How To Deadlift 495lb - 5 Plates

This year I raised my Deadlift PR by 55lb, pulling 495lb yesterday morning. I posted earlier in the year about my Deadlift history. The middle of last year was my first time pulling 405lb. The year before that I was pulling 315lb (for 8 reps). To think I could be pulling 585lb at the end of next year sounds insane, but it's possible.

For at least the first half of the year, I was plateaued around 450-465, and my lift wasn't that clean looking, and my technique began to dissolve a bit. I solved the problem first switching to a mixed grip, which I find sets my back and locks it into place much more than double overhand with straps. I tried pulling with a mixed grip and straps, but it feels a little awkward, and makes the bar unnecessarily larger in circumference.

So after adapting a mixed grip, I found my hands were falling apart as they were destroyed after every lifting day, and was preventing progress. I didn't understand why my hands were getting so beat up as I had good hand care, but the answer was ultimately chalk. I do a lot of research, and it's easy to bypass little tips and heeded warnings. I assumed chalk would be too messy and would get me kicked immediately from my gym. But it turns out, it's pretty easy to not spill much chalk and benefit greatly.

Chalk is a drying agent. Our bodies are 50-65% water, and when your hands dry up, they become hard like armor, and prevent things from hurting you because you don't have soft fleshy bits exposed. The chalk also enhances your grip. You have so much friction from the chalk and the bar that nothing can budge your grip. It's truly a safety tool in the respect that you'll be less likely to drop the bar (in bench press for example). Pull-Ups require less effort as your grip is more cemented to the bar. Hanging straight leg raises are easier to perform. All lifts are enhanced including squats to prevent the bar from moving.

The inclusion of a belt is also an essential tool. The first time I pulled 420lb my spine was hurt in a minor fashion that affected me for a few months. I pulled 420lb for a dozen singles without using a belt, but since having the belt, I use it for practically every rep. It protects your spine and gives you the confidence to pull, knowing you'll be safe. You'll still need good technique, but there's less chance of injury. My other favorite aspect of wearing a belt is that your recovery time improves because the lower back doesn't get as taxed and thus doesn't need to recover as hard.

You might think that wearing a belt too often may not develop the lower back, but the muscle still gets worked - just in a shorter ROM (range of motion) because of the belt, and in a safer ROM.

Goblin Goo - New Beginner Routine

A very good friend came to me seeking the most efficient path to strength and general fitness. I poured over the most recommended and respected beginner routines, and I determined which two I liked the most, but decided my true preference would be of one that is not written, and thus I've made my own as I'm apt to do. First, I would like to point out this great picture which goes a handful of good beginner routine:

The two I liked most are Greyskull (Phrakture's variant):

And the other being Strong Lifts (which is similar to SS - Starting Strength):

So I like the frequency of squatting in starting strength. Squats are knee-dominant, but largely a hip exercise, and the hips are the most powerful part of a human. Deadlifting is great, but it takes longer to recover from Deadlifting than Squats, and Squats are known to carry over to Deadlifts more so than vice versa.

The difference between SL (Strong Lifts) and SS is 3 sets versus 5 and the swap of barbell rows for power cleans. I don't like power cleans for beginners as I find the form complicated, and I know barbell rows to be hard on the lower back. The reason I like 5 sets of 5 for beginners over 3 sets of 5 is that technique takes a long time to learn, and the more reps you perform, the practice you have in that technique. If you're squatting 25 reps instead of 15 reps in a workout, you'll have more information from the 25 reps that you can both mentally and physically reap. And if that's 30 reps versus 60 reps a week, you may progress twice as fast in technique. 5x5 eventually turns into 3x5. There's no reason to jump to the max as a beginner. Enjoy the grind.

I like the dips and pull-ups as exercises that force body control, I like the frequent Squats, I feel the dumbbell rows will aid in faster recovery. There's more Deadlift work than usual, but I think it's for the best as a single set is not enough reps to practice nor to really get in the groove of the exercise. Multiple sets are in most cases superior to single sets. I like the calf work to fill out the legs. I did not include curls, but they can be done as well as triceps work. Good Mornings are a godlike exercise that aren't ever done in casual gyms, but should be. They work the erector spinae, hamstrings to a great extent, abs, flexibility, and mobility.

I would do this routine for 3-6 months, or however long you're reaping gains and not plateauing. The way beginner programs change when transitioning to intermediate programs is less frequency/volume because as you go up in weights, you need more recovery, and your nervous system pool is drained more quickly as a result. The bit of squat work on workout C helps practice form and is a good warm-up before Deadlifts.

