The PRs are still coming down as I finished out my max effort work for this week in today’s training. Today is was a heavy single on deficit deadlift that saw improvement in the record books. The session went as follows…
Stretch and Warm-Up
Deficit Conventional Deadlift
135×5, 225×5, 275×5, 315×3, 365×3, 405×3, 435×2, 455×1, 475×1, 500×1
375×5, 375×5
Sumo Deadlift (3 Sec. Pause at Knee)
315×3, 345×3, 365×3
Paused Front Squat
185×12, 205×10, 225×8
Low Bar Good Mornings – 3×12
Upper Back Extension (vs. Elitefts Pro Light Band) – 3×20
Standing Ab Cable Pulldown – 4×20
I am very happy that I chose to do conventional deficit deadlifts for this training block as I type up this training log post today but that was definitely not the case in week 2. If you look back at my heavy triple from week 2, you will see that I was only able to muster a measly 315×3 attempt and the outlook was not good. I remember leaving the gym after that session feeling disappointed, discouraged, and not looking forward to the remaining deadlift sessions. After I had a chance to rest and think on this, I realized that I was presented with a choice here. I could either accept that I suck at conventional deficit deadlift or I could sack up and figure out what my weak points were that were holding me back. I knew off the bat that my major limiting factor was, as it often has been, mobility. I went back to the drawing board during this block, looked at old notes, and placed a renewed emphasis on my warm-up and recovery work. Additionally, I knew that the fact that I have been neglecting my conventional pulling overall for a long while was not working in my favor either. To counter this, I have been using the conventional stance for all my speed pulling in this cycle. Two weeks later when I retested my three rep max I destroyed my PR with a 405lb triple and then again today surprised myself with an easy 500lb single.
What I’m trying to say with all this is that I learned an important lesson in bringing up weak points during the past 5 week. I exposed a huge weak point in my strength while performing this variation and it allowed me to adjust my training to take care of this issue. Had I not endured such a bad training session 5 weeks ago I would have never seen the need to make corrections to my routine and focuses. It is obvious that I did not get 200lb stronger in 5 weeks time but I was able to make adjustments which allowed my body to use the strength that it already possesses. I have no doubt that my deadlift going into meet day in about 8 weeks will be better than ever. Until next time!
