The obvious would be the scale but what if I feel bigger but my weight hasn’t gone up. Could I have lost some fat?
Are you stronger?
[quote]LoRez wrote:
Are you stronger?[/quote]
I’m definitely getting stronger every week. I’m not increasing the weight but rather the reps. For example I began doing Squats 225x’s 3. Four weeks later i’m doing 225x’s 8. I can go up quicker but I’d like to keep slow and steady.
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
[quote]LoRez wrote:
Are you stronger?[/quote]
I’m definitely getting stronger every week. I’m not increasing the weight but rather the reps. For example I began doing Squats 225x’s 3. Four weeks later i’m doing 225x’s 8. I can go up quicker but I’d like to keep slow and steady. [/quote]
Since you’re at the same weight, then I’d say yes, you’ve probably 1) gotten more efficient at squatting (motor patterns, coordination, etc.), and 2) gained some muscle and lost some fat.
A couple of ways to figure:
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Are your lifts going up? Reps, weight or both.
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How are your clothes fitting? If you started as a fatty: you start to notice a little more room in the waist, legs, or sleeves. If you started as a stick: you start to notice a tighter fit in the legs, upper arms or chest of your shirt.
Generally as a stick, you will also start to see overall weight go up. As a fatty, you may or may not see overall weight reduce. Depends on how much of a fatty you were.
Can always just measure: neck, chest, bi’s, naval, thighs, calves.
naval increasing = fat gain
naval same or lower while everything else increases = muscle gain
How other people look at you and passive comments people make is probably the best qualitative indicator.
Honestly, who really cares? Unless you’re on some assistance, muscle builds VERY slowly over time. In my own experience, I tend to stay at the same weight for months on end, sometimes up to 9 or ten months. Then I’ll unexpectedly jump up a few pounds and have a new baseline. Rinse/repeat. As long as you’re getting stringer over time does it really matter?
Just my $0.02.
Take Pictures at the beginning of each month.
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
I can go up quicker but I’d like to keep slow and steady. [/quote]
Sure.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
I can go up quicker but I’d like to keep slow and steady. [/quote]
Sure.[/quote]
Why is this so hard to believe? I was squatting 345lbs before my long lay off
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
I can go up quicker but I’d like to keep slow and steady. [/quote]
Sure.[/quote]
Why is this so hard to believe? I was squatting 345lbs before my long lay off[/quote]
Give me 1 good reason why anyone would choose slower gains over faster gains, all else being equal.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
I can go up quicker but I’d like to keep slow and steady. [/quote]
Sure.[/quote]
Why is this so hard to believe? I was squatting 345lbs before my long lay off[/quote]
Give me 1 good reason why anyone would choose slower gains over faster gains, all else being equal.[/quote]
slower gains are longer lasting, everybody knows that
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
I can go up quicker but I’d like to keep slow and steady. [/quote]
Sure.[/quote]
Why is this so hard to believe? I was squatting 345lbs before my long lay off[/quote]
Give me 1 good reason why anyone would choose slower gains over faster gains, all else being equal.[/quote]
I think its a terminology difference here. He is increasing the weight on the bar or reps in his sets at a slower rate because he believes this will give him the fastest gains. While I think his current plan is a little slow, he doesn’t want to actually slow his gains down, just not get impatient and hit a wall prematurely which would slow down his gains.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
I can go up quicker but I’d like to keep slow and steady. [/quote]
Sure.[/quote]
Why is this so hard to believe? I was squatting 345lbs before my long lay off[/quote]
Give me 1 good reason why anyone would choose slower gains over faster gains, all else being equal.[/quote]
I want to do as little as possible to make gains. That way when I hit a plateau i’ll only have to make small changes and still make gains. If i’m increasing my strength by one rep every workout i’ll meet my goal (as of now) of 405 squat 250 bench 420lb+ Deadlift within a year. Plus I don’t want to get injured again.
