How much should i be lifting after a year?

floggg

i've been doing weights for about a year now, and just wondering what people think of my progress. When i started out last november, i was in pretty pathetic shape, very overweigh, and ridiculously weak.

Over a year on, and in a lot better shape, still got a bit of weight to lose, but but looking good, and feeling great.

I'm 5ft10, and 11 3/4 stone. Currently, i'm benching 55kg, squatting 75kg and deadlifting 75kg as well (i know DL should be higher than squat, but have been squatting for about 8 months, and doing leg press before that, whereas only doing deadlifts for about 3 months), all done at 5 x5. Can't recall what i started out, but was very low in each. I remember when adding 5kg plates onto the bar doing the bench press was an achievement. Squats probably started out around 40kg, similar for deadlift.

Just wondering whether this could be considered decent weights for somebody doing it this long? I reckon i have fairly good form on all (although by no means perfect). How far have others starting in a similar position progressed.

blackgold>>

Depending on how you structure your workouts. I would say your being to timid.
Your deadlift should be over the 100kg mark.Your squat should be atleast 90. And your bench should be atleast 70kg.

floggg

blackgold>> wrote: »

Depending on how you structure your workouts. I would say your being to timid.
Your deadlift should be over the 100kg mark.Your squat should be atleast 90. And your bench should be atleast 70kg.

I am currenltly doing 3 day splits, 5 x 5. Day one - chest and triceps, day two, legs and posterior chain, day three - back, shoulders bi's.

I wouldn't say "timid" is the right word - its not that i'm hanging back, ro scared to lift more - i'm physcially not able to lift more on the bench. I am also fairly fecked after the squats and dealift, and don't think i can add too much more without sacrificing form. That said, i am adding weight every 2 - 3 weeks on each.

Colm_OReilly

Why, as a self confessed novice, are you doing a split program, instead of a novice complete body program, like Starting Strength?

Are you eating right? Sleeping right?

blackgold>>

Drop 10kg off each lift your doing right now and change your rep sheme to a 3x5 and add 1 kg each workout.
That way your doing 15reps not 25 and your adding more weight slowly.
See how that goes.
Change your workouts every few (5-6) weeks.

BobbyOLeary

Check out Rippetoe's standards if you want to compare against something.

Strength Standards

And at 5'11" and 11 3/4 Stone you do not have a lot of weight left to lose. Fat maybe but you're a little light for your height.

Nice work on making some progress and sticking with it though.

Change your workouts every few (5-6) weeks.

Why?

Jimmy Bottlehead

To keep the muscles guessing and not let them grow accustomed to the same workout. Plus a change will challenge the muscles and (in all likelyhood) lead to a greater chance of making gains.

If nothing else, it alleviates boredom in the gym.

Colm_OReilly

You shouldn't change a program after a set amount of time just because it's the done thing to do. You should change a program when you stall or outgrow it, and this isn't based on a set number of weeks.

floggg

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

Why, as a self confessed novice, are you doing a split program, instead of a novice complete body program, like Starting Strength?

Are you eating right? Sleeping right?

I thought about SS, but from what i've read, i don't know if it seems suited to losing fat, for example drinking all that milk.

I started out on a complete body programmes, but (a) got bored of them (b) wanted to challenge myself more and (c) can do far more with them.

Eating is generally good -typical workout day

8 am Porridge w/ dried fruit and honey, a boiled egg
12 am - turky and ham sandwich on brown bread
2.30pm - handful of nuts
5.00pm - 12 am - turky and ham sandwich on brown bread
Protein Shake after workout
Dinner - typicallya pasta or rice dish, although light on pasta and rice, lots of meat and veg (all with homemade sauces).

Generally 8 hours sleep a night, or thereabouts.

Colm_OReilly

You don't need to drink the milk if you don't need to put on the weight.

Your diet could do with reducing the carbs and increasing the proteins and healthy fats a bit too.

I'd start throwing in a few CrossFit metcons (timed workouts) in there as well if I were you.

rubadub

blackgold>> wrote: »

Your deadlift should be over the 100kg mark.Your squat should be atleast 90. And your bench should be atleast 70kg.

Should he not be looking for a % increase after the year, rather than actual figures? If he started out very weak I doubt he would get to those figures to easily, although are you are talking 1RMs, and are you taking into account this starting wieghts of 40kg. He is quoting rep figures for 5x5

floggg wrote: »

I wouldn't say "timid" is the right word - its not that i'm hanging back, ro scared to lift more - i'm physcially not able to lift more on the bench.

