This is a good plan. Doing Zerchers from the floor as assistance afterward will put a nail in the coffin. I have the opposite problem, everything comes off the floor for me it just won’t always lock out. Same issue with squats.
1 Like
You and I have a similar body plan (arm/leg length relative to torso length)
I’ve benefited a lot from moving my DL stance out to match my squat stance, feet angled out, but still have my arms outside my legs. Somehow this makes the DL into a not-a-back lift for me and gives me a better back angle. I don’t know if it would work for you, but for me, it spreads the stress out over the whole posterior chain.
That said, I’m not working max singles, so the setup may not apply.
1 Like
Yes! It definitely hasn’t been a waste. I just need to adjust my focus for a while.
Now you have me wondering about the TM. Hmmmm…
Not sure I can do Zerchers off the floor right out of the gate but maybe I can do them off the bottom position of the rack until I can get stronger at them.
Starting from the rack and letting them drag you down gives a good stretch initially. They suck and should be used with limited weight. You know you got the weight just right when it causes a sharp pain in the middle of your forehaead, LOL.
1 Like
I have been pulling with my chin bones lined up with rings/edge of the knurling. I brought them in to just inside that, maybe a half to an inch on each side. I also narrowed my squat stance just a bit and my hip has been good. Don’t know if it’s that or something else, either way it’s working to make my hip less hurty.
1 Like
I twinged my hip on barbell deadlifts, still not copacetic with the barbell unless super focused on setting my hip “perfectly”; grip and rip out of the question if I value my hip health.
I have substituted the low handle trapbar deadlift for most training days. Same height as barbell, easier on hip for whatever reason. Supposedly the trapbar has a better transfer to “hops”, which I value as an old geezer lol.
1 Like
I considered low handle trap bar pulls as well, or maybe just use it for carries. Pretty sure it will end up in the final plan .
I have gotten away from pulling sumo because that sèems to aggravate it. I like pulling sumo because I can pull more weight, but it comes at a price. Nothing hurts right now, I feel good and I have made some progress so I am calling that a win! We will see how this deadlift plan goes and take it from there.
1 Like
That is my most important goal these days!!!
This should probably be in the flame free confession thread LOL…but I have come to believe (for a couple years at least now) that this is a young(er) person’s goal, and “check” to write…as one ages, I confess that I believe my “money” needs to be spent in other ways. Just one 58yr .02.
1 Like
Tomorrow’s workout is way more important than today’s. I think trading weight for volume/ form is an outstanding decision.
2 Likes
Whoa. Reminds me of the involuntary training paradigm shift I had around my 30th birthday. Thanks for the reminder, TfP.
2 Likes
I believe that it shouldn’t be an “end goal” for either, unless you’re a competitive powerlifter. If 99.9% of gym goers were honest with themselves, numbers on the bar isn’t the reason they lift, they lift for health/looks/feelings of achievement/whatever but straight up deadlift numbers absolutely aren’t the end goal, they’re just a tool to get to the end goal. The issue comes when they lose sight of the big picture and chase the number at the expense of the end goal.
2 Likes
It’s tough for folks that haven’t been learning from experience for 20 years, because the answer is always “get stronger.” In their head, that translates to “lift more today” rather than “build the ability to lift more next year”. We all need the reminder, though!
2 Likes
But they are in this instance. I want the numbers to go up! I have been stuck in a rut for a long time now.
2 Likes
Well shit, that treadmill ain’t going to put itself in the gym. Rusty and I decided yesterday it is bigger than his SmartCar… lol He helped me load it and unload then I basically wrestled it 100 yards down the rocky hill on a two wheel dolly and got it to the door. I didn’t have enough left to get it over rail and in the gym by the time I was done with that. Got hung up on every rock, stick, fence, limb, you name it.
I bought some new tires for my dolly a couple weeks ago and told mom as I was moving the treadmill I thought one was already flat. She said it’s not flat, that damn thing is that heavy…lol What was I thinking??? 
2 Likes
Bonus: after that workout, you don’t need to use the treadmill
No shit on that one! Definitely one of the harder things I have had to negotiate down the hill.
You may have, in fact, discovered the best way to actually use a treadmill.
4 Likes
Exactly!!!
For me there’s two different points here that I was making an attempt at making:
-
If the answer is “get stronger”, what was the question? Because that question is probably the actual goal, and getting stronger is just the tool. For most of us, the “getting stronger” is not the be all and end all, in itself.
-
I think many people, beginners especially, get confused between getting stronger and putting more weight on the bar. I think Dave Tate said that he could add 50lbs to someone’s bench in 30mins by teaching technique, did they get stronger? No. Did your bench get stronger in the 30s it takes to put a slingshot on? No. These are obvious examples, but plenty of people, myself included, make less obvious mistakes like this.
Sorry for the detour @ChickenLittle, I must be in a rant-ey mood today.
2 Likes