Luke 11-3-11 Deadlift

found out I got kicked off the google group today. I'm failing myself and the team right now. This past quarter trying to learn the gear and focusing on nationals (and myself) has put me in a really bad place mentally. I don't want to get into the details, but what is really upsetting me is this: powerlifting used to be something fun that took my mind off of personal problems, but now it is a cause of stress both in the gym and outside.

Deadlift sumo in super centurion

385 x 1 @ 8-

455 x 1 @ 9-

455 x 1 @ 9

Conventional Block pulls off 2 fat 45's

445 x 5

465 x 3 these feel hard to get started

Deficit sumo

315 x 6

345 x 5

1 set of kettlebell swings...

Meet Attempts

424.2, 457.2, 473.7

198.2 raw, 225.7, 236.7

418.7 or whatever it takes to total 1075, 468.2, 501.5

Deadlift 3

Deadlift:

605 x 1

665 x 3 (+10 PR)

Deadlift off blocks:

385 x 1

I was pretty gassed. no more deadlifting.

Zercher Squats:

275 x 5, 5, 5, 5

These felt strangely good today. My upper back / lower traps are killing me right now from them.

Finished with some hamstring curls, banded hypers, floor sweepers and stretching.

Deadlift Assistance

Skipped lunges today; right hip is still feeling so-so.

Deadlift off blocks:

475 x 3

495 x 3

515 x 3

535 x 3

555 x 3

575 x 3

Not too bad considering these are my weak point. Lots of pain in my lower back when I lower the weight, but not when actually pulling it. Not sure what's going on there.

Zercher Squats:

225 x 5

275 x 5

315 x 5

345 x 5

365 x f

My arms were completely gassed by the 365, but very unexpectedly. I just couldn't hold the weight.

Finished with foam roller transversus and banded hypers

Deadlift 5

Deadlift:

545 x 5

605 x 5 @ 9

I'm glad this is a regular feat now.

Deadlift off blocks:

495 x 3, 3, 3 @ 9?

Man, these are hard. It feels like my lower back is going to explode when I do these. Also, I'm doing them conventional right at the knees in order to simulate where my sticking point is at.

Lunges:

185 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 4 + injury.

on my last rep, i felt 3 quick pops right under the top of my right hip bone. No sharp pain, but very uncomfortable. Things are still sore and tender, but not very painful. I'm not sure what I did, but I get the feeling that I was lucky and if I tweak it wrong in the next few days, i will probably mess it up seriously.

So i stopped after lunges, took some vitamin I and iced it.

Deadlift Day 10/21/2010

Deadlift (suited)

Worked up to 475 x 3 (tied for my last PR; see video below)

Deadlift Off Blocks

500 x 3

500 x 3

500 x 3

Shrugs

405 x 15

405 x 15

405 x 15

I did one set in each arm of one armed rows, but it made my hips hurt bad. Instead, I did bent over rows.

225 x 8

225 x 8

225 x 8

Abz

Deadlifts. Thursday, 10/21/10.

Deadlifts
315x3 --> UN-BELTED P.R.!!!!
315X3
315X1
-> all no belt, no chalk.

Deadlifts Off Blocks
399x2
361x3
-> all no belt, no chalk.

Good Mornings 3x5
145 -> P.R.!!!
145
145
-> all no belt.

Barbell Shrugs 3x5
315
315
315
-> not full shrugs, but forearms held it nicely. forearm strength has increased!!

Bent-Over Rows 3x8
115
115
115

Hill Sprints
3 x 50 meter hill sprints up hill by drake track

Light/Recovery Deadlift Day. Thursday, 10-14-10

**** 15 MIN. CARDIO IN MORNING ****

Deadlifts Off Blocks 4x3 (light)
-> with bar starting just above knees
361
361
361
399 --> P.R.!!! + a good 10 second hold at the end of last rep

Good Mornings 4x5
135
135
135
135

Deadlifts
1 burnout set: 115 lbs x 60 reps
-> all with good form, touch & go (light touches, no bouncing)

Shrugs 3x10
225
225
225

One Arm Rows 3x8 each arm
65
65
65

Banded Hyperextensions (with greens)
10 reps
12 reps
15 reps
-> all with pauses

PNF Stretching

10-14-10 Deadlift and 10-15-10 Bench Accessories

10-15-10 Bench Accessories

Pause Bench

135 x 5 (5 second pause)

155 x 5 (5 second pause)

165 x 5 x 2 @ 9- (3 second pause)

Incline Bench with Pause

135 x 5

135 x 7

145 x 5

Triceps Pushdowns

4 sets

Wide Grip Pull Ups

BW x 10,10,12

supersetted with Roman Chair Abs

BW x 20 x 2

Weigh In: 151 lbs

PNF stretching

10-14-10 Deadlift

Block Pulls from around knees

365 x 3

385 x 3

405 x 3

415 x 3

425 x 3 @ 8

Good Mornings

185 x 8 x 3

Shrugs

295 x 10

345 x 12 x 2 with straps

Bent Over Rows

135 x 8 x 3

Deadlift sort of

Friday was insane both mentally and physically. I was not in the best state on Saturday for lifting, unfortunately.

