Crew,
I have noticed that the weak point in my deadlift appears to be my grip strength. I failed 445x1@8 a few weeks ago, along with the last reps of some subsequent sets. Then last week failed 460x1@8. The bar speed is relatively quick on these pulls, and my overall form seems to not creep by very much. My RPE feels like an 8, but my hands just cannot hold on for the ride.
What can I do differently on my deadlift sessions to train my grip further so that it can at least “feel” the same RPE as my back/legs? I already use an alternate grip, chalk, and hold the bar at the top of the last rep for some extra grip stress (when it does not slip out of my hands that is :)).
As always, thanks!
CB,
I think that continuing to train your deadlift will help your grip on the DL. If the reps are taking too long, you might be overshooting your @ 8 sets and losing your grip secondary to a longer grind. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t recommend doing anything differently other than picking your weights carefully and training your deadlift. There aren’t really any tricks here!
-Jordan
Thanks, Doc, for the reply!
To your point: on picking the RPE, I tend to shoot for “I could do two more reps but with somewhat decayed form.” Should I ONLY be picking weights that would allow me to perform the theoretical last two reps with near perfect form as well? I understand there is a vast spectrum of form decay that can occur rather rapidly, however, it also seems that I cannot predict my single well since anything over about 405 feels pretty heavy, despite being able to pull 405x5@8.5-9. I guess my point is I have trouble finding the balance between “it is supposed to feel heavy” and “that is too heavy” since they all just feel “heavy” (at which point my grip becomes the limiting factor). This is where RPE and load increase become a bit blurry.