As for the weights used on my lifts (all recent workout numbers):
Bench press - 135lbs - 3x7
Squat - 155lbs - 3x8
Deadlift - 240lbs - 3x5
Dumbbell rows 100lb - 3x10
Seated dumbbell press - 40lbsx2 - 3x10
Barbell shrugs 225lbs - 3x15
I know that my poundages are poor, but just eating more to drive the numbers up has led to me gaining fat without really getting much stronger.
I should add that in the pics above, I am weighing 166.
[/quote]
Those DB row numbers are decent!
I agree with the people who’ve advised you to get stronger. You say you put in the effort and the numbers just won’t go up and I believe you because I’ve been there. The things is, are you going balls out every workout? If you are, it’s no wonder you’ve hit a wall. You need to cycle your intensity somehow, especially if you’re a hardgainer. Good, experienced lifters know how to do this on their own, good programs will do it for you.
The only other thing is that if you try a new program, I’d suggest one with a little more frequency. Blasting a body part 1x week doesn’t work for everyone, and with lifts like squats and bench presses, sometimes it’s just about getting more practice in.
I hope you update this thread at some point in the future and tell us what changes you made and what results you got.
Good luck!
[/quote]
Appreciate the feedback and yes I will be checking back in at a later date with much improvement!
Decided to bite the bullet and cut down to a respectable body fat level over the summer, while learning to eat appropriately. This took me down to 150lbs, felt tiny but definitely much healthier.
That phase ran to mid-August, then I began eating in a small caloric surplus without going crazy. This was the first time I have weighed myself 3x weekly, taken waist measurements and tracked my changes on a weekly basis. My diet since involves zero sugar, complex carbs (veggies, fruits, whole grain breads/pastas, rice, potatoes), around a gram of protein per lb of bodyweight (chicken, beef, eggs, tuna and whey) and healthy fats (oils, nut butters, avocados etc.).
While being consistent with diet, I have been running the greyskull LP basic template:
A
Bench press - 2x5 1x5
Squat - 2x5 1x5
Curls - 2 x 10-15
B
Press - 2x5 1x5
Deadlift - 1x5
Weighted chin ups - 2 x 6-12
Rows (t bar or hammer strength) - 2 x 6 - 12
*Also included frequency method chin-ups and push ups
My current lifts are now:
Bench press 147.5lbs - 1x8
Press 105lbs - 1x8
Deadlift 245lbs - 1x6
Weighted chin ups BW 20lbs - 1x6
Squat 175lbs - 1x6
Obviously still nothing earth-shattering, but progress has been present in every session, and I don’t see it slowing down any time soon. All these lifts are at a BW of 159lbs, which is around 10lbs less than when I first posted, so big improvements while being considerably lighter. Waist is now at 30", whereas the last time I weighed 158 (2012) my waist was 32".
Wanted to thank everyone who chimed in and helped set me on the correct path. Having been consistent with diet for months, and following a proven program to a tee, it’s amazing to see how much progress can be made.
Maybe it’s how you are presenting the numbers, but it doesn’t look like anything has really changed. I’m not knocking you. I’m just trying to figure out what you did over the course of the last 6 months? Did you take progress pics?
I thought the general consensus was you eat clean & get stronger & bigger. Not cut. If you’re healthier that’s good though.
Maybe it’s how you are presenting the numbers, but it doesn’t look like anything has really changed. I’m not knocking you. I’m just trying to figure out what you did over the course of the last 6 months? Did you take progress pics?
I thought the general consensus was you eat clean & get stronger & bigger. Not cut. If you’re healthier that’s good though. [/quote]
So… losing close to 15lbs of fat and a few inches of my waist, while adding 12.5lbs to my rep set on bench press, going from struggling to do 4 chin ups with BW, to doing 6 reps with 20lbs added = not much has changed? I’m well aware I have a long way to go, but if this doesn’t represent progress to you then I am not sure what will.
[quote]Joe_L_B wrote:
So… losing close to 15lbs of fat and a few inches of my waist, while adding 12.5lbs to my rep set on bench press, going from struggling to do 4 chin ups with BW, to doing 6 reps with 20lbs added = not much has changed? I’m well aware I have a long way to go, but if this doesn’t represent progress to you then I am not sure what will.[/quote]
I doubt you lost 15lbs of fat. Best case you lost 2-5 pounds of fat.
