Guess who's back, back again.

Thanks a lot. I was really proud of that lift.

Well, we have been doing the deadlifts reverse, so starting from the top, down to the floor and then back up, to focus on getting the negative. So I was concerned today that my off-the-floor strength might not be as good since I haven't been having to break it off the floor. I decided to test it out after I did my workout and loaded up 500 lbs on the floor and lifted it no problem. I'll attempt 545 lbs off the floor next week after my workout, but I'm sure I will get it. 500 off the floor felt like 405 used to. I think starting from the top has actually helped my deadlift progress faster than it would have before because even if I fail, I've still done the negative, and typically I think I would let the weight down too fast if I started from the floor. So doing it this way, I can go down nice and slow, getting a slow negative on the dead before I pull it back up.

I attempted 565 today and almost got it, but not quite. I think if I had tried for 555 instead, I would have got it. I did do 545 again just to be sure, and I got it without too much difficulty. Not too bad considering back in August, 455 was feeling heavy and my goal was just to get my 500 lb deadlift back.
 
I'm thinking about trying for 6 plates in four or five weeks, actually. I should have had by friend vid me pulling 545 again yesterday but I didn't think about it at the time. It would be great to get that up on youtube though. At least then I can prove it to everyone just in case someone didn't believe it.
 
I took a quick video on my ipod down in the basement deadlifting 500 lbs. I was going to try 545 but it's pretty late in the day and I didn't do a proper warmup, just 315 for 5 and then 405 for a single. I also totally locked my legs out way too early on the 500 pull, but oh well. It wasn't very hard but I didn't want to push it. I've got to work a 14 hour shift tomorrow so if I went overboard tonight, I might get sick after tomorrow.

Anyway, I have to edit the video then I'll post it on youtube.

Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na-Glyb5tD4
 
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Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute!

Did you just deadlift 500 lbs with a DOUBLE OVERHAND GiRIP...?

[Oh, okay, on the second (and third) viewing, I was able to see that you used straps. You really had me going there!]
 
Yeah I've been using straps and doing double overhand lately because my friends at the gym kept yelling at me for using mixed grip. Apparently they are afraid I will blow out my biceps doing that if I'm not careful. Obviously in competition, I'd have to use the mixed grip with no straps, so I'm going to start training with mixed grip occasionally to keep myself acclimated to it.
 
Hey Totz, have you ever tried using a hook grip? It takes a few weeks for your thumbs to toughen up but then it's possible to lift the same as you would with straps, albeit with a little more pain! :) it's probably not worth trying this though unless you have some lifting chalk. Without chalk, a hook grip will put a lot of extra stress on your thumbs if you are doing max singles.

I switched to using a hook grip for nearly all of my deadlifting after I got into using it for cleans.

That's some great lifting, by the way.
 
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Yeah, I'm intending to start practicing a hook grip soon... I just haven't gotten around to it yet. And my thumbs are kinda scared. They have plenty of chalk at the gym so I don't really have an excuse not to try it.
 
I'd start out by only using hook grips for warmup sets until your thumbs have toughened up a bit. Of course, your warmup sets are insane so maybe just use a hook grip for your lighter warmups to start with.
 
Good idea. I've been doing my warmup sets with double overhand, no straps and I only really strap up when I go over 455 or so, but I'll start trying out the hook grip with the lighter sets and see what happens.
 
I love the end of the vid, Tot. Your wife is hilarious with the commentary.

Very nice pull! I think you'll really like the hook grip once you get used to it - it's makes a huge difference.
 
I did an abbreviated workout today because I was tired and I still don't like lifting at 8 am... Benching, squats and then I did rack pulls to experiment with the hook grip.

I did the following with hook grip:
135 x 8
225 x 5
315 x 5

Normally I do double overhand without straps up to 405 and after that I start strapping up. I tried 405 with hook grip and couldn't do it, so I switched to mixed grip and pulled 405 x 5 then 495 for 3 sets of 3, so I think my mixed grip strength is still good. The hook didn't really hurt or anything, I just couldn't lift the 405 at all with it for some reason. I'll keep doing it for the warmups and see how it goes.

Tim - I thought the commentary was great. Especially the end. You should have seen the first minute or so that I edited out. She wouldn't let me post that part. It was funny.
 
