IronMike wrote:Best I ever did with DL was 325lbs. Best for squat, 225lbs. And I'm coming back quickly (after the lockdown) in DL. Squat, not so much. Can't believe how much 115lbs in squat hurts.
Lol my deadlift and squat are about 100lbs apart as well--515 DL, 405 squat (granted, the squat was easy). I forgot to mention earlier I recently switched back to low bar squatting after doing high bar for years, to help relieve some IT band issues (and it seems to be working).
I cannot emphasize how much I hate front squatting. I don't think I've ever gone much above 205, maybe 225? with it. I say this as someone who back squatting (high bar) 315x3x8 not too long ago, I am just not good at front squats and also hate them (these two facts are related).Ug_Caveman wrote:Doesn't bother me too much as I never personally took to deadlifting as an exercise, deffo a squatter/presser (having short limbs on a fairly long torso probably contributed to that - most gym-people I know hate squatting, and ESPECIALLY front squatting, which I love )
I agree with this, I can pretty much not deadlift for the better part of a year and when I come back can pull 405 for a few doubles or triples so long as I've been squatting and barbell rowing and doing some heavy shrugs in the meantime. The biggest thing this past time I resumed deadlifting (after maybe a year not doing conventional, just lighter Romanians and stiff legs as assistance) was my grip--not even strength, the knurling of the bar just hurt the f out of my hands, which I guess had gotten soft from not handling that much weight recently.Ug_Caveman wrote:I assume deadlifts staying fairly strong in periods of not training them comes from kind of asymmetrical carryover - lots of things carry over better one way than the other - along with the fact the deadlift is remarkably simple as an exercise.
Uh something language related...I finished lesson 49 in Assimil GWE, so onto the active wave. Also I was paired with a Brazilian at Brazilian jiu-jitsu recently (weird, right?) and he didn't speak much English, so we got by with Portuñol, some English, and a good bit of pantomiming. It was pretty fun though.
I'm completely self-taught and have very good technique (so I've been told by powerlifters, not just a self-assessment), but the thing was I got into it at an age where I didn't mind spending hours upon hours researching and tweaking. If I were picking up lifting now as an adult I don't know if I'd had the patience for that. The one exception here is one you mentioned: cleans. I do them occasionally but at some point I realized the rabbit hole was too deep on Olympic lift form, and just said good enough. Probably not the best but...I don't do them often.coldrainwater wrote:One of my biggest weaknesses has always been a lack of focus on technique. Since I learned to lift the same way I learn languages (highly independent and almost completely self-taught), I end up with obvious gaps.
coldrainwater wrote: Had I wanted to go higher on the DL I think I still would have been back to training squats since my legs were shaking like a leaf on a tree and were basically unsafe during the lift. I could have identified that weak point without even maxing out. The DL is basically a simple lift and many people consider it mostly just a brute strength movement (noting how so many pros end up rounding the back after a certain weight threshold).
It's a very simple, brute strength lift which is probably why I like it. It's also easy to troubleshoot--either you're weak off the floor and need to work the quads (deficit pulls, squats, etc.) or you're weak at the top and need to work upper/mid back (heavy rows, shrugs, etc.). You're right regarding the round back, round-backed deadlifting isn't that dangerous provided you keep a neutral lower back (important always when lifting!) and don't actually flex the spine (i.e., start with a rounded upper back and don't move it from that position). Granted, if you're not a serious powerlifter or strongman (atlas stones literally cannot be done straight-backed) there's no need to mess with it and risk injury.
I like talking about lifting, as you can probably guess...