A tale of dead lifting fail

[utahraptor]

I am still doing starting strength. For a few weeks now I have had my eyes on a short term goal of dead lifting the entire rubber weight set at the gym I go to which with the bar is 305 lbs. I have been doing well and adding 10 lbs to my dead lift every night I do it. It was fairly hard at 295 last Friday, but I did all 5 reps with about 30 seconds between them or so. I have recently switched to the alternate grip as my grip strength finally started to fail with the normal grip.

Anyway tonight I successfully added 5 lbs to both squat and bench press for 240 and 175 respectively. I was pretty pumped for the dead lift, but when I did it my grip strength completely fell apart and I could only manage 2 reps :\

I eventually pulled off 20 lbs and tried again after two more failed reps at 305, but my body had given out.

For my next attempt which is scheduled for Monday, should I hit the 305 again or deload back to 295? Also, is purchasing a hand grip exerciser for use at work something that might help this?

PS I know using that many rubber weights is kind of lame, but I wanted to do the whole set. I plan to move to normal plates after I defeat it for 5 reps.

 

[AntonioHG]

Well, it's the end of your workout, you're already somewhat fatigued, you're just starting out as well -- don't beat yourself up over it.

Just do some farmer's walks, keep at it with the DLs, don't go crazy over it.

My story:

I couldn't grip 315lbs (shrugs, not DLs) even with over/under grip back when I started. The guys I used to workout with would tell me to do some grip work with static double overhand and alternating holds and farmer's walks with heavy dumbbells.

Nowadays (almost 2 years later, had about 6 months off between my first year and the beginning of the second so I had lost a lot of what I'd gained), I can hold on to 315lbs for 12 reps on a good day with double overhand.

 

[Zivic]

just buy some chalk, 315+ won't be that hard to hold after a while.

personally I would start out with the lower weight, it's only 10 lbs (~3.5%). Maybe even lighter to make sure I get my reps depending on how I felt. as a somewhat beginner, you want to make sure you get the reps with good form long before the worrying about the weight. Not every workout is going to be the same... you aren't going to progress linearly.

Personally this is why I have stopped writing down my lifts. I began to focus all my attention on the amount of weight I could do. I wouldn't 'feel things out' and would start out with too heavy or too light of weights. Starting off too heavy has the potential to ruin the entire workout.

This comes with time, but I find it's much more important to listen to your body; things like ->taking into account the time of day you are training, the amount of food you have eaten leading into the workout, previous workouts and how you performed during those.

in my round about way, if in doubt start out lighter and add weight if need be. if you start off too light, do an extra rep or two. That is much better than starting too heavy, hitting failure on your first lift of the workout and killing your motivation. Worse yet, potentially injuring yourself

 

[z1ggy]

Yeah don't place too much mental thought into how much weight you are doing, unless you are training for power lifting comp.

My buddy is a total beginner, and I lift with him now. All he cares about is how much he is doing, because he is insecure and sees me lift 66-100% more than he does on every lift. I keep telling him to stop worrying, and that over time he will keep progressing.

You have to adjust as need be as Zivic said. I started cutting almost 2 months ago, and my squat went from 225 to 205 almost instantly because of lowering carbs and cals. I've built back up to 225 again, but I had to listen to my body as it just could not handle the same intensity on lower nutrients. Same thing happened on all my lifts really. Gotta lose the ego. It's good to have goals, but don't try to rush it.

 

[surfsatwerk]

just buy some chalk

:thumbsup:

 

[rga]

I'll third the chalk suggestion. The difference between deadlifting with and without it is like night and day.

Also consider skipping your deadlift on Monday and instead fit it in on Wednesday or Friday. You won't lose any strength; I promise.

 

[utahraptor]

Well deloading, patience and attention to form have paid off. Today a little more than a month after my injury I did 5x295 and 1x315 with no pain during or after :O