Referee93

Agreed that DB's are quite safe - just make sure the area is clear around you. In high school after a set of DB bench, I hit failure and was setting down the weights to my sides but didn't realize there were other dumbbells on the ground near me (these were the full metal DB's and not the nice rubber ones). Got my ring finger pinched between the weights and got a cut down to the bone....still have a nice scar. It was my own fault for not clearing the area and learned the hard way to always double check around me (and also wait for others to move their weights) before starting a set.

First off - Congrats on the addition to the family! Very cool. With all the craziness in life and only having so much time in the day, it's tough choosing what to give up in order to make room for something else. I think that sleep and a proper diet are some of the easier things for us to give up to make room for family/fun/work. This is difficult as sleep and nutrition are cornerstones to improving your gains... Is there any time on the weekend where you can squeeze out an hour or so to make your week's meals and snacks ahead of time? (Hard boiling a dozen eggs on Sunday can give you a good and fast breakfast all week). Can you limit yourself to one TV show before bed instead of two? (just an example) Good to see your 185's felt good, and it looks like you are attacking your back and legs with other exercises, so keep that up. As well as the warm up. Semi piggy-backing off Gainsdalf: keep adding the weight as you go. It seems like you go from 135# to 185# and are forgetting about 155#/165#/175#. Instead of 135x10, 135x10, 135x10, 185x2...try pyramiding 135x10, 155x8, 165x6, 175x4...or similar...and keep adding weight and/or reps each couple weeks.

Moreso meant that since Nomad Jay said "weight lifting isn't his/her thing", there are other ways to work those muscles and maintain strength using body weight routines instead of 'traditional' lifting equipment

Circuit training may also be a way for you to "maintain" muscle w/o doing the "traditional" lifting routines. A quick example would be to replace a leg day that used to be Squats, Leg Curls, and some cardio with a 15 minute circuit of Body Weight Squats, Stability Ball Leg Curl, Sled Push, Tredmill run/sprints....there are infinite amount of upper and/or lower body circuits out there...

I agree with warming up - walking lunges, air squats, etc, are good before squats. Are your heels lifting off the ground at all through the squat movement? I could see that potentially straining them. I have had shoes in the past that did not agree with my calfs/Achilles either, particularly high tops. We all love our squats, but you could also consider cutting down to 2 days a week on back squats, and substituting in other leg exercises and/or squat variations, just to avoid the repetitive wear. It might help lessen the pain.

It has been a while, but any progress since you last posted this? How is the back holding up? I would say not to lift on a strained muscle (even if only once a week), and once you bounce back, stick to lower weights until ready to move up. To keep increasing your deads, make sure you are doing exercises to work your lower back and hamstrings (roman chair, straight leg RDL's, bridges, supermans, etc...) as well as your back (Rows, pull downs, upright rows, etc...) as these will help you stabilize your back (and the bar) as you deadlift and you won't have to rely so much on your lower back when moving the weight.

I think the sleep is a big contributor. Also make sure you are giving your chest / upper body ample rest between lift days. Using a spotter to help you get an extra 2-3 assisted reps after you hit failure has helped me get past the dreaded plateau. If you think this is a "mental plateau", try using a non-conventional assortment of weights on the bar (i.e. instead of 45/25/10 on each side, try 35/35/10 or 25/25/25/5). I know it sounds ridiculous, but sometimes you need to trick the mind to get over the hump...

Agreed. I'm not a fan of sliding the bar to dump weights. So to both keep me safe as well as see gains on the bench, I like to leave 1 in the tank, rack the bar, and then: - Quickly roll onto the ground and do push-ups until burnout ( you can also put your feet on the bench and do decline) - Or have a set of DB's next to me and do burnout DB bench right after you rack the BB. (You can easily dump the DB's at failure) - Or get up and quickly shed ~50% of the weight off the bar, hop back down on the bench and rep out another 10-12 reps (obviously be smart not to get stuck under this bar)