The Deadlift

The Deadlift is known to be the second king of all exercises besides the Squat. It utilizes many muscle groups and allows you to lift more weight than any other lift. The Spinal Erector muscles are hit hard, which includes the Lower Back. Recovery time can be 72 hours. Many programs avoid the Deadlift so that you can train more often. Another alternative would be to Deadlift at a lower weight for higher reps.

Just short of two years ago I started Deadlifting. I started by doing a set of 12 and got to 225lb. Then I switched to 8 reps, but my grip failed at around 245lb for higher reps, and so I started using straps. Without deloading, I got to 8 reps of 385lb, which granted took six months of adding 5lb each session. After that I deloaded to 8 reps of 200lb for 2 sets. So six months later, I pulled 8 reps of 375lb for 2 sets.

At that point, I pulled 405lb for a single, and about a week later 420lb, which injured the middle of my back to a minor degree. The lift was fine, but I held the weight too long. A couple weeks later, I pulled 425lb, then 435lb, and more recently 450lb, and will break that in 2 weeks time.

The Deadlift has corrected my posture to be more upright, made me stronger in all other exercises, developed my back muscles significantly, and have helped build my endurance. I have not yet used a weightbelt with them.

The technique I use is a very narrow stance with the heels touching each other. My grip is just between the rings. I start on the ground with the weight rolled forward, set my breathing, and roll the weight back into myself as I engage my Hamstrings and Traps and lift the bar until lockout, shoving my hips forward, and squeezing my Triceps, Biceps, Pecs, Quads, Glutes, and Abs.

DB Powered v2 Progress

My current style of lifting is only training two days a week, and having the rest to recover and recharge the needed power. I've noticed my body feeling more sore compared to training five to six days a week. The reason for this is debatable. Some say that soreness is not a good indicator of muscle growth or strength growth, but in all fairness it would seem that it can be. Muscles are typically known to recover within 48 hours, and some muscles within 72 hours. It's possible to train with muscles that are not fully recovered. I have heard of the style of lifting where you purposely do this to double the damage to the muscle and therefore to double the recovery and thus the muscle and strength growth. Another aspect I might be experiencing is from changing my method of training from a high frequency to a low frequency after some time. I think most people lean on that practice far too much. I think it's important to dutifully run the course of a routine to give it its merits, and to have a deeper pool of data for analysis.

I feel with lower frequency that there is greater body awareness, which leads to better mind-muscle connection, which I think is a key to muscular development. It's bizarre, but it would seem that just as under-training is possible, over-training is possible, regardless of how many deny it. I was recently looking at some people's routines, and I saw someone doing 10 sets of 10 on many exercises. Their poundage was not impressive, which in turn tells me their physique is not as well. Something I've been keen on is that for muscle growth, you need to lift heavy, and that if you do lift heavy, your muscles will haven choice but to grow. I thought about this a lot when my Squats were stuck and plateaued at 180lb max. I had been resetting often, and I think something slowed me down in progress is resetting to low, and having too great a range to climb through for every reset, leading me to lift heavy weight less often than I could have and should have perhaps.

I would like to welcome the concept of lifting heavy weights. Something that struck is that many beginners or people that don't lift very heavy mostly have poor technique. It's not feasible to lift heavy weight poor technique. How could they possible lift heavy weight with such poor leverage, range of motion, poor joint articulation, or lack of controlled breathing. There's much talk of avoiding chasing PRs, but it is possible to tailor your routine in a way where it does not harm you, and in fact charges you up, benefiting you. On the flip side, I think lifting too heavy with too high a close percentage to your max will burn you out quickly and will not take advantage of periodization as well as bruising your confidence and therefore mental game, which is huge in lifting.

Lastly, I'd like to recommend purchasing your consistent grocery purchases online opposed to any local store. I discovered the price of oats, flour, sugar, among other baking goods were less than half the price.

