Strength goals and weight gain

MWShep

Hi all

Looking for advice from stronger and knowledgeable people than myself.

The question is should I gain weight to achieve my goals?

Below is the list for my personal goals and some info.

Between 65/66 kgs
5'10

My goals are along with my best PB lifts:

Deadlift x 2.5 BW (147kg x 1)
Squat x 2 BW (109kg x 3)
Bench x 1.5 BW (74kg x 6)
Press x 1 BW (54kg x 1)

At the moment I'm on maintenance calories only. From what I've read on the internet is that to gain strength you need to add muscle/weight. Although I understand this, in my logical mind if I gain weight/muscle then that pushes my goals further ahead cancelling out any gains I get in strength, so I'll always be behind, playing catch up if that makes any sense to you?

So do I stick with maintenance or start to gain muscle for strength?

JessHealthKick

is your goal a number on a scale, or muscles, or strength? Your weight at 6"10 is the same as my boyfriend who is the same height as you, and that is TINY! You only have up to go, not down.

I have limited knowledge, but I would say jump on to www.iifym.com and set it to gaining, and get lifting

edit, just saw to 2.5 bodyweight thing. I don't think someone as tiny as you would be able to lift that much normally... better to set short-term goals and see where you get, rather than such high goals that if you don't get there you think 'meh, wouldn't have anyway'. Set a monthly increase you want to see, and work with that.

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MWShep

Thanks Jess. I do follow IIFYM, great for my sweet tooth. The goal is strength. I have no fear of gaining weight if it achieves my goals but as I said would any gain in strength make up for the gain in weight in achieving the goals?

....and yes, I'm skinny

JessHealthKick

Thanks Jess. I do follow IIFYM, great for my sweet tooth. The goal is strength. I have no fear of gaining weight if it achieves my goals but as I said would any gain in strength make up for the gain in weight in achieving the goals?

....and yes, I'm skinny

sorry I didn't mean to come off as slamming you. My boyfriend is the same weight, and he is my boyfriend because I LIKE THAT (among other things of course)... so I didn't mean to say it's a bad thing :flowerforyou: I guess it depends on everyones body, but it will take a lot of dedication and realistic (personal) goals anyway!!!

I have a friend who does comps, and from all my reading over the past 6months, the basic rule is you need to be eating over maintenance to gain muscle, so get eating my friend :drinker:

Good luck

tonynguyen75

You should be able to hit those goals. All you need is time and effort. Hitting goals based on be ratios don't require added muscle. Of course, it would be better with lower body fat %. Are you relatively lean?

MWShep

Not offend by the 'tiny' comment....because I am.

MrM27....my best lifts so far are in the brackets

Deadlift x 2.5 BW (147kg x 1)
Squat x 2 BW (109kg x 3)
Bench x 1.5 BW (74kg x 6)
Press x 1 BW (54kg x 1)

I following 5/3/1 full body/3 day week. Strength is going up slowly but thinking would it be better gaining weight with the goals in mind?

MWShep

Tony.....approx 9-12% bf

addysolari

*I'm in no way an authority/ expert on this*
My understanding is that if you want to gain more strength you need more muscle and you won't make any significant gains by eating a maintenance diet. I've only been lifting and having a high intake diet for about a month now. I started around 1800 calories a day and now I eat 2500-2700 per day and training 3 times a week I've put on about 0.5kg per week and my lifts get bigger every week so I reckon a big calorie intake is why I'm making steady progress.

hope that helps
-Adam

Mrsallypants

The goals are very realistic. Not like a 225kg deadlift in a few months.

500 calories onto maintenance will help with recovery, strength, and muscle building along with 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, or 2.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight. Moreover, add creatine monohydrate to boost lifts.

You're at an optimal bodyfat percentage to start adding muscle.

You could also experiment with other programs like Stronglifts, Madcow, Greyskull LP, or Starting Strength.

MWShep

Thank you, I think maybe a slow increase so that the strength will over take the extra weight increase.

HelloDan

You don't have to gain weight to gain strength, although there is a point where it becomes unavoidable. Look at weight classes in strength sports, yes, the heavyweights lift more absolutely, but the smaller guys lift more in terms of a ratio of bodyweight.

