Page 119 - Muscle & Fitness (February 2020)

R E A S O N # 5 :

YOU’RE TIRED

inally, if everything
else is dialed in—your
technique is on-point,

your core is stable, and
F your lats are strong—
you might simply be...tired.
And this fatigue can put
the brakes on your deadlift.
If you’ve ever been forced
to take some time off from
the gym, you may notice
you return stronger. That’s
because a tired muscle is not
as useful as a rested one.
“Managing fatigue is key
to performance in the gym,”
says Shallow. “Especially on
the deadlift.” Even if you do
the lift once a week, you still
may burn out, he says, espe-
cially if the rest of your train-
ing for the week contains
lower-back heavy moves
like squats, Romanian dead-
lifts, and good mornings.
So, if all else fails, look
at your program. If your
lower back doesn’t ever get

a break, cut all such moves
from the rotation for two
weeks, then return to a
program that’s lower-back
heavy no more than one to
two times per week. You’ll
get stronger, and your back
will love you for it.

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