On Friday night, our hosted a fun little “guys night” called Push & Pull. The only real details we had up front were that there would be a max bench and max deadlift. You could sign up for one or all. Despite the event happening at 7-9pm (I normally train at 4:30-6:30a) I figured it would be a fun night to just go and hang out. Besides, the girls were going skating with Gina and I really had little to no desire to skate.
A few days before the event, they announced more details. There would be 3 “events”: 3RM bench, ME reps at 185lbs, and a 3RM deadlift. I had somewhat felt disappointed in that upon hearing it. Mentally I had already thought about a max deadlift, not a 3RM. As stupid as it sounds, I just didn’t really care about working up to a triple. Nobody ever says “Yea, but how many can you lift for 3?” Still, the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was a good test because it was different.
The strategy became more different and I had fun thinking about what I would end up doing, especially since I have never really tested a true 3RM, at least not with only having 2 shots at it anyway. A buddy of mine suggested that on any given day, I should be able to hit 90% of my DL 1RM for a triple. For me, that meant 495. But in my mind, I really wanted to take a shot at 500, so that was my plan. Until I started to warm up. Warming up I hit a few singles at 155, then started triples after that. I went 3×225, 3×315, 3×365, 3×400, and 3×425. Around the time the deadlift event was to start, 8:30p, I for some reason had it in my head that I would be going close to the front. They intentionally mixed up the order of the guys competing and like an idiot, I never asked when I was going. So after I hit the set of 425, I realized I had 15-20 minutes before I would be taking any attempt. I dropped the weights back down to around 400 and then started to work back up. But the attempts of the other athletes were taking much less time than I expected, so I went from feeling like I got too warm too quick and having to stand around, to feeling rushed to get some reps in so I wouldn’t be making 100lb jumps.
About 2 minutes before I took a shot at 495, I hit 440 for a triple and it felt like a house. I really wanted to start at 500, but for some reason mentally, 495 felt like it was more doable. In hindsight, I think its funny to not have just gone for 500. At that weight, 5lbs shouldn’t make or break me. It was just a mental thing. I guess the adrenaline kicked in and I was able to touch-and-go 495 without any real issue whatsoever. It really surprised me because I was not expecting it to feel that light. Only one other guy was going to be taking a heavier attempt and he opened with 515. He is hella strong but I could tell something was up with his back because the last rep looked a little rough for him. He opted not to take a second attempt, so that meant I had to go to 520 to one-up him.
The rules for the deadlift were no reset in terms of letting go of the barbell. You could pause and reset on the floor in between reps; must show control of the final rep to the ground. Here is a video of my 2 attempts:
I was pretty happy with how it all played out. They used the Wilkes Coefficient to determine the winners. Usually my body weight is so high that anytime a coefficient is used, it allows the smaller guys to have a higher score, but not this time. I finished on top of the pack.
3RM Deadlift
- Jason – 402 points (520#)
- Steve – 346 (405#)
- Chris – 333 (350#)
I had hopped onto Facebook and thought it was a little ironic that an old photo of me showed up in Timehop. This was an old deadlift PR, I think somewhere around the 400-415 mark, with my homie Randal there yelling at me. I miss working out with that guy. I could never hold my own with him on anything cardio related, but I could usually stay close to strength. He was always a really good motivator and knew how to say things that would push me.
Thinking we need to bring back the tall socks, though.
In the back of my mind, I knew that the event would take a toll on my body and that recovery would be tough. Back in the day, when Randal and I were lifting, we would deadlift almost every Saturday. Usually we would work up to a max and then go back down the same way we came up. There were days that we would finish the session with a handful of higher rep sets at 225 as well, so we certainly got the volume in. And it never crushed me, despite people constantly whining about how much the deadlift taxes your CNS.
That was then. This is now.
And it is obvious that recovery now is night and day compared to then. That night, I couldn’t sleep. My body was pretty exhausted but I couldn’t shut my mind off. I was also up every hour going to the bathroom. I normally drink a gallon of water a day and have tried to have a little more lately. But Friday, I had at least 2 gallons. My back was sore, but my shoulders and upper back was the most taxed. That kinda surprised me for some reason. I just felt depleted the entire next day. I was pretty wrecked throughout the weekend. I still got up early on Saturday morning to workout before the 7:00am coaches meeting (I should have slept in). And I had to get showered and changed before I had to take my youngest to gymnastics. After lunch, I just couldn’t wait to get home. When I walked in, I changed and told my wife I was laying down. I slept for 3 1/2 hours. After church and dinner, I went to bed around 9:00pm and got up at 6:00am on Sunday. I felt more refreshed, but still not as good as I normally do on Sunday mornings.
For the heavy singles on Sunday in the snatch and CJ, hitting 90% was a struggle. I should be thankful that I was able to hit the numbers that I did. But this served as a reminder about the amount of volume that my body can take and how recovery is so critical for what I am doing.