For me I would be "timid" and far more wary benching, since I workout alone. I had a crap rickety bench in my house, I no longer use it. I do weighted dips, and inclined pushups I feel a hell of a lot safer doing bodyweight exercises.

DM-BM

Fair play on the 4 stone loss man, that's good going.

I don't know what you "should" be lifting after a year, but having had a quick look at your training log, i think IF you want to increase your lifts, you could change things around a bit.

Your squating 5x5 and deadlifting 5x5 on the same day, that is bound to keep the weight on the bar down. You could do them on seperate days, 5x5 or drop it to 3x5 and that way be able to increase the weight on the bar and be able to recover.

Same with chest day, your doing bench, db bench, flys, maybe just concentrate on just one for awhile, e.g. barbell bench until progress stops and then if you want a change switch to dumbells.

If getting your lifts up is what you want, then i would also suggest starting strength or at least something like it, I think it would let you make more progress, than what youy are presently doing.

BobbyOLeary

I thought about SS, but from what i've read, i don't know if it seems suited to losing fat, for example drinking all that milk.

Drinking the milk isn't an integral part of Starting Strength, its just an easy way for skinny people to increase their calorific intake over the course of the day.

floggg

Getting my lifts up as such isn't my goal per se. I'd prefer to things right rather than worry about numbers. My focus is still dropping body fat and replacing it with muscle, and get my overall strength up. I am progressing on my current programme, adding 2.5kg to the bar every 2-3 weeks. I was really trying to figure out how other people compared at a similar stage. I have friends who seem to be making much more progress in a lesser amount of time. I was trying to figure whose rate of progress was more typical (and whether i am on the weak side still)

BobbyOLeary

Well your progress as a novice will be slower if you're doing a 3 day split rather than a more simple all-body program. The thing is is that you can do things right and worry about the numbers. Really you could have progressed much faster and be a lot stronger than you are now if you had followed a different program.

g'em

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

Well your progress as a novice will be slower if you're doing a 3 day split rather than a more simple all-body program.

Says who?? Silly thing to say. A lot more than your program structure determines how well you progress.

BobbyOLeary wrote:

Really you could have progressed much faster and be a lot stronger than you are now if you had followed a different program.

Um, hang on. In his previous post the OP just said:

floggg wrote:

I am progressing on my current programme, adding 2.5kg to the bar every 2-3 weeks.

That sounds like pretty frickin good progress to me.

Hanley

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

Well your progress as a novice will be slower if you're doing a 3 day split rather than a more simple all-body program. The thing is is that you can do things right and worry about the numbers. Really you could have progressed much faster and be a lot stronger than you are now if you had followed a different program.

C'mon like...

OP don't listen to that.


BOL, are you going to tell us why full body is better? And are you going to tell us what program he SHOULD have followed?

floggg

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

Well your progress as a novice will be slower if you're doing a 3 day split rather than a more simple all-body program. The thing is is that you can do things right and worry about the numbers. Really you could have progressed much faster and be a lot stronger than you are now if you had followed a different program.

To be honest, i've found i'm making more progress on the current programme then i did on simpler full body programmes. I struggled to make on progress on the bench press before changing to 3 day splits. I have actually got almost a 30% increase since end of november (which shows where i started from).

BobbyOLeary

Look, when I post here I'm going off my own experience and my own (limited) research. I did Starting Strength and started with lifting stats similar enough to the OP, so have several people I know. They have all progressed faster (me included) than the OP has.

I've done Starting Strength for less than a year and I made more progress than the OP, when it comes to the numbers at least anyhow, our body compositions aren't comparable so I can't talk about that.

BOL, are you going to tell us why full body is better? And are you going to tell us what program he SHOULD have followed?

Honestly I can't give you a conclusive reason as to why full body is better, in my experience I've seen it to be more effective than split programs when it comes to building a novice's strength. I personally don't care what the OP does, I never said he SHOULD do anything, only that he would have progressed faster doing a program like SS.

That sounds like pretty frickin good progress to me.

Maybe for an advanced lifter but for a rank novice? Come on. You're telling me that its "good" progress for a novice to make 2.5kg every 2 weeks on the deadlift or squat? Really?