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Been a bad month for the gym. I was out of town in Chicago for most of a week on business. I won a trip to Vegas while in Chicago though, so it was worth it. Other than that, work has been crazy so I've only been lifting one or two times a week. December might be a bit hairy too but I can make up some gym time in my basement as well. Luckily once I get through December, things should calm down and I'll be able to refocus in January. I'm down to 238 lbs and holding steady. I've decided not to cut back calories or increase calories until I can rededicate to lifting...
 
Totentanz said:
Been a bad month for the gym. I was out of town in Chicago for most of a week on business. I won a trip to Vegas while in Chicago though, so it was worth it. Other than that, work has been crazy so I've only been lifting one or two times a week. December might be a bit hairy too but I can make up some gym time in my basement as well. Luckily once I get through December, things should calm down and I'll be able to refocus in January. I'm down to 238 lbs and holding steady. I've decided not to cut back calories or increase calories until I can rededicate to lifting...
Click to expand...

I feel ya, man. I had some junk fall in my lap last week unexpectedly that almost derailed this train. So far, so good though. I am really seeing some progress, so I really hope I can keep it on track for the next 4 weeks.

A trip to Vegas sounds awesome right about now with the weather cooling, tho!
 
Happy 2011 Everybody

I have a feeling this is going to be a good year. And since it is a new year, it is time to get back down to business. I have had a bad couple of months - my friend closed his gym so I had to find another, but I think I found one that is even better. Work has been hectic with the end of the year crunch but things will be easier now that we are back to the beginning of the year. So no more excuses. It is time to start making progress again.

Goals first - gotta know where I'm going before I can decide how to get there.

The Long Term - Goals for the end of 2011

Bodyweight - 260 lbs
Deadlift 675 lbs (+130 lbs from current max)
Squat 495 lbs (+95 lbs from current max)
Flat Bench 350 lbs (+65 lbs from current max)

I'm sure the goal I will struggle with most is Flat Bench even though it is only 65 lbs over my current max. 260 lbs is only 15 lbs heavier than I am now, but I plan to cut back the bodyfat soon before bulking back up. 260 is my ultimate goal for the end of the year. Deadlift - I am very close to 600 right now and have managed more than 545 when using straps and starting from the top of the deadlift and going down then back up (what are these calls, reverse deadlifts??), but I am not counting those deadlifts towards my max - only deadlifts from the floor without straps. Squat is only a 95 lb increase that I am calling for which I think will be a challenge but is attainable.

The HOW

I have been developing a routine for a couple years now - based on HST principles of course - that I am going to begin testing in earnest this year. On myself. I have already used phases of this routine for people when designing them HST based routines over the last couple of years and have used observations and feedback to refine it. I am trying to make an ideal fusion of a hypertrophy routine that also works for those looking to increase the three big lifts over time. I'm not going to give too many details out about this routine other than what you will see in my log. It is heavily influenced by my experience with HST, as well as the other routines that I have used such as Max-Stim, DC, Russ's 10x3 and Myo-reps, so obviously nothing ground breaking and all stuff everyone here will have seen in all of those systems. The way I have it set up so far has been very effective in short term testing but this will be my first long term run with it and will help me iron out the issues I've had with possible overtraining at times for some.

The Short Term - Goals for the end of March 2011

Every good business breaks the year up into quarters and I find that works well for me with training. I break my goals up into chunks and attack them each quarter based on my performance in the previous quarter. This quarter I am going to be starting off a little slow due to having a bit of an illness right now. We've had something going around here lately and in my girlfriend's mother it turned into full blown pneumonia so I'm going to take it a bit easy for the first week or two until I am sure I am close to 100% before I hit it hard.

This quarter I plan to cut the bodyfat back a little bit before I throw myself back into bulking. I've got about 13 weeks and I want to lose about 20 lbs during that time. I'm going to just cut calories back slightly, keep protein high and use my routine. So the goal for month end in March 2011 is to be 225 lbs. I'm not looking to push forward my maxes this quarter but to maintain them at a minimum. Of course if there is an increase that would be welcome.

That's all for now. More details to come later on.
 
Looks like some very attainable goals, Tot. Looking forward to seeing how you progress!

Happy New Year!
 
I tried to take it easy and only did 375 lbs on the deads but it wiped me out. I thought I was just about over this bug but apparently not. Oh well, see what happens Wednesday. I saw a steroid girl at the gym, that was interesting. Started to familiarize myself with some of their equipment. Got a good workout though I felt like crap afterwards and almost threw up. A couple hours later I was fine.
 
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