Every time my step-brother starts talking with me about lifting, he says im eating way to much since im only lifting 3x a week (Starting Strength).
He tells me I will get fat so I need to lift every day like he did. (He says he gained 90 pounds on the bench press in 2 weeks just by lifting every day, I say thats impossible unless he was using horrible form when he started)
He is pretty strong, but I don’t think he really understands that lifting every day isn’t the only way to get strong fast. (He also thinks 15 pounds a week increase for the Squat is not very good).
So is my step-bro right when he says lifting every day is the fastest way to get stronger, or he is just lucky to have gained fast doing this?
I agree with the above posts. Is SS working for you? If you are seeing gains then why change? When you begin to stall out, get bored, or otherwise feel the need to change, go for it. But if you keep growing from what you are doing, clearly its working!
[quote]njrusmc wrote:
I agree with the above posts. Is SS working for you? If you are seeing gains then why change? When you begin to stall out, get bored, or otherwise feel the need to change, go for it. But if you keep growing from what you are doing, clearly its working![/quote]
I stalled in week 3 (right now) on the bench, but I don’t think that is normal, so im trying to get more sleep and lift harder. The reason I asked this is because while SS is working for me, im the kind of person who wants the best, so if something would work better (even if it took more effort and time) I would want to do that.
Thanks for answering everyone. He did not take steriods, he just ate 6000 calories a day, slept a ton, and got a lot of protein in him, so that would help him recover I guess. But yeah, I did not think he was right.
And no, I don’t think he knows much about how the body responds to weightlifting, so he’s someone who seems to believe “more is better” when it comes to weightlifting.
[quote]fisch wrote:
njrusmc wrote:
I agree with the above posts. Is SS working for you? If you are seeing gains then why change? When you begin to stall out, get bored, or otherwise feel the need to change, go for it. But if you keep growing from what you are doing, clearly its working!
I stalled in week 3 (right now) on the bench, but I don’t think that is normal, so im trying to get more sleep and lift harder. The reason I asked this is because while SS is working for me, im the kind of person who wants the best, so if something would work better (even if it took more effort and time) I would want to do that.
Thanks for answering everyone. He did not take steriods, he just ate 6000 calories a day, slept a ton, and got a lot of protein in him, so that would help him recover I guess. But yeah, I did not think he was right.
And no, I don’t think he knows much about how the body responds to weightlifting, so he’s someone who seems to believe “more is better” when it comes to weightlifting.[/quote]
I think he knows exactly how his body responds to weightlifting. It looks to me like he didn’t follow any cookie-cutter routine and instead just worked his ass off without worrying about minutia and ate a ton.
People should start listening to their bodies, and experimenting with their own recovery instead of questioning someone else (who is bigger and stronger) just because they don’t follow a 3x per week full-body workout.
Personally, I have had my best gains lifting 6x a week. Most of the big guys in my gym (one of which is a national champ) train either 6 or 7 times a week.
It depends on the time and energy I have at my disposal of course. For instance, when the exam-period is getting closer, I will typically reduce frequency to 3x a week.
[quote]fisch wrote:
Every time my step-brother starts talking with me about lifting, he says im eating way to much since im only lifting 3x a week (Starting Strength). [/quote]
Me: Eating a bunch on a day off is awesome; that’s why we call it a “recovery day” Why only recover at night? 8hrs recovery < 24+hrs of recovery
Me: If you have horrible form, you will end up injuring yourself…just wait. I’ve seen 185lbs dudes bench 300+ with a bounce; and everyone who saw them laughed and/or didn’t consider them a lifter.
Me: He sounds like he’s a guy who reads too much “Flex”
Me: It depends on your goals. If your doing SS; your on the right track. If you want to have a killer bench; then work bench and all that goes with having a killer bench all the time. If you wanna bench 300; you can…but if you want to have it “all” (aka be strong all around…) then keep with SS, eat your food, get your rest. Continue to be smart.
[quote]Alquemist wrote:
I think he knows exactly how his body responds to weightlifting. It looks to me like he didn’t follow any cookie-cutter routine and instead just worked his ass off without worrying about minutia and ate a ton.
People should start listening to their bodies, and experimenting with their own recovery instead of questioning someone else (who is bigger and stronger) just because they don’t follow a 3x per week full-body workout.[/quote]
Exactly. A lot of people that don’t make any real progress like to drag others down that are actually excelling by saying they aren’t doing it the way they’re “supposed” to do it, or they are going to screw up eventually.
They’re called haters, and they are good for nothing but a laugh.
[quote]eraserhead wrote:
Personally, I have had my best gains lifting 6x a week. Most of the big guys in my gym (one of which is a national champ) train either 6 or 7 times a week.
It depends on the time and energy I have at my disposal of course. For instance, when the exam-period is getting closer, I will typically reduce frequency to 3x a week.[/quote]
I agree, I saw my best gains with a 6 day a week program (4 on, 1 off; still doing physical activity on the off day). It’s just time is an issue now so I do a 2-3 a week program atm. If you’re working hard and eating right, you’ll see gains, just make every workout count.