what you want from them. Max weight? [/quote]

Haha. Thanks, now I am going to go kill myself :slight_smile: JK. I appreciate the feed back. I am going to do deads on Wednesday and I will film that as well. My back never hurts and it stays arched throughout the lift, but I can see what you are saying. So, bend at the knees more is what you are saying? Note: I used to pull only sumo, but I feel more comfortable (after adaption period) pull conventional. [/quote]
Yeah, I am not saying that you are going to hurt yourself (so long as you keep your arch), but you are going to short change yourself in terms of how much weight you can use. Yes, bend at the knees more is what I am saying, but make sure it is accompanied by bringing your eyes and chest up. I was going to try not to bombard you with things, but there is one more thing. Do not jerk the weight off the floor. Instead in your set-up when your ass is high and you drop it after your big inhale try to pull yourself down to the bar (read arch your shoulders back to remove the slack in the bar) and then drive those feet into the floor. The reasons for this are two 1: you’ll pull more weight (you can slightly decrease the range of motion and better maintain your arch) and 2: you won’t run the risk of tearing your bicep. Hope those forearms heal up. If you feel more comfy in conventional then carry on you might find semi sumo nice too (knees just outside the arms) Best of luck. I am going to be giving 545 a shot here pretty soon!

71

[quote]jakerz96 wrote:

[quote]honest_lifter wrote:

[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Oh man… On the deadlift two things: ditch the straps and get your ass down! Seriously, your form is terrible. I don’t mean this as an insult, because it should truly lift your spirits because it means you can actually pull much more than you are. Your back is almost completely flat when you initiate the pull (as in horizontal).

This is the worst possible position. Also look at how far your shoulders are ahead of the bar also the worst possible position. Get those shoulders back via getting the ass down and sitting back a bit. If that feels too wierd you might consider pulling sumo or semi sumo, but first try getting that butt down and try to get your arms vertical (ie shoulders even with the bar).

What is your goal with the squat? It looks like you are doing Oly style squats and they look good for that. I am just curious what you want from them. Max weight? [/quote]

Haha. Thanks, now I am going to go kill myself :slight_smile: JK. I appreciate the feed back. I am going to do deads on Wednesday and I will film that as well. My back never hurts and it stays arched throughout the lift, but I can see what you are saying. So, bend at the knees more is what you are saying? Note: I used to pull only sumo, but I feel more comfortable (after adaption period) pull conventional. [/quote]
Yeah, I am not saying that you are going to hurt yourself (so long as you keep your arch), but you are going to short change yourself in terms of how much weight you can use. Yes, bend at the knees more is what I am saying, but make sure it is accompanied by bringing your eyes and chest up. I was going to try not to bombard you with things, but there is one more thing. Do not jerk the weight off the floor. Instead in your set-up when your ass is high and you drop it after your big inhale try to pull yourself down to the bar (read arch your shoulders back to remove the slack in the bar) and then drive those feet into the floor. The reasons for this are two 1: you’ll pull more weight (you can slightly decrease the range of motion and better maintain your arch) and 2: you won’t run the risk of tearing your bicep. Hope those forearms heal up. If you feel more comfy in conventional then carry on you might find semi sumo nice too (knees just outside the arms) Best of luck. I am going to be giving 545 a shot here pretty soon![/quote]

Dude, thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it and when I make it to 500, you will be on my list of people to thank.

I have been following your log, and your videos were awesome!!

72

[quote]honest_lifter wrote:

[quote]jakerz96 wrote:

[quote]honest_lifter wrote:

[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Oh man… On the deadlift two things: ditch the straps and get your ass down! Seriously, your form is terrible. I don’t mean this as an insult, because it should truly lift your spirits because it means you can actually pull much more than you are. Your back is almost completely flat when you initiate the pull (as in horizontal).

This is the worst possible position. Also look at how far your shoulders are ahead of the bar also the worst possible position. Get those shoulders back via getting the ass down and sitting back a bit. If that feels too wierd you might consider pulling sumo or semi sumo, but first try getting that butt down and try to get your arms vertical (ie shoulders even with the bar).

