Monday, December 15, 2008

Return of the deadlift

Warm-up:
X-band walks
back squat (to 2x225#)

3x5 back squat (low-bar; 2x235,235 [belt])
5-5-5-3-3-5 deadlift (135,225,275,315,315 [belt],315 [belt])

3x1 (per arm) TGU + windmill (45# plate)
3x max chinups (15,10,8)
4x8 seated calf raise (90)
Lots of stretching and foam rolling

Back feeling good lately, so I decided it was time to deadlift again (it's been over 2 weeks!). Kept the weight light, ramped up slowly and focused on form. Felt really good. I'll keep it to once a week to let my back recover, and do assistance exercises when needed. I hope I listen to myself...

Discovered that it's much more comfortable to deadlift with the belt one notch looser than I cinch it for squatting. The belt doesn't provide nearly the boost in the deadlift as it does for the squat, but it keeps me aware of my back position.

Just to be clear, I start the TGU + windmill from a standing position with the weight racked at shoulder height. I initiate the complex with a strict press, descend until I'm laying on my back, ascend and finish with a windmill.

2 comments:

Melissa Urban said...

That is one of my favorite warm-up combinations. I'll start laying down and do a TGU to standing, then windmill, then swing to change hands and snatch to get the KB up, then the reverse portion of the TGU on the other side until I'm laying down again... and repeat. Love it.

brian said...

"swing to change hands and snatch to get the KB up"

Nice combo, How come I never thought of that? Now if only my gym would buy some kettlebells...