The Plateau

I was doing something else in the world of weightlifting yesterday and missed my planned deadlifting workout. I was MC at the Adlington Barbell Club for the Sugden Challenge. Amongst many memorable performances, strongman Mark Felix deadlifted 400 kilos - and made it look easy. It puts my paltry efforts in the shade - but then Mark's lift was also 22.5 kilos more than the BWLA British Record and only 8 kilos shy of the IPF World Record. It's a privilege to be part of days like that.

Today's workout:

60 for 8 x 2 sets
80 for 5 x 2 sets
90 for 3
120 for 1
140 for 1
160 - fail
155 - fail
90 for 3 x 10 sets.

Hypers - 4 sets of 12 and 1 set of 20
Lat Pulldowns - sets of 10 with 8, 10, 12
Seated T Bar Rows (Hammer Grip) - sets of 10 with 8, 10, 12
Facepulls - sets of 10 with 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Well, I knew it was coming, but I've finally reached the plateau! I thought yesterday's lifting might have inspired me to a new PB, but no. I tried a 160 and I might have moved it half an inch - not sure. I definitely moved the 155 half an inch - maybe even slightly more - but it wasn't going up either. So I backed off and did my first ever speed session and tried to get some technique work in.

After 5 speed sets, I took a 15 minute break to give three guys some bench coaching, so the speed work was nicely split into two groups of 5 sets.

My next two sessions will be speed ones as well, partly dictated by the proximity of the British Bench. I think I'll keep the weight at 90 because although they weren't slow they weren't exactly flying up either. I'm not going near a 1RM again until the month starts with an vowel and finishes with a consonant.

Here's hoping the progress continues...