It's still risky, because that's a load at which a weakness can cause real problems. Usually, you can see a technical problem with most any load. A weak point, less so, of course, although usually they will also be somewhat visible too. But again, a weak point can be brought into visibility perfectly well by other methods as well anyway. Am AMRAP set at 75%, for example, will likely start showing a weakness in the last two or three reps.CheekiBreekiFitness wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 11:42 pm I mean my idea was that your 90% single serves as a diagnostic tool, because some problems only become visible by filming yourself moving near limit loads. But once your diagnostic is done, the treatment could be anything really, from more heavy work on the same exercise, lighter work on the same exercise, some variant, another unrelated exercise for hypertrophy etc. It all depends on the diagnosis in the first place.
I just am rather sceptical of the use of any load at 90% or above in the context of diagnosing technique or weakness because the risk/reward ratio is so bad. Frankly, those loads are largely best avoided most of the time because their utility is relatively low in most cases. People like to do them because they feel strong (I'm guessing) but the impacts on recovery along with the heightened risk of injury makes them undesirable as far as I'm concerned. The deadlift is especially bad in this respect for most people.
I know for myself if I tried pulling a 90% deadlift single every couple of weeks to check if my back had gotten any stronger (which is currently a real issue for me) the first thing I would notice was that my recovery was destroyed and the second thing would be how many more issues I was having with my back.
The issue you're having is certainly one that doesn't need a heavy load at all. It's just a technical issue that is easily fixed by being aware of it. I have a tendency to knock the bar myself, so all I do is start it further away from me. Problem solved. My stance being rather wide for a conventional deadlift also helps, so that's another avenue you could consider.