How useful can the week off be...

[Shibby]

Well as I had posted before, I was having trouble with a lower back muscle. I had been off since last tuesday. I had been lifting straight for about 2 and half months with only a couple days off each week. Kept my diet clean and just did cardio. Well I went in today and did back. I will just give you my deadlift results. It may not impress some, but I never did them until about 3 months ago. Before I took the week off my lifts (3 sets of 6) were at 225, 245, 275. I went in today feeling good, so after I warmed up I tried 245, pretty easy. So I did 275 and that was some what easy and I was still feeling good. So I said what the hell and I tried 315. Perfect weight, it was quite challanging and I was able to keep my form. It has made my day. This is my little self motivation thread. :)

[beefcake]

Good for you man. Before you know it, you'll be upping the weight every so often. That's how I was when I first started deads. Never did them before so it felt awkward and my weight was low. But then after doing them for a while, I got the motion down and it was feeling good and then I was increasing in weight more because I was getting more used to it. I was happy as a pig in shit and kept looking forward to deads, kept setting more goals. First three plates a side, then four, now it's five. This is the kind of stuff that keeps us going to the gym.

[shortz]

Good job!! It's not a matter of what your numbers are, it's the fact that you have started them and challenging yourself. My deadlift numbers are not all that great either bro. When I started with them, I was deadlifting about 150lbs. Not I pull 315 from the floor on a regular basis and my rack pull, just below the knee has been as high as 500lbs for a single.

Keep at it. That number will go up really nice. Try haveing a heavy week and a light week when the gains slow with it too. Going real heavy on deads every week is ok at first, but then you gotta change it up and let the CNS recover from the abuse.

[num1son]

I've found taking a week off while on gear and eating massive amounts helps me repair a lot every 3 months i do it and not only am I physically better off but mentally I'm fresh too.

K