Need input from serious lifters

[wikinger]

Hello all, I'm just looking for some input on my progress.

I like being direct so I'll go straight to my training/stats.

I'm 1,83 cm (google tells me that is 6 feet tall)
currently at 79kg (google tells me 174 lbs)
25 years old, male

Now, I had lifted (brosplit) for 1 year back when I was 18 years old, with no idea of nutrition/proper training/rest time if you must know, I also trained Muay Thai for 1 year.

I haven't really done any exercise since then, only played WoW and studied/worked/drank etc, I decided that wasn't good so I got into lifting again.
For the past 2 months I've been doing a strength routine (Reg Park 5x5), that is AxBxAxx.

I work with computers so I sit down most of the time during my day, so when I began lifting 2 months ago, I could barely squat/bench 10kg *25lbs* (not counting the bar).

After 2 months of training and eating at a caloric surplus my lifting stats now are:

Squat - 50 kg/110 lbs (not counting the bar - feel like I could go heavier)
Bench Press - 44kg/97 lbs (not counting the bar - struggling a bit)
OHP - 24 kg/52 lbs (not counting the bar and I also had a shoulder injury in the past so the OHP is really hard for me)
Deadlift - 70 kg/154 lbs (I feel like I could go much heavier here, I'm just afraid of hurting my back, even though I'm pretty sure my form is good, and this was also said to me by 2 different coaches...).

My macros are:

210g of protein (majority of it coming from eggs, milk, chicken, fish)
100g of fat
350g of carbs

Now - my question is - Am I just ridiculously weak?
I've tried looking for input on my stats on another website (4chan) however, I only got made fun of.

Now, I want you to be honest with me, is my progress really that bad for my background and time lifting?
Should I be trying to put on much more weight? Eating more maybe? I don't care about ''looking good'', I just want to be strong.

[Deldavala]

First off, Count the bar when you lift. The bar is usually 20kgs.

The progress is decent, if you are putting more weight on the plate every workout(which you probably will for a while) you are still having great progress.

Getting the numbers up takes time, and you have just dived into the lifting world. I would expect you to have improved a lot by the same time next year. I started around the same as you, just I was cutting since I was a fatass. Now after 1.5 years I am squatting 140kg, Benching 102,5 kg, OHP 62,5 kg, Deadlift 175kg which is decent for my current weight(73kg). You will probably reach similar numbers even faster than me aswell since you are bulking.

[Deleted]

First off, Count the bar when you lift. The bar is usually 20kgs.

NO NO NO NO. Never ever count the bar you clueless tit.

To OP

Your progress is poor, if you aren't adding weight to your lifts every week then you are doing something majorly wrong. My guess is you aren't eating enough. Count your calories properly because your stats and progress is weak. You need to eat more, a lot more.

As a guy who In February (prior to serious knee injury from sport) squatted 210kg take my advice. Eat more and train more. 3 days a week is not enough for the progress you want. If you want results train more and eat more because at the moment you aren't doing enough of either.


With regards to your back and Deadlifting, consider correcting your form. Study youtube videos, record yourself doing it and compare techniques. If your form is perfect you won't worry about your back whatsoever.

[Infinity]

64kg bench press? That' s not impressive at all. I would advise you what i always do to starters. FBW (full body workout) 3 times a week for at least a year to build a solid base. You can find some good fbw plans on the internet. Since you are new , your body needs all nutritions. Don"t do any diet at this point. I am an old school weightlifter, 22 years and counting. I tried bodybuilding when was younger but i never really liked it. Iam much stronger then most bb anyway. Bb at this time 190kg squats 220kg (talking about proper weightlifting squats "ass to grass") not that geyish 90 degrees wanna be squats. Time will tell if you wanna be strong or pumped (when on gear) bodybuilder

[Deldavala]

NO NO NO NO. Never ever count the bar you clueless tit.

To OP

Your progress is poor, if you aren't adding weight to your lifts every week then you are doing something majorly wrong. My guess is you aren't eating enough. Count your calories properly because your stats and progress is weak. You need to eat more, a lot more.

As a guy who In February (prior to serious knee injury from sport) squatted 210kg take my advice. Eat more and train more. 3 days a week is not enough for the progress you want. If you want results train more and eat more because at the moment you aren't doing enough of either.


With regards to your back and Deadlifting, consider correcting your form. Study youtube videos, record yourself doing it and compare techniques. If your form is perfect you won't worry about your back whatsoever.

Is the bar weight? Why shouldnt you count it then?

He has progressed great for 2 months. At approx 3100 calories a day he is eating at a decent surplus. 3 times a week is perfectly fine on the routine he is on.

[Infinity]

Of course you always count the bar in, which is 20kg if olympic bar. What weightlifting you doing m8 if u dont count the bar in??. I laughed. Never heard anything like that in my 22 year carrier. If someone says i go for 220 this try. That means it's total weight with the bar.

[wikinger]

First off, Count the bar when you lift. The bar is usually 20kgs.

The progress is decent, if you are putting more weight on the plate every workout(which you probably will for a while) you are still having great progress.

Getting the numbers up takes time, and you have just dived into the lifting world. I would expect you to have improved a lot by the same time next year. I started around the same as you, just I was cutting since I was a fatass. Now after 1.5 years I am squatting 140kg, Benching 102,5 kg, OHP 62,5 kg, Deadlift 175kg which is decent for my current weight(73kg). You will probably reach similar numbers even faster than me aswell since you are bulking.

Alright thank you!

Is it common to have a really hard time progressing on the OHP? It's by far THE hardest exercise for me to increase the weights, it's the only one where I'm not capable of adding weight every workout.

