Lifting Heavy Shit

Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3 (4 mins rest between sets)
365-385-395-405-415

Some folks believe that the deadlift is the King Daddy of exercises.  I've seen the debate narrowed to essentially the Squat and the Dead.  What you're not going to hear is some guy arguing about how the tricep kickback is "King" - not for very long anyway, before he is laughed at and mocked by the men who actually lift and squat heavy shit.

It's not just a powerlifting argument, either.  The arguments for functionality are pretty compelling on both sides: you need to squat whether you're a granny or Arnold.  Whether it's 1000 lb back squat for a world record, or putting your ass on the toilet or in the barcalounger, if you can't squat, you're on your way into the assisted living facility in short order.  The laws of gravity and entropy put heavy shit on the ground.  Period.  From groceries to furniture, you have to be able to effectively and efficiently pick up stuff off of the ground if you want to possess it or put it to use.

Regardless of how the debate turns out, I spent today doing triples of lifting heavy stuff. i.e. Deadlifting.  I tried to incorporate some of the techniques I read from an article in the CF Journal by Mark Bell - who has squatted over 1000 lb, deadlifted over 700, and benched over 800.  He's held multiple national records at various weight classes, so I figured he might know something about lifting heavy.

The results?  Pretty good, in my mind.  If Prilepin's charts are correct, my 1RM right now is about 450, which is "merely" 50lb shy of where I want to be - and only 15 lb south of my PR (465).  The videos above are at 365 and 395.  395 is where it started to feel "heavy" - that's the point at which I notice the bar bends before it comes up off the ground (at least my bar does), and that is always a bit of a surprise because you have to pull harder and longer in order to "break" the ground and get the bar moving.  Mark Bell also advocated two important mental aspects of lifting - you really do have to get angry at that bar and lift with bad intentions.  Or it just ain't gonna move.  Video below was a bit of a surprise make for me - three weeks ago I failed at 425 for a single rep - today I tripled 415.

No doubt this was due to Bell's other advice about leaning back when you pull.  It's not as noticeable on my other lifts, but here at 415, you can clearly see the bar move back into me (and my toes actually come up during one of the reps) as I get back on my heels and really lean back as I pull.  A very good feeling.