Band-resisted Deadlift:
225 x 3, 5 w/ black deadlift bands
275 x 3, 3, 5, 8 w/ black deadlift bands
275 x 3, 5, 5 w/ black deadlift bands + quadded minis

I started on regular deadlift, but couldn't get things moving. I though the banded work my shock my CNS back into action. Weight was ~500-600 at the top? I felt really strong at lockout, but my off-floor work is horrible right now. I plan to fix this with some new exercises in the coming weeks.

Deadlift off blocks:
conventional, no belt.

225 x 8
315 x 8
405 x 1 @ 10+

ughh... this was due to me being worthless

Shrugs:
405 x a lot, 3 sets

superset w/
Zercher Squats:
225 x 8, 8, 8

These felt surprisingly good.

Finished with cable abs and hamstring stretching.

Thursday 8-12-10 Deadlift

First Post!!

Deadlift
245 x 3
265 x 1 + failed 2nd rep
^PR btw

Deadlift off blocks
245 x 5 x 4

Leg press
2 plates on each side for 5 reps for 4 sets
I dont know what the default weight is for the machine

FIRST POST!

Lower back

Showed up to a completely empty gym today. Not very motivating for leg work. :(

SS-bar Good mornings:
155 x 8
245 x 5, 5
295 x 5, 5

These were harder than I expected. I started off pins, but the ss-bar bounced too much so I help playing with the pin setting and for the last two sets, I just went free standing. The exercise felt ok, but I was feeling off on these.

Deadlift off blocks:
315 x 5, pain @ 0
405 x 3, pain @ 0
455 x 8, pain @ 3, effort @ 8

Wow, I had no pain on these for the first time in a lonnnng time. The 455 had a bit of discomfort, but was still very doable. This is a great progress considering how rough it was a few weeks ago. If i continue making 50 lb. jumps, i should be pulling 800 x 8 in a few months!! (j/k) I'll stick on this for one more week and then start trying pulling closer to the floor.

Superset
Zercher squats:
123 x 8
213 x 6, 8, 8

Shrugs:
315
365 for 3 sets

These felt great today. A little groin twinge on the second zercher, but it didn't interfere with the reps. Shrugs were done with a 2 second pause on top and until failure.

Finished with a super set of:
wide-grip pull ups, curls, and alternating cable crunches.

Lower back

Went to bed and also woke up with crazy pain on my left hip/glute. I could barely walk, so I wasn't sure how this workout would go.

GMoPs:
185 - 315 in quarter increments x 8
365 x 1, pain @ 8

Around 275, I switched to doing just GMs because the pins were too bouncy and were creating some twisting at the bottom. These felt ok, by 365 felt very uncomfortable on my lower back.

Deadlift off Blocks:
225 x 8
315 x 8 pain @ 2
365 x 8 pain @ 3
405 x 8 pain @ 4

More progress this week. I attribute it to the hamstring stretching. 405 was about my limit this week for heavy work that I knew I could recover from.

Zercher Squat:
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5

I found if I went for a very wide stance, these didn't bother my right hip at all. However, they were noticeably harder, which was nice. These feel like a decent substitute for bottom work on the sumo.

Supersetted shrugs up to 405 (no belt) with wide-grip pull ups.

Finished with cable crunches and hamstring stretching.

05/20/10 Squat/DL

This was a long session due to general busyness within the gym and some bumper plate issues. So it limited the volume of the session. But what was completed made me feel great with where my suited squat and DL are going. Purposely held back a little in the squat (as in not going for more singles at heavier weight) to have something to build off of for the weeks to come.

Suited Squat:
405 x 3 @8
455 x 2 @8.5
475 x 1 @8.5 (with knee wraps)
495 x 1 @9 (with knee wraps)

Sumo DL off blocks (~2” below knee):
465 x 3 @8.5 (bumpers are too thick which made the weight distribution really funky)
485 x 1 @9 (was going for 3 but again the bumper issue cause some problems)
515 x1 @9 (switched to regular plated and due to time just went for singles)
535 x 1 @10 PR

05/06/10 Squat/DL

Met up with a friend for dinner so did this session in the afternoon and had to make it quick. Suited squats were at parallel, so I need to have a bit more convincing depth.

