Lifting Help

Sepean · 2015-07-07T10:28:25+00:00

5x5 is a beginner's strength building program. It is absolutely not what you need.

If I were you I would switch to an aesthetic program instead, but are you lifting for aesthetics or strength?

How much fat are you carrying around?

Redneck001 · 2015-07-07T11:11:20+00:00

Your current lifting program seems to be working. You'll progress too slowly with a beginning program.

But it's time to get serious. You need to drop some serious weight. And that happens in the kitchen, not the weightroom. So start counting your calories. All your gains are hidden by bodyfat right now. Women like shredded dudes, even your wife. Don't listen to that, "honey, I love you just the way you are" bullshit.

edit: And where are deadlifts? Drop the Good Mornings for deads; if you're like most of us, your heaviest work set of squats turns into Good Mornings, anyway.

RPAlternate42 · 2015-07-07T17:00:44+00:00

If you have been working with 5-3-1 then avoid 5x5.

5x5 is for people who have never lifted and are starting. I went to 5x5 in between mesocycles of 5-3-1 for 3 weeks. My take away is that it's terrible for experienced lifters because the volume is so high.

Now I recommend that beginners do 5x5 for 6 weeks, then take a week off. Use the 5x5 numbers as an 80% RM to set up the training maxes for 5-3-1 programs.

I recommend 5-3-1 with antagonist 75% @ 4x8 accessory work.

ramblemn · 2015-07-07T17:15:18+00:00

got a link to Beast Mode Baby Killer ?

CzechBook · 2015-07-07T12:18:04+00:00

How many days per week can you lift?

I'm currently lifting three times per week on SL5x5, but I plan to switch to four times per week on PHUL once I start to plateau and am lifting "intermediate" weight. It's a highly recommended program both for continuing to build your strength but also working on aesthetics.

MRP9 · 2015-07-08T02:20:45+00:00

At 240 you're likely too high bf%. Time for a cut bro. Eat a shitload of protein, continue lifting, and toss in some hiit. Get rid of the fat and keep your lifts close to what they are now and you'll look shredded.

AlohaChris · 2015-07-07T16:17:23+00:00

I would bias towards Deadlifts and Heavier Squats. Try the Smolov squat program. It's a ton of heavy squats, but your strength will explode.

I think as a percentage of body weight, you could progress a lot more. I'm 45, and only started lifting heavy 4 years ago: 5'8 175# Deadlift 435, Back Squat 325, Bench 235, Shoulder Press 165.

I am not genetically gifted.

UEMcGill · 2015-07-07T16:29:35+00:00

All this is a features discussion but the one thing no one asked is what's the problem to be solved; what do you want? What's your goal? All I can see is you bouncing around from plan to plan, but you didn't state what your goal is.

Do you want a body builder physique? Do you want a triathlete physique? Or are we aiming for look good naked? Or do you want to lift heavy?

No matter what your method, you should have a one year plan set out. It can be simple "15% body-fat, 1.5xBW Bench, 2xBW Squat, 2.5XBW DL" or goal oriented like "Complete a spartan race" or even "Climb Denali". Those are all goals with different training needs.

Goals should be reasonable and attainable but still a stretch to get to.

One of my goals this year, the 1000 lb club. I sat down with a coach (invaluable I can't say this enough) and we looked at my functional weaknesses. I'm strong in bench, and Deadlift, but my squat didn't match those two. So I've added core strength to address deficiencies. I'm focused on addressing key needs to meet my strength goals.

In the past I've kind of wandered around the gym trying different things. Mostly that's because I had no real goal other than "Beach Body" and I had no idea how to get there. Now, I keep it specific and every year I sit down and review or change the goal once I've achieved it.

hamsterbaiting · 2015-07-07T18:01:32+00:00

Anyone have lifting advice for someone with a restriction?
I had a congenital heart fixed at a young age. To reduce aneurysm risks, my cardiologist restricted me from power lifting. She defined that as lifting more than half of my body weight. I asked about pullups/chinups and they are out since that's about 90% of my body weight.

Another problem I have is I'm 6'5" and am down to about 190. So half my body weight is only 95 lbs. I lost a significant amount of fat from Adderall and poor appetite early 2015 from discovering my STBX's cheating. (aka The shit sandwich diet)

Sepean · 2015-07-08T06:28:43+00:00

I'm going to try to sum up my thoughts here on what you answered me an others throughout the thread.

BEASTMODEBABYKILLER5000: I just skimmed this. The lifting part of it looks like a decent aesthetic program. Personally I use less volume as it gets me better gains and fewer injuries for less time spent in the gym. With two sets per exercise it's not far from what I do.

Strength vs. aesthetics: You write you want strength. In that case, your wendler or something like it is probably right (I'm not a powerlifter). As I said below, SL 5x5 is a no go, it is a beginner's problem. You're not a beginner, at all, you're very strong. Compared to your bodyweight your lifts aren't awesome, but the strength standards are not relevant for someone with 30% bodyfat - all that adipose tissue doesn't help your bench.