DM-BM

floggg wrote: »

Getting my lifts up as such isn't my goal per se. I'd prefer to things right rather than worry about numbers. My focus is still dropping body fat and replacing it with muscle, and get my overall strength up.

I'm a little confused, you say you don't want to worry about your numbers, but you want your overall strength to go up. I mean to get your overall strength up, you will have to get your numbers up.
Also at your height and weight it may be hard to drop fat and replace it with muscle at the same time.

floggg wrote: »

I am progressing on my current programme, adding 2.5kg to the bar every 2-3 weeks. I was really trying to figure out how other people compared at a similar stage. I have friends who seem to be making much more progress in a lesser amount of time. I was trying to figure whose rate of progress was more typical (and whether i am on the weak side still)

Are your friends trying to drop fat aswell?

Are they doing the same as you, i.e. squat 5x5, deadlift 5x5 on the same day?

I don't know whats typical progress as i haven't trained anyone, but at your weight i was progressing a bit faster than you are now. But i was not trying to drop fat at the time, i imagine this would slow progress on the weights.

g'em

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

Maybe for an advanced lifter but for a rank novice? Come on. You're telling me that its "good" progress for a novice to make 2.5kg every 2 weeks on the deadlift or squat? Really?

I'd be lol'ing heartily if I was making that progress Fair enough, perhaps it is a tad slow - but I don't think it's fair to unequivocally say that a full-body program would absolutely get better progress. I don't think I ever used FBT and it certainly didn't hinder my progress. I think everyone will have different experiences, and if the OP simply doesn't like FBT then he's hardly going to stick to it or give it the welly it needs to be a successful program?

BobbyOLeary

but I don't think it's fair to unequivocally say that a full-body program would absolutely get better progress

Fair point. I didn't mean for it to come across as strong. Its just been my experience that FBT has better strength results for novices than split training programs. I don't know enough about intermediates or advanced lifters to comment.

floggg

DM-BM wrote: »

I'm a little confused, you say you don't want to worry about your numbers, but you want your overall strength to go up. I mean to get your overall strength up, you will have to get your numbers up.
Also at your height and weight it may be hard to drop fat and replace it with muscle at the same time.




Are your friends trying to drop fat aswell?

Are they doing the same as you, i.e. squat 5x5, deadlift 5x5 on the same day?

I don't know whats typical progress as i haven't trained anyone, but at your weight i was progressing a bit faster than you are now. But i was not trying to drop fat at the time, i imagine this would slow progress on the weights.

Sorry, what i meant was that as long as i'm making progress and seeing results, i'll be happy. While i would obviously love to be benching body weight etc, i'd be happy to know that i'm progressing towards it and in the right way. And you are right, i can't compare my progress to others, there's so many factors involved. I just really wanted to see how others had gotten on when starting out and what may or may not have been typical

Hanley

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

Maybe for an advanced lifter but for a rank novice? Come on. You're telling me that its "good" progress for a novice to make 2.5kg every 2 weeks on the deadlift or squat? Really?

2.5kg every second week for a year = 50kg

I would KILL for that. I imagine most beginners would too.

BobbyOLeary

2.5kg every second week for a year = 50kg

Thanks, the maths were confusing me.

I would KILL for that. I imagine most beginners would too.

I'm sure you would but these programs aren't designed for a lifter at your level. Well if you think a beginner would be happy with a 50kg increase in the squat over a year long period (40kg - 90kg) then you know some people with low expectations. 50kg is a big jump in the bench press or something but not in the squat or deadlift, not for a novice.

bigstar

floggg wrote: »

i've been doing weights for about a year now, and just wondering what people think of my progress. When i started out last november, i was in pretty pathetic shape, very overweigh, and ridiculously weak.

Over a year on, and in a lot better shape, still got a bit of weight to lose, but but looking good, and feeling great.

I'm 5ft10, and 11 3/4 stone. Currently, i'm benching 55kg, squatting 75kg and deadlifting 75kg as well (i know DL should be higher than squat, but have been squatting for about 8 months, and doing leg press before that, whereas only doing deadlifts for about 3 months), all done at 5 x5. Can't recall what i started out, but was very low in each. I remember when adding 5kg plates onto the bar doing the bench press was an achievement. Squats probably started out around 40kg, similar for deadlift.

