I’ve been lifting for about 5 or 6 years now. I started at around 5’7 150 lbs and now I am 5’8 170 lbs (I am 23 now).
I have been following T-mag since or soon after I started lifting and have gone on various programs. While in college (high school really is irrelevant), I played rugby, ran for fitness, and lifted. Then last two years of college I picked up Thai Boxing. Point is, I don’t JUST lift. I did sprints etc. just so I stay in shape. Rugby was really what I was training for (that and looking good). I trained on SO many programs and used some supplements here on T-Mag. The best success I had was a Myostat program for like 6 weeks? All I remember was that first two weeks I ate 3000 cal, lifted 3 times a week, the next two I ate 5000 cal and lifted 10 times a week (that was hell) and the last two weeks I ate 4000 cal and lifted 4 times a week. I put on a solid 6~8 lbs or so. But the thing is, I don’t think I really got much stronger!!! I still have yet to break the 225 bench and 315 squat plateau!!! I’ve been on that plateau for 3 years now!!! I blamed it on the fact that I was so bloody active that I wasn’t gaining strength because I was fatiguing my body with rugby and stuff…
Well college was a year ago… and with the end of college, so was the end of rugby and the start of a whole different life style. Now I have trained for a years since and still haven’t broken the 225 315 barriers. I trained on several different programs, and at one point even had a partner to train with, still, no luck.
Now I am working on the Mutation Series program and am counting my calories once again (how the heck I managed to eat 5000 a day is beyond me… guess I should get some flax oil when I jack up my cal…). Now I am not so concerned about being able to run 80 min nonstop so I am more focused on the strength/looks aspect and less the endurance. While I still Thai Box, that’s only once or twice a week now. I would play pick up bball once or twice a week also.
To my point… yes I have one…
Any suggestion on breaking my plateau? I am only 1 week into the Mutation Series but I figure I’d shoot this out now and get some advice while I am into it. Oh, and the supplements I am using is Power Drive (to wake me up at 5 in the morning), Red Kat, Tribex, and Grow!
So you’re only a week into this, give it another week, analyze your results or lack thereof, and change.
I believe wholeheartedly that your lack of results was due to:
Insufficient calories due to all the activities you were doing
Also, why dont you post a complete sample day’s diet to make sure everything’s in order.
It sounds like you’re on the right track, with 5000 calories and the Mutation Series, but give it a little while and see. Who knows, 5000 may be way too much, or too little; one week isn’t much time.
My advice is to decide what you really want. It sounds like right now you really want strength. I would encourage you to go with a westside program. But again I am biased because that is what I am doing now. But with WS you will be able to break your plateaus and still look good/gain mass if you also want that. If you want to bench big/squat big look at how the big benchers/squatters train…if you don’t believe you can have a good physique on a powerlifting program check out the Jackass thread in the photo section. Anyway I was in the same position you are now. I followed bb programs for awhile but never increased my strength beyond a certain point then I did WS and so far in 9 weeks I’ve gone from a 215 bench, 240 squat, 275 dead to 230 bench, 275 squat, 325 dead…
Check out the Eight Keys articles by Dave Tate here at T-mag for more info on starting a WS program as well as the Periodization Bible 1&2 and Bench Press 600lbs…all by DT.
Now WS is not the only way you can go however. I am positive a good program by CT or CW can also get you out of a rut. But then again while on a WS program you can also implement ideas from the other great coaches that publish here at T-mag. I use a lot of CT’s and CW’s ideas in my assistance work.
I think a simple method for breaking a strength plateau would be a typical powerlifter’s peaking cycle.
Let’s say you’re able to squat 315 and want to break that, you should start the cycle this way:
225 x 5 (piece of a cake!)
235 x 5
245 x 5
255 x 5
270 x 4 (mmm…needs to take it serious)
280 x 4
295 x 3 (shit, getting nervous now)
310 x 2
If you can squat 310 for a double in good, solid form, obviously you can squat more than 315. At that point you have broken the 315 plateau. Not by much, but the key is that this first cycle serves as a cycle that breaks the “ice”. After that, in your second cycle, you’ll be able to squat 315 for reps. So patience is definetely important. If you try to go over too much the first cycle, you’ll just hit plateau again. In this cycle, it’s 8 sessions. If your body can handle 2 sessions per week, then you’ll be able to break the 315 plateau in one month.
This is by no means an expert advise. If I was you, I would definitely check out how powerlifters improve from cycle to cycle over a long period of time. If there are women in the sport that can squat 500 plus pounds at a body weight of 130 to 150, they obviously know something, drugs or not. And wheather you decide to use West Side’s method or not at this point, I don’t think it matters. It’s the concept of successful progressive overload over period of time that needs to be understood.
IronHell,I agree with Oriensus. For the Squat you cannot stay for all your workouts at 315 lbs. If you do so you “kill the progress”. Start a Squat cycle of 3 months, one squat workout each week that is 12 workouts, with a load approximately 80% of your best (315 lbs) that is 250 lbs. At each workout add a small weight: at the beginning of the cycle 10 lbs, at the end “only” 2 or 3 lbs. Plan to reach at the 12th workout a new record for example at 325 lbs. Then start a new cycle with 80% of 325 lbs and so on.
Hope that helps !
Luca