Like I said, the way you wrote your post is confusing. You did 135 for 3x7 now it’s 147.5 for 1x8. Is that an improvement? Chin-ups are 100% tied to body weight. So it looks like you did progress some, but not that much.
Again, I’m not shitting on your progress. I’m trying to figure out what exactly you did.
[quote]Joe_L_B wrote:
So… losing close to 15lbs of fat and a few inches of my waist, while adding 12.5lbs to my rep set on bench press, going from struggling to do 4 chin ups with BW, to doing 6 reps with 20lbs added = not much has changed? I’m well aware I have a long way to go, but if this doesn’t represent progress to you then I am not sure what will.[/quote]
I doubt you lost 15lbs of fat. Best case you lost 2-5 pounds of fat.
Like I said, the way you wrote your post is confusing. You did 135 for 3x7 now it’s 147.5 for 1x8. Is that an improvement? Chin-ups are 100% tied to body weight. So it looks like you did progress some, but not that much.
Again, I’m not shitting on your progress. I’m trying to figure out what exactly you did. [/quote]
Maybe it’s how you are presenting the numbers, but it doesn’t look like anything has really changed. I’m not knocking you. I’m just trying to figure out what you did over the course of the last 6 months? Did you take progress pics?
I thought the general consensus was you eat clean & get stronger & bigger. Not cut. If you’re healthier that’s good though. [/quote]
So… losing close to 15lbs of fat and a few inches of my waist, while adding 12.5lbs to my rep set on bench press, going from struggling to do 4 chin ups with BW, to doing 6 reps with 20lbs added = not much has changed? I’m well aware I have a long way to go, but if this doesn’t represent progress to you then I am not sure what will.[/quote]
If you want an honest assessment of your progress, I think given your strength levels you should be able to progress faster.
You wrote in the OP that you’ve been training properly for 2.5 years. You’re benching 145 for 8.
Most people, even brand new trainees, can bench more than that after 6 months.
I’m happy to see you make some progress, but I personally think progress should be coming along at a faster clip.
Maybe it’s how you are presenting the numbers, but it doesn’t look like anything has really changed. I’m not knocking you. I’m just trying to figure out what you did over the course of the last 6 months? Did you take progress pics?
I thought the general consensus was you eat clean & get stronger & bigger. Not cut. If you’re healthier that’s good though. [/quote]
So… losing close to 15lbs of fat and a few inches of my waist, while adding 12.5lbs to my rep set on bench press, going from struggling to do 4 chin ups with BW, to doing 6 reps with 20lbs added = not much has changed? I’m well aware I have a long way to go, but if this doesn’t represent progress to you then I am not sure what will.[/quote]
If you want an honest assessment of your progress, I think given your strength levels you should be able to progress faster.
You wrote in the OP that you’ve been training properly for 2.5 years. You’re benching 145 for 8.
Most people, even brand new trainees, can bench more than that after 6 months.
I’m happy to see you make some progress, but I personally think progress should be coming along at a faster clip. [/quote]
Well I think I realize now that I really wasn’t training properly before, at the least I certainly wasn’t eating properly.
But, yeah point taken. Progress is steady it’s just slow.
As was already pointed out, your progress hasn’t been quite what one would expect given the 6 months and your strength levels. Your bench went up 12.5 lbs, but you’re only doing it for 1 set not 3. Your squat went up 20 lbs but lost 2 reps and 2 sets. You went from 4 reps at BW for chins to 6 reps + 20 lbs, but you lost 15 lbs bodyweight so net extra weight is 5 lbs. Deadlift went up 5 lbs but you lost 2 sets. A lot of these, if you had just done one max set instead of 3 sets 6 months ago you probably could have hit your “new” numbers that same day.
You’re comment of “but if this doesn’t represent progress to you then I am not sure what will”, well it really doesn’t seem to represent strength progress honestly, at least not to me. In the fat loss department, yeah. In the strength department, I already went over that. To put it in perspective, you could continue this rate of progress and it would take you another 3+ years to hit a 225 bench and 225 squat (because I don’t view 20 lbs more yet 2 sets and reps less as a 20 lb improvement, you probably could have done close to that initally). There’s plenty of people adding 10-15 pounds a WEEK on their squat on Starting Strength initially.
