Stalling on DL

[Giggle]

Hi boys - I wonder if you can help me; I've been trying for several weeks to get my deadlift to 225#. Tonight I got it off the floor pretty quick, but then it stalls about 4 inches off the floor.

Can you think of something I can try to get stronger?

I ended up dropping back and doing a bunch of singles - but I really want to get that 225.
Thanks!

[John Andrew]

I guess you are talking lbs. not kilograms!

Train the back once per week, but when you do blast it! The next day you should feel as though a knife has been run down both sides of the spine. Spend 2 hours just doing dead lifts. Max reps at about 180 at least 10 sets, should be 6 to 10 per set. Then go up till you are unable to do more.

I am 58 my back has been broken once and 2 serious injuries. This year I lifted 280 kgs. Just over 600 lbs and equal the Australian record.

In my heart and mind I know that if the bar moves off the floor I am going to complete the lift. I feel the weight before I touch the bar, I visualize success and will not stop!

Now I have been doing this for 34 years I think I am getting the hang of it. I remember I won my first state title lifting 225 kgs and a guy said to me , you need to get your technique right before you start to lift heavy weights! I was 50 and he was older!

Power on forever. John

[Giggle]

John, thanks so very much! Yes, pounds for sure.
I dpn't know if I can do 180 for 6 reps. I will surely try! I know I can do 205 for 3. I know what you mean - DL used to be easer for me, and if I got it off the floor, it was absolutely going up. Now, this stalling is new. Maybe I'm just weaker.
I'll do what you said next week - and report back how it went.
Thanks again - you're one real strong guy!!

I guess you are talking lbs. not kilograms!

Train the back once per week, but when you do blast it! The next day you should feel as though a knife has been run down both sides of the spine. Spend 2 hours just doing dead lifts. Max reps at about 180 at least 10 sets, should be 6 to 10 per set. Then go up till you are unable to do more.

I am 58 my back has been broken once and 2 serious injuries. This year I lifted 280 kgs. Just over 600 lbs and equal the Australian record.

In my heart and mind I know that if the bar moves off the floor I am going to complete the lift. I feel the weight before I touch the bar, I visualize success and will not stop!

Now I have been doing this for 34 years I think I am getting the hang of it. I remember I won my first state title lifting 225 kgs and a guy said to me , you need to get your technique right before you start to lift heavy weights! I was 50 and he was older!

Power on forever. John

[John Andrew]

Hi Giggle You are a strong lady and you are not growing weaker. We all have cycles of stronger then we drop back. That' s why we need to change our approach and our training all the time. The body gets comfortable with a methos and we have to shock it out of its comfort level.

I am having a problem with my bench . I was back on target to reach 150 kgs again and then nothing. I grew weaker. I changed and went from sets of 6 to finishing with a set of 25 with 100 kgs and then a set of 90 for 30 reps. The pain came back, I am starting to progress again and now am back to 6 reps at 130kgs. I had dropped back to struggling at 120.

Being in Thailand is good cos the Thais are fun. Last session the entire gym and its owner was trying to match my numbers at 50 % of the weight. Thais are smaller men but watch them Muay Thai fighting! Thing is it made everything fun and that is the other thing. I love to enjoy what I do and I love a challenge, when my wife ( who always spots me) says you cannot do that! I must show off!!!! I bet you can lift 250 in 2 months! Good luck and kindest regards, John

[OnTheSauce]

Pull from blocks or the rack for a couple weeks to work on your lockout

[Giggle]

Bench is going up slowly, and squats aren't too bad. It's just that I want the deads so bad!
Thank you.

Hi Giggle You are a strong lady and you are not growing weaker. We all have cycles of stronger then we drop back. That' s why we need to change our approach and our training all the time. The body gets comfortable with a methos and we have to shock it out of its comfort level.

I am having a problem with my bench . I was back on target to reach 150 kgs again and then nothing. I grew weaker. I changed and went from sets of 6 to finishing with a set of 25 with 100 kgs and then a set of 90 for 30 reps. The pain came back, I am starting to progress again and now am back to 6 reps at 130kgs. I had dropped back to struggling at 120.

