Lifting Troubleshooting Questions

Numero34 · 2020-04-05T14:16:13+00:00

If 335 was pretty close to you true 1RM then 10% less than that is about 300 lbs which would be around 90% 1RM. 90% 1RM reps is usually around 3 or 4. I have no idea why you thought 7 reps would be feasible rep target but you missed what you were aiming for because your aim was off. You actually hit the target that you should have though. Hope this makes sense.

OsmiumZulu · 2020-04-05T17:04:30+00:00

I set a new deadlift PR and pulled 335 for one. I was ecstatic.

Congrats on the PR brother, exceeding 3 plates is definitely an exciting accomplishment!

I took off the last week and lifted light in line with the recovery week guidelines in 5/3/1. Today, the program had me deadlifting 305 for 5+. My goal was 7 - and should have been a new 7 rep PR.

Others have already made solid points regarding your 5/3/1 program, definitely think about what they wrote.

I just didn’t have it. I let go of the bar on the four rep dropping the weight from about 8 inches in the air. My momentum had stalled. Is this normal to hit problems like this?

Yes it is. First, some days are just off and the reasons why are not always clear. The wrong thing to do is try to force it and muscle through it. That increases your likelihood of injury, which is the worst thing for your gains.

Remember, lifting is a marathon, not a sprint. You should be planning to lift for life. If you need to walk away from a movement for a day because it doesn't feel right, do it. Better to prioritize safety than to risk injury to your back which can massively jack up your back, and thus ultimately the rest of your lifts. By far the most common reason I hear why guys fell out of lifting is, "I hurt my back doing deadlifts." Don't be that guy.

My sleep is good. My diet is good - but, could be better. My weight has slightly dropped as I’ve taken my foot off the gas eating now that groceries are a little tougher to go buy... My gut says nutrition is to blame, but I’m looking for thoughts.

It very well may be. As you get heavier diet is going to be critical to continued progression. I've found that being fully carb loaded for a few days makes a massive difference in my heavy lifts. For reference, when I am bulking I eat around 200g protein and about 400g of carbs a day. Are you getting enough carbs? What specifically are you finding hard to get in terms of food?

I’ve never “failed” in dead lift before. Is dropping the weight like I did the right way? In bench and squat its straight forward - set it down on the safeties.

Welcome to lifting heavy. You are likely going to "fail" more than you succeed your PRs if you test them regularly and that's pretty normal. The best way to bail out of a deadlift depends on the situation and your set up. If you feel your safety is at risk, just drop it and don't worry about any potential damage it may do to equipment. You can replace equipment, but a ruptured disc may never truly heal properly. Beyond safety, the following is pretty normal in most gyms I've ever been at:

Dropping is okay if your platform has rubber or padded surfaces where the plates contact (especially if you are using rubber covered bumper plates). Most gyms are okay if you drop on a hard surface if you are using bumper plates too. Also- an 8" drop is not too crazy. Olympic lifters drop them from much greater heights.

Also, if you use certain straps it may make bailing out harder or impossible. Be careful if you use these and take that element of safety into consideration.

Another thought - I don’t use a pre workout. I lift first thing in the morning after a coffee and a glass of water.

I started using pre-workout for heavy days and felt it made a notable difference. I use Pulse from Legion Athletics and found it worked really well. Some people (me being one of them) find beta-alanine (common ingredient in many pre-workouts) makes them feel itchy unless taken with some food. YMMV but it is worth trying.

Speaking of extra equipment, do you use straps or a lifting belt? If not, consider it. A lot of people swear by straps, but they aren't "necessary" for a long time (I've PR'd 415lbs without them, for example). Belts, on the other-hand, are extremely helpful and well worth it in my opinion. Some say they see about a 10% improvement in their heavy lifts when using a belt and I've found this to be the case. I started using one after I stalled at 335lbs and it made a huge difference.

How is your form? You're getting heavy enough now that you will have a much harder time making progress if your form isn't really solid. Any sort of deficiency is going to show up and stall you. For example, a buddy of mine who has pulled 600 checked my form and saw that I wasn't quite getting into place and placing correct tension to the bar before my initial pull which created an inefficient bar path. Fixing this helped the bottom of my pull tremendously.

