Moving Up Weight Classes

Who’s done it? And how much have you gained on your lifts??

Not really applicable, but I’m close to 50 pounds heavier then I was at my last meet.

My diet consists of:
pizza
cytogainer
steak
burger
eggs
pancakes once a week
corned beef hash
brats/italian sausages/polish sausages/etc
milk

WHile that sounds pretty shitty to most people, I’ve grown a lot. And hanley here says he eats chocolate and fizzy drinks in the T-Cell. The easiest way to gain weight for sure, is eat exactly like you do now, but add one meal or shake.

It really isn’t rocket science or anything. You know what you’re doing.

NOTE: I am tired. This post got super long. For short version, read very last paragragh…if you’re at work and bored, then Godspeed getting through this!

i think hanley (not that i should talk for you) was more asking about what kind of # increases to expect if he were to move up a weight class

hanley, i’ve read alot of your posts, and you’re definitly stronger than i am (for now :wink: ), so i wont be as much help to you as hopefully other people will be, but my latest experience is as follows…

i was stuck bouncing between 180-190ish for about a year and a half, between a bum shoulder and a worse back, and getting sick, i worked out consistantly (whenever not too injured) but definitly didnt make hardly any progress (strengthwise), although i did get my back and shoulder atleast partially figured out and a lot better than before (and even though its not as fun, i need to remember thats kinda progress in a way still)…

anyways, early this year, i hit a low of 180 on the dot again, and right around that time a girl mentioned casually “oh, you workout?”…and both kinda hit me pretty hard needless to say haha, so basically every since then, i took it slow and steady on a lot of exercises for my back, but i did everything right, everything i knew to not rush into things too far that i keep reinjuring it too often to make progress, follow a simple, straightforward plan, and eat until i puke

-basically, even though i needed that year+ before to get a base of knowledge to know what i can and cant do right now, i made more progress about knowing how to train for my body these past 6 months than i have the entire rest of the time combined, but also my lifts are finally moving (mostly consistantly) where i had been stuck for a looong time at the same weights, just going up and down depending on pain levels

-from there i’m now up to a little over 200 most of the time (havnt seen below 200 for about a month or so) (using creatine and a little bit fatter)

-allthough this was all well and good, i wasnt happy with my strength increases considering the weight gain, and this distressed me because my lifts definitly work going up when my body weight wasnt going up…but just recently (ever since i’ve been able to hold 200+, even though i’m not moving up as fast right now, as it seems to go in spurts), my strength is starting to shoot up, (like for squats in a 2 week period i think i went up 25 lbs and still climbing steady so far)

wow, i’m so sorry this came out so long, i am so tired i should have just waited for the morning to reply haha,but basically,although progress is never linear (dispite how “science” may suggest we train sometimes), it doesnt always go like that (and learning that really taught me a lot of how to work with my body)…so its too early to say when my gains will slow down but maybe once things level off, i’ll be able to give you a better idea of weights lifted/vs weight gained…but so far …

IF YOU CHOOSE THE FIRST OPTION, START READING HERE

,what i’m trying to say is maintain a weight,milk it for all the strength you can get out of it…when it slows down, gain weight again, and wait for the strength to follow…and repeat… (i guess this realization is hitting me hard because i never seemed to have things come as easy as it looked like it had to some of my friends…but it is simple,and to actually have these amazing gains that “never happen to me”…i finally see the light haha)

Haven’t you gained weight and gone into the 105kg class then dropped back down to 90kg-or something similar-? Is there any reason you want to gain weight and move up a weight class? Your lifts are improving now and there very good for your weight.

Though of course gaining weight to eventually get you stronger in your weight class now is a good idea.

Anyways gained around 20 lbs this summer and my squat and deadlift went up the most-especially my squat-

I can tell you my experience Hanley but since you’re natural [I’m 99% sure] it may apply slightly less to you.

I’m 33, 34 in a month. From age basically 23-29 I always hovered around 190-210lbs. At 30 I decided to pursue powerlifting I added some meat but I also began to dabble in the dark arts around this time. So unlike some teens or even guys in their earlier 20’s I know I’ve sort of hit my genetic maxim and I know where I’m at. Had I never geared up I would probably have remained a 220 that’s just what I was. Now frankly I’m a 242. Sure a large part of it was the sauce, but also just a few years of dedicated PL training once I switched over from more bodybuilding oriented stuff.

