How do you do it?

[AllTheWay]

i have a goal of pulling 350# on deadlift. i have pulled a max of 340# and have failed at my last two attempts to get 350#.

generally i work up in small amounts. it is a mental thing for me to look at it and say, you just pulled 335# this is only 340#, it is only 5# more. lately i have been trying to make big jumps and it isnt working for me at all. i will go from 315# to trying 355# without any pulls inbetween. i understand the concept behind it of not using up "energy" on the 335# and 340# and 345# to get to 350# but i honestly dont think that i am going to be able to do it any other way. it is just the way my brain works. i need to be able to tell myself that i just pulled x and y is just a tiny bit more.

how do you do it? how do you reach a goal? say if your goal is 10# heavier than current weight. can you take a big jump from a 10 rep set to a 1 RM or do you need to move up with many small steps to get there?

 

[EDED]

wow impressive lift, i dont think i can do it with a perfect form.

sticking point is wehre from the bottom or mid? in that case maybe you need to break it up the lifts and practice heavy. doesnt matter if someone jump 10lbs in 1 month or 3 months, do what you can what your body allows, all i see is time on your side and nothing but good coming out of this as effort and hardwork will be put in as always.

yeah no i dont max but i do 3-5 reps on almost all lifts, sometimes they go up sometimes they dont, i only move up when the weight feels like i am 'owning' it, not necessarily lighter feel but completely uniform contraction. otherwise i think you would risk injury.

 

[jandj0821]

didnt look at your last attempt but how many sets and reps are you doing to build up to the 350. remember not to exhaust yourself on the way up. When I go for the max on squats i go
bar
135 *10
225 * 5
315 * 2
405*2
495 * 1
545*1
this way I am not killing myself with higher reps on the bottom side and I still have the fuel n the tank.

 

[jandj0821]

oh and what kind of rests are you doing between sets?

 

[kane.d3]

First off I agree with you, mental blocks can halt your lifting just like hitting the wall. I have had the same problems, mentally I yell at myself how easy the last lift was, plus I play super loud whatever my favorite music at the moment is. Have friends around to cheer and yell and encourage, make it like an actual event. Mentally you have to know you are suerior to that weight, any doubts will hunder your actual lifting ability. The mind controls a lot more than you think.

Second thing I would recommend, the first time i benched 405 i did like 350, 375, 390 than i would always fail. Now whenever I powelift, I do my regular warm up, then i do a set of about half or a little more than half of my goal. In your case I would do your regular warm up, get loose, do some reps with a couple plates....about 225. Let somebody else set up your weight (setting it urself can psych u out) walk around and take a good five minutes to get all ur oxygen back but stay loose, walk the treadmill or pace and stretch.

Then right before you lift, get mad....think of the worst thing in ur life, u have to be angry to power lift. Just get angry walk up, perfect form and lift. Dont even think about the weight or ur goals or anything. Just be mad and know it is a job to do and get the job done.

 

[Animal]

Just look at the weight and tell yourself ur only gunna do X amount of reps less than before. Example: benching 200 for 10 reps. Then say u wanna do 225. Just tell urself ok its not much more so instead of 10 reps im guna go for 4-6 and you usually end up doing more than what you thought. Mind is key.

 

[kane.d3]

Just look at the weight and tell yourself ur only gunna do X amount of reps less than before. Example: benching 200 for 10 reps. Then say u wanna do 225. Just tell urself ok its not much more so instead of 10 reps im guna go for 4-6 and you usually end up doing more than what you thought. Mind is key.

She is talking about maxing out.

 

[kane.d3]

Another good way to train yourself is repping something close to what you want to max, say 325, if you can do that a few times put some chains on it. Or even go down to 300 with chains and do as many as possible for a couple weeks. That way when you go for 350 you know you have done it already, with the chains.

 

[PillarofBalance]

You are blowing your load by wOrking up in five lb increments. Get warm and then pull 350. Dot focus so much on the negative either. Conserve your energy. Try rack pulls to build strength.

 

[ajdos]

Honestly the way I used to build dead strength was the power rack.
Setting the pins higher and doing 3/4's the rep with more weight, using your strongest range of motion which is usually around shins and up.

So if the goal is 360 put 405 on the pins and try partials. My whole concept with deads is this, the weakest link in the chain is usuall not the hips and low back, these muscles are unusually strong in most people.

But the forearms and shoulder girdle is often times the weaker of the bunch.

Secondly, a big part of strength is motor unit recruitment.
Partials FORCE the body to adapt to the new load.
Pyschologically you go to grab the weight from the floor it not only looks smaller but as you pull up it doesnt feel as heavy.

You can do all the usual bs with smelling salts and psyching your self up...but in the end its training your body to understand heavier loads being applied, as you cannot do this from a full range of motion as of yet you apply and even bigger load in a stronger range of motion until you can move the lighter weight in a fuller range of motion that starts with the weakest range of motion...the bottom.

There is also training from the bottom and not coming all the way up with say a weight thats 50% for more reps to help train the lower weaker range of motion.
I like doing the heavier weight for partials, its always worked as a barrier breaker.
You can apply this to almost any excercise but I found it to be the best on bench, squat and deads.

Just my .02 Im sure all the knowledgable board gurus will have their school of thought to add.

 

[hawkeye]

Rack pulls are good....IF you are having issues at lock out. It allows you to overload and do heavier weight. Deficit deads are good for if you are having issues the lower part of the pull. Bands and chains are always cool too...but I agree IF you are maxing out, minimize your reps on the way up. IF you feel you are not getting enough work/volume in your routine, do the volume on the back side of your 1 RM. Just be careful not to overtrain your 1 RM. I had the same issue a few years back when I was working my raw bench press max. Kept trying to get over 6 and ended up going backwards (ie law of diminishing returns). Good luck.