New 5RM Deadlift Today

Over the past few months I haven’t been quite the gym freak that I’ve been in the past but one exercise I have continued to regularly train has been the deadlift.

Saturday mornings had become my sole weekly strength session so I had to ensure I was getting as much bang for my buck as possible and nothing works the body like this exercise.

I haven’t set a new personal record in any of the big movements since about November so it was a good boost to exceed my previous best. This morning’s effort was the culmination of 8 weeks work: starting off at a relatively low intensity and adding weight to the bar each time. I had planned on reaching this stage sooner but I noticed one Saturday that I couldn’t grip the bar properly and found I had developed a blister which proceeded to burst, resulting in missing my target for that session and slowing my progress.

I’ve recently been reading up on Mark Rippetoe’s techniques and slowly moving away from those of Stuart McRobert, hence the 5 reps, and I’ll probably start a “Practical Programming” style training cycle once I’ve finished reading the book and absorbing it’s material. Squats every workout? Brilliant :)

The question now though is, can I keep the progression coming and lift heavier next time?