Sudden Deadlift Strength Loss

[ChrisMal]

Stats: 6'1", 205 lbs, 36 inch waist

I'm currently on the final week of Bridge 3.0 and just finished my deadlift workout. Pulled a 365x1 and felt much heavier than usual, then couldn't budge 405. Went back down to 365 and pulled a single @ 10. A few weeks ago I had pulled [email protected] after feeling beat up from a tough hike the day previous. Next week I went to pull 440 and couldn't budge it, settled for 405, and did my back offs. My deadlift has been sharply and steadily declining with each session. For context, I have pulled 405x5 and my e1RM up to this point was 470, and I've "lost" 100 lbs on my deadlift in 4 weeks. Prior to this sharp decrease, my deadlift was steadily going up. I have been losing weight, however the rest of my lifts have either stayed the same or improved.

Was wondering if anyone has experienced anything like this before and if they had any recommendations.

[teddyd]

I am definitely no expert. However, it seems that fatigue has built up and it may be time for a deload/pivot/new program. The sharp decline is what is indicating this to me. What program did you do prior to The Bridge v3?

This being your last week, the drop off seems timely and about right. That fatigue may not just be from your training sessions, but from activities outside training sessions (you mentioned a tough hike). Or as previously asked, it may be that you have continued from a prior strength program and fatigue has built up over many months. If this is the case a new program such as the Hypertrophy program may be the ticket.

The losing weight may have a little to do with it, but I don't think it would explain the sharp drop in the deadlift as you describe. It seems time for load management change and a hypertrophy or similar program for a block may work, then moving to another strength program.

[PWard]

Yeah, I've been going through something similar, but it's been on all my lifts in unison, not just my deadlift. Seeing as how you're at the end of the program, I totally agree with Teddy that it's likely fatigue and that a low stress week would probably do the trick. Then again, sometimes these things are simply random. I sometimes have a bad day and a lift will plummet, only to hit a PR the following week. It can be maddening at times, but the truth of the matter is that strength is not gained linearly. The graphs of my e1rm's look like a stock chart, lots of ups and downs in the short term, but over the long term it trends up and to the right.

[ChrisMal]

Thanks for the input all. Teddy, to answer your question, I ran the 4 day hypertrophy template prior to this. I'm going to start 12 week strength coming up this week, hoping things will improve again. Wish me luck

[Met-Rx]

I came on here today to ask the same question.
I'm on week 8 of the 12 week strength template and this week has been brutally hard. Last week I pulled a 210kg single @RPE 8. Today I did 200kg @ RPE 10.

Same deal with my Squats too. Did 210kg @8 last week and this week it was a solid 10, almost failed the lift.

Bench and OHP on the other hand is better than ever!

I'm getting a little worried that I won't be able to hit the squat and deadlift PR's I was hoping for when I finish the program. That would suck, cause up until this point my strength have been increasing a lot!

[Joshuawholifts]

I have had similar challenges on and off with my own deadlift.

I recall from a post, either a reply or in his training log, that Austin indicated his deadlift responds much better to rep sets. He can utilize heavy singles routinely in his squat programming, but that he has to maintain relatively higher intensity rep sets to keep his deadlift up.

[RB30Cory]

1st make sure your using the same bar everytime.. I pull conventional and using a deadlift bar I can pull about typically 3-5% more @ the same RPE. If thats in check and its the same bar then yeah.. I think its just part of the "Getting stronger" thing - Im on my second cycle of 12wk strength now and my DL took about a 5% nose dive this week.. but my squat is feeling solid.. bench and OHP good. My graphs like Pwards are up and down like the stock market also. Check your caloric intake/marcos also.

I will say DL's get in my head more than any other lift - sometimes I wonder if I'm not fully focused I also can impact what I pull that day.