My deadlifts arent geting better...help?

_lizzie_
_lizzie_ Posts: 130
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been lifting sine August. I do stronglifts and I've gone up 5lbs a week most weeks since starting except for the last three weeks. No improvement. Do I just keep trying and eventually I will go up? Is there anything I can do?

Replies

  • clee369
    clee369 Posts: 101 Member
    Get a job
  • DaveRCF
    DaveRCF Posts: 266
    In all seriousness, try eating more. You need a calorie surplus to add weight on the bar once your neuromuscular system has adapted. I am doing this now and it seems to be working. Not a crazy surplus but a surplus nonetheless. I should add that this assumes grip strength is not an issue.
  • _lizzie_
    _lizzie_ Posts: 130
    Get a job

    what?
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    How much are you lifting?
    Where do you feel like you're failing? Grip? Can't get it up?
    Get us a video of the form.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    You need a calorie surplus to add weight on the bar once your neuromuscular system has adapted.

    ^^this isn't true.

    Stalls happen, and they're more frequent as the weight gets heavier. Just keep pushing, you'll add weight to the bar eventually.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I've been lifting sine August. I do stronglifts and I've gone up 5lbs a week most weeks since starting except for the last three weeks. No improvement. Do I just keep trying and eventually I will go up? Is there anything I can do?

    I do not do SL but I seem to recall that if you stall three times in a row you should deload, restart from there and work on form. Check out Mark Rippetoe's videos.
  • _lizzie_
    _lizzie_ Posts: 130
    How much are you lifting?
    Where do you feel like you're failing? Grip? Can't get it up?
    Get us a video of the form.

    Im doing 125lbs. I cant even lift it. It wont even budge. Its like those last 5lbs might as well be a thousand.
  • _lizzie_
    _lizzie_ Posts: 130
    I've been lifting sine August. I do stronglifts and I've gone up 5lbs a week most weeks since starting except for the last three weeks. No improvement. Do I just keep trying and eventually I will go up? Is there anything I can do?

    I do not do SL but I seem to recall that if you stall three times in a row you should deload, restart from there and work on form. Check out Mark Rippetoe's videos.

    I think your right about deloading...kind of makes me a bit sad to go back. I guess I have to do something.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    what's holding you back? your grip or your posterior chain?

    if it's your grip (which happens to me) you might need a take a deadlift break for a week maybe do some farmer's walks with dumbbells..

    if you've stalled because of other muscles, i find i will stall on all other exercises as well. when that happens i take a week off lifting and will eat at my maintenance. the next week i'm back at it and find that i start progressing again

    the other option is to look for the 1.25 pound weight plates. if you cant go up by 5 pounds, maybe you can do 2.5?
  • _lizzie_
    _lizzie_ Posts: 130
    In all seriousness, try eating more. You need a calorie surplus to add weight on the bar once your neuromuscular system has adapted. I am doing this now and it seems to be working. Not a crazy surplus but a surplus nonetheless. I should add that this assumes grip strength is not an issue.

    How!? I eat the kitchen :laugh: ! I guess I could add some shakes...my boyfriend does the whey protein stuffs but I dont usually partake. I eat from 1500-2000 calories...just eat until Im stuffed really. Mostly venison and veggies cooked in tallow or butter. Sometimes we have curries. Dont worry about it really... should I eat more than that?
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    I've been lifting sine August. I do stronglifts and I've gone up 5lbs a week most weeks since starting except for the last three weeks. No improvement. Do I just keep trying and eventually I will go up? Is there anything I can do?

    I do not do SL but I seem to recall that if you stall three times in a row you should deload, restart from there and work on form. Check out Mark Rippetoe's videos.

    I think your right about deloading...kind of makes me a bit sad to go back. I guess I have to do something.
    Stronglifts calls for a 10% deload after 3 consecutive stalls.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    How much are you lifting?
    Where do you feel like you're failing? Grip? Can't get it up?
    Get us a video of the form.

    Im doing 125lbs. I cant even lift it. It wont even budge. Its like those last 5lbs might as well be a thousand.

