20 Rep Deadlifts (redux)

[Samurai Jack]

Back in December of 2004, I embarked on what was, for me, the toughest strength-training program I've ever attempted. During the program, I could count on being almost too sore to walk for at least two days a week. I was actually afraid of the days I was supposed to lift, and the workout itself was agonizingly uncomfortable. On the other hand, I also made the most amazing progress I've ever experienced weight training in my entire life. Here're the results of the three-month program:

12/8/04
Deadlift 110 X 20
Military Press 100 X 9
Concentration Curl 45 X 6

3/10/05
Deadlift 255 X 20
Military Press 142 X 8, 130 X 8, 120 X 7
Barbell Curl 91 X 10, 80 X 10, 70 X 10

Start 12/8/04
Height: 5’11__________Weight: 200 lbs.
Left Forearm: 12 ¾” ____Right Forearm: 13”
Left Biceps: 15 3/8”____Right Biceps: 15 ½”
Shoulders: 51 ½”______Chest: 43”
Left Thigh: 25”________Right Thigh: 25”
Waist: 38”___________Neck: 16”


Finish 3/10/05
Height: 5’11__________Weight: 222 lbs.
Left Forearm: 13 1/8”___Right Forearm: 13 1/4”
Left Biceps: 16”________Right Biceps: 16 1/8”
Shoulders: 53 1/4______Chest: 43”
Left Thigh: 26 1/4”_____Right Thigh: 26 1/4”
Waist: 40”____________Neck: 16 1/2”

It's taken me almost two years to come back to this program. In that time, I've tried a handful of other training programs (mostly because I didn't want to be working that hard). I have not made any progress physically in those two years. In point of fact, I've regressed.

So finally it's time to begin doing something productive again, and the only way I honestly feel I can make it through something like this is to keep myself accountable by posting a BLOG on my progress.

I feel pretty excited about the gains I know are coming, but I'm also afraid of the possible injuries that I know can result from a program like this. I'm only going to be performing two lifts this time, cutting out the curls because they are irrelevant to my goals, and just pull energy away from my important lifts. It's simple, but effective.

Deadlift (sumo style) X 20
Military Press X 2 X 5

I want to be able to Press my bodyweight and deadlift 320 X 20. I’m going as long as it takes, but I have a tentative plan for the cycles it’ll take to reach my goals. I'm starting my first workout tomorrow.

[viper]

ì know wat u mean i did a program and either couldn wealk or couldn move my arms the whole dreadin the days thing to thought i was the only one

[Ford Prefect]

Out of curiousity, what other training plans did you use and for how long?

[Samurai Jack]

I'll have to go through some old logs for details, but I did two PTP cycles lasting about three months each. I tore my groin muscle back in December 2005, which took me out of deadlifting entirely for about six months during my last PTP cycle. I basically just drifted with little motivation during that time, concentrating mostly on MA. I had no real direction with the weights. After the layoff I just did a basic weight training routine, Squats, Bench, Sumo deads. I then picked up a copy of Renegade Training, started doing Cleans and his "Bear" lift (basically a front squat/push press lift).

I want to go back to what works for me now. Even though I hate it, and find it intimidating.

[IronFist]

I think I remember you talking about that program. I probably gave you crap and said high rep DLs are dangerous. :D

Still, 255x20 is cool.

Did you just add 5 pounds per week, like with the 20 rep squat program?

How did you determine your starting weight?

Did you test your 1RM at the end?

[Samurai Jack]

I actually don't have my records of that workout, so I'm starting from scratch. I think i was adding about five pounds per week, and I know for sure I was only Dling once per week. I had no way of testing my one rep max at the time since i was training at home, but I was able to put up 320 for 4 reps at the end and that had been my previous 1 rep max... I believe I determined my starting weight by trial and error, decided I started too low and bumped it up by twenty pounds or so after my first few workouts.

That's the last time I'll keep a workout log on a hardrive! I'm keeping a hardcopy workout log now, and an e-copy here. The former will keep me informed in the future and the later will keep me accountable.

Workout #1

Military Press: 90 X 1 x 8, 90 X 1 x 6 (failure)
Sumo Deadlift: 150 X 20

Left inner thigh muscles were cramping up about five minutes after the workout. I stretched and noticed an appreciable loss of flexibility in the full split, so I held it until the muscles relaxed enough to lose the cramp. Took Ibuprofen before bed for anti-inflamatory properties. Legs feel weak, but good after 12 hours.

Form on the sumo was surprisingly good since it's been awhile since I've done them. I noticed keeping my back out of the lift (not entirely of course) and putting stress on the legs was markedly easiler now that I'm a bit more flexible than I used to be.

[Samurai Jack]

I'm also going to be graphing my deadlift and body-weight progress here:

http://trackstat.us/user/Samurai%20Jack

To view the graph, click the blue or red marker on the squiggly line at the end of the statistics entry.

To see a month-by-month breakdown of the actual numbers, click either "20 Rep Sumo Deadlift" or "Bodyweight".

[Samurai Jack]

A Note on how I'm Planning my Cycle:

I'm using the guidelines I previously had so much success with from Stuart McRobert's book "Brawn", except this time I have a maximum poundage for a 20 rep format, whereas before I had to estimate. Using McRobert's L-O-N-G Cycle format, I'm starting with 60% of my maximum lift (255 X20, 60% [rounded down] = 150 X 20).