Highliting Recovery

After having a few months of 5-6 day workouts in a week, I'm experiencing the flip side - more rest days than training days. I had flu-like symptoms nine days ago, which kept me out of the gym, but gave me time to realize something which is that after any workout, your muscles are sore and take time to recover. You can workout before they fully recover, and even if you have lower back stiffness, you can find a way to still work it as well as having inflamed joints. But if you do take that time off, you can experience the body awareness of the recovery, and you'll know when the strength is back and the muscles are truly ready to be hit again. I think high frequency is great for hammering skill technique, elevating your strength, and using lots of time under tension, but I think low frequency also has its merits. I feel it's easy to become less active, less flexible, and less driven on a low frequency workout. The trade though is full recovery, body awareness, high intensity, and lots of free time. For my next workout, I plan to hammer chin-ups, bench press, military press, and dips. I've had a strange experience with Barbell Rows lately. They've been taking out my lower back, regardless of even pulling off the safeties. I want to try wearing a belt for them, but don't have one yet, so I'm switching to Kroc Rows, and will be adding Barbell Curls. I switch between two workouts: one with Squats, Deadlifts, and DB Bench Press, the other with Barbell Bench Press, Military Press, Shrugs, Kroc Rows, Chin-Ups, Dips, and Curls. I'll also sprinkle in Calf Raises, Rear Delt Rows, Lateral Raises, 1-Leg Leg Ball Curls, Bent Press, and Muscle-Ups.

450lb Deadlift PR

Muscle Recovery and Joint Recovery

Glenn Pendlay has said that if you think you are overtrained, you're probably not getting enough sleep and/or food. Sometimes your body is beat up, and injuries are on the horizon, yet still avoidable if the right precautions are taken. Mobility work seems to be a rather new concept in lifting. I was once under the impression and obsession with the idea that if you trained a muscle more than once within 48 hours, you wouldn't get your gains. Not all muscles are the same size, and muscles can be either slow-twitch or fast-twitch, so there are many variables.

When I was Deadlifting very heavy, I knew that I had to take many rest days to recover my Lower Back and that if I had just stopped Deadlifting, I'd be able to train other exercises more frequently. I held onto this idea and just kept it in my head far too long. At points I realized that I had been doing exercises on days back-to-back that used the same muscles, and it was working as far as strength and muscle gains. High frequency drills technique into you. Weight lifting is about technique and leverage. All the strength in the world misguided is for naught. Before I got into lifting, there would be times I felt or even commanded myself to harness and radiate energy, yet I didn't know what to do with this energy. I could punch walls, jump into walls, or some form of injuring myself, and flooding my mind with psychosis. Actually, it was a good source of intuition for writing creatively.

My current routine for transforming from a Mummy to an agile Werewolf is a series of mobility tools.

• The Stick
• Useful  for Calves and Quads mostly.
• Foam Roller
• The number one tool for recovery. Rolling out your lower back will get you lifting heavier quicker.
• Every major muscle can be rolled.
• Most active recovery tool. It can be considered ground work, and will build strength, endurance, and joint strength.
• Rolls out muscle knots, soft tissue, and helps ligaments and joints recover faster.
• Excellent for the hip muscles.
• Theracane
• Specifically designed for Trap relief. You can dig in very deep.
• Useful for Traps, Posterior Delts, Anterior Delts, Pecs, Glutes, Lats, Teres Major, Triceps, and Biceps.
• You can hit every inch of the Pecs, which is unlike any of the other tools.
• Voodoo Flossing
• Instant and lasting joint relief in any limb.
• Useful for Knees, Ankles, Wrists, and Elbows.
• A sense of power and stability comes from its use.
• Stretch-Out Straps
• Useful for Shoulders in all ranges of movements, Triceps, and Lats.
• Builds Grip strength.
• Good way to stretch your Pecs and Anterior Delts.
• Yoga
• Flexibility and Mobility.

Using all of these techniques or even some is night and day between neglecting them. For hand care, I love to hold and squeeze ice cubes, and to apply Bag Balm throughout the day. If any part of your hands gets very raw, tape it every workout. Lastly, water should always be within arms-reach. I really believe in eating several pieces of fruit a day as well. They bring me focus, clarity, nutrition, energy, and they help digestion. 

