Hey, have you been working out?

[Al B. Sure!]

Squats 3x5x225
Power cleans 3x5x125
Press 3x5x110

5-6 sets of 11 chinups

They installed the new power cages which is cool but they're such idiots... they put the pullup bars at the top of the squat racks within 5 inches of the ceiling which means that 1) they're out of reach unless you have a really high bench to step on and 2) you'll go through the ceiling if you try to do pullups so dumb...

[Jon Miller]

My shoulder felt fine until I started working out. I took things lighter.

12/12/12 machine press (49/49/49)
10/10/10 vertical press (7/7/7)
stomach
12/10/10 barbell fly (30/30/30)
12/12/12 shrugs (24/27/27)
6/10/7 dumbell pullover - the first set was with my legs/stomach off the bench, didn't feel comfortable so I ended it early) (27/27/27)
stomach
10/8/7 tricep pulldown (20/20/20)

JM

[Dinner]

Jogged five miles around Miramar lake today. I took my time and it was around 50 minutes.

[Provost Harrison]

Jesus, that must be about 10 years ago...so no, not really, more messy than spikey

[Al B. Sure!]

How many recent pictures of me have you seen, mind you?

None. Still have spiky hair?

[Provost Harrison]

How many recent pictures of me have you seen, mind you?

[Al B. Sure!]

I haven't really lost the weight that I put on when I tried to gain last time (although I haven't tried too hard). And it is really hard to gain much muscle when you are near 20% BF and have been in that area most of your life.

And to be honest I went to the doctor almost a month ago and he diagnosed me with lack of thyroid hormone (which I have started taking pills for).

JM

I'm a little surprised. At least from your pics, you seem average size. You're slimmer than Provost Harrison

[Al B. Sure!]

Jon, to be honest, I've been stalling a lot, as well. I want to squat 300lbs which is a very humble goal, especially for someone my size, but I stall out around 245. My current go at Starting Strength is hopefully the one where I finally get over this hump. I've been stalling repeatedly since March. I've gained a lot of weight since then but not much on the bar.

So I definitely hear ya.

[Jon Miller]

I haven't really lost the weight that I put on when I tried to gain last time (although I haven't tried too hard). And it is really hard to gain much muscle when you are near 20% BF and have been in that area most of your life.

And to be honest I went to the doctor almost a month ago and he diagnosed me with lack of thyroid hormone (which I have started taking pills for).

JM

[Provost Harrison]

Wasn't so good of day today, not sure why. Was still sore in the legs, and ate too much chocolate this morning.

5/3/3 chinups
6/4/6 lunges (27/27/24)
5/4/4 pullups
15/15/15 back extensions
2 sets of cable row
2 sets of dumbbell bicep curls

I am still where I was when this thread started, and roughly where I have been for the last 3 years (4 years?). I will probably try something else in a bit. Maybe lift just two days a week (full days or split days) and focus on running? I had good improvement in my running until I stopped doing intervals (they really kill me though).

JM

I plateau very quickly. Strength or physical fitness I can acquire very quickly but weight loss is nigh on impossible for me beyond a certain point. And I've been trying to get rid of this excess weight for years.

[Al B. Sure!]

Well if you're at around 20% BF, then it wouldn't kill you to focus on losing some weight. Then in that case, you shouldn't be so focused with getting strength gains. Honestly, the 'boot camp standard' of pushups, pullups, and running will shed some fat and keep you fit with respect to bodyweight.

Then, if you want to get stronger, pick a devoted full body program and go at it.

Or alternatively, you could do the reverse... concentrate on getting stronger even if it means you put on weight and some fat and then when you have a bit more muscle, cycle back down your weight by doing more running and less intense weightlifting.

I don't know. It's strange. Some people improve so rapidly while others constantly hit brick walls in their training. The simplest explanation though is that something is wrong. The most common being...

Either you're not doing the program right (which may be something as innocent as you just are not doing things with the proper form required of the movement which will always stall someone)
You're not getting enough rest and recovery (ie- you're not recovering enough between workouts; not getting enough sleep; doing too much volume of exercise)
You're not getting enough food.
You have a structural weakness like a weak rotator cuff or weak hip flexors or weak wrists or something that is limiting your gains.

[Jon Miller]

The one time I did get a little improvement was when I ate, but I gained like 15 lbs for just a small improvement (but the only improvement over what I consider 'the usual' in the last 4 years) which disappeared when I tried to drop down intensity a bit.

And my problem with the books is they say "Do this". I say OK, and do it. Then they say "do this", and I do it. Then after a while they say 'do this' and I can't. And I stay there, and nothing changes.

I don't think it is a good idea for someone who has ~20% BF to be increasing in weight anyways. If you think that the food intake needs to go up, then that is another argument for focusing on running for a while and see if I can lose 5 kg.

I like lifting because it enables me to burn my calories when I am sitting on my ass/etc. And it feels good. And I want to get stronger. But my prime consideration is being 'fit'.

And I do eat ~3000 calories a day.

JM

[Al B. Sure!]

Not if you did the program right and the program wasn't retarded. One thing people forget to do is eat. You need to bump up your food intake if you want to get stronger. I posted on here a little while back about how to manage to take in 4000 calories a day and people here thought it so absurd. If you want to get stronger, you need to eat AT LEAST 3000 calories a day, adjusting accordingly for your present height and weight and the intensity of your exercise (even more if you run).

There may be some structural issues like I think I have with weak hip flexors holding back my squat, but regardless, it shouldn't make you weaker unless you don't eat enough and don't have enough recovery.

If you do something like Bill Starr's program, sleep 8+ hours a night, and eat the appropriate number of calories, it would be impossible to get weaker. At worst, I would suppose you would just not improve.

[Jon Miller]

I have tried one before. As far as I could tell, I got weaker. Since part of the reason I do this is for numbers to go up, that wasn't acceptable (it may have been that I wasn't getting the right numbers, but still, the standard lifts I did like dumbbell press went down...).

JM

[Al B. Sure!]

Maybe you should specifically try a specific program? There's thousands out there. Bill Starr's 5x5, Rippetoe's Starting Strength, etc.