I used to compete as a 220. Even after a couple cycles I’d be as much as 230 a few weeks before a meet and I could lose 10lbs without sacrificing too much strength. My next meet will absolutely be as a 242. I’ve just gained too much meat over the past couple years thanks in part to the gear [not PL gear although that too ;)]

Its one thing to diet down from 225 even 230 to 220 but from 240-245 to 220 is not something I am capable of without sacrificing too much of the extra strength that has accompanied this extra weight. I wish I had my 242 strength at 220, I’d be near some state records quite frankly. But that’s just part of the game.
So sure across the boards I’m significantly stronger now than 18 months ago as a 220.

Kinda hard to quantify how much my single ply lifts have increased as I have had to get all new gear and I’m only gym lift tested. Also I’ve switched brands on all my gear. So that’s even harder to gauge it. Raw I’m Squatting and DLing about 150lbs+ more than say 18 months ago. Bench is maybe 60-70lbs more than a year and a half ago.

Obviously the translation into gear varies. Consider it this way though. My last 220 meet I squated 675 in all the equipment. This summer I was repping over 700 raw, no wraps, no suit, just a belt. Theoretically in all the stuff I’d love to think I’d be knocking on 800’s door, only the meet results matter as you know. Many a gym record never shows up on the platform.

These are as best I can remember

First meet as 198 (I think), 405-285-405.
First meet at 220, 485-345-465
First meet at 242, 545-400-500

Right now I am back at 220 as I felt I just got too fucking fat when I was a high 242. Although I am creeping from low 220 to high 220 it seems every week.

[quote]shizen wrote:
Haven’t you gained weight and gone into the 105kg class then dropped back down to 90kg-or something similar-? Is there any reason you want to gain weight and move up a weight class? Your lifts are improving now and there very good for your weight.

Though of course gaining weight to eventually get you stronger in your weight class now is a good idea.

Anyways gained around 20 lbs this summer and my squat and deadlift went up the most-especially my squat- [/quote]

At my heaviest I was 103.5kg (going from 98), it’s also where I was at my strongest. My raw strength jsut shot up when I got to that level. Afterwards I tapered back down to 97 or 98kg and managed to hold my strength fairly flat to there. Now at 96kg my squatting and pulling is as good as ever, but my pressing is down.

So basically I gained 5.5kg, lost 7.5kg and managed to keep all of my strength too.

The reason I wanna gain weight is because I want to put up the biggest total possible as a junior, and hopefully one that will stand in the national record books for some time. The 100kg jr record’s 750kg and it’s stood since 1998. I’d like to break that at 100 and then go for 800 at 110.

While I’m fully confident I can continue to gain strength from meet to meet, I’d like to gain as much as possible and total 800 and squat 300 as a junior!!

[quote]saps wrote:
I can tell you my experience Hanley but since you’re natural [I’m 99% sure] it may apply slightly less to you.

I’m 33, 34 in a month. From age basically 23-29 I always hovered around 190-210lbs. At 30 I decided to pursue powerlifting I added some meat but I also began to dabble in the dark arts around this time. So unlike some teens or even guys in their earlier 20’s I know I’ve sort of hit my genetic maxim and I know where I’m at. Had I never geared up I would probably have remained a 220 that’s just what I was. Now frankly I’m a 242. Sure a large part of it was the sauce, but also just a few years of dedicated PL training once I switched over from more bodybuilding oriented stuff.

I used to compete as a 220. Even after a couple cycles I’d be as much as 230 a few weeks before a meet and I could lose 10lbs without sacrificing too much strength. My next meet will absolutely be as a 242. I’ve just gained too much meat over the past couple years thanks in part to the gear [not PL gear although that too ;)]

Its one thing to diet down from 225 even 230 to 220 but from 240-245 to 220 is not something I am capable of without sacrificing too much of the extra strength that has accompanied this extra weight. I wish I had my 242 strength at 220, I’d be near some state records quite frankly. But that’s just part of the game.
So sure across the boards I’m significantly stronger now than 18 months ago as a 220.