[quote]late2thegame wrote:
Honestly, who really cares? Unless you’re on some assistance, muscle builds VERY slowly over time. In my own experience, I tend to stay at the same weight for months on end, sometimes up to 9 or ten months. Then I’ll unexpectedly jump up a few pounds and have a new baseline. Rinse/repeat. As long as you’re getting stringer over time does it really matter?
Just my $0.02.[/quote]
Thanks it really sums it up for me. Strength is my top priority and i’m sure muscle gains will come as my strength gains are made. I mean after all how many 150lbs 6ft kids do you know who can squat 400 bench 250 and deadlift 420+
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
[quote]late2thegame wrote:
Honestly, who really cares? Unless you’re on some assistance, muscle builds VERY slowly over time. In my own experience, I tend to stay at the same weight for months on end, sometimes up to 9 or ten months. Then I’ll unexpectedly jump up a few pounds and have a new baseline. Rinse/repeat. As long as you’re getting stringer over time does it really matter?
Just my $0.02.[/quote]
Thanks it really sums it up for me. Strength is my top priority and i’m sure muscle gains will come as my strength gains are made. I mean after all how many 150lbs 6ft kids do you know who can squat 400 bench 250 and deadlift 420+[/quote]
Does that quote apply to you? You squat 225lbs for 8 reps. You are nowhere near the level he is describing.
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
[quote]late2thegame wrote:
Honestly, who really cares? Unless you’re on some assistance, muscle builds VERY slowly over time. In my own experience, I tend to stay at the same weight for months on end, sometimes up to 9 or ten months. Then I’ll unexpectedly jump up a few pounds and have a new baseline. Rinse/repeat. As long as you’re getting stringer over time does it really matter?
Just my $0.02.[/quote]
Thanks it really sums it up for me. Strength is my top priority and i’m sure muscle gains will come as my strength gains are made. I mean after all how many 150lbs 6ft kids do you know who can squat 400 bench 250 and deadlift 420+[/quote]
If you hit all those lifts raw at 150 lbs in this calendar year, I’ll paypal you 100 dollars. No fucking way you end up squatting 400 lbs, weighing 150 at your height.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
[quote]late2thegame wrote:
Honestly, who really cares? Unless you’re on some assistance, muscle builds VERY slowly over time. In my own experience, I tend to stay at the same weight for months on end, sometimes up to 9 or ten months. Then I’ll unexpectedly jump up a few pounds and have a new baseline. Rinse/repeat. As long as you’re getting stringer over time does it really matter?
Just my $0.02.[/quote]
Thanks it really sums it up for me. Strength is my top priority and i’m sure muscle gains will come as my strength gains are made. I mean after all how many 150lbs 6ft kids do you know who can squat 400 bench 250 and deadlift 420+[/quote]
If you hit all those lifts raw at 150 lbs in this calendar year, I’ll paypal you 100 dollars. No fucking way you end up squatting 400 lbs, weighing 150 at your height.
[/quote]
You misunderstood what I said. I won’t weight 150 when I hit those PR’s. I’ll likely be around 185 (i’m at 168 right now) . I actually agree with you lol… what i’m trying to reiterate is that my size gains will come along with my strength gains. Which is why I said there aren’t many 150lb’ers that hit those numbers.
[quote]dt79 wrote:
[quote]Justliftbrah wrote:
[quote]late2thegame wrote:
Honestly, who really cares? Unless you’re on some assistance, muscle builds VERY slowly over time. In my own experience, I tend to stay at the same weight for months on end, sometimes up to 9 or ten months. Then I’ll unexpectedly jump up a few pounds and have a new baseline. Rinse/repeat. As long as you’re getting stringer over time does it really matter?
Just my $0.02.[/quote]
Thanks it really sums it up for me. Strength is my top priority and i’m sure muscle gains will come as my strength gains are made. I mean after all how many 150lbs 6ft kids do you know who can squat 400 bench 250 and deadlift 420+[/quote]
Does that quote apply to you? You squat 225lbs for 8 reps. You are nowhere near the level he is describing.
[/quote]
Wait what? I know for a fact i’ll be hitting those numbers by the end of the calendar year.