What is your goal with the squat? It looks like you are doing Oly style squats and they look good for that. I am just curious what you want from them. Max weight? [/quote]

Haha. Thanks, now I am going to go kill myself :slight_smile: JK. I appreciate the feed back. I am going to do deads on Wednesday and I will film that as well. My back never hurts and it stays arched throughout the lift, but I can see what you are saying. So, bend at the knees more is what you are saying? Note: I used to pull only sumo, but I feel more comfortable (after adaption period) pull conventional. [/quote]
Yeah, I am not saying that you are going to hurt yourself (so long as you keep your arch), but you are going to short change yourself in terms of how much weight you can use. Yes, bend at the knees more is what I am saying, but make sure it is accompanied by bringing your eyes and chest up. I was going to try not to bombard you with things, but there is one more thing. Do not jerk the weight off the floor. Instead in your set-up when your ass is high and you drop it after your big inhale try to pull yourself down to the bar (read arch your shoulders back to remove the slack in the bar) and then drive those feet into the floor. The reasons for this are two 1: you’ll pull more weight (you can slightly decrease the range of motion and better maintain your arch) and 2: you won’t run the risk of tearing your bicep. Hope those forearms heal up. If you feel more comfy in conventional then carry on you might find semi sumo nice too (knees just outside the arms) Best of luck. I am going to be giving 545 a shot here pretty soon![/quote]

Dude, thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it and when I make it to 500, you will be on my list of people to thank.

I have been following your log, and your videos were awesome!![/quote]
Thanks man.

73

A little follow on to the good advice Jake gave you: I would drop pulling from the floor entirely in favor of medium height rack pulls. The rack pull is going to allow you to get into and stay in a better position than you can currently achieve from the floor. This is how I’ve started out all of our novices and they’ve made FAR faster progress than I see people making by struggling to pull full range. Once you work up a little in weight, then you can start dropping your rack pull height until you’re pretty close to the floor and start over with improved form.

74

1.12.2011

First new-deadlift day.

Squats:
6 Sets cycling between 155-195 x 3 reps

Dead lift:
8 sets cycling between 245-285 x 3 reps

Notes on the technique. I know that I said that I was going to have videos up, but it turns out I am lying. I left my camera in my car (it is 5:30a, so I am not quite awake yet). I will do them Sunday (or friday, depending). But to tell you how things went: I pulled with my side to a mirror so I could see my set up. I sat down in the form almost to an uncomfortable level…actually, scratch that, it was an uncomfortable level. I stuck with the same weight because it was so easy with my old form, that I figured I had some wiggle room. I was happy about this, because the pull was actually harder than my old form. I figure that there is some adaptation period with it so I am not stressing it, but still, it was surprising. It felt like I couldn’t accelerate off the floor as fast because of the position of my shins at the beginning, but I am sure that I will be doing some tweaking with the form before all is said and done, and then my next videos that I post will show whether or not I need to change the form anyway. I focused on keeping the arms vertical at the start.

75

You’ll get it. A lot of form issues require an initial hit in the weight used followed by a huge increase.

76

1.20.2011

Legs

OK, did my normal squat and dead lift weight with the adjusted form; this is the results.

The last time I did it left some tasty bruises on the shins so that looked colorful for a couple days. They were still there today but didn’t bother me at all. I tried to record it but when I pulled out my camera, the battery was dead, so that stunk a little bit.

I tried to get really low, like to the point where it was like a “squat above parallel” and felt more of the legs engage in the movement. It still doesn’t feel light, and in fact, will actually feel even more heavy if I get out of the right grove. I moved my hand placement out a little because I extended my stance by about 1 inch on each side to help get lower. I worked on “rocking” myself into the weight as I went down to pull the slack out of the weight a little bit. There was no jerking the weight off the floor. I am still going down very slowly and the first half of the pull (until above knees) is slow because it is still new, but it is getting more and more comfortable.

My forearms are vertical when looked at from the side.

I promise to have new videos for you to critique. I can’t believe I was using bad form all this time and didn’t even know it.

77

Keep after it. It’s easy to have bad form especially if no one has taught you how. My squats, bench and deadlift were all pretty terrible until maybe this past August when I started getting some help with them. My conventional deadlift is still pretty ugly as I am not really built for it, but even it has gotten some better. The poundages went up real fast too once I got some form issues worked out.

78

Keep after it. It’s easy to have bad form especially if no one has taught you how. My squats, bench and deadlift were all pretty terrible until maybe this past August when I started getting some help with them. My conventional deadlift is still pretty ugly as I am not really built for it, but even it has gotten some better. The poundages went up real fast too once I got some form issues worked out.

79

The stars aligned and I had both my camera and a full battery. The weight is feeling rediculously light with the new form and extremely powerful.

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