    At 125lbs, I'd put a wager that this is a form issue. Let's get this video.
  • _lizzie_
    _lizzie_ Posts: 130
    I cant do one right now...I did my workout before posting this and also Im about to do some of that eating we talked about earlier haha, but I will post one later.
  • _lizzie_
    _lizzie_ Posts: 130
    Form check video link. I lifted only 95 for the video since I already worked out today.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoE9hEvoY7I&feature=youtu.be

    Just ignore the PJs :embarassed: !
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Form check video link. I lifted only 95 for the video since I already worked out today.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoE9hEvoY7I&feature=youtu.be

    Just ignore the PJs :embarassed: !

    There are a bunch of folks better at doing form checks than me but the main thing that I see is that you are a bit 'loose' in the torso. You should be pushing your chest (and butt) out more and engaging your core and lats more so you back is more rigid. At a heavier weight it looks like your back would round.

    ETA: you do not look like you have much hip thrust either.
  • McBully4
    McBully4 Posts: 1,270 Member
    Last time I deloaded for a week, I came back and crushed all my PRs by a lot!
  • Polly758
    Polly758 Posts: 623 Member
    deload
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    Try taking a break or going back to a lighter weight. I was stalling majorly on my squats for like 2-3 weeks stuck on a weight. I took a week off of working out and I came back and was able to knock out all reps easily. Probably could have done an extra rep or two.
  • ifyouknew
    ifyouknew Posts: 68 Member
    You could try de-loading or taking a week off. The other thing to look at is if you're lifting too frequently. I try to do my lifts on days when I haven't done a ton of cardio, and sometimes this means I end up lifting just 2 days after my previous weight lifting session. It's always a lot harder on those days then if I had left 3 days between workouts.
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    Form check video link. I lifted only 95 for the video since I already worked out today.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoE9hEvoY7I&feature=youtu.be

    Just ignore the PJs :embarassed: !

    You are too much on top of the bar..........Look where her shoulders are compared to the bar

    http://youtu.be/MX8jgCFXYTU
  • aproc
    aproc Posts: 1,033 Member
    I typically get out of a plataeu following a small break or after having a lot of calories over the weekend and rest. Not saying you should go have a bunch of junk or eat a lot, but sometimes you just need to increase your calories to continue seeing improvement...or rest a bit.
  • XFitMojoMom
    XFitMojoMom Posts: 3,255 Member
    Your hips are still too high so lower your bum, right now you are pulling too much with your lower back. If your hips are too high then you wont get to use your legs to push. If your hips are too low, your hamstrings wont be engaged and ready to fire leaving you to “squat” the weight off the floor using your quads.

    stay back on your heels, think of the first part of the deadlift as a leg press. You are pressing the floor away by extending your legs, but you are leaving your hips and shoulders in the same position as they started in. Once the bar is above the knee, then your hips finish the move.

    also, I find using a mixed grip helps my lifts tremendously.
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
    Drop 10-15% from the bar and work back up. If you don't break past your stall, you aren't eating enough to get stronger, or you have reached the end of your linear gains. A woman should probably get to a 1rm of at least 2xBW on linear progression.

    For form, chest up butt down a bit more and a bit more arch to the lower back
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    Drop 10-15% from the bar and work back up. If you don't break past your stall, you aren't eating enough to get stronger, or you have reached the end of your linear gains. A woman should probably get to a 1rm of at least 2xBW on linear progression.

    ^^^^ This. Looking at the video, your form seems okay, but you need those hips to come forward (bit like when you do kettle bell swings, the hip thrust is what finishes the lift) at the end of the pull. Use your glutes to pull up by engaging them when you bend over at the start. I never had to deload on deads or squats (they are still going up nicely), but everyone is different. Keep going, though but what the guy said above seems correct to me...
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
    Oh, one other thing you can do. Power Cleans.
  • _lizzie_
    _lizzie_ Posts: 130
    Thanks, everyone has been so helpful :flowerforyou: ! I'll try to fix my form and deload next time I do the work out, see how it goes!

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