I recently took a step back in weight after a three week vacation (5 steps forward 3 steps back) and it has been working out fine so far.
today was deadlift day of the 531 week and I couldn’t even get the three reps on the 2nd set. Last time I had the top weight it was a 3s week and I did it for 5 reps 8 (now I bombed on the 2nd set).
I had a shitty night of sleep and couldn’t get proper food in me before training so this may only be a bad day, but I am still unsure on how to progress from here?
either I lower my training max some more, or I keep it the same and do the cycle over? any advice?
Give yourself the benefit of the doubt. We all have days where the weight feels like a tonne from your first set, sometimes in the warm up. I’ve had days where I redo the second set instead of bumping the weight for the last (still go for a PR) because I came to the gym cooked.
If your other lifts have sucked this week (squat/bench/press), it’s a no-brainer to lower the TM a bit and start the cycle over. The point of the training max is to use a number that you are capable of hitting even on bad days. The extra reps on the last set are for normal days, and PRs for great days.
If your other lifts this week were fine, I would withhold judgement and lower my deadlift max if next week ends up sucking too.