Beau Holder said:

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So that would be like 3x6 at 335 or whatever feels right, followed by 4x5 at 345 or 350 or again whatever is the appropriate jump from what felt right the week before, then 5x4 at 360, then deload, then 4x5 at 365, etc up to like 6x3 at 405 or something. I'm just bull****ting the numbers but you get it.

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Sounds good. Will give it a go.

Again. Thank you!

Being so close to my goal (however modest it is), is more frustrating than it should be.

And sonofabeetch, I need to freakin cut.

I haven't gotten back above 615 since I lost 6 lbs so I know that struggle as well. Never know where the balance is.

Beau Holder said:

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I haven't gotten back above 615 since I lost 6 lbs so I know that struggle as well. Never know where the balance is.

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Oh wow. I didn't think Deadlift was so sensitive to weight shifts. (Unlike a squat or press/bench press). That's got to be frustrating.

That was actually going to be my next question. Im 235/240 at 6'5". You think this is enough to pull 475/500?

Definitely. I'm 6'0 215 pulling 600+. But at that height I wonder about your relative length of arm to torso to femurs, and if you're maxing out biomechanically with your stance.

I switched to sumo because I'm lengthy in all the wrong ways for conventional and it was killing my lower back. Even when I do conventional, I do it with a wider stance than many.

Everyone's biomechanics are different and it's only braindead goobers on social media who think one is cheating relative to the other.

FWIW I wouldn't necessarily fear that a few lbs makes that much difference in your pulling power in a vacuum. It's more that maintaining a deficit just doesn't leave me with the energy to nail my form for top-end weights more often than not. Once I'm regularly eating even at maintenance again, I expect it'll jump back up.

You're basically the opposite of a T-Rex

Correct.

When you have low body fat I would think any significant weight loss would have a pretty big impact.

Russel Orhii pulls 700 conventional but I've met him and he's a legitimate 5'7 (not that there's anything wrong with that).

I just found that out like a month or two ago. I had never seen him standing next to someone and then I watched a comp video where he had two guys spotting him and you could tell how short he was.

He is insanely strong though! I think he works out at alpha land, if I am not mistaken.

He does, that's where I met him back when it was just Alphalete and I lived on that side of town and had the patience for the fitspo garbage.

Then he started Corrupted but now that I'm an objectively superior inner looper, I never go anywhere near Stafford anymore.

Beau Holder said:

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Definitely. I'm 6'0 215 pulling 600+. But at that height I wonder about your relative length of arm to torso to femurs, and if you're maxing out biomechanically with your stance.

I switched to sumo because I'm lengthy in all the wrong ways for conventional and it was killing my lower back. Even when I do conventional, I do it with a wider stance than many.

Everyone's biomechanics are different and it's only braindead goobers on social media who think one is cheating relative to the other.

FWIW I wouldn't necessarily fear that a few lbs makes that much difference in your pulling power in a vacuum. It's more that maintaining a deficit just doesn't leave me with the energy to nail my form for top-end weights more often than not. Once I'm regularly eating even at maintenance again, I expect it'll jump back up.

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I didn't think my weight was an issue. But wanted to ask.

Don't know much about biometrically. I can tell you that I absolutely SUCK at squats. Everything sucks about them. That, I can tell you Im biometrically at a disadvantage.

Deadlift, in conventional stance, I have a lot of power off the floor. It just feels torque(y) down there. (Or course, it all falls apart when I get it past my knees. My hamstrings shorten. When I focus on keeping the lower back tight, hamstrings tight, the weight flies up. (I honestly may have to think about slowing down). Id like to think Im biometrically suited for a deadlift, but don't know.

In my postmortem analysis, I think this is where I made my mistake. Last week, I let it get away from me by swinging out and setting up a little too far away from the bar. I was laser focused on this. I think I was so focused on that, I let my mind slip about fighting for the lower back...because, as I said, off the floor, it just doesn't feel heavy, and I may have relaxed.

Yeah, that's what Im thinking about the food. Im not sure I'm eating quite the right way the day before heavy deadlift day. (I do eat more the day of).

Still man. You have an absolute monster deadlift. How long have you been training?

Where do you work out in Houston? (if comfortable sharing).

Years in the gym, 12ish. Years of serious focus on strength gains and DL, I'd say maybe four or so? It really only started jumping in the last two, two and a half. I'm 32 now; I had to get over thinking I could look elite and also have elite strength at the same time without gear. I've yo-yo'd from 205 to 220 to 195 to 220 again to 215 now trying to find a balance (still haven't), never outside of that range since like 2015 really.

My squat PR is 470 and my bench is a pathetic 270 due to my monkey arms. So it's really just DL that I found a passion for and kept going.

I've worked out at Be Fit in EaDo since like 2019ish.

Beau Holder said:

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Years in the gym, 12ish. Years of serious focus on strength gains and DL, I'd say maybe four or so? It really only started jumping in the last two, two and a half. I'm 32 now; I had to get over thinking I could look elite and also have elite strength at the same time without gear. I've yo-yo'd from 205 to 220 to 195 to 220 again to 215 now trying to find a balance (still haven't), never outside of that range since like 2015 really.