64kg bench press? That' s not impressive at all. I would advise you what i always do to starters. FBW (full body workout) 3 times a week for at least a year to build a solid base. You can find some good fbw plans on the internet. Since you are new , your body needs all nutritions. Don"t do any diet at this point. I am an old school weightlifter, 22 years and counting. I tried bodybuilding when was younger but i never really liked it. Iam much stronger then most bb anyway. Bb at this time 190kg squats 220kg (talking about proper weightlifting squats "ass to grass") not that geyish 90 degrees wanna be squats. Time will tell if you wanna be strong or pumped (when on gear) bodybuilder

But that's exactly what I do, 3 times a week full body workout.
Bear in mind that as I said, I've only been lifting for 2 weeks and I'm a previous wow hardcore raider who also spends his time 12 hours in front of computers (for work).

I understand that my progress isn't amazing, I never claimed it to be.

NO NO NO NO. Never ever count the bar you clueless tit.

To OP

Your progress is poor, if you aren't adding weight to your lifts every week then you are doing something majorly wrong. My guess is you aren't eating enough. Count your calories properly because your stats and progress is weak. You need to eat more, a lot more.

As a guy who In February (prior to serious knee injury from sport) squatted 210kg take my advice. Eat more and train more. 3 days a week is not enough for the progress you want. If you want results train more and eat more because at the moment you aren't doing enough of either.


With regards to your back and Deadlifting, consider correcting your form. Study youtube videos, record yourself doing it and compare techniques. If your form is perfect you won't worry about your back whatsoever.

But I AM adding weight to the bar every workout.

I usually add the lowest possible (so 5lbs or 2 kg).
On my squats I started to add 10lbs and I'm still doing fine right now. I don't think my form for squat and dealift is bad, it's just that I've been ''brainwashed'' into believeing that A SINGLE WRONG MOMENT of bad form and you'll break your back and be injured forever in the deadlift...

Anyway I appreciate the answer.

[Deleted]

add more than 2kg. Go in increments of 10kg if you can't up the weight up the reps. Go to the point of failure. Muscle building comes about from muscle fibres breaking and repairing

[ChampionChains]

Your first mistake is looking for good advice on mmochamp and 4chan. Sign up at bodybuilding.com, find a plan for strength training, follow it to the letter. Don't be one of those dicks who go into the gym and don't break a sweat while they sit on machines talking to their bros. Get in there, bust your ass, keep your macros in check and strive to constantly improve. If you're not adding weight at a consistent pace, your regimen is lacking somewhere. I also track my measurements every other week, it helps to gauge progress that is sometimes hard to notice with the naked eye. Also, as someone stated above, three days a week is NOT going to get the goals you want. If you want real, noticeable results in a years time, you gotta commit to 5 days a week.

[Deleted]

add more than 2kg. Go in increments of 10kg if you can't up the weight up the reps. Go to the point of failure. Muscle building comes about from muscle fibres breaking and repairing

You should ignore any advice coming from this guy, firstly telling you not to count the bar as weight is just pure stupidity, and adding 10kg each workout is just brainless.

While one could say you are relatively weak, the first mistake anyone could make is to compare oneself to what another lifts. Each person is unique and genetically different, if you haven't been physically active in a year or more, then your bodys ability to recruit motor units is poor relative to someone who have done physical work often.

As long as you make somewhat steady progress in the following months there is no need to worry much about how much you lift, the best thing you can do is to gradually improve strength, make sure your form is correct which helps with lifting more and do not rush it. Adding 2,5kg to your lifts each week is a good way to go about it, at some point you will stagnate and if you really care about getting strong then you need to look into some sort of periodization, i recommend looking up on Daily Undulating Periodization.

Again, do not add 10kg each workout unless you can do something like 20+ reps with your current weight. You should also avoid failure training, while there is uses for it, the way most people go about it is more detrimental than useful. Staying 1-2 reps shy of failure is preferable in most cases, and failure should be saved for rare occasions.

[Deldavala]

add more than 2kg. Go in increments of 10kg if you can't up the weight up the reps. Go to the point of failure. Muscle building comes about from muscle fibres breaking and repairing

Dont listen to this guy.

A linear increase in weight will keep you going for longer time than random jumps. 2.5kgs(1.25 on each side) is sufficent increase until you stall out completely.

OHP will be the hardest lift to progress for most people. A 2.5kg increase is a relatively large increase on the lift(some even invest in the .75kg weights to bring to the gym to have small increases).

[bhachman]

Dont listen to this guy.

A linear increase in weight will keep you going for longer time than random jumps. 2.5kgs(1.25 on each side) is sufficent increase until you stall out completely.

OHP will be the hardest lift to progress for most people. A 2.5kg increase is a relatively large increase on the lift(some even invest in the .75kg weights to bring to the gym to have small increases).

Exactly, said it better than I could. A 2.5kg increase on a linear scale will build a much better base than jumping up as much as 10kg.

[Smallfruitbat]

My advice would be;
If you don't have any (or little) experience follow the program you are following -don't try to add too much to it or change it (a little additional accessory work is fine but don't substitute lifts etc.). These programs are put together by experts and they done that way for a reason. 5 x 5 is a solid program for beginners.

If you get the chance, get some coaching on your lifts by someone with proper experience -you will likely make more progress on your lifts for getting expert advice than you will just adding weight to the bar. Form is everything! There are some really useful channels on Youtube (although you do have to sift through a lot of crap). My personal favourite is Omar Isuf -he did some really useful videos for beginners about progression).

Good luck with your training