Kinda hard to quantify how much my single ply lifts have increased as I have had to get all new gear and I’m only gym lift tested. Also I’ve switched brands on all my gear. So that’s even harder to gauge it. Raw I’m Squatting and DLing about 150lbs+ more than say 18 months ago. Bench is maybe 60-70lbs more than a year and a half ago.

Obviously the translation into gear varies. Consider it this way though. My last 220 meet I squated 675 in all the equipment. This summer I was repping over 700 raw, no wraps, no suit, just a belt. Theoretically in all the stuff I’d love to think I’d be knocking on 800’s door, only the meet results matter as you know. Many a gym record never shows up on the platform.[/quote]

K… awesome summary. Thanks!!

Yup, I’m 100% natural. Having just turned 22 I’d need to be pretty stupid to have it any other way. I got up to 103.5kg at 18% bodyfat fairly easily and managed to retain most of the thickness and strength I gained at my new lower weight level (like 96kg). It’s for that reason I reckon I could get up to 105ish kg this time and come back down to 100kg and still manage to do ok strength wise. I should probably note my weight came down over 6-8 weeks last time.

Considering my strength levels now are pretty mcuh the same as when I was at 103.5kg, I was hoping I’d see another big jump in my strength between here and say 105 and hold onto most, if not all of it when I came back to 100!

Hanley, I benched 355 raw at about 200, MAYBE 210 lbs bodyweight. I’ve never benched more than 360 at 230 lbs, and I’ve been as high as 243 (bench has taken a back burner over the last year, year and a half tho, becuase of strongman) so the weight didnt help me there.

On the other hand over that same tiem my squats gone from 475ish to a 555 that even your draconian IPF would have to count :wink: and a 585 that might get passed. I’d have to look at my training logs to see what i was pulling at 200, i’ll try to remember (whihc means i probably wont unless i happen to see this thread while im at home)
dunno if it’s relevant, but these are raw numbers

And this may not be relevant to you, but I notice a bigger difference with added bodyweight the heavier the implements get, ie, a 700 yoke run is 4x bw for a 175 guy, 3.5x for a 200lber, but only 3x bw for a 231er. so take that for what it’s worth

[quote]KBCThird wrote:
Hanley, I benched 355 raw at about 200, MAYBE 210 lbs bodyweight. I’ve never benched more than 360 at 230 lbs, and I’ve been as high as 243 (bench has taken a back burner over the last year, year and a half tho, becuase of strongman) so the weight didnt help me there.

On the other hand over that same tiem my squats gone from 475ish to a 555 that even your draconian IPF would have to count :wink: and a 585 that might get passed. I’d have to look at my training logs to see what i was pulling at 200, i’ll try to remember (whihc means i probably wont unless i happen to see this thread while im at home)
dunno if it’s relevant, but these are raw numbers

And this may not be relevant to you, but I notice a bigger difference with added bodyweight the heavier the implements get, ie, a 700 yoke run is 4x bw for a 175 guy, 3.5x for a 200lber, but only 3x bw for a 231er. so take that for what it’s worth [/quote]

Hmmm… that’s interesting. I’ve always noticed my bench take a big jump with weight gain. Maybe that’s an individual thing tho? My squat always seems to move nicely too. I don’t think my deadlift is gonna go up no matter what I do so I’m not too concerned there. Maybe my gear will be tighter and I’ll get better carryover that way!!

[quote]Hanley wrote:

Hmmm… that’s interesting. I’ve always noticed my bench take a big jump with weight gain. Maybe that’s an individual thing tho? My squat always seems to move nicely too. I don’t think my deadlift is gonna go up no matter what I do so I’m not too concerned there. Maybe my gear will be tighter and I’ll get better carryover that way!![/quote]

Yeah, makes no real sense to me. A training partner ventured a guess that there may be a tipping point that I fell just short of, ie, I gained 20 lbs and only put 5 on my bench, maybe if i’d gained another 10-20 I woulda added another 20-30 lbs on my bench. who knows?

