Where to Start?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Hi all,

I am a 31 year old male. Been training on and off but recently got into it badly lately. My bw is 119k I think or around there.

I currently

flat bench 90kg for around 2 reps the last time I tried but form is much better now and may be better
conventional deadlift 180kg for 1 rep at the last max test
Back squat (low bar) 130kg for 1.5 reps.

Where should I start, when looking to put muscle and weight onto the bar? Is it as simple as greatly increasing what I’m eating and continuing to bang out heavy sets of around 80-90% of my max on the main four (squat bench, deads, ohp) and lighter but more reps on auz exercises?

I seem to be hitting a plateau and can’t go much past my bw on lifts.

Where is the best place to start? I know this is a difficult question but fed up with being average and want to move into the next level

2

[quote]iandawsonmackay wrote:
Been training on and off but recently got into it badly lately. My bw is 119k I think or around there.[/quote]
That’s an understatement. Based on your previous threads, you’ve put on about 5kg in about 9 weeks. Considering you were previously “26% bodyfat”, this is not a good thing at all.

[quote]flat bench 90kg for around 2 reps the last time I tried but form is much better now and may be better
conventional deadlift 180kg for 1 rep at the last max test
Back squat (low bar) 130kg for 1.5 reps.[/quote]
Again, 9 weeks ago, you said:
“Current maxs are conventional deadlifts - 170kg, back squat - 110kg, bench press - 85kg or there abouts”

So your strength has gone up a little in about two months (and to be honest, I’m wondering about the depth of your recent squat), but it’s nowhere near enough to justify your weight gain.

I’m just laying this out to give you perspective, not to call you out.

What is your specific goal?

I’m gonna go ahead and say, no, eating more is not going to help anything. Eat better, not more.

What, exactly, did you eat yesterday?

[quote]and continuing to bang out heavy sets of around 80-90% of my max on the main four (squat bench, deads, ohp) and lighter but more reps on auz exercises?

I seem to be hitting a plateau and can’t go much past my bw on lifts.[/quote]
Maybe look into 5/3/1? You wouldn’t be working with “heavy sets around 80-90% max”, but it’s clearly a strength-building template that can be tweaked for some fat loss.

3

Hey man,

Thanks for the reply, appreciate your honest feedback.

The weight I suggested was a guess as I don’t have scales to check, so it could be completely out but I’m using guess work but hope to check it tonight.

My 130k squat was below parallel. I had two people watching and both said it was as deep as I normally go (as below parallel as I can). I fail at squats coming out of the hole only (mind you it could be form breaking down on the way down that causes it).

My diet is awful just now. I saw some big gains when I was eating two chicken breasts and various rubs for dinner and lunch with pasta or potatoes and some veg but work caught up with me and I stopped forcing myself to cook. So I’ve just had a bad burst of eating little on non workout days and crappy foods on workout days to try and get the calories in. Probably why I am hitting the plateaus as I don’t have the fuel I normally have.

So I’ve kick started my diet again. This morning so far I have had a shake of two scoops of whey impact protein (35 scoop), 5g of BCAA and 5g of Creatine. I will have to get a crappy lunch due to a office gig I have to go to but will be making my own again tonight and dinner will be after my workout and be chicken, potatoes and veg most likely.

I’ll try and get my weight tonight to check

4

[quote]iandawsonmackay wrote:
My 130k squat was below parallel. I had two people watching and both said it was as deep as I normally go (as below parallel as I can). I fail at squats coming out of the hole only (mind you it could be form breaking down on the way down that causes it).[/quote]
Fair enough. That’s a solid improvement then.

[quote]My diet is awful just now
…
Probably why I am hitting the plateaus as I don’t have the fuel I normally have.[/quote]
Eat like crap, perform like crap. You know this for sure. It just has to become habit (or re-habit, either way) and it’s easy enough to fix with a bit of prep.

Shakes are probably the easiest go-to pre-planned “meal.” Maybe consider having a whole food breakfast (eggs or something, if you have time) and then plug in the shake around lunch to still be able to have a quality feeding during a hectic day.