Freakin Deadlifts

I'm 5'6" 148 pounds and just did 220 x 5 Deadlift on my 11th week of STRONGLIFTS, LOVE it.

I'm also 49 years young

Very nice! I'm am 12 years older than you but 50 lbs heavier and that's where I am right now with my DL's.

That's freakin awesome...both of you.

By the way...since adopting deads, I freaking LOVE that my back is just slightly sore for like three days after lol. Just enough so that I can feel the muscles moving.

It's an awesome feeling.

I agree. It sort of worried me at first. I wondered if I had horrible form or hurt my back since I wasn't used to it feeling sore at that point of my back. Then once I calmed down I realized that the soreness was really off to the side and not centered on the spine like a true back injury. Then I was like "Duh! It's a sore muscle not an injury". My second thought was "Why in the heck haven't I been doing these all along?"

Yeah, that happens even when your form is good. It helps to start doing some weighted Reverse Hyper-extensions for your back, like 5 sets of 8 and some RDL's or Good Mornings just to build some strength in those muscles. Add some ab and oblique work and you'll be good to go in a couple weeks.

By the way...since adopting deads, I freaking LOVE that my back is just slightly sore for like three days after lol. Just enough so that I can feel the muscles moving.

It's an awesome feeling.

I agree. It sort of worried me at first. I wondered if I had horrible form or hurt my back since I wasn't used to it feeling sore at that point of my back. Then once I calmed down I realized that the soreness was really off to the side and not centered on the spine like a true back injury. Then I was like "Duh! It's a sore muscle not an injury". My second thought was "Why in the heck haven't I been doing these all along?"

Yeah, that happens even when your form is good. It helps to start doing some weighted Reverse Hyper-extensions for your back, like 5 sets of 8 and some RDL's or Good Mornings just to build some strength in those muscles. Add some ab and oblique work and you'll be good to go in a couple weeks.

I actually did the hyper extensions prior to deadlifts. My lower back is pretty solid I think. I mean I'm sure there's room for improvement...but strength wise I'm happy with it. What's sore on me is my traps...which is awesome lol.

ETA ~ I actually wonder whether I'll ever NOT be sore with the program I'm doing. With my old program, I did set reps for set weight, and when to increase weight was somewhat subjective. With the new setup, I'm lifting my 4rm every time...if I get to 6 reps, I add weight until I can only do 4 again.

While not the milestone some of y'all are posting up I'm pretty proud of doing 5x205 today - 5lbs over my body weight. It impressed the hell out of my 7 year old daughter anyway.

It actually felt easier than the 5x195 I did on Friday. Guess that means it's working.

Just to make y'all jealous here's a picture of my set-up. That wheel is the wheel on the grill right next to my designated deadlift area.

Congrats mate! The only person you are competing with is yourself and progress is progress! Unless you're doing any powerlifting comps

By the way...since adopting deads, I freaking LOVE that my back is just slightly sore for like three days after lol. Just enough so that I can feel the muscles moving.

It's an awesome feeling.

I agree. It sort of worried me at first. I wondered if I had horrible form or hurt my back since I wasn't used to it feeling sore at that point of my back. Then once I calmed down I realized that the soreness was really off to the side and not centered on the spine like a true back injury. Then I was like "Duh! It's a sore muscle not an injury". My second thought was "Why in the heck haven't I been doing these all along?"

Yeah, that happens even when your form is good. It helps to start doing some weighted Reverse Hyper-extensions for your back, like 5 sets of 8 and some RDL's or Good Mornings just to build some strength in those muscles. Add some ab and oblique work and you'll be good to go in a couple weeks.

ETA ~ I actually wonder whether I'll ever NOT be sore with the program I'm doing. With my old program, I did set reps for set weight, and when to increase weight was somewhat subjective. With the new setup, I'm lifting my 4rm every time...if I get to 6 reps, I add weight until I can only do 4 again.

That's cool, sounds like a Max Effort method which is typically done between a 1RM and 5RM. You may just want to switch exercises that you're maxing out on every week or two at most. Have you checked out Westside for Skinny *kitten* 3? It's pretty awesome and is along the same lines with a weekly max-out in something.

You do Reverse Hyper's before you DL? You are the man. LOL! I personally save that stuff for after I'm done so my supporting muscles aren't tired. For lower body ME day I'm currently doing, Main Lift to 1RM, Good Morning 5 x 10, Reverse Hypers 5 x 8, DB RDL's 3 x 15, and Calf Raises 4 x 10. I was never a fan of calf raises but my leg strength started feeling more balanced since I started doing them, so I'm going to keep it up for now at least.

What's a reverse hyper?

Reverse hyperextension. It's probably on YouTube.

That's cool, sounds like a Max Effort method which is typically done between a 1RM and 5RM. You may just want to switch exercises that you're maxing out on every week or two at most. Have you checked out Westside for Skinny *kitten* 3? It's pretty awesome and is along the same lines with a weekly max-out in something.

You do Reverse Hyper's before you DL? You are the man. LOL! I personally save that stuff for after I'm done so my supporting muscles aren't tired. For lower body ME day I'm currently doing, Main Lift to 1RM, Good Morning 5 x 10, Reverse Hypers 5 x 8, DB RDL's 3 x 15, and Calf Raises 4 x 10. I was never a fan of calf raises but my leg strength started feeling more balanced since I started doing them, so I'm going to keep it up for now at least.

Noooo, I used to do weighted extensions on my 5x5 lol. I'm only doing 6 lifts total (2 per day 3x a week) right now. Next week I'll increase it to 9 lifts total by adding lunges, shoulder press, and rows.