My squat PR is 470 and my bench is a pathetic 270 due to my monkey arms. So it's really just DL that I found a passion for and kept going.

I've worked out at Be Fit in EaDo since like 2019ish.

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Ha, yeah. Learning that juuuust about everyone that looks awesome and is super strong is on gear is an eye opening experience. Im too old to care about any of that, thank goodness. Hit my numbers, get trimmer, and I'll be a happy camper.

Yeah 195 to 220 is a pretty large swing. I went from 164 in Nov. 22 to 237 (this morning).

That's a big ol'Squat as well. Ha, I recall you beetching about that bench.

Place looks cool! Eventually, I will need to join more of a serious gym. Been looking at steelmill in the heights and YMCA downtown. YMCA has 6 power racks and most people aren't powerlifting in them, so I can take two hours on one).

Not here to comment on deadlifts since Beau has you covered but I would bet you have a hard time squatting with your femur length. Don't overlook ankle mobility stuff too. It has amazed me how much I have learned on my squatting technique in the last year or so and how much was attributed to ankle mobility

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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Not here to comment on deadlifts since Beau has you covered but I would bet you have a hard time squatting with your femur length. Don't overlook ankle mobility stuff too. It has amazed me how much I have learned on my squatting technique in the last year or so and how much was attributed to ankle mobility

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I do. And I also have a tall pelvis (so I've been told). Makes squatting even harder on top of long femurs.

Nothing feels good on a squat. Lots feel good on a deadlift.

We're very much alike, then. No two squat days feel the same and the good ones just come at random.

I know I have said this a million times but as soon as I started doing tempo squats and doing them as my warmup (progressively adding weight u til working set) my squat days are way more consistent.

I've definitely felt much better about them since I started focusing the tempo/pause reps from Creeping Death. But I also haven't gone over 405 in a couple months.

Beau Holder said:

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We're very much alike, then. No two squat days feel the same and the good ones just come at random.

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this gives me hope that I can at least get my modest goals!

You got this! It just gets so dang hard the longer you lift to see appreciable gains. It's not quite exponential but it sure feels like it most days.

Thanks for talking me through all this. Was definitely feeling down, but ready to get back to it!

Not that I really contributed anything but it helps to hear from other folks about the grind. Too many times have I felt like I was going to PR and no one could stop me only to be humbled by a crappy workout. Followed by quite a few, "I feel like crap today" days that resulted in a phenomenal day, even a PR or two.

You'll have good days and you'll have bad days - the key is to keep the trend line positive. And it's okay to take a step back every now and then and appreciate where you're at now vs where you started. Complacency can kill a lot of things but you can't beat yourself up 24/7 either.

Good job and keep up the hard work!

I am currently one of Beau's deadlifting clients. I started his recommended cycle that he posted earlier a couple months ago and knew from the beginning it was going to kick my butt as the intensity and volume was much more than what I had been doing. I haven't been doing pause reps yet, but that will come with time I am sure. If I die deadlifting in my 90 degree garage gym, Beau is getting the funeral bill.

Tex117 - I am about the same exact spot with DL as you with similar goals. I am likely going to test a 460 pull in the coming weeks unless I am just not feeling it. I really want to get 5 plates by the end of the year. If you ever want exclusive Beau DL content (he may start charging) welcome to hangout in our daily WhatsApp conversations.

"Beau's cycle" you say. Interesting.

Don't think I ever called it that; just the cycle he recommended.

Sharing my post from another thread with the gyms bros…

Today is a big day for me.

I've been maniacally focused on losing weight by managing my macros for 50 weeks and I've lost 130lbs.

Today I'm adding 300 calories to my daily goal and cutting out all cardio (except my 2x a week 5k because I have a goal to complete a Thanksgiving 5k in 25:20) to try and build muscle. I'm nervous about the changes but I have confidence in my data points and calculations.

I got a DEXA scan last Wednesday so I have solid numbers for my starting point:
Weight: 197.9
Lean Mass: 158.4
Total Body Fat: 31.7lbs
Body Fat %: 16%
Visceral Fat: 1.95

I'm going to work through at least 1 (maybe 2, depending on results) of my cycles and reevaluate my macros. Ultimately my main goal is 20lb of body fat and weight between 185-195.

My next DEXA is in 6 weeks. Let's see how this goes.

Wow man, way to go! Impressive commitment!

Absolutely incredible work. Apply that same maniacal focus to keeping your protein up around 1g per lb of lean BW and lift to near-failure on a progressive overloading scheme, and you're set.

Today's DLs fwiw.

Warm-up:
12xbar
10x135
8x225
6x315
4x405
1x455

Hook grip:
2x495
1x545
1x585

With straps:
2x585
1x605
1x635 not quite locked out

Pause/tempo reps:
3x545
5x495
7x455

Just the whole rest of the workout left to go.

The warm up looks similar to my workout.

Photoshop! We know that's only like 3 plates max…