Anatomy of a lifting letdown

hill8570
hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
edited December 1 in Fitness and Exercise
So, today was deadlift day, and I was in pursuit of a new 5RM (305). Failed last week, but felt a lot less run-down today, so I had high hopes.

Ran through through my warm-up lifts...195...235...275. Easy. The weights were flying off the floor. I was on fire!

Loaded up 305. Wow -- easy pull, although my grip slipped towards the end and I wasn't able to hold lockout at the end of the 5th rep. Surprisingly, felt like I had more in the tank, so I reset, pulled, and held lockout for a 20-count. Wow...rocking and rollin' today! 315 is starting to look like a possibility!

Then, while unloading the plates, I noticed I'd loaded 25lb bumper plates for my first plates instead of 45's. So I was lifting 40lbs less than I thought.

I'm sure Arnold would've just loaded up the correct weights and gone for it. Not me. Mojo went that-a-way...

Maybe next week.

Replies

  • ShodanPrime
    ShodanPrime Posts: 226 Member
    A big part of lifting is mental. Having the fortitude to go for it.


    You'll get there.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,744 Member
    Bummer! I maybe would have just tried one or two, but after all the lifts you already did you were probably too tired.

    I agree with the mental aspect. Instead of "maybe next week", change it to "next week it is!". Worth a shot anyway.
  • brewingPHX
    brewingPHX Posts: 284 Member
    Ha ha ha whoops!
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
    At least it wasn't one of those days where you lifted 290lb 5 days ago and couldn't get 275lb off the ground today. Those days are really mentally taxing. I had a few of those days and had to switch to 220lb deadlifts with higher reps and more explosive speed off the ground before I regrouped for heavier deadlifts.
  • Unknown
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  • yusaku02
    yusaku02 Posts: 3,472 Member
    I once went through 5 working sets of bench where I'd accidentally loaded 2.5lbs more one one side than the other. I kept having to even out the bar since one side would droop down further than the other. It was really distracting but I was relieved to find out it wasn't all in my head.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    _MistahJ_ wrote: »
    Out of curiosity, what reps are you doing on your warm-ups? Just the three sets?

    Yeah, I do the three 5R sets leading up to my working 5R. But this is preceded by four light 5R sets of squats (well below my 5RM), and four 5R sets of OHP. If you're familiar with the various programs, it's a "B" day on Madcow.
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  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    _MistahJ_ wrote: »
    Seems to me like you may have fatigued yourself a bit before you attempted your PR. If I were working up to a set of 305, I'd do two sets of 5 @ 135, 5 @ 175 or 180, 3 @ 220, and 2 @ 255. Maybe even lighter since I'd already done squats.

    Add in 1 single at 280-285 and then I'd agree with this, give or take.

    I think a 50lb jump is going to be a bit large given where his estimated 1rm is.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
    edited April 2016
    When going up to 295lb I typically do something like 5x135, 4x185, 3x225, 2x255, 1x275, then my 5x295lb. Granted, I've found that since I also do squats before deadlifts that I have to cut down on the reps and may even do something more like 5, 3, 1, 1, 1, working set.

    (I actually only have 300lb of weights, so I have my warmup points pretty much fixed. I'm now just increasing my working set rep count as I watch for more weights on craigslist)
  • juliewatkin
    juliewatkin Posts: 764 Member
    SideSteel wrote: »
    _MistahJ_ wrote: »
    Seems to me like you may have fatigued yourself a bit before you attempted your PR. If I were working up to a set of 305, I'd do two sets of 5 @ 135, 5 @ 175 or 180, 3 @ 220, and 2 @ 255. Maybe even lighter since I'd already done squats.

    Add in 1 single at 280-285 and then I'd agree with this, give or take.

    I think a 50lb jump is going to be a bit large given where his estimated 1rm is.

    My typical warm up looks like 135 2x5, 225x2, 255x1, 285x1 (assuming 285 as top weight for the day). I weigh between 125 and 130. It just takes practice to get your body accustomed to fewer warm ups to be primed for your work sets.

  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    edited April 2016
    juliewatkin wrote: »
    SideSteel wrote: »
    _MistahJ_ wrote: »
    Seems to me like you may have fatigued yourself a bit before you attempted your PR. If I were working up to a set of 305, I'd do two sets of 5 @ 135, 5 @ 175 or 180, 3 @ 220, and 2 @ 255. Maybe even lighter since I'd already done squats.

    Add in 1 single at 280-285 and then I'd agree with this, give or take.

    I think a 50lb jump is going to be a bit large given where his estimated 1rm is.

    My typical warm up looks like 135 2x5, 225x2, 255x1, 285x1 (assuming 285 as top weight for the day). I weigh between 125 and 130. It just takes practice to get your body accustomed to fewer warm ups to be primed for your work sets.

    I don't think that's unreasonable at all. That's a 30lb jump from your last single to your top weight.


    What I was getting at with my post is that the size of increase you make from attempt to attempt is going to somewhat correlate with overall strength.

    For example someone with a max of 700lbs can make larger increases in load from attempt to attempt than someone who has a max of 300lbs.

    In the case of someone pulling 300, I think a 50lb jump to the work set is probably a bit on the high end.
  • mamasmaltz3
    mamasmaltz3 Posts: 1,111 Member
    Oh man, that stinks. I did that once on what I thought was a bench press PR.
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