It’s good you were able to keep roughly the same level of strength when losing 15 lbs. I’m not trying to put you down. But you are capable of much faster strength progress, and if you’ve figured out your diet over the last few months you’ll absolutely make much faster progress in the coming months.
Take home point: You’re capable of much faster progress. Push yourself.
Good job on the fat loss. Are you happy where you are at, or do you strive to be even leaner still? Either way, just don’t fall back to your old eating habits and selling spare shade at the beach won’t be a future issue. Be smart about how much and what you put in your mouth, even if you’re going strictly for a bulk.
I agree with the above sentiments about your strength training. You need to find a program that will keep you motivated in the gym, and any one of the myriad of templates on this site could work. The most important thing to do from there is aim for some sort of progression. Find a suitable range of reps, say for 3-5 sets - this could vary by body part and/or goal, and then start tracking your progress. When you reach the upper tier of those sets (e.g., 5 sets of 6-8 reps, reaching 5 sets of 8 reps @ 175 on bench press), then increase the weight a humble, reasonable amount (e.g., 5-10 lbs at most) and work towards that goal again at the higher weight, within the same set/rep scheme.
If you actually push yourself in the gym, there is no reason that you cannot consistently make measurable strength progression. Get familiar with basic spreadsheet software, if you’re not already, and take the extra time to physically track your progress. Keep a log and update it every time you step into that gym. It’s that simple, and it has worked for many people.
How long have you been doing greyskull? Since August? I understand it’s slower progress than SS, but you’re still supposed to be adding 40 lbs to your squat/DL and 15 lbs to your bench/OHP monthly.
[quote]1 Man Island wrote:
How long have you been doing greyskull? Since August? I understand it’s slower progress than SS, but you’re still supposed to be adding 40 lbs to your squat/DL and 15 lbs to your bench/OHP monthly.[/quote]
Yeah since late August.
Started light on the bench at 115lbs after the weight loss, added 2.5lbs each session. Did one reset (-10%) of weight when I hurt my shoulder, then worked back up beating rep records. So when it says 147.5lbs for 1x8, that is just the AMRAP set, but actually the 3 worksets are 2x5 & 1x8 at that weight.
Squat I had a lot of problems with technique so my legs wouldn’t be fatigued but my back and knees would hurt. I got it figured out and am now adding weight again each session, think now I should be good to get to 225 without resetting, at least.
On the deadlift, i’m not sure how well the program works for increasing the lift. Only one (1x5+) set each week means that when I go to deadlift I feel kind of rusty with it. But I want to just stick to a program and not start messing around with things.
Rate of weight gain since starting the program has been 0.40 lbs per week, I guess this needs to increase to facilitate getting stronger. The good news is that waist measurement has stayed the same. But maybe i’m shortchanging myself out of a fear of putting on fat.
[quote]Joe_L_B wrote:
Started light on the bench at 115lbs after the weight loss, added 2.5lbs each session. Did one reset (-10%) of weight when I hurt my shoulder, then worked back up beating rep records. So when it says 147.5lbs for 1x8, that is just the AMRAP set, but actually the 3 worksets are 2x5 & 1x8 at that weight.[/quote]
I think you started a bit light, but it sounds like you’re on the right track if you just keep it up.
One of the “benefits” I’ve found with the reset in GreySkull is you get a chance to iron in good technique with the lighter rep work. At least it sounds like you’re figuring your technique out.
However, don’t shortchange yourself by resetting too soon. Your last sets before you reset should be very hard; hard enough that you couldn’t get another rep.
I agree with this, and don’t think there’s quite enough volume. However, I think your deadlift should be much higher than it is right now. More than likely it means your technique is off so that you can’t properly apply the strength you already have. (There are plenty of articles and discussions on this site; I’d suggest searching, reading and trying things.) It’s also possible you’re just not pushing hard enough.
How are you warming up for these? You can get some volume on the front side, during the warmup.