Checking where you stall is important too. Is it the top of the lift (lock out) or the bottom (getting off the ground)? When my progress stalled out around 365lbs I was weak at the bottom of the lift. To fix this I switched from sumo to convention form, deloaded, and did hard-resets (completely set the bar down and come to a complete stop between reps) and built back up. Doing floor pulls can help with this. Whatever your issue, look up lifts that are designed to strengthen that part of your movement and you will break through it.

SkimTheDross · 2020-04-05T14:26:38+00:00

[deleted]

johnmic07 · 2020-04-05T15:45:43+00:00

Everyone has a bad workout once in awhile. It can be the result of a lack of sleep, different diet, stress, mental distractions, a million things. If it starts to become a long term trend then you may need to start looking at making some changes.

IsAllThisReal · 2020-04-05T19:42:39+00:00

Assuming progress is always going to be forward and always going to be predictable is simply wrong. No need for a long response, you're doing fine. Pre-workout is a crutch that I don't suggest using. Fine when used sparingly, but it puts an additional load on your CNS you may not be fully recovering from.

Last week you hit 335 for a tough single, then the next week you are looking to hit 7 reps at 90%. Thats unlikely. 7 reps at 305 is an estimated 1rm of 365.

A successful deadlift relies heavily on a well-rested CNS, hitting the 'groove', (foot position, grip width, chest, shoulder, upper back position, hip height, pressing through the floor, spinal stability, core bracing) and then executing by applying enough force. A lot can go wrong, then go right the next time you do it. As you do it more, you will become more consistent.

Don't sweat it.

Red-Curious · 2020-04-06T06:38:18+00:00

Good progress, brother. Others have already given good and clear input. I know my general rule of thumb is that my 5-rep sets are based on 90% of my ORM.

Remember also that a brand new ORM exists within an error margin. I've had some really good days where, at my peak last year, I was able to put up 300, but the next day I couldn't. That means that my error margin is on the low-end. So, if I were to try to bench 270 (i.e. 90%), I might only get 3-4 reps out of it on some days because I haven't fully normalized at the new PR level.

On the other end, if I can bench 300 as an ORM with high confidence and consistency, but still can't get the second rep or bump the weight to 310, maybe my real ORM is 308, and so hitting 270 for 5 reps is much easier. My ORM hasn't changed in that range, but being new to it v. acclimated to it makes a difference.

Also, the last time I was in the gym before the lockdown was with my dad. I put up 275 for 4 reps. And that was after trying 295 and failing to get even one. Logically, that doesn't follow the math of what you'll read online at all. But the body isn't always subject to those formulas - they're only rules of thumb and nothing more.

For another formulaic difference: when I was benching 300, my max overhead press was still 185. If you look at normalized benchmarks, it should have been significantly higher than that for other people with my comparable body weight and other lifts - but that's still the most I've ever put up on that particular lift.

Other times, a person has stabilizer muscles that work perfectly with one particular grip on a particular day, but the next day your're balanced ever so slightly differently that causes your stabilizers to work from a different angle, making it slightly harder to lift. This effect is exacerbated for leg lifts where it's easier to space your legs an inch or two differently, or you lift at a slightly different angle, whereas a bench is extremely mechanized in form (comparatively).

Or perhaps your particular body doesn't work on a 90% of ORM for 5-rep set rule of thumb - maybe your flow is 3-4 reps for 90%.

Regardless, I wouldn't get hung up on not being able to do something unless you were able to do it 10 times in 10 previous weeks and suddenly you can't do it the next 5 times at the gym. Then there might be something going on. Otherwise, this sounds more like a fluke.

chaseemall · 2020-04-06T08:26:28+00:00

You’re gonna have bad days and good days. Totally normal.

Title	Lifting Troubleshooting Questions
Author	SkimTheDross
Upvotes	9
Comments	11
Date	April 5, 2020 12:51 PM UTC (6 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/RPChristians
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/RPChristians/comments/fvdbdd/lifting_troubleshooting_questions/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/RPChristians/lifting-troubleshooting-questions.360683 https://theredarchive.com/post/360683

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