My bench goes up about 10% (sometimes only 5%) when I go from 198 to 220. I am currently trying to say at 220 longer to see what happens there and let’s not lie, bulking is more fun. My squat also goes up a bit and my deadlift is not really affected by my weight. My bodyweight stuff like pull-ups and dips go down a fair amount, as does my cardio.

In all honesty I did the reverse to be the most competitive. I had competed in college at 198 for a while, usually walked around at 205 ish, but decided to compete in the 181’s to be as competitive as possible. My total stayed basically the same, in part due to better number selection and being young and still making fast progress. I also lost weight the “right” way and was quite lean at 181. I haven’t seen 181 in a while though.

You can do the Wilks formula on yourself with different numbers and bodyweights to see whether or not the increase is worth it to you.

[quote]KBCThird wrote:
Hanley wrote:

Hmmm… that’s interesting. I’ve always noticed my bench take a big jump with weight gain. Maybe that’s an individual thing tho? My squat always seems to move nicely too. I don’t think my deadlift is gonna go up no matter what I do so I’m not too concerned there. Maybe my gear will be tighter and I’ll get better carryover that way!!

Yeah, makes no real sense to me. A training partner ventured a guess that there may be a tipping point that I fell just short of, ie, I gained 20 lbs and only put 5 on my bench, maybe if i’d gained another 10-20 I woulda added another 20-30 lbs on my bench. who knows?
[/quote]

Yeah that could be plausible alright. I’d expect a much bigger gain. I was hitting PR week after week last time I gained weight…

[quote]Tim Henriques wrote:
My bench goes up about 10% (sometimes only 5%) when I go from 198 to 220. I am currently trying to say at 220 longer to see what happens there and let’s not lie, bulking is more fun. My squat also goes up a bit and my deadlift is not really affected by my weight. My bodyweight stuff like pull-ups and dips go down a fair amount, as does my cardio.

In all honesty I did the reverse to be the most competitive. I had competed in college at 198 for a while, usually walked around at 205 ish, but decided to compete in the 181’s to be as competitive as possible. My total stayed basically the same, in part due to better number selection and being young and still making fast progress. I also lost weight the “right” way and was quite lean at 181. I haven’t seen 181 in a while though.

You can do the Wilks formula on yourself with different numbers and bodyweights to see whether or not the increase is worth it to you.[/quote]

I just had a look back on training logs there… I was hitting PRs every week when I was between 101 and 103kg. I managed to hold my strength from htere, but I’m not hittign as many, or as big, PR’s.

I’ve checked out the Wilks scores actually and believe it or not I score better the higher I go.

A 190kg bench at 98kg is worth about 1.5 points less than 200kg at 110, which is just mad!

A 272kg squat at 98kg is worth less than 285kg at 110kg.

It seems strage that a 12kg gain in bodyweight only requires a minor increase in numbers. To be honest if I moved to 110kg I’d be looking to bench 220 and squat 300 within 18 months.

It’s probably worth it tbh. Take it on the chin, accept I’m gonna get a bit softer but work on becoming jacked as fuck. I’d be happy enough going up to Chigishev’s sorta bodyfat levels if needs be!!


My weight has fluctuated from 255 to 285 over the last year. I am about 6 foot 3 or 4. I have observed that being heavier does not make much difference in my pull, but it does effect my squat and bench by 20-40 lbs. I think this has a lot to do with gear being tighter though.

That said, I think that cycling weight gain and dieting cycles can do a lot for growing muscle. I have seen soem bodybuilder friends gte good results this way. I am kind of experimenting with it now. I dieted from 275-280 down to 250-255 this summer and kept a lot of strength (even after going “off”). After summer, I’ll start blubbering up for the winter to get stronger.

I know I’m interested in the answer to this, and I should have a general idea if you post this again in the future. The next few months I’ll be trying to notch up from 181ish to 198ish (well not 17lbs in a few months, but looking to increase some muscle) to help out with my lifts. I think the extra muscle is what I need to help me out…

[quote]Pinto wrote:
My weight has fluctuated from 255 to 285 over the last year. I am about 6 foot 3 or 4. I have observed that being heavier does not make much difference in my pull, but it does effect my squat and bench by 20-40 lbs. I think this has a lot to do with gear being tighter though.

