Deadlift to knees (w/ 1 second pause @ knee);
200x1x3
240x2x3
280x2x3
300x2x3
275x1x3
225x1x3
Incline Bench;
135x4x6
Rack pulls f/knee;
220x1x4
260x1x4
300x2x4
340x4x3
Dips;
BWx5x5
Lunges;
25x5x5
Deadlifts.... oh deadlifts. It seems so natural for some people, yet no matter what I do I can't make it work. I have trouble getting into position without a slightly rounded lower back even before I start pulling. This has to be a flexibility problem right? Or maybe my deadlift geometry just sucks. Either way when I get up to around 300ish my lower back rounding increases a bit. I try to solve this by focusing on not decreasing my torso-thigh angle as the lift starts. I try to envision a rope tied to the back of my shoulders pulling me up. I even try to do Frank's "extend your spine" visual. Nothings working for me at the moment. Because of this I'm going to do low weights and just keep stressing technique as much as I can. The sheiko program anywhere near what I can pull (without regard to perfect form) is WAY too high for me to be able to do while trying to keep acceptable form.
In other news, despite the deadlift problem, I'm still loving this program.
Friday, June 25, 2010
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Brian, you pulled 425 in your first meet @ 165 lbs. And you had been lifting for slightly over 5 months.
ReplyDeleteNow, you're coming back from an extended break where you were unable to make serious commitments to training, and I'm not even gonna touch on diet.
The point is simply this: You aren't unable to "get it." We've seen you with some strong lifts before and there's nothing to think that you won't be there again soon. Don't worry about it for now, put your head down, keep lifting and then look up in a month to judge the true context of your progress. No need to get down on yourself, you'll be fine.
Hi Brian. It has been a while, but I don't remember you having weird "deadlift geometry" (assuming this means body proportions), except for being anorexic. So, like Dave Tate says, the reason must be technical, physical, mental, or a combination.
ReplyDelete-- Technical: Without seeing you pull in person, there is nothing to say, and anyway, you are surrounded by people who understand about technique exactly like me (or even more).
-- Physical: I can think of lower back / hamstring flexibility (so incorporate some stretching). These body parts can also be relatively weak (here, I would also add abs to the list), but adding specific work on top of what you're already doing may be tricky, and it's not clear if you should do this at all.
-- Mental: This one is easy. Just concentrate on keeping your lower back straight.
Nice pep talk from Shanker.
ReplyDelete- If your back is not rounded with lighter weights, it's not a flexibility issue (or not primarily).
- People on this blog put too much emphasis on perfect back form in deadlifts. There are plenty of ridiculously strong people who have 'bad form'. You should work on it, but I wouldn't change Sheiko weights to avoid the problem. Just lift with a straight back as much as possible and make it your focus. Everyone has form weaknesses, you need to work through them.
Man, I always come late to these conversations. Anyway, I pretty much agree with everything that's been said and have very little to add. Your form will always feel off after a long layoff. We'll worry about it more if it's still an issue after a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the input. I talked to shanker about this in the gym on Friday. I'm worried less about how much weight I'm pulling and more about the fact that at low %'s of my maxes my form is breaking down. I really don't care if it's happening at 200 or 300, I'm concerned that for as long as I've been training (not just now) my deadlift form is breaking down at roughly 60-70%ish of my max pull. This % seems low to me after watching everyone else. Most of our crew has form breakdown at some point, but it's usually at a significantly higher % of their max pull.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll take nate's advice and keep the sheiko weights the same. I'll work as much as possible on keeping perfect form and hopefully this will translate to improvements as the program goes on.
Danny, I've also been spending extra time on stretching, so hopefully that will translate into improved starting position. You might also be interested to know that I've adopted Jon's "eat-even-when-you're-not-even-close-to-hungry technique" and I think I'm seeing gains from that.