The main caveat is your build, as the taller and longer limbed you are at a lighter weight, the more you tend to give yourself a disadvantage due to lever lengths, and the distance you have to move the bar during lifts.

I think its doable, whether you stay the same weight or gain, but I think you'd have an easier time of it if you were 10-20kgs heavier.

MWShep

HelloDan..which program would you advise, I'm currently using 5/3/1 full body/3 day for the past 18 months?

HelloDan

If you've been using 5/3/1 for the last 18 months, and it's doing the job, just keep at it.

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cajuntank

5/3/1 program is good for experienced lifters that have moved on from linear gains to periodization. If you are just starting out, then a program like Starting Strength or some 5x5 type program will be your best bet as these are beginner programs and you should be on one of these for many months or even over a year to get the maximum strength gains. These programs add weight every workout; whereas, an intermediate program like Madcow will add weight every week. I believe 5/3/1 adds weight every month because its for those people that have reached the upper limits of their genetic strength and so gains come really slow, thus being for advanced lifters.

Don't get me wrong, you will still make gains on 5/3/1, but if you are a newer lifter, then why not take advantage of faster gains?

MWShep

I've been on 5/3/1 for 18 months and the strength has been good except for press but JW does say it's slow to improve. In the past I've not followed a program as such but focused on compound movements for low reps/ high weight and stayed away from the BB routines.

One poster on my thread mention Greyskull lp which I'm trying to find more info about and from the little I've seen it looks interesting.

Just focused on the goal.

tonynguyen75

Are you doing accessory lifts to accompany your main lifts? Deficit deadlifts, pause squats, good mornings, floor bench etc?

AnabolicKyle

If you've been using 5/3/1 for the last 18 months, and it's doing the job, just keep at it.

I agree 5/3/1 is nice. Just keep it going.

This^

if you dont care about weight gain/fat gain, freaking eat more!!!

Warchortle

You don't have to gain weight necessarily to gain strength. If you train your CNS and increase the efficiency of your nerve response you can lift heavier.

This is also the same principle that gaining strength =/= gaining muscle. The main reasons I think weight helps is core stability / center of gravity and joint lubrication etc. It's hard to be a boney mother f****er and having your bones gettin' all KIIINDZ of snap action.

5/3/1 in general is the most cookie cutter friendly way to keep progressive overload up.

TheRealBruceWayne

You don't have to gain weight to gain strength, although there is a point where it becomes unavoidable. Look at weight classes in strength sports, yes, the heavyweights lift more absolutely, but the smaller guys lift more in terms of a ratio of bodyweight.

Bodyweight ratios are silly because the strength to weight ratio isn't linear. The previous poster before me is right that strength is gained by increasing neuro-muscular efficiency, and increasing the amount of muscle increases the potential for strength.

I don't agree with using 5/3/1. It is good for deadlifts but in general it doesn't have enough volume for squats or pressing movements for relatively new lifters. I'd stick with Madcows or 5x5, don't give up on linear programming until you're absolutely positive it's no longer working.

MWShep

Thank you for the replies, still using the 531 formula but as an experiment of one, I have altered it slightly so the main lifts are repeated every 3-4 days, guess that doesn't make 531 anymore but we will see.

I'm liking the Greyskull method and may change to this depending how it goes my experiment goes.

Cutting down on the running and will very slowly increase calories every 2 weeks.

StrictlyPro

Thank you for the replies, still using the 531 formula but as an experiment of one, I have altered it slightly so the main lifts are repeated every 3-4 days, guess that doesn't make 531 anymore but we will see.

I'm liking the Greyskull method and may change to this depending how it goes my experiment goes.

Cutting down on the running and will very slowly increase calories every 2 weeks.

What method you should use depends on where you are currently and whether or not you care about making the strength gains as fast as possible or not. If you want the fastest possible, then use a routine tailored to your current strength levels. If you don't care about fastest progress, then something slower but still progressive like 5/3/1 is fine. Technically 5/3/1 would be considered to be for advanced lifters who can not progress any faster than that because they are already so strong, but that doesn't mean a novice level lifter can't use it.