Deadlifting Trouble

[ErikLeeHayes]

Well, go ahead and flame me, I understand that's what many of these posts turn into and also I wasn't sure where to post this so I apologize if this is the wrong area. Anyways to the point I deadlift with a trap bar lately, and on Sunday I walked out to the garage cold, no warm up, no pre-workout and no belt, with steel toe boots on with make me about 2 inches taller and pulled 505lbs. My friends that were with me said hey man we should video this and put it on bb.com. I said ok so I tried it again and couldn't get a full lockout in so we decided to wait a few days, so Wednesday I couldnt get full lockout, Thursday I couldn't even get it over my hips, and today I tried it with converse on (which I read somewhere that those make deadlifting easier, and couldn't barely break it. What is going on? Ive done it before and now I cant even get a half rep of it. Its making me mad, because deadlifting is the only thing I am good at. (I barely get a 275 bench and I weigh more than that which I know is pitiful, and I almost fell to my ass when I did 345 squat but I got it back up) Anyways Ive just recently started getting serious about weightlifting and want to enter a deadlifting competition once I get up to like the 700 area, which I know will take a lot of time and hard work, but I know I will have to be able to lift heavy often and more than once in a day at a competition.

[krakkerz]

Well, go ahead and flame me, I understand that's what many of these posts turn into and also I wasn't sure where to post this so I apologize if this is the wrong area. Anyways to the point I deadlift with a trap bar lately, and on Sunday I walked out to the garage cold, no warm up, no pre-workout and no belt, with steel toe boots on with make me about 2 inches taller and pulled 505lbs. My friends that were with me said hey man we should video this and put it on bb.com. I said ok so I tried it again and couldn't get a full lockout in so we decided to wait a few days, so Wednesday I couldnt get full lockout, Thursday I couldn't even get it over my hips, and today I tried it with converse on (which I read somewhere that those make deadlifting easier, and couldn't barely break it. What is going on? Ive done it before and now I cant even get a half rep of it. Its making me mad, because deadlifting is the only thing I am good at. (I barely get a 275 bench and I weigh more than that which I know is pitiful, and I almost fell to my ass when I did 345 squat but I got it back up) Anyways Ive just recently started getting serious about weightlifting and want to enter a deadlifting competition once I get up to like the 700 area, which I know will take a lot of time and hard work, but I know I will have to be able to lift heavy often and more than once in a day at a competition.

Because some days, you have it and some days you don't. Heightened CNS activation? Better rest? Better motivation? Who knows? That's why powerlifters hit a meet PR and don't go near it again for six months. Sometimes, they never reach it again.

Converse don't "make deadlifting easier". They are simply a flat soled shoe that isn't too high.

[ErikLeeHayes]

Because some days, you have it and some days you don't. Heightened CNS activation? Better rest? Better motivation? Who knows? That's why powerlifters hit a meet PR and don't go near it again for six months. Sometimes, they never reach it again.

Converse don't "make deadlifting easier". They are simply a flat soled shoe that isn't too high.

So don't worry about maxing for months at a time? And thanks for the clarification on converse. I'd like to surpass that weight so hopefully I'll hit it again. I keep getting mixed info about how to increase the dead lift, one says do sets of 3 for 3 reps, others say do half of your max for 5 sets of 20. I'm confused on what to do. But the people on this site seem to possess more knowledge than some of the people I talk to daily.

[krakkerz]

So don't worry about maxing for months at a time? And thanks for the clarification on converse. I'd like to surpass that weight so hopefully I'll hit it again. I keep getting mixed info about how to increase the dead lift, one says do sets of 3 for 3 reps, others say do half of your max for 5 sets of 20. I'm confused on what to do. But the people on this site seem to possess more knowledge than some of the people I talk to daily.

You can max fairly regularly, but your "training max" is different to what a competition max is for a powerlifter. There are dozens of ways of increasing lifts. As a general rule, an accumulation/intensification method is common. Build volume over time, then build intensity for a while..

As far as five sets of 20 in the deadlift, whoever told you that probably deserves to be taken out the back and shot. It mat be different with the trap bar, though, as I don't use it.

I'm not a powerlifting guy, though. So there's a lot more info on this stuff at the PL board.

[ErikLeeHayes]

got it back, and this time on video