4-25-14 – Deadlift Progress

Coming off the only main lift I was actually able to work with last week, I was pumped to lift heavy. I walked into the gym, Mike’s dad gave me my program and I began my training instantaneously. I was stoked to see that for my “light” week, I had 290 pounds for reps. Before even stretching; there was an electric feel to the building with Kyle on the deadlift platform. Due to my grip slipping on my sumo deadlifts just a few days ago, I decided to complete every set on the day with the fattest bar. Today, I would be completing 65%, 75%, and 85% of my training max for sets of five. I worked my way up to my final set before using a belt and it all felt very easy, including 290 pounds for five reps. Next, I had an accessory I had always seen before but never done. This accessory would be rack pulls on the first pin of the rack. I would only be doing three sets of five reps, so I made the decision to lift much heavier. Before moving to higher weight, I did a set with just 225 to get a feel for it. Then, I moved to 245, 265, and finishing with 285. 285 may have been my easiest set, which made me very happy knowing that next week I can hopefully work my way up for at least 300. As for everything else, it all went very well. Single leg glute bridges have been upgraded to keeping a foot on a 2 board platform as well as GHRs increased from two boards to three and a red band. With my barbell shrugs, I completed four sets of ten with 225 pounds and they were much easier than the week before. I was pleased to see that every accessory was made to be harder, along with my increased working sets of deadlifts. I have been stronger in every category of my deadlift thanks to this program.