Burly Decides to Pull Again...

[burlyman30]

Wait what? Your spine is messed up?

I'm thinking ill try for 385 for 3 sets of 8-10 on my next deadlift workout.

You didn't read that in the workout rundown? Couldn't get my back into alignment prior to pulling, so I muscled through.

As for the 385 x10-12... now yer just startin' to piss me off. Lol. J/k... I'm sure I'll do better on my 4th DL workout after a year away.

[O_RYAN_007]

Today, my hams and erectors are stiff and mildly sore, as are my traps and glutes. What did surprise me today was the sore biceps. It takes a lot to get them sore, and it's sore from the tendon in the forearm all the way into the muscle belly. It is more prominently sore on the left arm where my palm faces forward during the lift.

I get this same exact feeling in the bicep. I don't use any straps when I pull, just chalk.

[burlyman30]

I get this same exact feeling in the bicep. I don't use any straps when I pull, just chalk.

I've never used straps for DLs. Only for heavy bent rows (anything over 275) or heavy pulldowns (anything over 230) because the bar starts rolling out of my fingers. Alternating grip solves that problem of rolling out, but a sweaty hand starts causing grip trouble. Gotta find my chalk. I know it's around here somewhere....

[burlyman30]

Ok... 4 DL workouts in as of tonight. Turned out pretty good, too. I'll get back to that in a minute.

Wanted to thank DJ for mentioning the liquid chalk. I couldn't find my chalk block anywhere around the house today! So, I went to Sports Authority and they had run out. I asked about liquid chalk and got a blank stare. So I went to another nearby sports store and was batting zero there too, until I went over to the TENNIS section. They had a "liquid grip enhancer". Alcohol-based gel with chalk in it. Score! This running around put me a little late for my workout, but better late than never.

With the way my day went (I had eaten a real meal about 11am and then had a protein bar as a snack around 2pm), I was a bit hungry by the time I got to the gym, but my peptopro/TANG combo keeps my stomach from that feeling that it is chewing on itself.

135 x 12
225 x 5 felt heavyish for some reason. Started to wonder what the night would turn out like and began to question my plans to move up 20 lbs and repeat the rep count from last week (3 sets of 5).
275 x 2 This felt much better than the previous set. I would have normally just gone to 315, but did a set here based on the way 225 felt.
315 x 1 Felt great.
365 x 1 needed to test the waters at this weight, since this is where I did 3 sets of 5 last week. Felt great.
385 x 5 Went up easy. Too easy, in fact. If anyone was there, they may have seen a confused look on my face after the set. lol. I'm not saying it felt "light". Just too easy to be doing a near max effort for sets of 5.
405 x 5 Decided I needed to bump it up and was a little apprehensive to do it, but it seemed a 20 lb jump would be just right. It was. The weight was heavy, but doable.
405 x 5 Again, I had to work, but they all went up and form was intact throughout. All were solid throughout. Grip was not an issue in the least thanks to the liquid chalk.

I peeled off the bar then walked around to catch my breath before proceeding to pullups and DB overhead presses.

Here's an interesting thing I noticed about the heavy sets of DL. I noticed it last week too, but moreso this week. My first rep of a set always seems to be the hardest (except for maybe the last rep of a set) and if form is off at all, it will always be the first rep. Not sure why. It's as if I have to use the first rep to "calibrate" the rest of them. I tend to use a bit more back on the first rep. This is something that has been going on since I first began DLing. Don't get me wrong, the form isn't bad. It's just not as precision as I like it. But the form being off makes the weight feel heavier.

Overall, I have to say I'm very happy about this unexpected jump in strength and the way this DLing "comeback" is going. Based on this week's results, I'll plan to do 425 next week and see how that goes. I was attempting to do 85% of my last 1 RM. I ended up doing 89%. 425 works out to about 93% of my last 1 RM (455). Though I am speculating, I would imagine my true 1 RM to be closer to 485 at the moment.

Oh, and Weekend... I think I just passed up your 405 x 4, so you may want to get back to the platform and see what you can do about that. lol. Curious... how does it feel to have someone twice your age pass you up in 4 weeks of training? (just needling you a bit, bud. )

[Coolazice]

After a 20(ish) year break from dead lifting? That is ridiculous and amazing at the same time. That kind of muscle memory is mind-blowing!

[burlyman30]

After a 20(ish) year break from dead lifting? That is ridiculous and amazing at the same time. That kind of muscle memory is mind-blowing!

Glad to have you along on this journey. Each workout is kind of a "head scratcher" as I try to figure out how I just did what I did.

[weekend]

Fuck, I probably won't be deadlifting until next week cause I have a pretty heavy squat workout planned for Friday and I just hit a new PR on cleans...

Hit 205x5, 215x2 PR and then 225x1x3 PR, then followed that up with 185x10x3!!

I'm torched... Followed that with hella rows and pull-ups and such so between that and squat... Well when's your next deadlift workout?

[weekend]

Fuck you're going to do 425 already?? I wasn't gonna move up until I got 405x10 lol

[burlyman30]

Fuck, I probably won't be deadlifting until next week cause I have a pretty heavy squat workout planned for Friday and I just hit a new PR on cleans...

Hit 205x5, 215x2 PR and then 225x1x3 PR, then followed that up with 185x10x3!!

I'm torched... Followed that with hella rows and pull-ups and such so between that and squat... Well when's your next deadlift workout?

Getting strong on the cleans, Weekend! Very nice PR numbers there! I haven't done cleans in 26 years unless you count just grabbing a bar with some plates and putting it onto the squat rack. I don't think my shoulders would like me very much if I started doing cleans. lol. The 185x10x3 at the end of your workout sounds like a total KILLer. Not sure how you had anything left after that! Animal!

[burlyman30]

Fuck you're going to do 425 already?? I wasn't gonna move up until I got 405x10 lol

Old school philosophy I grew up with and around with some of the top lifters in the world: "Never do more than 5 reps in the DL unless it is a warmup".

So you won't see me doing any high rep DLs. Not sure I have the oxygen capacity to do them anyway. I breathe hard for minutes after a hard set of 5.