Lol, I use DB's. Actually, my first set I also had a light band wrapped around my neck, but I didn't bother writing that down because it made holding the DB awkward. I also forgot to mention that when I do these, I set the level one below where it should be so I can rise up higher (sorta like a gluteham raise) just for more hammie activation. My training now reflects my lower back holding me back on some lifts. On the 405, my back started rounding a bit after I paused on the box, so I didn't bother doing more.

It's also important to note that in order to get the most out of the box, you MUST pause on it to elliminate the static reflex.. Squatting up from a dead stopped pause ensures zero momentum. If you touch and go, it's about the same as a regular squat IMHO.. Yes, I'm learning A LOT in this book lol.

Regarding the vids, I tried to get my daughter's camera but my wife brought it to work for something. No matter what, I'm absolutely going to make this a video journal because of how effective the critique can be to help me structure my training. :)

Few times a year for sure.. I've always done those rings of death all the way down and back lol. Even when I was up to 257 lbs LOL although it felt like my arms would tear off. Ever see those guys using that cement ball as that gymnist horse? Crazy endurance. I must admit I love watching the sheer number of people getting out running or rollerblading. Personally, I'm all about renting a little Razor scooter. :D

Ah, DBs. It all makes sense now. lol I'm thinking of throwing in either good mornings or hypers since my low back is also a weak point on my deads. Maybe I'll rotate them both through.

IronWorker

Sweet , I was tossing up doing high bar squats or GMs for mondays ME squat day.I'll go with the high bar squats I think, they should help my deadlift.Nice workout big man.:)

Here's some ideas for increasing your deadlift if that's your deal. :)

1) Bentover GM's
2) Zerchers if you can handle the pain
3) Front Squats (box)
4) Heavy Sled Pulls (200 ft. per trip, 4-6 trips)
5) About 14 others that you probably won't have access to. :D

The key is to max exercises that mimick the deadlift's primary movers, and as long as you increase all your accessory lifts in weight, you'll fair well. Concentric only GM's are extremely close to the deadlift as well.. Typically suspended by chains, but you can probably get away with the rack.

"Bill Starr said if you want to increase your deadlift, don't deadlift." :D

What a weirdo...



LOL jk



IronWorker

Yeah, I put that specifically for you. :D He was correct in relaying that holding that heavy barbell in your hand doing those deadlifts will drain your CNS like none other. Especially depending on how heavy you're pulling. Simmons wrote a lot of real examples from guys like Starr that he personally conferred with pertraining specifically to deadlifting.

I think I'm going to rotate in some more dynamic stuff and restructure my workout a bit. I really want to bring my deadlift up. I think I have access to pretty much all of the typical strongman stuff if that helps (atlas stones, sled, logs, etc, etc) As far as what you mentioned...

1) My lower back is a bit dodgy, so I'm going to hold off here
2) I can't, I'm a pussy
3) I'm going to rotate them in
4) I'll add them in
5) Let's hear it

I am going to rotate GHRs and pull throughs each workout also. I am going to do speed deads or some other variation every other back/pull day also. I guess I'm just looking for a couple of other lifts to add in. Just throw out some names of exercises if you don't mind...no explanation needed. :)

DH,

Curious what your take on this is:
I do a lot of olympic lifting. I'm not talking about "for fun" or "I clean now and again" but rather in preps to possibly compete should I find the time.

SO we are talking lots of clean pulls and snatch pulls. Granted, it is lighter weight than your typical dead lift, but the movement is essentially the same (I'll conceed there are small differences, but bear with me). That on top of my weekend strongman training (heavy farmers, atlas stones, more cleans, tire flips) and I pretty much find that I can't deadlift at this point. Every time I turn around I'm doing some kind of pulling. So my new focus is simply going to be to improve my olympic lifts and squats. Everything else is accessory work. So I suppose the question is something like this...

Assuming I have two days a week to work on squat based movements, would it be fair to do a ME/DE setup, or would it be smarter to do a DE/RE setup considering the heavy leg work I also get during my weekend work?

Depends on how much you're doing on the weekends. Your work capacity is probably very high given the amount of GPP involved with olympic lifting as well as your strongman training on the weekends.

I would play it by ear honestly. Definately keep two speed days without a doubt. As for ME, you could probably get away with it depending on how often lifts are rotated. But if you're planning on maxing out with a pull after that kind of a weekend lol, you're a better man than I! It's all about your GPP and recovery. Is there any way you could schedule a ME day as your weekend tire flipping/atlas stones? If you do that, that would take care of your pulling bigtime. Then you'd only have to worry about two speed days, and perhaps an olympic squatting/front squatting day.

Sorry to be so general, but I don't know much about your schedule or work capacity. Or much of anything pertaining to olympic lifting lol.