@6foot4lifts You seem to have a lot of misunderstandings about maximizing muscle gains. I have not even come close to maximize my powerlifting potential and I don’t really have an interest in doing so. I built most of my base as a teenager lifting dumbbells on the floor and doing pull-ups in my living room working in the 12-15 rep range. A lot of great bodybuilders never focused on their powerlifting numbers. I think of Stronger lifts as more a side effect of having more muscle rather than what I’m directly chasing. There’s more than one way to skin a cat and it’s also context dependent to what your goals are. Just don’t say that for natties to build muscle they need to build insane strength first, because that’s simply just not true.
the natural lifter who meets extreme strength standards can use heavier weights on the isolations and get more muscle stimulation and contraction and gests teh best from proggessive overload bodybuilding on isolations and cables and machines and compounds and then metabolic stress training after wards
how many people here even started off weak and cleared good powerlifitng goals ?
Quite a few, using all sorts of different methods.
What kind of methods are you using? Or have you used?
Getting your numbers up to their max will likely involve muscle groups outside of just the target muscle on an exercise. That’s really why I find Powerlifting totals to be irrelevant to Bodybuilding. You want to stimulate the target muscles to the maximum, irrespective of what the weight on the bar is. You and I have very similar numbers on our squat and deadlift, you are probably even stronger but I’m fairly confident that I’ve built more muscle than you which definitely makes your premise seem inaccurate to me. Your goals seem to be powerlifting related (and trying to find solutions to your stalled numbers) but it’s turned into you lecturing us on muscle building.
I feel like you’re delivering this sermon and it’s just not resonating with me. I built my base as a teen without even using a barbell and I’ve trained many clients to great physiques that only had access to dumbbells and a pull up bar. They just trained hard consistently and nailed their nutrition. It had nothing to do with maxing out powerlifting potential.
i just used linear progression and never missed a trainin session and ate rigth and sleep rigth and recover right but my numbers are not going up all i care about is increaseing my squat and deadlift right now
yeah maybe you are right , there are guys bigger than me but im stronger than them but hey when a strong natural powerlifter gets more from natural bodybuilding and volume because he can use more weight and more reps and more sets and more volume my friends in person saythesame thing thye did powerliting only anad the basics calisthencis for years and then they swtiched to true hypertrophy work and got jacked as fuck and guess what their powerlfitgin bench press and dumbell press went up but i think most guys wont get the best out of their muscle goals without getting the best of their powerlifting goals so why not do both but really powerlifting first right ?
If someone’s goals are physique-related and not so much Powerlifting-related, which certainly applies to myself, there’s not really a need to concern oneself with Powerlifting totals. It certainly has no bearing on ability to handle volume as you alluded to. For example, I do 6-8 sets of 12-15 reps per exercise across 4-5 exercises per body part per session, and last week even did 20 sets of 20 on squat and bench press in one session.
With regard to muscle growth, I really find it most important to just get the most stimulation from a muscle during a session, ideally that weight goes up over time but you take that progression as it comes and don’t force it, as it may compromise your form or mind muscle connection. Basically just add weight or reps or sets whenever a given weight and volume no longer feels stimulative and appropriately difficult. There are peaks and valleys week to week with how strong you are, at least in an advanced stage, and you start being more instinctive and less rigid with weight and exercise selection on a session by session basis. Someone who is still in their earlier phases of development, who perhaps hasn’t had the time under the bar to get the most from instinctive training, can progress far more frequently, often weekly on most lifts on a more rigid structure. This is where a dynamic double progression is used, advancing through a rep range before adding weight. This is probably where you should be right now. You’re beyond the point of just adding weight to the bar every session and would do better with more internal focus on the muscles at work and then adding reps before eventually increasing weight. This has you really “earning” your weight jumps and mastering your form and execution first. Very beneficial to start light here.
All of this is going to be heavily negated if you aren’t taking care of business in the kitchen. You need to be getting your protein in. Minimum 1 gram per pound of bodyweight and ideally a little more. You can go higher carb or higher fat depending on what you respond better to, although I never really drop fat below about 50-60 grams, as it’s necessary for proper hormonal function. Testosterone is synthesized from cholesterol. I also typically keep some carbs in around my training window even if it’s a higher fat, lower carb day for me. The scale and gym performance and the tape measure will help guide if you’re eating enough. I’m also a big believer in food quality. If you stick with meat, eggs, fruit and veggies as the 4 staples of your diet that all of your meals are built from, you’re money.
This is basically my gameplan for muscle building. It’s not Powerlifting Focused per sé, as each lift is treated with the same level of importance. If you want big triceps, your Tricep Pushdown and skullcrusher needed to be treated with the same level of importance as Bench Press is for your chest.
I would reframe your question and leave all talk of genetic potential out of it.
Keep it simple.
You are 6’4” 220 pounds.
My starting weight was x. My diet is good. I am eating x amount of cals per day. This has taken my weight from x to x in x amount of time.
You have been following a linear progression program.
Your squat is x and you want it to be x.
Your deadlift is x and you want it to be x.
I am failing at x point on my squat.
I am failing at x point on my deadlift.
How do I meet my squat and deadlift goals?
FWIW, I am 6’5” and walk around above 250. Last powerlifting meet I was at most dudes our height compete in the 275 or 308 class.
This topic makes so much more sense understanding that the dude is operating off the damaged framework that you need to get as strong as possible before you can focus on building your physique, along with the framework that powerlifting means strength training and bodybuilding means physique training.
The concern isn’t about maximizing powerlifting potential: they just have it in their head that, once they hit certain numbers on certain lifts, they’ll look a certain way. I’ve seen that trap before. I’ve fallen for that trap before.
Dante Trudel made it simple: a guy that goes from benching 300lbs to benching 400lbs is going to get bigger, yes, but the caveat that’s there is that this dude gets there by training in a bodybuilding rep range over months of grinding. It’s NOT about learning how to tweak technique, maximize leverages, minimize ROM and run a peaking program to squeeze out every last pound.
yeah but what are your numbers?
yeah we all know strength and and size are pretty much inseperable and you need to do both but we also need to make sure we are meeting strength standard on the squat and deadlif t thats why perdization is everything
who can give coaching or programming advice to clear squat and deadlift stalls? who wouldnd want bigger powerlifting numbers for just cause out side of bodybuilding goals
Id suggest Andy Baker out of Texas
Or a gent Named Jeremy Hartman who was awarded USAPL Coach of the year.
Ive got a few others..
@shaneinga dont do it!!
LoL.
I’ll stop. My lifts are not impressive, but I know when to listen and when to keep my mouth shut.
Strength standards are meaningless for size gain. No Bodybuilding judge is testing your rep maxes in a competition. The only strength standards that matter are what you did a year ago Vs what you can do now with the same form, what is a weight that will challenge your muscles today. Your muscles don’t know how much weight is on the bar, they only know how much tension they’re receiving and that can be achieved with 5 reps or 30 reps. Most bodybuilders are never testing 1RMs or even going below 5 or 6 reps.
I can’t look at a chart and say, “if I can Barbell Curl 185 lb, then I’ll have 20” arms!” It just doesn’t work that way.
You are silly 