Grip Slipping with Proper Strap Usage M/5'6/180
I recently came back to Starting Strength from more bodybuilding-style training since my 10-year anniversary of lifting is coming up, and I still haven't hit some goal numbers I wanted to when I first set out.
When I restarted, I used 1 5RM followed by two backoff sets @90%, and of course the light squat day.
Over about 4 months, I had the following strength gains. There were many resets and microloading involved, if this looks slow, and the last month of it, basically no progress was made.
S/B/D (5 Rep Maxes)
315/205/365 -> 345/225/400
I started to stall, and not having read: https://startingstrength.com/article/programming-a-smooth-nlp yet, I decided to switch to juggernaut 2.0 for 4 months. I wasn't seeing any strength progress on juggernaut (even the low rep blocks), so I decided to go back to starting strength. Of course after 1 week deload, I came back much weaker from my body adjusting to submaximal sets, and am now building up strength again.
Coming off juggernaut, I was hitting (5RM) 300/205/370. After two weeks of making great gains and retraining maximal work, I'm back to 335/225/365.
With deadlift, the problem is pretty clearly grip strength. I used to be able to grip 400lbs (w/straps) no problem. Now, I can't even grip 365. My deadlift doesn't remotely fatigue me, but the weight slips out of my hands. It's odd, but no matter how hard I try my thumbs detach from the bar mid-rep as my grip gets fatigued, and the bar roles out to my finger tips.
I've watched a million videos on how to use straps at this point, and I haven't changed my usage since I was pulling 5x400. I'm not using them wrong. My straps were a little old, so I tried a new pair and had the same issue. I'm not gripping the bar wrong, as far as I can tell. My grip is also just way weaker and feels fatigued warming up, so I'm starting to think it is a programing thing.
Currently program deadlift 1x/per week. I am not power cleaning, and replace cleans with rows or pull-ups depending on the day.
Has anyone experienced anything similar?
Calories are about 3k-3.5k per day at the moment.