I think I have had a slight epiphany with the DL. Its been a weak lift for a while now (somewhat due to some lower back issues) and recently I have been trying to tweak my form. The two things I am working on are: 1) Pre-loading my hamstrings prior to initiating the pull, and 2) near lockout pushing my hips towards the bar instead of the bar to my hips. As shown below, following my attempts at 485 I went to 515 and was hoping for a near max single. But finally the pre-loading clicked and it made 515 easier than the 485 - a PR.

Suited Squat

435 lbs x 2 reps x 1 sets @ 8.5 RPE
455 lbs x 2 reps x 2 sets @ 9 RPE

Sumo Deadlift Off Blocks

465 lbs x 3 reps x 1 sets @ 8.5 RPE
485 lbs x 3 reps x 1 sets @ 9 RPE
515 lbs x 3 reps x 1 sets @ 8.5 RPE

2.26.10--Deadlift Day

I know I said I'd head into the gym at 2:00, but that was before I stayed up until 4:00 playing Pokemon. When I woke up today, it was already 3:00. Whoops. I went to the gym at 6 instead for some lower back work. Thanks to Greg, whose belt I stole without him knowing.

Deadlift:
135x5
185x4
215x3
275x2x3
I'm still having problems rounding out my back :(. I'm lucky so far that I haven't gotten injured, but I could really use either Matt, Dave, or Kyle to give me some advice on my form.

Conventional Deadlift off Blocks:
245x5 (easy)
275x5 (grinder)
245x5

GMOP (pins at 10)
warmups
45x10
135x8
155x8x2
I was using good form most of the time, but started squatting them up when I got tired.

Abs
Reverse Hypers-3 sets (2 of the sets I also held a 10lb weight)

02/25/10 Deadlift/Lowers

Great workout today! Had a bad day yesterday getting back a poor grade on a midterm and was pretty bummed the rest of the day. It is funny how a great workout can make me forget it and feel soo good!

Had laid off deadlift movements the past 2 weeks due to just flat out being tired and a bit of lingering pain in my lower back. This proved to have been the right thing to do as I hit the deadlift off blocks hard and they have never felt easier!

The wide stance squats were a new exercise for me so I didn't go all out. I liked the exercise a lot and really worked my hips well. I could only hit just about parallel before the flexibility in my hips prohibited me.

Sumo Deadlift Off Blocks

443 lbs x 4 reps x 2 sets @ 8 RPE
463 lbs x 4 reps x 2 sets @ 8 RPE
483 lbs x 4 reps x 1 sets @ 8.5 RPE
483 lbs x 4 reps x 1 sets @ 9 RPE

Wide Stance Squats (Slight Pause)

185 lbs x 5 reps x 1 sets @ 7 RPE
225 lbs x 5 reps x 2 sets @ 8 RPE
245 lbs x 5 reps x 2 sets @ 8 RPE

Banded hamstring curls (green).

Banded hyper-extensions (blue).

Calves and Abs.

Total Workout Time: 1h40m

BW (post dinner): 190.8 (PR)

2.18.10--Deadlift

It was weird to be deadlifting on a Thursday... just putting that out there.

Deadlift
135x5
185x5
225x2
263x2x4

Deadlift (conventional) off Blocks
263x3+f
243x5x2

GMOP
145x8
185x8x2

Abs

02/11/10 Deadlift

Deadlift:
425 x 2
435 x 2
435 x 2

I was quite burned out from the GPP car pushing and it showed in my deadlift. I will be taking this coming week off from full on deadlifting as my body is asking for it.

Deadlift of Blocks:
425 x 5 for 3 sets

Skipped GMOP and what a great decision it was - as I am still feeling the effects of this workout today.

Hypers (BW):
4 sets of 20

OT Deadlift

Feeling very beat up today.

Deadlift:
573 x 2
605 x 2

Was planning on a third set, but started to get shooting pain in my back

Conventional Deadlift off blocks:
425 x 2 (stopped early; going for 5)
375 x 10, 10

My lower back was actively seizing up from the first movement. Once it got going, it felt fine, but I had high discomfort getting it off the blocks.

GMoP:
Went lower than last week. I think this lower pin position is better for now.

135 x 10
225 x 8, 8

Lower back felt great after this. I should probably start with some variation of these before moving to deadlifts when feeling overtrained.

Finished with 3 sets of hyperextensions

02/04/10 Deadlift

Deadlift:
419 x 2 for 4 sets

Deadlift off Blocks (conventional):
409 x 5
409 x 5
430 x 5

all were tiring but I was moving the weight pretty fast, it felt good

GMOP:
225 x 8
245 x 8
245 x 8

kept it a little lighter but worked on my form, i think i am now getting the full benefit out of these