Workout Logs
Deadlifting Programming Week 4/10, 2x sessions per week – DEADLIFT PB
Deadlift Programming Week 4/10, 2x sessions per week
Deadlift Programming Week 3/10, 2x sessions per week
Deadlift Programming Week 1, 2x sessions per week
Deadlift 50kg for reps
Push press 27.5kg single max
Plate flips 5kg easy, 10kg work in progress
Behind The Training…
In February ’24, the time came. I knew what I needed to do. No, what I wanted to do. Whilst it was in small part as a result of being unhappy with my body, it was just a shift that occurred in me naturally, without any force or whim…I wanted to deadlift. I loved going to the gym when we used to go pre-lockdown, but I’ve never felt the same motivation to go down the stairs and walk into our converted garage to lift weights there. Especially in the deep midwinter when the temperature in there was, at times, little more than freezing!
By choosing to focus on just one weight practice – the deadlift – it gave me a goal that wasn’t overwhelming. It gave me an “in”, the impetus to get started.
Why the deadlift and not squats, or pressing? Aside from hating squats and being weaker than jelly at pressing, I knew the deadlift was a solid compound movement, so it would have pretty decent bang for its buck. In other words, it gives a lot to many areas of the body in relation to the time investment. Another factor was that I’ve been told numerous times over the years that I have a naturally good deadlift form and technique, so it was something of a no brainer to choose to look up deadlift programming for total beginners. Well, you do gravitate towards what you’re naturally better at…
I downloaded a brilliant app, which just in the free version gives tutorials and the chance to log just about any weight, grip, mobility and cardio exercise, in addition to offering countless actual programs for every imaginable exercise. All designed depending on your current level of physical ability and what your time commitment is. It even adjusts your weight jumps, reps and rest periods according to how you progress, and you have the freedom to increase the weight by more or less than recommended, or to do more reps…so you can adapt the program if the suggested sets aren’t feeling right for whatever reason, and it will in turn adapt according to what you’re managing.
It was after I’d done my ten minutes of deadlifts in the first session that I wanted to explore other weight exercises. Since pressing overhead is a weakness, I started adding in push press and then some strict press, and beginning to work on split jerk with an empty bar.
At the time of writing, I spend an average of 3 hours in the gym per session at least twice a week and work through deadlifts, pressing, grip, always followed by 20+ minutes of dynamic yoga and cool down stretching… and I’ve even started training technique on squats.
It seems that my journey to a genuine love of weight and grip training is well underway. This page tracks and records some of my key achievements (and favourite videos) to date. I’m still not wild about how parts of my body look, but has my relationship with my body changed since beginning a program? It has. Considerably. I’m actually impressed with just what it’s capable of and how far I can push it, even when it’s feeling weak and ravaged by chronic pain and fatigue. It delivers above and beyond, somehow, and that certainly gives me food for thought, as well as feeling pretty amazing in myself mentally and physically.