So, lets say your work set is 250, you could do something like:
135 x 10
155 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 2 (this is ~80% of your top set)
250 x 5+
That gives you some volume and technique practice, but shouldn’t interfere much at all with your work set. You can increase the jumps. I’d try to avoid doing much more than 2 or 3 reps at 80% or above though.
You can use the same basic idea warming up for the other lifts. How are you doing them currently? Are you just starting with the work weights?
You’re probably not getting enough protein. I continued to get stronger on GreySkull while cutting weight, but making sure I had enough protein (> 1g/lb bodyweight) was an important piece of that.
2 shakes a day with 50-60g protein, along with your other meals, is a good place to start. I’d give that a shot. If it works for you, you can switch that to whole foods down the road.
If you were doing everything right over the last few months, I’m sure you could have made much more progress than you did. The mental game might be your biggest challenge, as mentioned by others.
[quote]Joe_L_B wrote:
Started light on the bench at 115lbs after the weight loss, added 2.5lbs each session. Did one reset (-10%) of weight when I hurt my shoulder, then worked back up beating rep records. So when it says 147.5lbs for 1x8, that is just the AMRAP set, but actually the 3 worksets are 2x5 & 1x8 at that weight.[/quote]
I think you started a bit light, but it sounds like you’re on the right track if you just keep it up.
One of the “benefits” I’ve found with the reset in GreySkull is you get a chance to iron in good technique with the lighter rep work. At least it sounds like you’re figuring your technique out.
However, don’t shortchange yourself by resetting too soon. Your last sets before you reset should be very hard; hard enough that you couldn’t get another rep.
I agree with this, and don’t think there’s quite enough volume. However, I think your deadlift should be much higher than it is right now. More than likely it means your technique is off so that you can’t properly apply the strength you already have. (There are plenty of articles and discussions on this site; I’d suggest searching, reading and trying things.) It’s also possible you’re just not pushing hard enough.
How are you warming up for these? You can get some volume on the front side, during the warmup.
So, lets say your work set is 250, you could do something like:
135 x 10
155 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 2 (this is ~80% of your top set)
250 x 5+
That gives you some volume and technique practice, but shouldn’t interfere much at all with your work set. You can increase the jumps. I’d try to avoid doing much more than 2 or 3 reps at 80% or above though.
You can use the same basic idea warming up for the other lifts. How are you doing them currently? Are you just starting with the work weights?
You’re probably not getting enough protein. I continued to get stronger on GreySkull while cutting weight, but making sure I had enough protein (> 1g/lb bodyweight) was an important piece of that.
2 shakes a day with 50-60g protein, along with your other meals, is a good place to start. I’d give that a shot. If it works for you, you can switch that to whole foods down the road.
If you were doing everything right over the last few months, I’m sure you could have made much more progress than you did. The mental game might be your biggest challenge, as mentioned by others.[/quote]
Yeah I guess with the warm-ups they have been too close to the top set. On deadlift I would do 135x5/ 155x5/ 185x5 / 205x5 / 225x5. I’ll try what you suggested next session.
With the other lifts I warm up in a similar fashion, but perhaps lower reps as the weight gets heavier. With the pressing movements I do a couple sets with the empty bar and then work up with just triples, doubles and singles before the work sets.
Meh, I’m not sure I have been lacking in protein, maybe just fats and overall calories. But maybe I need more than just 1g/lb? So i’ll try it, worse case scenario it ups my kcals and help with weight gain.
Mentally it is challenging, any suggestions? I go through each set/rep of every exercise in my head before I go to the gym. Imagine it clearly, the weight how it feels and then executing a target number of reps (always a couple more than my old rep record). I then drink a black coffee, get to the gym and put on songs that motivate me, and in between each set think about throwing the weight around. Then I just get under the bar/grip the bar and keep repping out until I can’t get any more.
[quote]dt79 wrote:
Btw your back looks good.[/quote]
[quote]Joe_L_B wrote:
As for the weights used on my lifts (all recent workout numbers):
Bench press - 135lbs - 3x7
Dumbbell rows 100lb - 3x10
[/quote]
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that your back looks better when you’re rowing twice as much as you’re benching. Strength plays a part in muscle growth.