Vegan Weight Training Blog

I was scheduled to try for 360 pounds today, but in light of my recent back pain I didn’t go for it. Instead, I did an extra light set, then the increasingly heavy sets I was scheduled to do, without the final set. So I did sets of 5 at 130, 220, 265, then 300 pounds. I was extra careful about my form. It seems that I have very little leeway with regard to how straight my lower back can be during deadlifts. I must keep it 100 percent straight (even a little arched), because if I let it become even the slightest bit rounded the pain kicks in. It is easy to lose concentration for a split second and let it round, but today I did all my reps perfectly. It has been a few hours, and I am in no more pain than I was before I deadlifted, so I’m sure the problem was my form.

I believe I need to do two things in order to continue progressing with the deadlift: get better conscious control over the muscles in my lower back, and increase the flexibility of my hamstrings. To strengthen the neuromuscular pathways from my brain to my lower back, I’m going to add some Supermans and some Hyperextension Bench exercises into my regimen. To increase the flexibility of my hamstrings I’m going to continue doing the stretches I recently added to my stretching regimen. Tight hamstrings cause your back to round when you squat down to pick up the bar.

I’ve always stretched after my workouts, and I’ve always included hamstring stretches, but I’m going to be more aggressive with those stretches from now on. The ones I’ve recently added involve laying on your back, looping a towel around one calf, then sticking your leg straight up and pulling on the towel. I use the belt from a terrycloth robe, and it works even better than a towel. I do one version with the belt wrapped around my calf, and one with the belt under my foot like a stirrup. That one is really intense.

I’ve been using that same belt to do the rotator cuff stretches I wrote about a while ago. I’ve been doing those stretches every night before bed since 3/20, missing only 2 nights since then. I’ve gained measurable flexibility from the stretches, and they’ve been amazingly helpful in reducing rotator cuff pain. I used to be wary of making quick or uncontrolled movements with my arms, because of the pain in my rotator cuffs. It was especially bad at night when I was laying in bed. But now that pain has been nearly eliminated.

Luckily I was wearing stretchy UnderArmor pants, so it wasn’t like my ass was hanging out. But I think some people might have heard them rip. I’m surprised this never happened to me before. I think it’s time to get some Speedo-type underwear.

Also, my body weight is up to 174 pounds! That means I’ve gained 30 pounds since I started–and it’s nearly all muscle.

Back before I reset my squat form, the most weight I was able to do was 240 pounds. Today I did 245×3, and my form was very good (at least on the first two reps). I’m going as deep as possible–deep enough to finally get that "bounce" out of the lower part of the motion that is mentioned in Starting Strength. I feel really good about that, because now I’m doing squats with a complete range of motion. As far as weight goes, my squat has always lagged behind my other lifts, but hopefully this upward trend is going to continue uninterrupted. Squats are my number one priority at the gym right now.

I’ve been straining my lower spine with my deadlifts, so I need to be more careful with the form. It may be that I’m trying to deadlift too much weight, as well. I’m going to skip my last (heaviest) set of deadlifts next week, and drop down to 350 for the final set the week after next. I’d like to see a strength coach at some point, in order to get some feedback on my deadlifting form. I really thought it was solid, because I deadlifted for over a year with absolutely zero pain. Then all of the sudden a few weeks ago I tweaked my back on a light set of deadlifts. (A warmup set!) I took it easy the week after that, then I went heavy again and it felt fine. So I added 5 pounds the next week (which was this Wednesday) and despite focusing on my form, I managed to strain my lower back again.