Deadlifting Beyond My Expectations!
Saturday at the gym was one of those days where you achieve something beyond your expectations, a day when you know all of your hard work and dedication is really and truly paying off, a day when you want to tell the whole world how great you feel! I’ve been away from my computer since that workout and couldn’t wait to get home so I could blog about it. What I am going on about is my achievement doing deadlifts. My other blogs tell the story of my new found love of this exercise, and how I’ve progressed with it since starting last November. Last time I did them before Saturday, about two weeks earlier, I did a personal best lift of 365. This was 10 pounds more than my previous best. My goal has been to improve at least 5 pounds every time I do them, until I get to the 400 mark. The 365 lift was hard and it took 2 attempts to get it up. So, on Saturday I was hoping I could maybe lift 370, but in my mind I thought it may be beyond my reach yet, and realistically I would do 365 again, hopefully it would be an easier lift this time.
As I warmed up with 135, 225 and 315, I felt really good. I also used chalk for the first time to help my grip, trying to get away a little from straps and improve my wrist strength. After 315 I had to use straps again, and I did a lift at 335 and 360. I had no trouble with 360 and was still feeling strong, so I decided to go for broke and load the bar all the way to 375 lbs, just to see if I could do anything with it. I was prepared to try and abort, then go back down to 365. I set myself up and visualized what I was going to do, I tell you I felt so comfortable over the bar it was unreal. I was in the zone and began to think ‘it’s only 10 pounds more than what you lifted last time, you can do this if you focus and use good form.’ So I guess by now you know what’s coming….I did that 375 lift! And as great as that was what was even greater was how smooth it was! No struggling or jerking, it went up in a fluid motion, I locked it in, looked at myself in the mirror for a second (hardly believing what I was seeing) and then lowered it gently back to the floor. I tried to contain my excitement since there were other people around, but inside I was shouting! One guy nearby, who I have a word with sometimes, said ‘you’re putting up a lot of weight there.’ I said ‘375 - the most I’ve ever done.’ He said ‘don’t you find it hurts your back? I can’t do deadlifts at all.’ I said ‘it doesn’t hurt my back at all, I’m careful to use good form. I built up to this weight slowly, and my back is getting stronger.’
I got my water bottle, and as I took a little rest and looked at the barbell on the floor in front of me, I felt a twinge of regret that another deadlift session was over and it was time to unload the plates. But wait…a thought occured to me…I’m feeling strong, not tired at all….why not do another lift? I had never done two lifts above my previous personal best before, and I’d never felt I had it in me to try it….until that moment. I had never felt so confident and strong at the gym, and I wanted to take advantage of it. I put on two more plates, 2 1/2 pounds each, bringing my total to a mind-blowing 380 pounds. I did that lift with almost as much ease as 375! After that I truly was finished with deadlifts, I know when enough is enough and the last thing I want to do is push too much and injure myself. As I put the plates away and moved on to doing some barbell shoulder presses, I couldn’t stop thinking about my achievement. I deadlifted 15 pounds more than my previous personal best, and did it with relative ease!
Since I started deadlifts almost 9 months ago I’ve gone from struggling with 135 to doing a solid 380. I never dreamed I could achieve this so fast, if ever. I credit my success to a combination of things, factors that can be applied to many exercises and other things in life. I read about what I was doing and watched videos, getting information from a lot of different sources. I figured out what was the most common practice and what would work for me. I asked questions to other bb.com members when I wasn’t sure about something. I stuck with it, doing deadlifts every second week and then in between I worked on strenghtening the primary muscles used, hamstrings and lower back muscles. I stayed patient, not trying to do to much too fast. I was content with slow improvement, and realized that lifting right was more important for me in the short-term than lifting heavy. I didn’t let any minor setbacks get me down, and I learned to make adjustments when something didn’t feel comfortable.
I am by no means an expert at deadlifts, I have much room for improvement. I want to do heavier lifts with no straps, I want to do more reps at heavier weights, and I want to reach the 400 level and go beyond. I know I will accomplish all this by staying on the same road that got me to this point. What I achieved Saturday motivated me to work harder, both at the gym and at home in the kitchen, to do the right things and continue to improve. Hopefully sometime down the road I’ll have another day at the gym as wonderful as Saturday was!
