liftus interruptus, or: how i learned to stop worrying and love 320

Once upon a time, which is to say, 5 or 6 weeks ago, I had a problem. I was training deadlifts and I arrived at the target for the week, and failed to lift it. My target was five reps, I had lifted five reps of five pounds less not long ago, and I failed to get even one rep. This was bad, especially since the weight in question was only 320 and my goal for this year is to hit 400 -- a ways off.

so i devised a new routine, and i set to implement it, and after four weeks or so i'd worked my way back up, last week, to (a relatively easy) 315. and then, two days before i was to again attempt 320, i got the first cold of 2007 (i think) (maybe not) (but certainly, it was inconvenient).

now, deadlifts are an exercise of the mind as much as of muscle. that's true in both the hard scientific sense and the hocus-pocus sense. i'm training for poundage, not reps, and at some point, you're training the nervous system more than building muscle. in layman's terms, the only terms i really understand, you have X number of muscle fibers, but you must train yourself to fire them all at the same time. when training for max poundage, you're really training existing muscle and building muscle as an afterthought. so in the sense that the nervous system is doing most of the work in attempting a max deadlift, it's a mental exercise.

as far as the hocus pocus goes, the notion that i could lift 320 lbs off the ground is utterly ridiculous, so in order to actually go about doing it, i have to distract myself long enough to forget that 320lbs is really really heavy. how do i distract myself? that's right: focus. somehow, it all works out, except for when it doesn't.

part of the problem of when it doesn't is that i remember when it doesn't, and next time, when it really ought to, i remember that at least one time, it really was impossible to lift the bar off the floor, so it's entirely possible that the laws of physics will supercede the laws of deadlift magic once more, and right now, as i attempt a big lift, i'll fail.

it's never a sure thing, except for the evening before: then i feel like it's a sure thing and i ought to go for it. alas, oftentimes, in the morning when it counts, i feel differently.

so, all these little mental games and problems were with me all week, as i struggled with the cold, and the frustration that it would set me back on my already tight (but possibly possible) schedule to reach 400 by november, and the added frustration that i was poised to break an important psychological barrier when the cold struck. the new routine, the plan to get me to 400, requires me to lift before wednesday, and today is wednesday, regardless of whether my cold is gone or not (it's largely gone, but not entirely).

so, with all that, i managed. i managed 2 sets of 5x320, which was my goal. the extra off days must have counted as rest: the sets were eminently doable, if not easy (as easy as 320 can get). after a little chest work, i pulled 1x330.

my schedule dictates that next week i pull 5x325, and the week after, drop down to 5x315 (working up to 335 by late june). my 1rm calculator says that by the time i can do 6x340, i should also be able to do 1x400. my schedule has me pulling 5x370 in early november, and 1x400 on my birthday. these numbers suggest that i may actually make it, though clearly, i have work to do.

amusingly, my 5x315 "rest workout" will be done in front of my T-2days inlaws. won't that be exciting?

that means i'll have to wear pants to my gym. argh!