Being in Thailand is good cos the Thais are fun. Last session the entire gym and its owner was trying to match my numbers at 50 % of the weight. Thais are smaller men but watch them Muay Thai fighting! Thing is it made everything fun and that is the other thing. I love to enjoy what I do and I love a challenge, when my wife ( who always spots me) says you cannot do that! I must show off!!!! I bet you can lift 250 in 2 months! Good luck and kindest regards, John

[Giggle]

Pull from blocks or the rack for a couple weeks to work on your lockout

Oh, that's a great idea. I'll do it!
Thanks

[Oldandbusted]

Rack pulls are great for strengthening your lockout. You might also add a few sets pulling sumo. You lose your velocity from the floor, but it will strengthen your top end.

GHR's and reverse hyper work will bring up your dead and squat.

[Giggle]

Oldandbusted...what a great name by the way!
Thanks very much for your thoughts. I did do some reverse hypers the other day, but I will sure put in some GHR's and rack pulls.

Rack pulls are great for strengthening your lockout. You might also add a few sets pulling sumo. You lose your velocity from the floor, but it will strengthen your top end.

GHR's and reverse hyper work will bring up your dead and squat.

[Giggle]

Hi All -
Just wanted to check back in to let you know the good news -
I got the 225#. In fact I got a triple at 225!!

Thanks for all you kind words of advice.
Giggle!

[Brett N]

That's awesome - for me it always seems like the first time is the hardest. Weird that you get it once and then the next 2 follow right after. It seems if you can get the mind to truly believe it, it happens.

[Giggle]

I guess that might be it. It was one of those nights that just felt easy.

[OnTheSauce]

That's awesome - for me it always seems like the first time is the hardest. Weird that you get it once and then the next 2 follow right after. It seems if you can get the mind to truly believe it, it happens.

Reset after each each instead of bouncing it

[Brett N]

Never said I bounce it, my statement was the fact that once you do it once it seems easier. Always reset on my DLs.

[Giggle]

I did! And thanks for the reminder.

Reset after each each instead of bouncing it

[John Andrew]

Have you got the 250 yet? Should be very close! Well done. Regards and good luck, John

[Giggle]

Nope, but soon I hope.
Thanks John!

[Java Man]

That's awesome - for me it always seems like the first time is the hardest. Weird that you get it once and then the next 2 follow right after. It seems if you can get the mind to truly believe it, it happens.

That's exactly it. If someone loads the bar and youre blindfolded, they.tell you it has 185 on it... you tear into it thinking 'damn, this feels heavy for 185' but youre repping them out anyways. Turns out they lied and put 225 on there. Much of this game is in our heads. We go into a session with a mental idea of how strong we are. If you can work past that mental barrier and don't think you can only do x reps at a certain weight you will start to become stronger almost overnight. I haven't totally mastered this yet but I'm constantly working on it. The mind is the most powerful 'muscle' we have by far. Master the mind and you'll be unstoppable.

[Giggle]

That's exactly it. If someone loads the bar and youre blindfolded, they.tell you it has 185 on it... you tear into it thinking 'damn, this feels heavy for 185' but youre repping them out anyways. Turns out they lied and put 225 on there. Much of this game is in our heads. We go into a session with a mental idea of how strong we are. If you can work past that mental barrier and don't think you can only do x reps at a certain weight you will start to become stronger almost overnight. I haven't totally mastered this yet but I'm constantly working on it. The mind is the most powerful 'muscle' we have by far. Master the mind and you'll be unstoppable.

WOW - that is just perfect Java. Thank you for taking the time to write it all down. It's just what I need to hear. I need to squat tomorrow, and I'm dreading it a bit. I'll try to remember breaking through that mental barrier.

[John Andrew]

The mental state is unquestionable. I have a friend who is one of the worlds top 5 power lifters. I watched in a comp. He started at 160kg bench and failed, He is 72 kgs. He tried again and failed. Went up to 200 kgs for his 3rd attempt and made it easy.