Every workout, I will increase the poundage by 10 pounds, until I reach 80% of my previous best (that will be 200 X20). At that time I will reduce the poundage progression to 5 lbs. per week until I hit 100 % of my previous best (250 lbs.) The poundage progression then drops to 2 1/2 pounds per week until I reach 110% of my original maximum (which will be about 275 lbs.).

At that time I will re-evaluate my poundage progression. I may be able to continue adding 2 1/2 lbs. per week until I hit 320. If not, I'll have to reduce the poundage progression further to about 2 1/2 lbs. every two weeks. At any rate, in the best-case scenario, my cycle (which I really consider three separate cycles) will look something like this:

150-200 @ 10 lbs. per workout (1 workout per week) = 5 weeks

200-250 @ 5 lbs. per workout (1 workout per week) = 10 weeks

250-320 @ 2 1/2 lbs. per workout (1 workout per week) = 28 weeks

So basically I'm planning on 11 months of training for this goal. Man! Still, broken down into three cycles, with a little rest between each, it doesn’t seem that daunting. We’ll see.

[SevenStar]

That sounds similar to the bench and dead program I've been using. definitely keep us updated. It's about time for me to restart on my DLing anyway - I may follow this program with ya. One thing I'm curious about though - how much strength did you lose during the beginning of the program? I currently DL a little over 400. Cutting that down for so long, I'd have to lose some strength I'd imagine, even though in the long run you are getting stronger.

[Samurai Jack]

I'm not sure what you mean by "losing strength." Do you mean your one rep max going down due to working volume increases, or how does where I'm at at present compare to where I used to be at?

Honestly, I really don't know about my one rep max from that period. I train at home these days, and lack the Iron to test. Plus, I really don't care anymore.

It seems I'm about 50 pounds weaker in the press than I used to be. I'm also about 15 pounds lighter, so no big surprise there.

I do remember that when I started a new PTP cylce following this program that my overall strength hadn't improved the way my volume had. In other words, SAID does seem to rear it's ugly head on this sort of extreme program. I don't expect too many powerlifters want to try 20 reps of anything!

[Samurai Jack]

1/4/06

Military Press 100 X 1 X 8, 100 X 1 X 3 (failure)
Sumo Deadlift 160 X 20

Nice workout today. My lower back feels good, though a bit tight. During the deads I tried to squat down lower than usual which threw my form off to the extent that I had a difficult time budging the 4th rep. Tightened up my form again and the rest felt great. I was breathing good and hard by the end, but this was definately easier than my last workout. I'm getting stronger!

[Samurai Jack]

Here's a link to a fantastic article on deadlifting history and styles. The only one's that aren't really covered are the Sumo and the Romanian deadlifts. I'm getting some good ideas for some supplemental exercises if for some reason I'm injured or just hit a plateau. Those of you into deads will love this:

http://www.naturalstrength.com/weightroom/detail.asp?ArticleID=146

[IronFist]

Here's a link to a fantastic article on deadlifting history and styles. The only one's that aren't really covered are the Sumo and the Romanian deadlifts. I'm getting some good ideas for some supplemental exercises if for some reason I'm injured or just hit a plateau. Those of you into deads will love this:

http://www.naturalstrength.com/weightroom/detail.asp?ArticleID=146

That article needs pics.

But, good article.

[Samurai Jack]

My blog is #1 on google!

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=20+rep+weight+program&btnG=Search

I am being a hypocrite and threw in some hammer curls and Coc gripper work today. Vanity is getting the better of me I guess. :)

Hammer Curls 30 X 1 X 10, 30 X 1 X 5 (failure)
Coc #1 X 1 X 8

[dougadam]

I feel high reps like 100 to 1000 reps per exercise are much better for you. Also I time my reps and try to increase speed. :)

[Samurai Jack]

Seriously? Better in what way? What would be the purpose of such exercise?

[Samurai Jack]

Alright, have a cold again. Thought I'd take a day or two off before hitting the weights for my scheduled workout, but I still feel like crapola. So I just did the upper body stuff, and I'll do my scheduled deadlifts next workout. Shouldn't be that big of a deal, but with the way I'm feeling, I will not recover from them by next workout anyhow, so there's not much point in doing them.

On the plus side, my upper body lifts are getting better, and I've gained about nine pounds since I started. The bad news is that that's way too fast, and I'll bet dollars to donuts I'm working on putting flab on my gut as much as muscle on my frame. So I'm gonna start keeping careful track of my waist measurements just to make sure I don't get out of control here.

Military Press 100 X 8, 100 X 6 (failure)
Hammer curls 32 1/2 X 10, 32 1/2 X 4 (failure)

[Samurai Jack]

1/18/07

Military Press 102 1/2 X 1 X 8, 102 1/2 X 1 X 3 (failure)
Deadlift 170 X 20

[Samurai Jack]

Wednesday 1/24/06

Military Press 105 X 1 X 8 (failure)
Hammer Curls 35 X 1 X 8 (failure)
Sumo Deadlifts 180 X 20

I feel very fat. I know I'm not that bad, but I've gained almost ten pounds now in one month, and I *know* that's not just all muscle. I can feel it around my gut, and my abdominal definition is gone. You expect a certain amount of bodyfat gain when going on a heavy eating plan, but I'm going to have to slow it up anyway. I am not comfortable with a swelling belly. Nosiree.

So step one is cut out the sugary soda. I allowed that indulgence for the first time in over a year, and I'll bet some of it's on my tummy right now. I don't want to actually stop gaining, so that's all I think I'll change for the moment.