To Round the Back, or Not?

This is my rest day. I will take my rest day. I will not do a WOD; at most, I will make a date with the foam roller and 'work out the kinks'. But in the meantime, I would like to pose a question: When attempting a deadlift PR (personal record), do you sacrifice less-than-perfect form, and allow a rounded back? Or, do you terminate the lift once you determine that your poor form has compromised the legitimacy of the lift?

It is my belief that if you have developed sound core strength, and have consistently trained major lifts, such as the deadlift, front squat, overhead squat, clean, and snatch, then you have the credibility to 'compromise' a little bit of a rounded back when attempting a one-rep maximum deadlift. If you are brand new to the lift or your body is not conditioned to support a maximum load, then of course, a maximum lift is out of the question - especially when good form is compromised.

Check out one of my deadlifts during the second WOD of the 2009 CrossFit Games (lower left-hand corner):

Back Squats instead of Thrusters

Today's WOD called for the following:

Thrusters 3-3-3-3-3-3-3

Because I am still recovering from my shoulder surgery, anything overhead and heavy is off-limits! So, I determined that the best way to scale this workout was to do back squats with the same repetition sequence. I warmed up with some front squats, using just the 45lb bar. I quickly discovered that, even with only the 45lb bar, front squats were going to aggravate my shoulder.

I have not gone heavy in awhile, so it was hard to gauge where to start, as well as what load I should be aiming for. So, it turned out like this:

205-225-240-250-260-270-280

You may have noticed something - no failures! My philosophy on 'heavy days' is most likely similar to many other CrossFitters' philosophy: 'If there are no failures in any of your sets, then you did not push yourself hard enough'--fair enough. At least I will have a better idea of where to start the next time I attempt a three-rep max on the back squat.

Here's a short clip of me coming down the infamous hill at 'The Ranch' at Aromas during the first WOD of the 2009 CrossFit Games. And that crazy lady yelling in the background is my mother. :)