Also watched Australia's woman lifter squat, failed at 180 kg, failed at 200 kg then success at 220 kg. Said she needed the weight to push her down.

That is why i talk about visualization. Know how it will feel, banish all negatives from the mind, be at peace inside and when the bar moves you do not stop! Ever. That's why us little guys can enjoy training with huge bodybuilders! Sure they have it in the chest but in the back and in the heart! We can amaze them and ourselves at times. Keep powering on. Kindest regards, John

[Giggle]

THANKS!
That was wonderful. I'll work on it both of you boys are great to help me.
Going in to squat now - and the weights have felt heavy. I'm going to really focus!!

The mental state is unquestionable. I have a friend who is one of the worlds top 5 power lifters. I watched in a comp. He started at 160kg bench and failed, He is 72 kgs. He tried again and failed. Went up to 200 kgs for his 3rd attempt and made it easy.

Also watched Australia's woman lifter squat, failed at 180 kg, failed at 200 kg then success at 220 kg. Said she needed the weight to push her down.

That is why i talk about visualization. Know how it will feel, banish all negatives from the mind, be at peace inside and when the bar moves you do not stop! Ever. That's why us little guys can enjoy training with huge bodybuilders! Sure they have it in the chest but in the back and in the heart! We can amaze them and ourselves at times. Keep powering on. Kindest regards, John

[Java Man]

THANKS!
That was wonderful. I'll work on it both of you boys are great to help me.
Going in to squat now - and the weights have felt heavy. I'm going to really focus!!

No. they haven't. Step one. Wipe your mental definition of 'heavy' from your mind. What is heavy? Is it whatever your mind tells you it is based on your true strength unimpeded by prejudicial notions... Or is it whatever you have already told your mind heavy is?

[John Andrew]

Agree 100%. They are not heavy, you are not yet accustomed to them. Good luck. John

[Giggle]

OOOH you are so right! I don't understand it, but I really need to work on this (obviously).

On a good note, I got to 245 today on deads. It was a piece of cake, and I'm going up again next week.
Thank you kind sir for the help.

No. they haven't. Step one. Wipe your mental definition of 'heavy' from your mind. What is heavy? Is it whatever your mind tells you it is based on your true strength unimpeded by prejudicial notions... Or is it whatever you have already told your mind heavy is?

[katelly]

That's exactly it. If someone loads the bar and youre blindfolded, they.tell you it has 185 on it... you tear into it thinking 'damn, this feels heavy for 185' but youre repping them out anyways. Turns out they lied and put 225 on there. Much of this game is in our heads. We go into a session with a mental idea of how strong we are. If you can work past that mental barrier and don't think you can only do x reps at a certain weight you will start to become stronger almost overnight. I haven't totally mastered this yet but I'm constantly working on it. The mind is the most powerful 'muscle' we have by far. Master the mind and you'll be unstoppable.

ive always said same thing its all in the head. I remember first time I broke 285 lb bench barrier was happy as hell, till I looked back and saw it was 300. My buddy said I knew if I told you it was 285 youd get it. The mind is a powerful thing

[Giggle]

Man, that must have been a fantastic feeling! Congratulations.

[John Andrew]

245 on the deads, time to start thinking 300!! Fantastic! No stopping now!

Good luck. John

[yosimitesam]

Hi Giggle, and everybody!

Some good stuff on here. Great stuff, actually. I was having an issue, on lockout and blocks really helped overload training. I also began widening my stance on good mornings, that made my ass and hamstrings contribute more. Then, on a whim, I switched my stance to sumo, and after working with that stance for a couple of months, I came back to conventional deads, and my number really shot up.

Hope all is going great for you still!

[John Andrew]

Now you are beating me, ( apart from lbs vs kgs) I am getting back last week 220 felt so hard, yesterday 235 was easy. 250 next week. I am loving the old pain!! Not hurt just aches from effort. Warm up!!! always warm up! 245 is great Giggle.

