Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

BEYOND BRAWN
I either should not have had a poundage jump every deadlift workout late in
the cycle, or just made it 1 kilo at a time.
17.61 To accommodate a slower poundage progression scheme I would have
needed to have increased the cycle beyond its actual eight months. Alternatively,
I could have broken the very long cycle into two shorter ones. I could
have peaked at about 370 × 20 in the first cycle, backed off for the start of
the second cycle, built back to 370, and then slowly worked up to the 400
target.
17.62 e deadlifting form I used during this cycle, especially in the late stage, had
my hips higher (and my back less upright) than a squatter’s deadlift style,
with my back not as flat. But I had a knee problem and weakened thighs to
contend with, so getting my legs out of the movement and taking more stress
on my back were the compensatory measures. I am not advising round-back,
bent-legged deadlifting. Such a style of lifting is potentially very dangerous
unless the subject has the necessary structure needed, as Bob Peoples had,
to break such a cardinal rule of heavy deadlifting without apparent harm.
17.63 I should have deadlifted on the Tuesday each week right from the start of
the cycle, and divided the two training days more evenly over the week.
17.64 Had I had no knee problems, and had I developed stronger thighs through
Trap Bar deadlifting, and had I used the Trap Bar exclusively (rather
than the straight bar I used, because there was no Trap Bar available), the
improved form the rhombus-shaped bar permits, together with greater
thigh strength and a slower poundage progression, would have produced
much better deadlifting form. It would probably also have produced better
overall gains (because the Trap Bar deadlift intensively involves more musculature
than the straight bar deadlift).
17.65 On the 400 × 20 day I broke one of the key rules for safe deadlifting—
“Keep the final do-or-die rep inside you.” I broke this rule at least five times
in a row, to get from rep 15 to 20. Not only that, but I was not feeling 100%
on that day due to the high temperature. I should have left the Herculean
effort for a day or two later when conditions would have been better.
17.66 Regularly during the cycle I should have had someone record my deadlifting
form on video tape. en I could have studied my form and corrected the
flaws in my technique.
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