Any Strength Trainers? What Are Your Stats, How Long Did It Take And What'S Your Diet?

[StartingStrengthSikh]

vjkk vjkf,

As the title states I'm posting to see if any there are any strength training veers on this board. I'd also like to know what your current stats are, how long it took for you to reach those stats, what your body weight is and what your diet is.

The lifts I'm looking at are squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press and power cleans.v (1 rep maxes or 5 rep max).

The reason I'm asking is that I seem to stall a fair bit. The routine I'm doing is tried and tested but it may not be for a vegetarian as I don't seem to get linear progress no matter what I try.

My stats:

weight ~ 69kg

training period: 8months

squat: 80kg (3x5)

deadlift 100kg (1x5)

bench press 57.5kg (5 rep max)

over head press: 37.5kg (3x5)

power cleans 50kg (3x5)

For 8 months training my lifts are poor. I'm hoping there are some other singhs/singhnis that do lift and can offer some advice.

vjkk vjkf

[Wales85]

using whey?

[StartingStrengthSikh]

using whey?

yep, main sources of protein:

- whey

- cheese

- milk

other supplements:

- creatine

- beta alanine

calories as of now: 3000

[Matheen]

Your routine needs work, but first need to know some things. How often do you train? How much %increase have you seen in your lifts since you started and what's your age?

[StartingStrengthSikh]

Your routine needs work, but first need to know some things. How often do you train? How much %increase have you seen in your lifts since you started and what's your age?

Why does the routine need work? I dont think it'll get any more basic than this. This is a tried and tested routine:

Workout A:

- squats (3x5)

- bench press (3x5)

- deadlift (1x5)

Workout B:

- squats (3x5)

- overhead press (3x5)

- powercleans (5x3).

I started with the bar on everything (20kg) ...the lifts im at now are posted above, but it took me 8 months just to reach those numbers - pretty laughable. Also, I'm 24.So, I do workout A B A ..x3 a week.. so monday / wed / fri...or tues/thurs/sat..

[OhTwadi]

The routine itself is fine, it's taken from Mark Rippetoe's book Starting Strength I believe. I'm sure you already know, but in the book Mark strongly recommends that you drink LOTS of milk. I can't recall the exact number he mentioned, you may want to look it up.

First thing I would recommend rather strongly is to get your form checked on every exercise; from a qualified strength training coach preferably. You'd be surprised how much difference it can make. Your progress isn't all that bad, everyone progresses at a different rate. So long as you are making progress, it is fine. If the progress has stalled, it's time to shake things up a little.

I do see you have listed protein sources, but what about good old fashion solid food? What does your diet look like. For any serious trainees, diet will be 70% ish of the effort. If it's not good, you are asking for trouble, no progress, or worse, an injury.

- do you any balance work?

- any rehabilitation work?

- stretching?

- how much rest are you getting?

I'd have to see you do the exercises to really anything more than that.

[Wales85]

Diet and rest

Eat more and sleep more

[StartingStrengthSikh]

The routine itself is fine, it's taken from Mark Rippetoe's book Starting Strength I believe. I'm sure you already know, but in the book Mark strongly recommends that you drink LOTS of milk. I can't recall the exact number he mentioned, you may want to look it up.

First thing I would recommend rather strongly is to get your form checked on every exercise; from a qualified strength training coach preferably. You'd be surprised how much difference it can make. Your progress isn't all that bad, everyone progresses at a different rate. So long as you are making progress, it is fine. If the progress has stalled, it's time to shake things up a little.

I do see you have listed protein sources, but what about good old fashion solid food? What does your diet look like. For any serious trainees, diet will be 70% ish of the effort. If it's not good, you are asking for trouble, no progress, or worse, an injury.

- do you any balance work?

- any rehabilitation work?

- stretching?

- how much rest are you getting?

I'd have to see you do the exercises to really anything more than that.

Yes, this routine is by mark rippetoe - well, he's one of the authors behind the book. It's recommended that you drink 1gallon a day. I was on 1/2 a gallon and it only helped initially. Whilst I was still gaining weight I had stopped gaining strength, therefore I reduced the amount of milk and started focusing on food sources such as cheese.

Form: Believe me when I say this, I have spent countless hours fixing my squat form - ensuring I am using the correct muscles to move the weight and this helped add a further 10kg to my squat. However, you can't really cheat on deadlift and benchpress - if you can't move the weight you simply stall. Infact, bad form doesn't even work on a lift like deadlift - I simply can't move the weight.

In terms of progress I have seen the average guy (both of larger weight class and lower) make linear progress up to an average of 120kg squat / 140kg deadlift / 80kg bench press...all in 3 months - whilst I have been on this routine for 8 months and I'm still struggling at lighter weights.

Diet is the most important aspect of training, I've researched and found this has given the me the greatest progress:

1: oats / milk / strawberries ...whey + water

2. pitta bread + mozzarella cheese + mushrooms + peppers + tomatoes + onions (a mini pizza) x2 + whey

3. heavy cream + milk + whey + beta alanine + creatine

4. huge protein shake (mixture of cottage cheese/oats/whey/strawberries/blue berries = 700 calories) + 2x mini pizza as described before

workout day is slightly different...both days i get 3,000 calories ..275g protein / 333 carbs / 86g fat. All food I consume I measure out. I can continue adding more calories, something I may do.

Stretching: third world squat + something to stretch my quads and overhead squat with arms in the air (practicing keeping back tight whilst squatting). These have really opened up my hip flexors thus allowing me to squat properly.

Rest: 2-5minute rest between sets (more if needed)

sleep: 7.30-8.00hours

[Matheen]

You should try switching your routine and see how it goes, you should do that after about 6 months anyway (if your gains slow) because the body adapts. Rippetoe gives great advice, but everybody reacts differently to exercise.

Also, a huge factor in strength is the central nervous system, I'll post some info up when I have some time. Will also give you some alternative routines. Roughly how tall are you, and how old? Need this info to give the right routine.

Your diet seems ok.

[StartingStrengthSikh]

I agree that the body adapts. You should only be on this routine for around 3-4 months before the gains run out. Basically, if you're adding 7.5kg a week..starting from a 20kg bar for 3 months...you'll be squatting a fairly heavy weight. However, I didn't progress in a linear fashion.

I agree with your comment about CNS...CNS is stimulated greatly during strength training. Indians refer to this as 'jaan'. In terms of routine I have considered moving onto wendlers 531...however I feel that the gains would be far too slow as my lifts are not really at a point where I need to move onto an intermediate routine. But right now, I see no choice - I've looked around for other beginner routines with linear progress but I haven't seen any. I'm open to this, thanks! But please note that I'm looking for strength training routines not bodybuilding, so no bicep curls!

height: 5.10

age: 24