Have good day. Kindest regards John

[Giggle]

Thanks Sam. Good to hear from you!
I've been playing around with widening my stance. but I always feel like I'm going to lose my balance. Practice practice! I like what you said about widening the stance too on Good mornings - I'll give it a shot.

Hi Giggle, and everybody!

Some good stuff on here. Great stuff, actually. I was having an issue, on lockout and blocks really helped overload training. I also began widening my stance on good mornings, that made my ass and hamstrings contribute more. Then, on a whim, I switched my stance to sumo, and after working with that stance for a couple of months, I came back to conventional deads, and my number really shot up.

Hope all is going great for you still!

[Giggle]

Boy - when you go up in kgs, you really DO go up! that's great in a week.
Good luck!

Now you are beating me, ( apart from lbs vs kgs) I am getting back last week 220 felt so hard, yesterday 235 was easy. 250 next week. I am loving the old pain!! Not hurt just aches from effort. Warm up!!! always warm up! 245 is great Giggle.

Have good day. Kindest regards John

[yosimitesam]

Yeah, it's definitely a transition that takes some practice if you haven't used a modified stance from conventional. In fact, my strong under grip on conventional deadlifts is my left arm, but on sumos, I prefer my right hand to be the under grip. Go figure.

If you feel like you're losing your balance like you're falling backwards, then that's good. Once you get used to the change, you may feel like you prefer it. My body mechanics prefer conventional, and that's what I've done the longest, but sumo does give my lower back a break and adds more beef to my butt (not sure that's a good thing or not, but anyway). Since I've been squatting wide stance, the sumos have helped me in that department, too.

Keep it up. You're looking great!

[Giggle]

That all sounds good to me, and I'll keep practicing. That's interesting, your grip preference.
Ooh, that's a question I've been meaning to ask - do you consciously switch grip under hands in practice?
I don't, but I wondered if I should.

[yosimitesam]

Actually, I try and keep my grip both overhand for as long as I can handle the weight without it dropping from my hands. Some people use the same over/under grip (I used to do this), but since I'm a bit of an OCD bastard, I try and keep it as even as possible, as I always worried the two sides would develop some kind of unnatural aesthetic. For me, my bicep of the under hand grip also takes more of a beating, so rotating my grip is better for me.

If you're handling the weight fine without having to do the over/under, then stay with the overhand grip on both. That just means you've got an awesome grip, and your biceps will like you a lot better.

[Giggle]

No no. I have to go to over/under right after warm ups. I will keep trying to stay overhand as long as possible tho.
Thanks

[yosimitesam]

I gottcha. Most people would tell you not to deviate your over/under grip, and honestly, I would also recommend that. I just switch my grips because I'm weird, so you're doing just fine.

Keep in touch and keep it up. I've still got legs I'll start here in about 15 minutes....woopy joy!

[Giggle]

How did legs go??

I gottcha. Most people would tell you not to deviate your over/under grip, and honestly, I would also recommend that. I just switch my grips because I'm weird, so you're doing just fine.

Keep in touch and keep it up. I've still got legs I'll start here in about 15 minutes....woopy joy!

[yosimitesam]

Aren't you sweet! Overall a really good workout, but I got a sharp cramp in my ass during my first set. Couldn't stretch it out, either as my briefs are rather restrictive for that. Last set, my right quad decided to cramp, but I pushed through it anyway. Didn't really hamper the rest of my workout, although I felt it. Thought I had hydrated enough, but you never know.

My body must be OCD, too, since on my bench nights, my right butt cheek loves to cramp, while last night during legs, the nemesis was on my left side.

[Giggle]

That is purely no fair!
Would you please tell me what you did for legs? Thanks!

[yosimitesam]

That is purely no fair!
Would you please tell me what you did for legs? Thanks!

I sent you a pm so as not to hijack your thread and not bore the rest of the people enjoying your thread. Believe me, cramping butt cheeks are nothing to envy.