That said, I think that cycling weight gain and dieting cycles can do a lot for growing muscle. I have seen soem bodybuilder friends gte good results this way. I am kind of experimenting with it now. I dieted from 275-280 down to 250-255 this summer and kept a lot of strength (even after going “off”). After summer, I’ll start blubbering up for the winter to get stronger.[/quote]

I agree with the second paragraph!! If I can bring my weight up, get stronger, come down and stay as strong and then repeat then I should get to a very good level inside 110kg in a few years!!

I guess ocne I start to get up in weight, provided I add muscle, I won’t look “fat”. Just big and solid. Hopefully like Chigishev. My girlfriend gave out to me today for having a man-crush on him!!

[quote]DK wrote:
I know I’m interested in the answer to this, and I should have a general idea if you post this again in the future. The next few months I’ll be trying to notch up from 181ish to 198ish (well not 17lbs in a few months, but looking to increase some muscle) to help out with my lifts. I think the extra muscle is what I need to help me out…[/quote]

I had a look back over my log to get an idea how much better I fair with extra weight.

My bench was at it’s stronges, and I was hitting PR after PR (around march/april) when I was 103.5kg. I did 130 x5, 125 x1 w/ doubled mini’s and 155 x1 off a 2-3 inch thick rubber mat. I’d struggle to get near tho right now. The PR’s only stopped once I started to come down in weight. I’m confident I coulda kept going otherwise!

At 6kg lighter (in July) I only hit 150 off the same mat, but I did hit a shirted PR afterwards. The week previous I only did 120 x1 with doubled minis.

Incidentally, all my best full range raw presses seem to come when I’m doing speed work with bands. Unfortunately this tears up my triceps really badly. I might stick it in every second week for a while to see if I can cope that way.

Two summers ago I weighed 218. I decided it was time to get serious. I didn’t compete at that time, but my best gym lifts were 350 Squat, 300 Bench, 405 Deadlift.

I started to bulk for 5-6 months, then hold my weight for about 2 months, then bulk again for 5-6 months. I found that if I held my weight for a couple of months I would actually lean out a little and add a few more pounds of muscle. And I got used to carrying the extra weight.

Just and FYI, all of my meets/gym lifts are unequipped.

My first two meets the following year were in the 242’s (I think I weighed 235ish). My first meet I hit 370/340/525 and my next was a push/pull where I hit 352/573.

I continued to bulk and did one more meet last year. I competed in the 275’s at a weight of 255ish where I hit a 502/358/601. The 502 was a little high by my standards, but it passed.

My last meet was in March of this year. Again, I competed in the 275’s at around 262. My best lifts were 485/365/605. I missed on a 510 Squat that I took a little too deep.

Currently I am at 270, and my strength is still improving. My deadlift hasn’t done much this year, but my Squat is stronger and deeper than ever (just hit 515 in the gym), and my Bench looks like it’s ready to take off. I hit a 375 in the gym a month back, and a 405 2 board a couple of weeks ago.

Fuck, I hate reading long posts. I get to the second paragraph and I’m all ADD. And I’m the worst culprit of all. lol.

[quote]Hanley wrote:
Pinto wrote:
My weight has fluctuated from 255 to 285 over the last year. I am about 6 foot 3 or 4. I have observed that being heavier does not make much difference in my pull, but it does effect my squat and bench by 20-40 lbs. I think this has a lot to do with gear being tighter though.

That said, I think that cycling weight gain and dieting cycles can do a lot for growing muscle. I have seen soem bodybuilder friends gte good results this way. I am kind of experimenting with it now. I dieted from 275-280 down to 250-255 this summer and kept a lot of strength (even after going “off”). After summer, I’ll start blubbering up for the winter to get stronger.

I agree with the second paragraph!! If I can bring my weight up, get stronger, come down and stay as strong and then repeat then I should get to a very good level inside 110kg in a few years!!

I guess ocne I start to get up in weight, provided I add muscle, I won’t look “fat”. Just big and solid. Hopefully like Chigishev. My girlfriend gave out to me today for having a man-crush on him!![/quote]

Worse case you just end up like Viktors Scerbatihs, and you have to go on a diet.