Just wondering whether this could be considered decent weights for somebody doing it this long? I reckon i have fairly good form on all (although by no means perfect). How far have others starting in a similar position progressed.

although im not in exactly the same position as you (im skinny trying to put on weight) and im only starting back since january your progress would seem slow to me. today i squat 70kg, benched 47.5kg and pulled 75kg at 3x5. im fairly pleased with that but would hope to have gone way past your lifts in a few weeks time. my deadlift is already there and my squat will hopefully be 75kg on thursday. i remember about a month ago i tried to bench 50kg and it was a no go i should manage that soon enough. it might be good to set some targets for yourself to aim for like 100kg deadlift or something, but if your happy enough doing what your doing then your doing something right, just keep it up.

PeakOutput

op do you feel as if your totally drained after each workout?

i started the stronglifts beginner programme(which from another thread might not be the best thing) 4?? weeks ago now and i dont know why but instead of adding 2.5kg every workout i prefered to try add 5kg every second workout(its in my head im sure but whatever)

in that time my squat has gone from 50/55 to 85 for 5by5 and i hope to be quite close to 1.5bodyweight by the end of the semester which is may. my deadlift im keeping light as im not positive i have the form yet but its around 65/70 for 5by5.

my bench to me feels like its coming on way way slower than everything (as i know i could go heavier with the dl im just not confident with that lift)else having started at 50 im only really at 60 now i can really struggle with 65 for 5by5 but the last set would defo be iffy

im gonna get a trainer to look at my form this weekend before i get much heavier as i want to catch any problems relatively early so maybe that would be a good idea for you look for a staff member in your gym who looks super strong and fit and ask their advice they are probably being paid to help you after all.


also i find that the more i go to the gym the longer i want to workout for and the basic stronglift programme is fast becoming not enough(particularly whe it comes to ab work) so i guess im at the stage were im positive im going to keep this up and want to make sure im maximising my time

itsallaboutheL

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

Thanks, the maths were confusing me.



I'm sure you would but these programs aren't designed for a lifter at your level. Well if you think a beginner would be happy with a 50kg increase in the squat over a year long period (40kg - 90kg) then you know some people with low expectations. 50kg is a big jump in the bench press or something but not in the squat or deadlift, not for a novice.

thats bollocks

mack32

i dont claim to be an expert or anything and im sure there are plenty of guys on here who know a lot more about this than me but this is my two cents:

what is your overall aim? is it to drop bodyfat and build muscle or drop fat and build strength. you'll have to pick certain reps to maximally achieve each of the goals, i got this from the basic blocks of fitness thread(stickied)

Sets and Reps (Credit: Michael Cravez):

1. 80-100% rpm: 1-3 reps X 5 sets = strength gains
2. 50-70% rpm: 4-8 reps X 4 sets = A combination of both strength and size gains
3. 40-60% rpm: 10-15 reps X 3 sets = Size gains
4. 30% rpm: 15 or over reps X 2 sets = Muscular Endurance
5. 30-100% rpm: with any reps or sets with explosive speed = power gains

with sets of 5x5 you'll increase strength but thats not optimal for burning fat or muscle hypertrophy (growth) personally i dont care how much i lift but how much i look like i can lift but it depends on what you want to achieve yourself.

just to echo what a few of the other guys have said you cant compare yourself to others, everybodys genetics are different and others may have different body types. see which one you are here; http://www.bodybuildingpro.com/bodytypeinformation.html

id agree with hanley 2.5kg every two weeks is very decent progress, you have to build up to the big stuff, if it could be done in 6months we'd all be benching bodyweight! id recommend you enjoy your progress and each time you tack on another plate take a second to enjoy your achievement this way you won't be overwhelmed and disheartened by worrying about how far off your ultimate goal you are.

are you doing any cardio? i know some people ar econvinced of the opposite but its my experience that cardio doesn't sacrifices muscle (unless your two weeks off the olympia!) forget long boring runs and go with HIIT cardio after your weights, it'll really help with the fat loss

plus one for putting squats and deads on a diffferent day.
plus one for measuring percentage as opposed to actual weights

you mentioned your form wasn't always perfect, id watch that dude, as you progress you wont get away with so-so form in the long run

i know starting strength is v popular here but id recommend going with a three day split like u have been, ok full body routines are grand for the first cpl months but you've been lifting for a year and working each body part 3 times a week wont give you the recovery time you'll need to progress.

focus on the main compound movements, (bench, squat and deads) start each workout with one of those as you will have the most energy and focus at that time (but make sure you're properly warmed up!!!)

id recommend a protein shake first thing in the morning because your muscles will be just after fasting for eight hours

thats my take on it anyway but like i say im no expert

BobbyOLeary

itsallaboutheL wrote: »

thats bollocks

Care to elaborate or are we back in primary school? If so then, your ma.

