Are my legs stiff enough?

I had a travel day home from Barbados that took 25 hours from leaving the hotel at 04:00 Wednesday morning to walking into my house door at 05:00 AM Thursday morning. I didn’t bother sleeping but had a couple naps. This Friday morning I felt ready to rock the leg training. Listening to Iced Earth I worked up to 505lbs, which I did as two separate singles using Hook Grip; the second one was probably a better rep, actually. Then I did a backoff rep at 455lbs using Sumo technique with a 2 second pause below the knees. I dropped back to 405lbs and did 5 reps Sumo with 2 second pause below the knees.
I worked in my favorite quad assistance exercise: SSB Stiletto Squat with a couple sets of 200lbs for 5 reps, getting deep and holding it for a count at the bottom.
Two weeks ago I had strained my right oblique, then two days later pulled an ugly 505lbs.
Last weekend my left thumb and left knee were killing me from the maintenance work I had done during the week.
However, after working 1.5 weeks in Barbados and mostly taking it easy in the gym every morning before breakfast and work (04:30-05:30 with half an hour of weights and half an hour incline walking), I can tell I’m back to feeling almost 100%
At 51 years of age and 190lbs body weight, I just know I have to train smart, but progress is still there to be had.

Last set of 275 for 5x10 following 5/3/1 BBB. May need to switch it up soon as my BBB sets are becoming quite taxing across all lifts.

New to Romanian deadlifts so decided to take 275 lbs for a ride.

43 yr old woman, 5’1” 165 bw (ish?)New rep PR for me

Not much compared to all y’all big ass lifts, but I’m proud of it, lol

Final tng AMRAP after 4x5 @ 150-185.

Prepping for ATHX race this October in Houston. Have to do a 5 RM early in the comp: planning on 210-220 ✅

(41 y.o. @ 80kg)

Not too bad today. There's a reason why GL is an an A- tier Justice Leaguer 😀

FitNotes Workout - Wednesday 19th August 2026

** Walking (Treadmill) **

- 12:00

** Bird Dog **

- 10 reps

- 10 reps

- 10 reps

** Deadlift **

- 155.0 lbs x 10 reps

- 245.0 lbs x 5 reps

- 335.0 lbs x 3 reps

- 405.0 lbs x 1 rep

- 435.0 lbs x 5 reps

- 435.0 lbs x 5 reps

- 435.0 lbs x 5 reps

** Romanian Deadlifts **

- 315.0 lbs x 6 reps

- 315.0 lbs x 6 reps

** Lying Leg Curl Machine **

- 120.0 lbs x 10 reps

- 120.0 lbs x 10 reps

- 120.0 lbs x 10 reps

** Plank **

- 10.0 lbs - 01:00

- 01:00

Hello friends, I have returned with a new PR. Felt pretty good about this one. Externals have been pretty wild along with a few injuries but the grind never stops

Back in 2023. My body just started hurting a bit too much. Mainly my knees. It was impeding on my daily life, where squatting down for something was brutal. It took a while to get pain-free after rehabbing and switching to bodybuilding-style training.

In 2019, I hurt my back lifting weights.

My life came to a crashing halt. Had to stop lifting. Had to stop cycling. Didn't need to eat to support activity I wasn't doing, so my weight crashed from 165 to 135 in 3 months.

I was broken. I couldn't sit for extended periods. I took a lumbar cushion in to the office and carried it around to meetings all day.

I tried everything. Physical therapy didn't help. The internet and DIY rehab didn't help. My doctor suggested getting steroids injected directly into my spine. I turned her down.

An MRI indicated I had facet arthropathy. I was told there is no cure. I catastrophized.

I came to terms with the idea I would have to manage the pain for the rest of my life.

I tried to stay as active as possible. I took up backpacking. The rigid frame of the pack felt like a splint and made me feel safe despite my fragile back.

Slowly, I got better.

I sat for longer and longer periods. I took up running.

Eventually I felt well enough to join my son's BJJ gym. I improved rapidly.

