Well I finally hit one my long term goals yesterday. I did have to use straps, but finally pulled 500lbs @ 202. I had hoped to get it last year, but tore my ACL at the end of the summer wakeboarding and had ACL surgery on Oct 29th (you can check out my progress in the injury section- thanks again UConnJulie!). So within 6 months post op, I blasted through my last DL max of 465.
Anyways, now I'm trying to figure out what my next goals should be. My strength goals of 500/400/300 are mostly met (knee still hurts when I squat, but 400 should be attainable by eoy) so now I'm thinking of focusing on BF%. I'm not fat now (I'm 6'2", 202 atm), but also don't watch what I eat. I have a feeling that getting strict on my diet is going to be harder than anything I've attempted in the gym
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"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."-- Aristotle
Sans straps is definitely another goal. When I pulled 465 a long time ago it was without straps. At this point, I figure if I keep working hard 500 w/o straps will just come in due time, especially with the 500lb mental block torn down
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"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."-- Aristotle
Thanks everyone. I told a friend of mine who was in the gym at the time that since I finally hit my goal, I was going to quit going to the gym and go do something else
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phaedrus49er
Awesome. If you haven't, you better post that mess to the deadlift thread
Already done!
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"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."-- Aristotle
eastcoast, have you tried using a baseball grip on your deadlift to prevent your forearms from given out fast? Ever since I started using the baseball grip (one overhand and one underhand grip), I have not had a problem with my grip giving out on me.
eastcoast, have you tried using a baseball grip on your deadlift to prevent your forearms from given out fast? Ever since I started using the baseball grip (one overhand and one underhand grip), I have not had a problem with my grip giving out on me.
That's the grip I use normally and can hold the weight fine, w/o straps, up into the 400s. We're not allowed to use chalk in my gym and the weights aren't the bumper ones so I really don't want to drop 500lbs onto the gym floor if it were to slip out of my hands. I have been doing extra grip work though and should be able to hold it chalkless and strapless soon enough.
Interestingly enough, that's the same grip I use when I wakeboard
__________________
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."-- Aristotle
ask them if you can use liquid chalk, practically zero mess.
Also, hook grip works great, alternating (baseball) grip works great.. I give you, the alternated hook grip, that is what I use if I have to go really heavy (doing rack pulls, etc). the hook grip will take some time to get used to though.. hurts at first.
Do you use weightlifting gloves so your hands won't get blisters or bother you? I use weightlifting gloves and my hands has not bothered me. Maybe the first few times I started using them to get used to the gloves, but after that I have had no problems.
Damn impressive. Can you share a little about your workouts?
__________________ 'I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. ' ~Frank Sinatra
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher,
smarter, faster and better looking than most people.
Do you use weightlifting gloves so your hands won't get blisters or bother you? I use weightlifting gloves and my hands has not bothered me. Maybe the first few times I started using them to get used to the gloves, but after that I have had no problems.
Do you use weightlifting gloves so your hands won't get blisters or bother you? I use weightlifting gloves and my hands has not bothered me. Maybe the first few times I started using them to get used to the gloves, but after that I have had no problems.
No gloves. Anytime I've tried they hurt more than w/o b/c they always pinch my hands for some reason. At this point, the calluses I have built up provide plenty of protection. Plus, the girl I'm dating at the moment likes my rough hands because "it's the sign of a manly man" rofl
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill2380
Damn impressive. Can you share a little about your workouts?
Sure, I've been seriously working out for over 4 years now. I've done a lot of different workouts over the years including all of the NROL workouts (minus the FL ones). At this point I have a good feeling about what I need to do and focus on the planes of lifting approach. Horizontal and vertical pushing and pulling, quad dominant, and hip dominant. I split these planes in half to create 2 workouts, for example horizontal push/pull + hip dom one day, then the other planes the next. Since I'm short on time with school and work I can easily have 2 workouts that I can bounce back and forth between every time I have a workout (which may be twice-4 times/week). My gym time is extremely short, so I do things that are the biggest bang for the buck whenever I go. If there is a harder variation of the exercise that's always the one I try to do etc...
As far as reps go, I pick 2 exercises (primary and secondary) per plane I'm doing that day. The primary exercise I do 5x5 and the secondary one 4x8 or 3x10-12. So given the above example of horizontal push/pull I would do bench press (any variation) 5x5, then row (one of the harder ones like barbell, t-bar, etc...) 5x5. Next to save time I would do something like cable pulls supersetted with pushups for 3x10-12. For hip dom, I've been playing around with a lot of different exercises other than the DLs to simply give my lower back a rest sometimes. DB Snatches, pull throughs, etc...
I hope that makes it clear If not, I can explain more. I did the above workout for 6 months pre and post op (adjusting for my knee where appropriate) and it worked well for my time constraints. I can't remember the last time I did a tricep pushdown lol, altho I will do a curl or 2 in between ab sets sometimes if I'm already not throwing in some pre-hab work for rotator cuffs, etc...
BTW, last week I just started the new t-nation workout with the 20 minute thing. After completing it, I'll take the parts I think worked for me and incorporate them into the above workout scheme.
__________________
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."-- Aristotle
__________________ 'I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. ' ~Frank Sinatra
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher,
smarter, faster and better looking than most people.
Congrats. Excellent pull, man. You should be proud of knocking off that goal.
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How far away are you from your 400/300 squat and bench goals?
I hit the bench goal awhile back. I pressed 320 not too long ago. Post-op it became easy to focus on the upper body since I couldn't go heavy on lower
My 400 squat is another issue. Pre-op it was in the 350 range. I still haven't gone super heavy since surgery and instead have been doing front squats, lunges, and other single leg stuff. Once every couple weeks I try to do some full squats, but the knee still hurts. Doc said it's normal and that is could be another year before it 'feel' normal in all situations again.
__________________
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."-- Aristotle
500lb DL!
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