Pectoralis Extravaganza

I have been working towards enhancing my physique by focusing on developing my Triceps and Pecs. I've made good progress, and learned many things on this set path. I remember as far back as when I initially started. I would be doing pull-ups as I eyeballed the Bench Press across the room. I was proud of doing bodyweight exercises, and figured my muscles would develop through them, but I also longed for myself to attain a reputable Bench Press number. No matter the amount of Push-Ups, the chest muscles could only be under so much stress via bodyweight.

I began Bench Pressing, and scheduled it all wrong of course, and I used gloves nonetheless. It took me a very long time to build my Bench strength, and it took far more injuries than Deadlifting ever caused, and I would say more than even Squats. The Bench Press is particularly deceiving. What could be easier than laying on a bench and pushing something away? Well, it turns out, nearly everything is easier than the Bench Press.

Something I've noticed that applies for all lifts is that 'beginners', whilst lifting light weight opposed to a lifting veteran lifting heavier, is not braced for heavier weight. For example, if someone walks in the gym and can bench 180lb for their 1RM, you'll probably noticed that they're not braced to lift heavier. Lifting is about leverage, and when lifting lift, certain leverage doesn't or something can't be applied. I supposed I first witnessed this through the Deadlift. It's not easy to rep 135lb and make it look clean, whereas with 250lb, I find it easier to maintain form. I can sink my weight into the lift, whereas I'd fall over with 135lb. So instead of looking at other people and thinking that they're weak; make it a point to realize they are probably lifting as heavy as they can with their current technique, diet, rest, knowledge, etc. In this sense, people aren't weak or strong, they're intelligent or brute.

I believe my technique improves in any given exercise after I've researched the lift via watching form and tutorial videos, reading articles, reading controversial opinions on parts of the lift, studying the anatomical form and functions of the targeted muscles, and both thinking about the technique in my head and practicing it in the real word, and finally analyzing my results, predictions to fully understand why things are happening exactly how they're happening.

I've found much success in developing my back through Deadlifting 3x a week, and at times even more. I've also found success in Squats through adding variations and frequency. So now I'm applying this logic to the Bench Press - the last of the big 3. That Bench Press variation is simply Bench using dumbbells. Powerlifters frequently perform it as an auxiliary exercise.

In forgetting my Dip belt this morning for both Weighted Dips and Weighted Chins, I decided to do Muscle-Ups with 6 reps of dips atop the Pull-Up bar. I did 10 sets altogether, so that's 60 dips, and I realized that performing a dip on a single bar with a prone grip is like a Bench Press, but using your bodyweight as the weight. When you do a dip on the standard parallel bars, you're using mostly Triceps, although you can lean forward to utilize more chest. I believe even more of the Pecs are utilized in the single-bar prone grip dip. Another place you could do these dips is on a Smith Machine barbell. It would be a little tricky to setup with a Power Rack or Squat Rack, but could be done.

Bench Press Technique

In a search to improve my Bench Press technique, I spent the last month benching 2x per session 3x a week. This allowed me to drill technique with high volume. That's 24 Bench Press sessions versus 8, if you were to bench just 2x a week. I had been working Decline bench prior to focusing on Flat, and through that I learned to better engage my chest. It was driving me mad that leg drive is absent though. I've grown comfortable with Flat now, and it's my preference.

I use leg drive although I stay on my toes instead of planting my heals. I have long legs, and that may have something to do with it. I recently switched to a more narrow grip, and found it much less prone to injury. This also involved tucking my elbows on each rep. Since then it's become less of a conscious-based thought and more of technique.

I also learned about pinning your upper back, and having all of the weight there. Just today, I found an even better way of staying pinned. First is a tight setup. I saw Dave Tate using this method of grabbing the center of the bar with your thumbs, and raising your sternum towards the bar, adducting your shoulders, then pushing yourself back down. This keeps you very tight and in the right position for good leverage.

The last addition to the technique is to utilize the long head of your Triceps. Seen below as no.1.

I noticed that contracting the long head of the Triceps during lockout makes you prefer a wider grip, and I had been noticing that in videos I've been watching of heavy Bench Presses. Also, locking out the long head makes your wrists turn inwardly, which will hit the Pecs and Triceps better. Each rep should be driven up with leg drive. Let the bar glide down smoothly each rep, and harness its energy for an explosive contraction as you throw the weight up into lockout.