BobbyOLeary

i know starting strength is v popular here but id recommend going with a three day split like u have been, ok full body routines are grand for the first cpl months but you've been lifting for a year and working each body part 3 times a week wont give you the recovery time you'll need to progress.

Yes and no. The length of time someone has been lifting is not always indicative of their level. Someone could run through SS in 2-3 months but someone else may take 12 months to exhaust the program.

With that said, SS may not be the best program for what the OP wants to achieve.

floggg

mack32 wrote: »

are you doing any cardio? i know some people ar econvinced of the opposite but its my experience that cardio doesn't sacrifices muscle (unless your two weeks off the olympia!) forget long boring runs and go with HIIT cardio after your weights, it'll really help with the fat loss

Yes - 2 or 3 nights a week as well. 5 a side soccer once a week, and then i do a 5k interval run the other nights.

mack32 wrote: »

plus one for putting squats and deads on a diffferent day.
plus one for measuring percentage as opposed to actual weights

you mentioned your form wasn't always perfect, id watch that dude, as you progress you wont get away with so-so form in the long run

Yes, you are right, which is way i haven't tried to push the squats and deads too hard. I could be throwing on an extra plate every night on each but i prefer to take it that little bit slower to keep the form in check. And when i say not perfect, i mean i think its good, but there's always room for improvement.

mack32 wrote: »

id recommend a protein shake first thing in the morning because your muscles will be just after fasting for eight hours

Is there a need for this? I try to have a boiled egg in the morning, i hoped that would be enough. I take a protein shake after training, but don't want to get into taking them daily unless i thought there would be a real benefit.

Also, bear in mind that my main priroty is fat loss. Would this affect it?

Sangre

Yes, all the cardio and calorie restricted diet will affect your strength gains.

Pub07

floggg wrote: »

Is there a need for this? I try to have a boiled egg in the morning, i hoped that would be enough. I take a protein shake after training, but don't want to get into taking them daily unless i thought there would be a real benefit.

Why are you having just one egg if this is your protein for the morning? Hard boil four and down the whites in 20 seconds, simple and effective.

mack32

Yes and no. The length of time someone has been lifting is not always indicative of their level. Someone could run through SS in 2-3 months but someone else may take 12 months to exhaust the program.

good point.

Is there a need for this? I try to have a boiled egg in the morning, i hoped that would be enough. I take a protein shake after training, but don't want to get into taking them daily unless i thought there would be a real benefit.

protein is essential for muscle growth, they say that you need about 1.5gram protein per kilo of bodyweight to build muscle mass thats a lot of eggs!!

protein also helps with fat loss. long story short when you create a calorie deficit you want your body to turn to fat for its energy as opposed to eating your hard earned muscle! high protein intake will help preserve lean muscle mass

this is a good article on protein intake
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/planet4.htm

have a poke about on that site its brilliant!

pcworldsucks

I got bench up to 76kg after 1 year. And curls up to 18kg for 3 reps. Cant remember my squat number, havent done it in a good while. op you do seem to be a bit of a pussy but then again if everyone was benching 76kg i would just be average as oppsosed to advanced level and i wouldnt like that lol.

itsallaboutheL

pcworldsucks wrote: »

I got bench up to 76kg after 1 year. And curls up to 18kg for 3 reps. Cant remember my squat number, havent done it in a good while. op you do seem to be a bit of a pussy but then again if everyone was benching 76kg i would just be average as oppsosed to advanced level and i wouldnt like that lol.

i hope your're taking the piss!

itsallaboutheL

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

Care to elaborate or are we back in primary school? If so then, your ma.

my point is that my ma along with most people would be very happy with 50kg jumps every year, regardless of the level of lifter

PeakOutput

itsallaboutheL wrote: »

i hope your're taking the piss!

im sure he is read some other stuff he has posted tonight

kevpants

pcworldsucks wrote: »

I got bench up to 76kg after 1 year. And curls up to 18kg for 3 reps. Cant remember my squat number, havent done it in a good while.