And just so you're clear on what an aesthetic program is: instead of working in the 1-5 rep range as you do now, you work in 5-12 mostly. What will happen is you get bigger muscles and you can lift more in the high rep range than now, but your 1RM will lag a bit behind what you could get if you were powerlifting. The main issue is that relative to your bodyweight you lift less, which is bad for powerlifting competition. But an aesthetic program isn't going to make you weak at all.

Body composition: You say you want a "logger" physique and not look like a body builder. There is very little variation between those guys except for muscle mass and body fat. You can use body builder techniques (which are the most efficient for quickly gaining less mass) and just stop at the mass and BF% you think looks good.

Dieting: I'm at 180lbs and 13% BF and I burn around 2700 kcals per day (that's called the TDEE, total daily energy expenditure). I aim to cut 1 lbs of fat per week and that is around 500 kcals per day, so on average I go for 2200lbs. You could maybe get away with dropping 2lbs of fat per week, so that's a 1,000 kcals deficit per day - but since you're much heavier your TDEE is much higher since you carry more weight all day long and your body needs to keep your adipose tissue alive and warm. The number is highly modified by how much you move and such, so what you do is you track your calories every day. If you lose more than 2 lbs per week, increase daily calories. If you drop less than 2 lbs per week, decrease daily calories. When you get to around 20% BF, or if your strength goes away, you need to dial back to a 1 lbs/week loss rate. Cutting too hard will eat away muscle tissue.

It is paramount that you lift while cutting; it preserves muscle mass.

I think you will be a lot happier if you go on a long cut and really drop that fat.

Protein intake: Get at least 1g/lbs body weight. Get protein supplements, especially when cutting it will be difficult to hit unless you eat disproportionate amounts of meat.

Cardio: I don't think cardio does much for weight loss. You need to pay close attention to your diet, sleep and restitution or you'll lose muscle mass from it too. If you're just looking to gain muscle and lose fat, most likely it is slightly counterproductive. And many forms of cardio have high injury rates, especially running. Cardio's a hobby, not an efficient tool to get you looking good.

Personal trainer: Consider an online trainer. You mail them pictures, weight, compliance, etc., and they update your training program and meal plan along the way, answer your questions, etc. There's much more bang for your buck if you don't need someone to spot your form and yell at you in the gym. Do your legwork and find a good one.

jake_fly · 2015-07-08T15:08:12+00:00

Listen carefully OP, as I am a bodybuilder and powerlifter. Hypertrophy training is 100% what you need to get women. 5x5 is near useless for looking sexually attractive. Train hypertrophy 4 times a week by doing sets of 10-12 reps, and burn out on 2 exercises a week(rotate which exercise). 2 upper body(arms, chest, abdominals, shoulders, trapezius) and 2 lower body(compound legs, isolation legs, and back). This will produce the best results. If you also want to build strength, add 1 day of heavy full body training, with 1-3 reps per exercise, and concentrate on heavy compound lifts.

DM me if you need any help or individual exercise ideas.

trptaway · 2015-07-11T17:08:44+00:00

Lots of good info over in /r/gainit

sealteamaus · 2015-07-07T09:12:03+00:00

go on stronglifts 5x5 and start from scratch

bench press, squats, bent over rows and military press all start at 20kg, go up 2.5kg per session

deadlifts start at 40kg go up 5kg per session

it will annoy you dropping the weight but it will be worth it

TrainingTheBrain · 2015-07-07T11:34:26+00:00

In addition to the 5x5 recommendation I suggest you picking up a copy of Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.

It breaks down the science of the heavy lifts with easy to comprehend pictures. The programming is solid and I made significant strength gains prior to tweaking it to fit my personal needs.

You are pretty weak so don't be surprised when your lifts grow significantly then sputter out around month 3. Beginner gains are impressive and continual improvement through specific programming is key to long term success.

stonepimpletilists · 2015-07-07T12:50:31+00:00

Honestly, when you're just starting, just about anything is going to have appreciable gains. I wouldn't worry about the numbers on the weights, just lift with strict form. The increased bone density, CNS, and joint strength that facilitate strength gains happen over much longer timelines than muscle development, so putting in the hours is the most important aspect for beginers

Stick to the simple movements, and build from there as you get stronger. Deads, squats, bench press, shoulder press, chinup (lat pulldown until you get strong enough) do less weight than you think you need, because form is more important. You'll get better gains, but less swelling after a workout. It's tempting to go for the pump, but it's temporary...

Title	Lifting Help
Author	donandhal16
Upvotes	2
Comments	59
Date	July 7, 2015 9:00 AM UTC (11 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MarriedRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/marriedredpill/comments/3cen2f/lifting_help/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MarriedRedPill/lifting-help.201522 https://theredarchive.com/post/201522

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