Hey guys. I injured my shoulder about 3 months ago and that kinda made me lose motivation to lift so i went on and off maybe once a week. I’m all recovered and ready to go and tested my maxes these past 2 weeks and i can tell that 3 months really took a toll on my numbers.
As far as a diet and routine go, what would you guys recommend? I’ve tried 5/3/1 before and I got burnt out on it doing the same thing over and over, I didn’t know if my numbers are to high for starting strength or not. Just looking for some suggestions on a routine and a diet to do with it.
Training-wise I’m honestly surprised to hear you burned out doing 5/3/1. Were you doing exactly what Jim says to do? What variant were you doing and for how long? My understanding is that he set 5/3/1 out to be very sustainable for a long time. I wouldn’t think your numbers are too high for SS really, but if that’s the road you’re looking at going down I’d recommend the Texas Method over SS.
That being said, if you found 5/3/1 too heard in terms of volume, the Texas Method mightn’t be your thing either. I’ve head the Texas Method isn’t great for people who don’t recover too well.
Unless I misunderstand what you mean by burned out, that is. Do you mean you got bored? Because if you got bored, I’ve got some bad news for you: the vast majority of people do best hitting those main, basic lifts with a bit of assistance work for a good long time before they need much more variation.
Your numbers are nowhere near high enough that you’d benefit from varying the lifts much as far as I can tell. Add around a couple of hundred pounds to your squat and DL and a hundred pounds to your bench and maybe Westside style training would be good for you simply because of the variations of the lifts they use.
I’m not trying to be a jerk or anything, just being honest based on what I know. I’d really recommend considering doing 5/3/1 again and sticking with it for a good while. Doesn’t Jim say to rotate assistance exercises every four weeks or so? That would give you some variety.
Yes by burned out I do mean just with the exercises I don’t mean with recovery. I program hopped when i first started lifting because I got bored so easily and I still haven’t been able to quit. I was just thinking SS because in a month I’ll be going to a university where I’ll have all food choices I want so calories wouldn’t be an issue.
If you’re honest with yourself, your ability to recover is what should dictate if Starting Strength is a good program for you. If you can continue to add weight to the bar each session, it is a fine choice (personally, I like Greyskull LP).
If not, pick a program where you add weight at a slower rate.
Diet… eat to support your lifting. Whole foods, good amount of protein. Ensure you get enough fats and carbs. Eat your greens.
If that’s the case, maybe something that allows for a lot of variation would help you stick with it. The only problem with that is at your level IMO you need to stick with the main lifts just to get better technically.
Bottom line, I’d still recommend sticking with 5/3/1 and trying to satisfy your hunger for variety in the assistance work.
Goal is just to get bigger and stronger. Don’t care about abs or anything like that, just want to build some solid muscle so i can cut the fat off and be bigger next summer.
That’s a big problem. If you’re not working toward a goal, you’re more or less spinning your wheels. Get your shit together, decide on a strength goal, set a date to have it done by, and do it.
[quote]tsantos wrote:
If you’re honest with yourself, your ability to recover is what should dictate if Starting Strength is a good program for you. If you can continue to add weight to the bar each session, it is a fine choice (personally, I like Greyskull LP).
If not, pick a program where you add weight at a slower rate.
Diet… eat to support your lifting. Whole foods, good amount of protein. Ensure you get enough fats and carbs. Eat your greens.[/quote]
Id Second using Greyskull LP, its a great programme thats simple to follow and will get you stronger.
[quote]str8_flexed wrote:
Goal is just to get bigger and stronger. Don’t care about abs or anything like that, just want to build some solid muscle so i can cut the fat off and be bigger next summer.[/quote]
To clarify, your goal does not involve avoiding boredom in any way? It seems like you’ve been changing programs that are meeting the goal of “get bigger and stronger” because it wasn’t meeting a requirement of “not being boring”.
I liked your point on that every 4 weeks you can change the assistance work on 5/3/1 which I think I’ll like and would keep me from trying to find a new program. I’m just looking up greyskull now. But for a diet do you guys count macros or anything like that on these programs, or do you just eat as much protein as you can or what.
[quote]str8_flexed wrote:
Yes by burned out I do mean just with the exercises I don’t mean with recovery. I program hopped when i first started lifting because I got bored so easily and I still haven’t been able to quit. I was just thinking SS because in a month I’ll be going to a university where I’ll have all food choices I want so calories wouldn’t be an issue.
[/quote]
With 5 3 1, do the main lift as prescribed, then make your own program for assistance work. That way you won’t get burned out.
[quote]str8_flexed wrote:
I liked your point on that every 4 weeks you can change the assistance work on 5/3/1 which I think I’ll like and would keep me from trying to find a new program. I’m just looking up greyskull now. But for a diet do you guys count macros or anything like that on these programs, or do you just eat as much protein as you can or what. [/quote]
For a bulk try to consume 500 more calories a day than you do now. Or, drink a gallon of milk a day, that has good results.
Try to get 200 grams of protein in a day, around 200 grams of carbs, and 100 grams of good fat. That will be around 2100 calories a day. 200 grams of good carbs, limit sugar as much as possible besides fruit sugar.
In addition to that every day, drink 1/2 gallon to a gallon of milk.
That is bro science diet though, take it with a grain of salt.
One of the most important things to remember is that all protein is not the same, all fat is not the same, and all carbs are definitely not the same.
Another is that timing your nutrients can be the difference between gaining 10lbs of fat on your way to your goals, or gaining 30lbs.
Make sure your nutrients are high quality, and focus your carb intake around your workout while consuming protein and fats through the rest of the day.
[quote]JayPierce wrote:
One of the most important things to remember is that all protein is not the same, all fat is not the same, and all carbs are definitely not the same.
Another is that timing your nutrients can be the difference between gaining 10lbs of fat on your way to your goals, or gaining 30lbs.
Make sure your nutrients are high quality, and focus your carb intake around your workout while consuming protein and fats through the rest of the day.[/quote]
100% this. That’s why I generally say no sugar, that eliminates most the bad carbs, but fruit sugar is ok.
For fats, use your oils, the leaner the better. A great source is heavy whipping cream, add it to your shake. Animal fat is great, just don’t eat 80/20 ground chuck all day, make it more like 90/10, and limit the red meat fat to like 2 meals a day.
I avoid table sugar and anything else that has a large amount of fructose. Fructose can only be used by the liver, and any excess is stored as fat around your organs and love handle area. Dextrose can be used by every cell in the body.
If benching, pressing, squatting, and deadlifting has already gotten boring for you, then perhaps powerlifting is not what you should be pursuing. If you have a love for the iron in general, and you like more of a variety in exercise selection, reps, sets, techniques, etc, then perhaps a bodybuilding-oriented hypertrophy program that is not centered around these lifts may suit your interests more.
You’ll still get bigger and stronger, you just won’t become as proficient at the competition lifts. If you don’t plan to compete in powerlifting, this should not be an issue. If I did not compete, I would probably never bench press on a flat bench again.
Starting strength has an even more limited exercise selection than 5/3/1, doesn’t it? Why would you prefer that?