I don't believe in resting for a long duration between sets. The quicker it can be done, the stronger, more powerful you are and the more endurance you have. Attack the weight, execute reps, leave it all out there, and recover for next time.

Lifting with Technique by Using and Utilizing Variables

Depending on your goal in lifting, you may lift in a slow tempo for muscle tension, igniting muscle growth, an explosive rep to push the heaviest weight possible, or a steady controlled fast pace for endurance.

If you lay down for a bench press for example, grab the bar and press it until lock out, and then rack the bar, you may have transitioned from one location in space to another, but how many variables did you take into account? There is to take in mind the following: hand grip width, bar placement in hand, position of feet, toes or heels touching the ground, the amount of lower back curvature via arch, how close the shoulders are pinned, whether the lats are contracting to aid, the twist of the arm, the vertical movement whether a j hook is used, whether you're using chalk or wrist wraps, the desired range of motion, or how much the shoulder, chest, and triceps are emphasized and used in the movement. It's the difference between a controller with two buttons or a keyboard with a hundred buttons.

The willingness to attack the bar on every rep and set is significant in progressing, avoiding injury, and ensuring mental confidence that prevails until the end of the session. A note on individuals who claim health to be their only goal, I find this admittance to be a deception with the reality being with the correct knowledge you can weight train at any age and with even very serious injuries. It's healthier to have bones with more density. I wouldn't go to the gym if I were to just do the same weight day in and day out. I don't want to be the man I was yesterday, I want to advance to the next platform that goes along with its own valued attributes. Do not settle for meagerness. We live and we die, and that life can be lived in a host which is lacking mobility, posture, movement, addicted to doctors and prescription medication, or you can live with the dignity your genes deserve.

The Bodybuilding Version of The Strength Training Routine 5/3/1 - Presenting 8/6/3

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 strength training routine is a great tool for progression. He has a few books on the program and offers dozens of variations. One that is a true diamond in the rough is 8/6/3. After spending about 5 five months on 5/3/1, and seeing good gains in strength, I could see myself spending several more months on 5/3/1. I departed though from that route because I wanted more size. I'm sure I read somewhere in the 5/3/1 book about a variation that changed the rep scheme, because I changed it to 8/6/3, and adjusted the percentages for the different rep scheme, and then searched 8/6/3 online, and stumbled upon a T-Nation article about 8/6/3 with is own prescribed percentages (not by Jim Wendler).

I had done this right before I had started the program, and compared the percentages that I came up with and the author of this article did, and some of our numbers were the same, but his were most definitely higher. The way I started 5/3/1 was with a fair amount of breathing room from my real 1 rep max on percentages, and I think that helped welcome me to the program before getting challenged too hard, which could lead to injuries and a lack of easy progression to follow.

So having calculated the routine for myself, I realized the first month would be harder than what was my 5th cycle of 5/3/1. I may have started with too low of percentages on 5/3/1 when I started it, but I think I was trying to avoid injuries, and was doing many 1 rep maxes in the form of joker sets. I got much better at both Front Squats and High Bar Back Squats. My Bench Press has also become more of a staple, and has no longer cause any pain. So I think I was able to concentrate on technique while following progression albeit not the most I could lift, but in ramping up with my heaviest singles, I was using my intensity for the singles, which aren't going to cause much muscle growth, but strength. Now I'm redirecting that intensity toward building mass.

I finished the second week of my first cycle, and have really seen the glory of the program. I think it's working perfectly. I'm getting a little beat up, but I've decided that I'll take the deload weeks 100% seriously. When I first began 5/3/1, I did the first cycle's deload week, but I believe I skipped the rest after finding my bodyfat percentage rising too much, and boredom setting in, and having read that it's common to skip deloads, and I believe Jim even prescribes it as a variation.

The first week is 3 sets of 8, the second week is 3 sets of 6, the third week is a set of 8, 6, 3, and the fourth and last week is a deload with 3 sets of 8-10. To find the percentage for yourself, open Calculator on your computer, and take your 1 rep max, for instance, 200lb, and multiply it by the percentage given .7 (70%). Round the given answer up or down to the nearest 5lb. Every month you add 5lb to each set, or you could add 10lb on deadlifts and squats.

Depending on the amount of days you can or wish to go to the gym, you can run this on a multitude of lifts including: squats, front squats, bench press, incline bench press, deadlift, and military press (overhead pres). I'm going 5 days a week, and combining squats and incline bench press on one day. I have pull-ups and push-ups programmed 3x a week, and dips programmed 2x a week. I throw in Face Pulls for shoulder health, lateral raises, and dumbbell overhead presses. Add 5lb per cycle to the base number used to calculate the lifts (1 rep training max - 90% of 1rm).

Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
70% x 6	65% x 8	75% x 8	40% x 8-10
80% x 6	75% x 8	85% x 6	50% x 8-10
85% x 6+	80% x 8+	90% x 3+	60% x 8-10

Lifting for Women

Exercises themselves are not exclusive to sex, but the goals of a person (woman) can define the program, depending on the body part you would like to develop, or if it's lower body development only, or if strength is a goal.

Here is a list of good lower body exercises:

Main Compound:
Barbell Squats
Barbell Deadlifts
Barbell Front Squats

Auxiliary:
Barbell Lunges
Barbell Standing Calf Raises
Barbell Romanian Deadlifts
Barbell Hack Squats
Barbell Bulgarian Split Squats
Barbell Good Mornings
Barbell Side Lunge

Decide how many days you're willing to go to the gym (2-5). Plan a routine with built-in progression. The first week you lift X amount of reps for 3 to 5 sets on any given main compound exercise. Afterwards, you do 2 to 3 sets on auxiliary exercises.

If you're a beginner, increase the weight by 5-10lb every week on the main compound exercises. You may raise the weight on the auxiliary exercises, but it shouldn't be the focus, and shouldn't hurt your recovery, or even be done if time is not available.

Additional mobility and balance can be attained through yoga, which can be done anywhere. An extra lower body body weight routine that can be done is as follows:

Body Weight Squats - Wide Stance (18)
Body Weight Alternating Lunges (31)
Body Weight Bulgarian Split Squat w/ No Chair (12 per leg)
Body Weight Bulgarian Split Squat w/ Chair (21 per leg)
Laying Face Up Straight-Leg Leg Raises Alternating (18)
Standing Leg Curl - Learn Forward on a Counter (20 per leg)
Kneeling Straight-Leg Donkey Kick (20 per leg)

Here is a list of good upper body exercises:

Main Compound:
Barbell Bench Press
Barbell Incline Bench Press
Barbell Military Press

Auxiliary:
Pull-Ups
Push-Ups
Dips
Crunches
Dumbbell Bench Press
Dumbbell One-Arm Rows
Dumbbell Curls
Dumbbell Lateral Raises
Dumbbell Standing One-Arm Shoulder Press

Muffin Recipe with High Protein and High Fiber

Here is a classic recipe I've designed and refined over the years. It makes 11 muffins.

2.5 tbsp of cinnamon

.75 tsp of salt

.5 tbsp cocoa powder

4 eggs (not large)

1 to the brim cup of milk

1 to the brim cup of oats

3 cups of flour (white whole wheat)

.38 cups of sugar

.5 tsp of baking soda

2 tbsp of baking powder

1 cup of frozen mixed berries (torn up strawberries), blueberries, blackberries - defrost 3 minutes

1 stick of butter (power 8 20 seconds)

.4 cups of chocolate chips

Coat muffin pan very thick with coconut oil.

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients.

Mix ingredients by hand, place them into muffin pan so that they're just at the brim and just barely over. this makes 11 muffins.

Bake at 375 F (make sure it's all the way to the right if knob is loose).

Bake for 18:35 min, pull out of oven, let cool for 10 minutes, pop out muffins with a knife by digging into the side and crowbarring them out.

Eat with coffee or beer or water.

201.7g calories

8g protein

6g fiber

37.9g carbs

1.3g fat

7g sugar

They taste absolutely delicious, reminding me of Drake's Coffee Cakes. You can lower the amount of Oats for less fiber, or lour the Flour for less carbs..

Are You Lifting or Are You Recovering? And Nervous System Nuisances

To maximize efficiency in the world of lifting, you must either be lifting or recovering. You can even branch that out to each of your muscles/limbs. Are they recovering? Could they be? Because of the variance of our bone length and proportions, less or more work may be necessary. Not all lifts are equal in their ability to work a muscle. Cut the filler, strategize, and execute. Every day counts. It's 24 hours. The effect of using time extremely efficiently is akin to time traveling. Four workouts a week versus two workouts a week could potentially double your gains. Do not forget that it takes desire, and 'want'. If your body fights you, and sends you signals of distress, your reaction should be to diagnose, analyze, and repair. Do not let injuries fester. Attend them and be done with it. Attack, and know that rest shouldn't be something you look forward to; it is simply a necessity that'll occur during the convenient time duration of your choice. Conquer.