The way I work my sets is sort of a reverse pyramid. 3x very light 5 rep warmup sets (the final warmup set is roughly 50% of my first working set). The idea is to get warm, but not induce ANY fatigue. My first working set is my 4rm...when I reach 6 reps on that set, I'll add weight until I can only do 4 reps again. Second working set is a 10% deload by 5 reps...third working set is another 10% deload by 6 reps.

It's pretty intense, but I love the simplicity of it, and as long as I keep increasing my weights...I'm happy lol. Right now I'm using it for all 6 of my lifts, Deads/chin ups (working weight of 315lbs/25lbs respectively), Bench/dips (250lbs/70lbs), Squats/calf raises (just started squats, I did 275lbs x9 lol...need to up my weight next week/450lbs). The bench seems to be my slowest to improve. Well, that and calves lol. 450lbs is a ***** for me on calf raises.

While not the milestone some of y'all are posting up I'm pretty proud of doing 5x205 today - 5lbs over my body weight. It impressed the hell out of my 7 year old daughter anyway.

It actually felt easier than the 5x195 I did on Friday. Guess that means it's working.

That's awesome man, and trust me...it doesn't matter WHAT you're lifting...because you're lifting more than those who don't do them at all. That's more than enough for respect all by itself.

It's pretty intense, but I love the simplicity of it, and as long as I keep increasing my weights...I'm happy lol. Right now I'm using it for all 6 of my lifts, Deads/chin ups (working weight of 315lbs/25lbs respectively), Bench/dips (250lbs/70lbs), Squats/calf raises (just started squats, I did 275lbs x9 lol...need to up my weight next week/450lbs). The bench seems to be my slowest to improve. Well, that and calves lol. 450lbs is a ***** for me on calf raises.

Good for you, that's awesome.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a slow bench. It seems like when I start improving my bench something happens, either my shoulder acts up, the tendon I ruptured gets irritated, or recently I had some tennis elbow going on. I just don't think I'm made to bench, I have long arms. Even though our bench is slow to improve at least we can say it's improving.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a slow bench. It seems like when I start improving my bench something happens, either my shoulder acts up, the tendon I ruptured gets irritated, or recently I had some tennis elbow going on. I just don't think I'm made to bench, I have long arms. Even though our bench is slow to improve at least we can say it's improving.

Definitely...but I've got shorter arms lol...so no excuse here =p. I did tweak my shoulder a month and a half ago doing dumbbell chest presses, and it still hurts a little when lifting, which is why I'm using the hammer machine still. I really want to get back to barbell benches. Under a barbell, it hurts substantially more than 'a little' lol.

I'm getting a solid half rep a week though (up to 5 reps with 250lbs), like clockwork. It's not much, but like you said...it's an improvement and I'll take it lol.

I did romanian DLs for the first time on Tuesday and my hammies/glutes are smashed... I don't know why I haven't been doing them all along, I am really quad dominant so they're awesome for me!

Good for you! It's common that people are quad dominant. Look at our exercise selection for legs that are the obvious exercises to do. Squats (any variation), Conventional Deadlifts, DB Squats, Lunges (DB or BB), Plyometric jumps, Leg Press, Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, and Calf Raises (I'm sure I'm missing something). All but two of those are quad dominant movements. That's not to say the posterior chain isn't involved but the main muscle to engage are the quadriceps. Now you look at some of the less obvious exercises, or at least those forgotten about or even taboo, for the lower back and you have Good Mornings, RDL's, Back Hyperextensions, Reverse Hyperextensions, Pull-Through's, Glute-Ham Raises, Glute Bridges and you have some exercises that seriously hit your lower back and hammies. Unfortunately Glute Ham Raises pretty much require a specialized bench that most gyms don't have. But most gyms have 10 calf raise machines...

Indeed, this thread bucks the trend of all the MFP stoopid.

By the way, side question here. When crisanderson27 burns calories from exercise, should I drink those calories back in the form of beer?

I actually got inspired earlier and started this thread, http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/681920-strength-training-pr-s-brag-about-your-success, hoping that we could carry this over and get talking about more than just deadlifting, not that there's anything wrong with deadlifting by any means.

Indeed, this thread bucks the trend of all the MFP stoopid.

By the way, side question here. When crisanderson27 burns calories from exercise, should I drink those calories back in the form of beer?

I actually got inspired earlier and started this thread, http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/681920-strength-training-pr-s-brag-about-your-success, hoping that we could carry this over and get talking about more than just deadlifting, not that there's anything wrong with deadlifting by any means.

Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't seen it. Off to read/bump it!

I did romanian DLs for the first time on Tuesday and my hammies/glutes are smashed... I don't know why I haven't been doing them all along, I am really quad dominant so they're awesome for me!

Good for you! It's common that people are quad dominant. Look at our exercise selection for legs that are the obvious exercises to do. Squats (any variation), Conventional Deadlifts, DB Squats, Lunges (DB or BB), Plyometric jumps, Leg Press, Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, and Calf Raises (I'm sure I'm missing something). All but two of those are quad dominant movements. That's not to say the posterior chain isn't involved but the main muscle to engage are the quadriceps. Now you look at some of the less obvious exercises, or at least those forgotten about or even taboo, for the lower back and you have Good Mornings, RDL's, Back Hyperextensions, Reverse Hyperextensions, Pull-Through's, Glute-Ham Raises, Glute Bridges and you have some exercises that seriously hit your lower back and hammies. Unfortunately Glute Ham Raises pretty much require a specialized bench that most gyms don't have. But most gyms have 10 calf raise machines...

Add my olympic lifting to the list, as that's where the majority of my quad dominance comes from.

For sure, especially if you're doing a full snatch or clean from the floor.