Deadlift - question % of 1RM for training

joker77

I'm currently using the Starting Strength program, which I took up about 2 months ago. On my deadlift day, which is Squat, then Bench, then Deadlift, I work up to 5 sets of 5. Now my first question is - is 5x5 the right way to go starting off, or should it be 3x5, or 5x3? (Bit confused over this)

Ok, so today I thought I'd give my 1RM a go. Never done it before, last week my 5x5 work sets were @ 105Kgs. Today I worked up to a 1RM of 145. So, how heavy should I be lifting on a 5x5 if my 1RM is 145?

I got 110 - 140 pretty ok, but failed first time round on the 145. This could have been a little down to fatigue (was playing football last night), and also because I didn't know what my 1RM would be, I may have done too much beforehand. Before going for 145 I'd done 20x8, 50x4, 80x4, 100x2, 110x1, 120x1, 130x1, 140x1.

It really was a strange feeling doing that 1RM lift, having never done it before. Everthing else in the room disappeared, it was just me and that bar.

Vegeta

I know this is going to sound blunt but pick a weight and just try 5x5. if you don't make it then slightly lighter the next time and vice versa if its too easy

From the looks of it if I were you I'd pick 120 and see how I got on.

Yeah I can see how powerlifting would be addictive. Some local lads who go to a gym with no free weights would not belive how much I could deadlift (believe me its not a lot). Told them I was doing 127 kg for reps, which they were convinced was 127 pounds, so I got my brother to record me on his mobile doing 140 kg for 2 reps. Double bodyweight bench, squat and dead must feel mighty fine. Ahh someday I'll get there (never with the bench I'd say)

Hanley

This is gonna vary with people, but I'd say between 83 and 85% is the absolute most you could use for a 5x5 workout. Any higher and it's likely you're relatively inexperienced and your CNS isn't working optimially.

Since you jsut test your max you might wanna take it easy for a week. I'd probably just do 100 5x5. Then try to add 5kg a week for 5 or 6 weeks and see how oyu get on. You might need to drop to 3x5 around week 4.

joker77

Thanks, I'll probably try to keep it steady, adding the 5Kg a week to get it up to 130, then I'd say it'll slow down.

When you say drop it to 3x5 at week 4 - does this mean that once you get near the 83 - 85% you should doing 3x5 rather than 5x5?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm also doing 5x5 on all my other lifts, but wondering if I should or shouldn't be, as I don't seem to be progressing as I'd like

Hanley

joker77 wrote: »

Thanks, I'll probably try to keep it steady, adding the 5Kg a week to get it up to 130, then I'd say it'll slow down.

When you say drop it to 3x5 at week 4 - does this mean that once you get near the 83 - 85% you should doing 3x5 rather than 5x5?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm also doing 5x5 on all my other lifts, but wondering if I should or shouldn't be, as I don't seem to be progressing as I'd like

You're not dropping specifically because of the numbers, but it's related in that once you get to that stage you'll probably struggle to get all the later reps in. So it's better to drop a few sets, get some good quality work done and have some extra recovery.

Like right now my bench is probably around 150ish kg. I've been working 5x5's on it for the last 8 weeks or so. Started at 105 (70%) and added 5kg (3.33%) a week to 120kg (80%). Once I got there I started to add 2.5kg (1.67%) a week, but dropped the sets down to 3x5. I'm going for 127.5 (85%) this week. It's starting to get to the upper limits of what I can do for sets of 5 at this stage.