Seriously, don't change in the bathroom. We've seen it.

So Friday on the deadlifting front was not pretty.  It was heavy week and my top weight was 145; I really needed five reps to increase my estimated 1RM and it didn't happen.  I pulled two doubles and a single, and those barely, partly because my hands were killing me.

So today I read around the Starting Strength forums, and reaped some really good and inspiring advice, including:

- This link on technique

- The advice not to chase 1RMs, because 1RMs only matter to competitive lifters.  This was a load off my mind, since my estimated 1RM actually went down since last cycle while the amount of weight I lifted (for fewer reps) went up.

-The idea of doing a heavy single before your work set.  I like heavy singles, and this would make me feel like I've pushed an adaptation even if I fail to meet my rep goal on the top set.

-Heavy squats are heavy.  Maybe cut down on the warmups.

The link on technique has all sorts of good advice, including but not limited to:

• Try narrowing your stance and turning your feet out.
• Start with the bar in your fingers, since that's where it's going to end up anyway.
• Chalk really does help.
• Set your thumb across your fingernails instead of over your fingers.  (I tried this today.  It works!)

All this makes me feel better about the fact that, according to my spreadsheet, I'm supposed to deadlift 150x5 next week when I could barely do 145x2 this week.

Today's workout

This is deload week so I only did three warm-up sets of squats, but then I tried out sumo deadlifts, 45x5, 65x5, 95x5, and 135x3.  They're fun!  Also, 35x10x5 two-handed kettlebell swings.  I was going to do S&S tonight but I'm feeling the deadlifts a little, so I'll wait until tomorrow.


And now a pet peeve.  If your gym only has four stalls in the women's room and there's always a line, for fuck's sake don't take up one of those stalls changing.  There is literally an entire room right next to you specifically dedicated to that purpose.  I guarantee you, honey, you've got nothing we haven't seen before.  Get your ass out of that stall, let your cellulite fly, and free up the space for someone who has two minutes to pee before spin class.