I've noticed some strange happenings with my nervous system with the increased volume in push-ups and pull-ups, and the swap to the 8/6/3 routine from 5/3/1. I wouldn't say that it's fried, but it's constantly there for me. I have a constant flow of available strength through the nervous system that isn't typically there. For instance, I feel I could Deadlift 450lb with no warm-up at any point of the day. That strength is just lying in the grass waiting for me to channel the thoughts of achieving said violation. It could be a foreshadowing of overreaching coming to play, which is basically a less serious version of over-training. I can imagine this would be a good state to be in for physically fighting.

As I am battling my nervous system and joints beginning to fail, recovery has been paramount, although I never turn off the recovery switch in regular training. On a daily basis, I use tools such as a foam roller, stretch out straps (8ft long piece of material with loops along it), Theracane (for traps, lats, anterior delts), and general stretches (unconventional) throughout the day. Showers seem to help as well.

How To Do 300 Push-Ups In One Workout - Count Master

As previously stated in an entry, the human mind is fallible to the degree where it is laughable, and thus we can predict how it'll act, and can keep our focus. Instead of counting linearly and thinking of each number either before or after the rep, I find counting only to five a much simpler task for your brain. So to count to 50, you would count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - 1, then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - 2, etc. until you get to 10 groups of 5. It gets a little trickier counting to 100+. I will select some 'markers' (you can use any object - a few markers of different colors) and I'll denote each marker to 5 groups of 5, representing 25 reps, and thus four of these markers represent 100 altogether.

The reason I implemented the counting technique is that as I did high rep sets of push-ups, there would be a sticking point (for example say 60). If I count linearly and once I come upon 55, I know that there's only 5 more to do until I hit 60, and because of that, I'll slow the reps down, granting them more intensity, but at the same time burning out my energy and strength so that I'll feel done at 60 repetitions.

The high reps may have a few different affects on your body. The first stage is the pump, which comes after the first and second set. The muscles fill with blood, which supplies oxygen to the cells, making you feel better than fantastic. If you take too long of a break between sets, your body may go cold - at this point you would have lost the pump and you'd have a cold sweat on you. Obviously that isn't desirable, but it can easily happen if you get sidetracked in a conversation for instance. Another feeling you may experience is a sort of general fatigue setting in at the half way point to your goal. With lifting in general, I find that staying calm with a regular pulse between sets will allow you to recover faster. So if you feel fatigue, do not give up hope. Instead, keep your eyes out for your second wind, which is surprisingly common when doing any type of endurance work.

The last bodily state you may find yourself in is when you've had a good pump, and have done most of the work, but your body no longer feels strong, and your muscles feel entirely used up, but more reps are possible. Usually at this state, the amount of reps you can do per set increases. I don't know whether or not it's good to continue at that state. On one hand, you may complete the desired amount of repetitions, and so you should continue, on the other hand, you may be doing more bad than good, and an injury could show its face.

How To Do 50 Pull-Ups In One Workout - Muscle Endurance, Hypertrophy, and Heart

The first aspect of conquering said colossal amount of repetitions is to let the idea slither around your brain and solidify so that you know what will be coming in the workout. There's a different mindset for lower reps and higher reps. The more reps you choose to do, the more breathing plays a role in aiding you get those reps. In the middle of a set, it can be easy to loose focus. On each lift there is an eccentric part and a concentric part. Once you've hit the eccentric, you have no choice but to hit the concentric - but if you hesitate, you lose momentum, and it will either end the set for you, or drain your strength and energy, limiting your amount of reps.

When I Squat or Deadlift at my heaviest weights, I need to internally tell myself, "Up!". One would think that the direction to move is obvious and couldn't possibly need a cue, but when lifting your heaviest, your mind is highly fallible. There is only folly in thinking that you are perfect. Humans have demonstrated that every single one of their senses can malfunction, or pick up false senses. We tell ourselves we won't quit when things get tough, but when they get tough, you may not be able to silent the voice telling you to stop or your body will break. I don't need the "Up!" cue on pull-ups or push-ups, but you may find it useful.

One of the main components of doing this volume is knowing when you're fresh again after a set is complete. I have noticed that if you do two sets back to back with not enough rest, and it's very taxing on you, then by doing that 2nd set too soon without any rest, you may blow out a muscle, leaving you unable to get the volume you were attempting to attain. Stretching before all the reps are done is something else you must be cautious of. Too much of a stretch will almost tell your muscles that it's OK to relax, and that you no longer need them to be taut.

Just as in weight lifting the idea of keeping a vertical bar path also applies in pull-ups. Once you've grabbed the bar, you can set your back and chest to any angle you choose, and what you should be looking for is the groove that requires the least amount of effort because it is there in that groove that you'll get the most reps, and by doing more reps than you would have been able to initially, you'll experience working the muscles to a greater degree, and you'll have more muscle endurance.

