At the start of this year, I made a conservative goal to pull 400lbs in the deadlift for at least 1 repetition. Though my best last year was 408 x 5, a few things have changed since, the major changes being the tweaking of my back shortly after setting that mark and pulling conventional instead of sumo.
Things have been going well, as Friday’s workout revealed a 385lb pull for 3 reps. Pulling 400lbs for 3 reps should happen by the end of September. I might even touch 415 x 3 before the year is out and 440 x 1.
Speaking of goals, Practical Programming gives strength numbers for the big 3 lifts that would qualify someone as an “advanced” lifter in a given weight class. Weighing 186lbs currently, I’m in between 181 and 198, and the numbers are as follows:
181 198
Squat: 367 387
Deadlift:438 457
Bench:275 289
I’m thinking I’ll gradually lean to 181, meet and or beat those numbers and aim to get the 198 number by the end of next year. I’m thinking I’ll have them sooner and at a lower bodyweight; in fact, as noted previously, I’ll have a 400lb squat before the year is out.
Skyler Tanner 