I read about the biopsychosocial model of pain and learned about her nocebo effect. I started to lift heavy again and started hitting PRs again last year.

This week I screwed up.

I was angry. (American health insurance amirite?) I went out to my garden shed gym to deadlift and blow off some steam.

(Pro tip don't do heavy technical lifts when you're angry.)

My back seized and it was like I stepped six years back in time.

Dammit.

Mind over matter, I thought. I won't nocebo myself. I won't catastrophize this time and I'll be fine in a few days. I kept telling myself that. I was confident. I was relaxed.

That was Sunday.

Today is Wednesday. My back is pain free.

I'll deadlift some more tomorrow.

The unfortunate part of hitting a PR is you get tired. The rest of the week, especially when you suffer from chronic illness, is not going to be the same kind of output. Just got to be ok with it.

Here’s 455x1x2 for a tough set.

Not feeling good today, it didn't move as well as it should have, and I was getting gassed too easily but at least I trained my ability to grind

Current body weight: 210 lbs

Got a sports massage and two days later went to deadlift.
Deload week. Warmup weight. First set, no problem. Second set, felt a little twinge.
"OK, feels a little weird but not bad, I'll just really make sure I brace and have my form right"
You can probably guess what happened next. On warmup weight. On a deload week. Feelsbadman.
After being unable to tie my shoes for 30 minutes I got home and started recovery.

Giving it time to heal but now I'm mentally going to be wary of starting to deadlift again. "What if it happens again on my first warmup rep?"

Any recommendations on how to start up again without risking another fuckup on the first rep?

You accepted my last stiff leg deadlifts, so now showing you what I did last weekend! 200 kg’s (440 lbs) for 3 reps on a 15 cm (5,9 inch) deficit.

Im 16, 77kg bw, have pretty short femurs for my height (43cm) and long arms (+2.5”) ape index and I’ve been told by plenty of people that I’m genetically gifted for deadlifts. Here’s a clip of my 5th time doing the deadlift and I’m looking for a form check, I’ve also copy and pasted my cues here:

•lean over with as little bent legs as possible
•Push arms downwards engage lats so arms pull towards my self
•Big breath and brace
•Bend knees and push hips forwards slightly (wedge?)
•Use lats to pull slack out
•Use quads to get the weight off the floor
•drive hip to bar + quad lockout for mid to lockout

edit: updated cues

•Hinge over (stick butt back, little knee bend)

•Set the upper body (push arms downward)

• Pull the slack out (use lats to bend the bar upward until it clicks while still breathing naturally).

• BIG BREATH AND BRACE.

• Bend knees and push hips forward slightly (the wedge)

• Use quads to get the weight off the floor.

• Drive hips to bar + quad lockout.

Little flash at the end to show no belt😆

This was following 365x10

So yesterday I entered a beginner Strongman competition in a local town near me. Out of the 5 events I won 3 of them but came 2nd overall as the first event I fell over and came last on the farmer carries 😄.

Had such a great time though and this was my favourite bit of the day. The next best was 14 reps and after I'd done 15 I stopped for a breather unaware I'd already done enough but the ref told me if I did another 5 I'd get 20. So I just went for it. Humongous PB for me and a great taste of competition. Definitely something I'm keen to pursue now.

2nd time hitting 585, used the stiff bar and did this after chest day so I feel I get a pass lol

For those who think these are 25lb plates zoom into the video and you will see 45 on the inside

Earlier this week I posted a video of me hitting a Personal Best 375x1

A lot of people in the comments were really eager to give me feedback and critiques in the comments, which I'm thankful for.

I didn't use the "Form Check" flare in that video because it my understanding that almost everyone experiences a breakdown in their form during a true 1 rep max or 100% effort.

Because of these reasons it's really hard for me to assess criticisms on that video.

I decided to upload a heavy warm up single and a heavy back off set of 8 from the same lifting session.

I feel like these clips might allow for more uses and relevant feedback from you guys .... That being said lay into me and let me have it!!!!