Failure can play mind games on you, and can defeat you entirely. Dealing with failure is a slippery slope. You do not want to fail as it will lower your confidence, and yet never failing is evidence you never tried 'that' hard. So ideally we fail from time to time, but not too consistently or it'll drive the fire out of our bellies. To better avoid failure, taking a wide perspective of the workout and the workouts for the rest of the week will allow you to know what has to be accomplished. If you're doing a routine where there are 10 lifts in one session, you cannot drain yourself of strength and energy entirely before the 10th lift. You need to know how much fuel to keep in the gas tank.

8/6/3 Routine For Building Muscle and Power

I've done 5/3/1 for the past four out of five months. It has been very enjoyable, and is a very clear cut program - a sort of bare-bones, but it works amazingly well. Each month is a cycle with the last week of each month being a deload (which can be skipped a few times). It has progression built in to your core lifts, so that the program can't go stale on account of lack of recovery and therefore can have a longer life than beginner programs. You can start with lower 1 rep maxes as well to get more cycles in before plateauing.

I added about 20lb to each of my lifts, and they were all about to go up with having none stalled. The program can be known as low volume, but that can be fixed through adding Joker sets, which are sets that built up to a PR breaker on any given workout. I've been breaking my PRs all through the Joker sets instead of normal planning - so you can see the potential of the program. I choose to divert from it temporarily to focus on building more muscle.

My weight has gone up as planned, and I'm 199lb at 5'11. The new routine will drop my weight due to the extra workouts, higher reps, and push-up and pull-up total volume weekly. I'll be able to cut down with more muscle than last year. I won't be cutting calories in so much that the extra exercise will eat away at the caloric expenditure.

I've also realized that in chasing my 1 rep max on a daily and weekly basis that my risk of injury was high, and although I focused on muscle contractions, I wasn't getting the volume correlated with the hard facts of higher repetitions for muscle growth. I was thinking of reenacting another of my bodybuilding routines, but I've enjoyed 5/3/1 so much. I believe in its ability to spurt progression, and I know it'll work for other rep schemes. To break an 8 rep PR is rewarding just as a much of a 1 rep max PR. I also felt the higher volume coincides well with the push-up and pull-up high volume programs I'm running. I find that when doing repetitions on any given day that you get used to breathing and counting the reps a certain way, and to change out of that rep scheme would break the flow of concentration.

It's nice running this program now because the first cycle's deload week hits along the week of Christmas. This year in lifting for me has worked out far better than I imagined or planned. In the start of November I broke PRs nonstop every week in all lifts, and have just now devised the next program at a great time as I had been strength training for half the year. I am switching between the two: bodybuilding and strength training. I hit upon 5/3/1 for strength training, and have now just hit upon 8/6/3 for bodybuilding as I was using a good program before for bodybuilding, but it didn't have the same consistently planned route of progression as does the 5/3/1 method. It's a matter of programming a routine with the amount of complexity needed for said lifter. As I look at my lifting career, I've frequently pulled back my perspective to see what I've done and where I want to go.

Yoga Explained and A Look at the Future

Yoga has taken the West in a very odd manner. There are hard coded associations with yoga that are entirely irrelevant. It's generally known as a slow-paced form of exercise that is spiritual and meditative, and requires either instructors, music, or exquisite scenery. None of this is essential to yoga.  In fact, I would describe yoga as a series of poses which aid in mobility, flexibility, balance, and recovery.

These poses often include opening your hips, twisting your spine, and opening the shoulder girdle, which all aid in mobility. The muscles used are mainly the quads and hamstrings. An element consistent in yoga is breathing. Each pose can be considered a sort of body deformation. As it is easy to become stiff and rigid in our every day lives of having too much comfort, the mobility of yoga should be a strong appeal. To be able to breathe in the different poses, you are exercising the lungs and quickening the circulatory system and delivering oxygen to your bodily compartments via blood flow.

It's rather odd how suppressed children are raised being forced to sit in a classroom for 6 hours a day with very limited movement. It's as if we purposely attempt to diminish athletic ability. With today's technology, office jobs where people sit 8 hours a day is also become open to discussion as we don't need to be tethered to a desk to do work all day long. Software can be controlled remotely, files can be accessed in a cloud online (where it's inevitably going to end up since projects are collaborations).

Perhaps in the future when virtual reality is abound, fitness will be more important in order to have more efficient movement within the game. Or that all work is freelance completed at home in shorter duration than a work day, leaving people with the bulk of their day to enjoy the sunlight, and therein train their body to enjoy life to its fullest. Or perhaps our avatars will represent us 99% of the time, leaving our original bodies entirely insignificant.