That quote will go down in "Internet Lifter" history as the greatest of all time.

It has everything!

Boasting about your numbers as though you're the dawg.
A curling PR, A CURLING PR!
And the squat numbers are placed AFTER the curls in the order of merit... but wait there's more! You can't remember them because you haven't done them in so long!

g'em

pcworldsucksis taking a little extended holiday from the forum to go work on his monster-strong curls.

BobbyOLeary

itsallaboutheL wrote: »

my point is that my ma along with most people would be very happy with 50kg jumps every year, regardless of the level of lifter

And my point is that for a pure novice 50kg is not a good jump for a years work. My first 4 months of SS put my squat up about 50kg. I would not have been happy had that taken a year. I agree that 50kg is a whopper jump for the shoulder press or bench press but not for the squat or deadlift. You're simply selling yourself short if you think you can't make bigger jumps than that.

kevpants

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

And my point is that for a pure novice 50kg is not a good jump for a years work. My first 4 months of SS put my squat up about 50kg. I would not have been happy had that taken a year. I agree that 50kg is a whopper jump for the shoulder press or bench press but not for the squat or deadlift. You're simply selling yourself short if you think you can't make bigger jumps than that.

Depends on the status of novice though Bob.

I mean you're correct if you start out out by falling on your ass the first time you try and squat with an empty bar and have been a generally inactive person up to the point where you start training. Then yeah you could add 50kg to your squat by bringing it from 20kg to 70kg and it's not a big deal. If you are a novice who is fairly active, plays or has played a sport etc then you're going to be starting at a much higher point A few lessons should have you squatting an alright amount of weight just by teaching technique so over the course of the next year you couldn't expect to add as much.

Some people actually have to learn motor control and these people will make massive gains once their bodies realise their glutes are not solely for comfort purposes during marathon xbox sessions. If you already have the motor control starting off you'll be starting from a higher point.

floggg

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

And my point is that for a pure novice 50kg is not a good jump for a years work. My first 4 months of SS put my squat up about 50kg. I would not have been happy had that taken a year. I agree that 50kg is a whopper jump for the shoulder press or bench press but not for the squat or deadlift. You're simply selling yourself short if you think you can't make bigger jumps than that.

Obviously bigger jumps are possible. They always are, even from the progress you made in that time. However just because you progressed in a certain manner, doesn't mean should or even could for that matter. For one, we are differen programmes entirely. From what i've read, starting strength involves squatting every day, so naturally you should progress faster than somebody doing it once or twice a week. I would also imagine you put on weight doing SS, whereas i have dropped an awful lot during the last year. I would also doubt we are the same height, body type, or that we have the same work commitments or other interests. Eg, i did a lot of distance running which would obviously impact muscle growth and recovery. So just because i didn't progress at same rate or pace as you doesn't mean i should be unhappy with my progres

DM-BM

floggg wrote: »

Obviously bigger jumps are possible. They always are, even from the progress you made in that time. However just because you progressed in a certain manner, doesn't mean should or even could for that matter. For one, we are differen programmes entirely. From what i've read, starting strength involves squatting every day, so naturally you should progress faster than somebody doing it once or twice a week. I would also imagine you put on weight doing SS, whereas i have dropped an awful lot during the last year. I would also doubt we are the same height, body type, or that we have the same work comm

floggg, I really don't think that was aimed at you, but more a general comment on what a novice is capable of if getting their lifts up is their goal.

Your goals were different, and in that regard i don't think they can be compared to the "average" novice, droping 4 stone in a year is good going regardless of what your lifting.

However if your goals now are to get leaner and add some muscle, i think you could easily add 50kg to your squat over the next year , and that would go a long way to helping you gain muscle which in turn could help you burn fat.Also at your height and weight there can't be that much more fat to lose, is there?

BTW starting strength doesn't have to mean fat gain, sure like any program, if you go at it with more weight on the bar as your only goal and you eat accordingly, then yeah you will gain some fat, but you don't HAVE to take that approach with it.Starting Strength certainly isn't the only way to do things, but i do feel that it could help you get closer to your goals, than what you are presently doing.

BobbyOLeary

OP, none of what I'm saying is aimed at you, I'm responding to people saying that 50kg is a good jump. It's not for a years work for a novice, simple as. You said yourself that you weren't chasing numbers so its not important whether your jumps are the best possible.

kevpants wrote: »

Depends on the status of novice though Bob.

