Will a time ever come when a high-rep deadlift set doesn’t not only exhaust the athlete lifting the weight, but the surrounding casual bystanders watching? Honestly, probably not. I don’t even think shouting, “Ain’t nothing but a peanut”, before sniffing ammonia can help save the physical and mental beat down these sets provoke.
For today’s rendition of deadlift cardio sets, we have Barbara Lee, a Texas based 67.5kg/75kg powerlifter who’s currently ranked 46th for women athletes in all-time Wilks scores (per openpowerlifting.org). Her video features a big PR pulling a monstrous 184kg (405 lbs) for ten grueling reps.
In Lee’s Instagram video’s description she writes, “I’ve been waiting on today for 2 weeks…had the outfit ready. 405 FOR 10 REPS mission accomplished@djclassic79. I am still not 100% from squatting in crap shoes, so I couldn’t get my hips as low as I wanted, but I was determined to keep pulling. Can’t rep the brand of you ain’t about that life.”
For competitive powerlifters, there tends to be two different camps when it comes to enjoying high-volume training cycles, and that’s either a love or hate relationship.
Currently on her Instagram page, Lee appears to be at the peak of the high-volume portion in her program and the set above marks a start of a deload before her next training cycle. And we’re not sure what rep scheme will be coming next for Lee, but it appears tens were the theme of this last cycle/block.
Check out Lee’s 10-rep squat PR of 156kg (345 lbs) from about two weeks ago.
In her video’s description she writes, “First time using a squat bar in years! 345×10…20lb PR on 10s. R.I.P. Leave it to me to forget my squat shoes at home when we had to drive 40 mins to a monolift. I told @djclassic79 I’d get it done. Proud as hell but maaaannnn….glad I’m done with 10s.”
There’s something to be said for athletes who can continually hit their programmed reps and weight for tens, and that’s probably best summed up with one word: Grit. We’re pumped to see what Lee’s next program has in store, and numbers she’ll hit as the year progresses.
Related: Romanian Deadlift Guide
Feature image @msbarbellbarbie Instagram page.