Exactly. My only point was that for a novice in a similar position as the OP (out of shape, overweight, ridiculously weak, etc.) 50kg isn't a good jump in a lift like the squat. I'm still a novice lifter myself (still capable of linear progressions from day to day) but a 50kg jump in my squat in a year would leave me squatting 2xBW for 3x5, a big ass jump alright.

I don't care what the OP does, as long as he's happy with his progress why should I be? All that I was ever saying was that 50kg wasn't the huge jump people were making it out to be.

itsallaboutheL

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

OP, none of what I'm saying is aimed at you, I'm responding to people saying that 50kg is a good jump. It's not for a years work for a novice, simple as. You said yourself that you weren't chasing numbers so its not important whether your jumps are the best possible.



Exactly. My only point was that for a novice in a similar position as the OP (out of shape, overweight, ridiculously weak, etc.) 50kg isn't a good jump in a lift like the squat. I'm still a novice lifter myself (still capable of linear progressions from day to day) but a 50kg jump in my squat in a year would leave me squatting 2xBW for 3x5, a big ass jump alright.

I don't care what the OP does, as long as he's happy with his progress why should I be? All that I was ever saying was that 50kg wasn't the huge jump people were making it out to be.

You have to bare in mind that at least 3 months of a novice lifter's year is just learning basic technique and reading up on programs anf theory, and just generally trying to get a feel for lifting, out of pure nosiness what stats had you at the start of your first year and end of your first year

BobbyOLeary

No worries, since I've been waffling on I may as well post up. My stats when I first started lifting were the following (I think, I could be off by 10kg or so)

These are rough 1RM

Squat: 40kg
Deadlift: 50kg
Bench 50kg
Press: 40kg
Bodyweight of 75kg

Now (after 1 years worth of training broken up into different segments, I never trained properly for 1 year solid. Most of my time was spent doing sprints and LSD running. I first started SS in October 07')

Squat: 120kg
Deadlift: 140kg
Bench: 80kg
Press: 60kg
Bodyweight of 81kg

I lost and gained weight due to competition and my J1 during this period so my weight fluctuated between 68kg and 85kg. I'm at a steady-state weight at the minute.

floggg

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

Look, when I post here I'm going off my own experience and my own (limited) research. I did Starting Strength and started with lifting stats similar enough to the OP, so have several people I know. They have all progressed faster (me included) than the OP has.

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

OP, none of what I'm saying is aimed at you, I'm responding to people saying that 50kg is a good jump. It's not for a years work for a novice, simple as. You said yourself that you weren't chasing numbers so its not important whether your jumps are the best possible.


Exactly. My only point was that for a novice in a similar position as the OP (out of shape, overweight, ridiculously weak, etc.) 50kg isn't a good jump in a lift like the squat. I'm still a novice lifter myself (still capable of linear progressions from day to day) but a 50kg jump in my squat in a year would leave me squatting 2xBW for 3x5, a big ass jump alright.

By your own admission you have stated your only going off your own experience, so i don't think you're really in a position to comment on what is or is not a good jump for somebody in my position. As i've said, i don't think we are or were in anything near a comparable situation, so your experiences don't necessarily apply here. I know better progress would be possible, but i'm still happy with how far i've come. But fair play to you, you obviously put the work in and are seeing the rewards.


FYI, i take a bit of offence to the term "ridiculously" weak - weak, or relatively weaky (even very weak) i could handle, but i think "ridiculously weak" is a bridge to far = its not as if i was like some overweight version of the old school mister muscle (before the CGI).

BobbyOLeary

floggg wrote: »

FYI, i take a bit of offence to the term "ridiculously" weak - weak, or relatively weaky (even very weak) i could handle, but i think "ridiculously weak" is a bridge to far = its not as if i was like some overweight version of the old school mister muscle (before the CGI).

floggg wrote:

i've been doing weights for about a year now, and just wondering what people think of my progress. When i started out last november, i was in pretty pathetic shape, very overweigh, and ridiculously weak.

Jesus Christ. Get your knickers out of a twist, I used your own words. If you don't want them repeated don't use them. For the last bloody time, I don't care about you or what program you're doing, I'm talking about novices in general.

floggg

Sorry, i forgot sarcasm doesn't translate on the web. i was gonna use a smiley, but they're a little camp for my liking!