What is "good" for Stronglifts?
timesinfinityplus2
Posts: 57 Member
So I know that this answer will completely depend on the weight/size of the person and how long they've been lifting among many, many other factors. I guess it's more of a comparison so I can get an idea if I should be proud of what I do or shamed into the corner. I am curious where others are in the Stronglifts routine (especially those with similar builds to mine) or what others think is a pretty good amount of weight to do.
I am 6'3.5" and 281 pounds and my most recent lifts were:
Squats - 225
Rows - 150
Bench - 150
Press - 125
Deadlift - 225
I know I can do more on squats and deadlifts, just haven't gotten there yet. Bench press I can probably continue increasing for a while and rows will be stalled sooner. Press I am not sure I will be able to do 130 before I stall.
Anyway, curious if this is pretty good for a guy who used to weigh 337 pounds and is working on a new life. Validation, dammit!
Thanks
I am 6'3.5" and 281 pounds and my most recent lifts were:
Squats - 225
Rows - 150
Bench - 150
Press - 125
Deadlift - 225
I know I can do more on squats and deadlifts, just haven't gotten there yet. Bench press I can probably continue increasing for a while and rows will be stalled sooner. Press I am not sure I will be able to do 130 before I stall.
Anyway, curious if this is pretty good for a guy who used to weigh 337 pounds and is working on a new life. Validation, dammit!
Thanks
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You absolutely cannot compare yourself to others, much as you want to, because no one else started exactly the same way as you. Have your lifts improved? Yes, then be proud. Did you go from completely sedentary to lifting? If yes, be proud. I can't break the 30 minute mark for my 5K. I ran a 10K with a friend, and she had a time a whole4 minutes better than mine. But, you know what? I'm proud anyway because, dammit, I put my mind to it, trained and finished! Regardless if J beat me or not or I finish at the top of my age group or not.
Now, that being said, I lift nowhere near you, I'm a 5'4", 135 pound 36 year old female. My max bench is about 65, I can squat (to parallel) 130 for 4-5 reps, and I have deadlifted 135 in the past (at a slightly lower weight than I am now.) My husband, a 5'5", 205 pound (almost) 36 year old does more than that. He's also been lifting for over 10 years.
His 1RMs are:
Squats - 495
Bench - 350
Deadlift - 5350 -
You absolutely cannot compare yourself to others, much as you want to, because no one else started exactly the same way as you. Have your lifts improved? Yes, then be proud. Did you go from completely sedentary to lifting? If yes, be proud. I can't break the 30 minute mark for my 5K. I ran a 10K with a friend, and she had a time a whole4 minutes better than mine. But, you know what? I'm proud anyway because, dammit, I put my mind to it, trained and finished! Regardless if J beat me or not or I finish at the top of my age group or not.
Now, that being said, I lift nowhere near you, I'm a 5'4", 135 pound 36 year old female. My max bench is about 65, I can squat (to parallel) 130 for 4-5 reps, and I have deadlifted 135 in the past (at a slightly lower weight than I am now.) My husband, a 5'5", 205 pound (almost) 36 year old does more than that. He's also been lifting for over 10 years.
His 1RMs are:
Squats - 495
Bench - 350
Deadlift - 535
Thanks for that. And I know I can't compare to others, but the problem that I am finding is everything is about 1RM and I am doing SL5x5 so I don't know what my 1RM is. Should I take a week off of SL5x5 and find out what my 1RM is? When I started the program, I started from the bottom (other than deadlifts and squats which I raised a little right away) and am working my way up.0 -
Good = more than you lifted last time0
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Why are you concerned with your 1RM? The purpose of Stronglifts is to gain strength. As long as you're progressing with good form you're doing great!0
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Good = more than you lifted last time
Was just about to write the exact same thing.
While still a beginner, just keep up the good work, and take the gains, until they slow down, and you have to reassess.0 -
Why are you concerned with your 1RM? The purpose of Stronglifts is to gain strength. As long as you're progressing with good form you're doing great!
It seems most everything telling me where I "should" be is all about 1RM. I have been working on my DL form as well as my rows form, but everything else is good, and I have progressed each day of the program, so I guess that's good
Good = more than you lifted last time
That works. I am fairly certain on Friday I will stall out on my press but I guess that will eventually happen no matter what. I've yet to stall on any lift otherwise.0 -
Good = more than you lifted last time
Best oneliner ever. and true.That works. I am fairly certain on Friday I will stall out on my press but I guess that will eventually happen no matter what. I've yet to stall on any lift otherwise.
Do this:
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/how_to_build_pure_strength
Eat A LOT.
End thread.
Anything advised after this is superfulous. Period.0 -
I've been doing Stronglifts since July, however I've been strength training for a few years before that with a trainer doing split routines with both compound and isolation excercises. I didn't start with just the bar as the program suggests bc it was too light for me and I knew I would've gotten board with it before it got heavy enough and sometimes either bc it was too light or bc of my bad math skills I've gone up more than the 5lbs each week. I don't know my 1RM on any of the lifts.
I'm m 5'11" now 225lbs (227 when I started) and this is where I'm at now:
Squat 245 - I believe I still have room for another 25 - 50lbs
Bench 225 - got them all today but the 4th set was tough (even tougher than the 5th)
Row 165 - definately still have room (accidently went up 15lbs today from the last set - again bad math)
OHP - 150 - failed only got 4 on the 4th set managed 5 on the last but my form was detriorating
Dead 245 - still plenty of room to go up
As mentioned - difficult to compare but as long as you're making progress and still lifting it's all good!0 -
Hey man, the 1RM is not nearly as important as people make it out to be. It's just a benchmark, a tool to determine your progress, and in many programs it's used to determine what weight to use. It also varies considerably depending on how you're feeling and what you've eaten... how much you've rested, etc... I've actually never tested my 1RM, and I lift 5 days a week, hitting everything twice a week. Started training back in Nov.
My Stats:
Male / 150lbs / 5"4'
Squat: 240 x 5
Bench: 200 x 5
Press: 130 x 4
Deadlift: 265 x 15
If you want to determine your 1RM, try using a 1RM calculator. There are a few out there and they are somewhat accurate. Also don't sweat it. Strength is a lifetime goal, and if you've just started lifting you'll see some really nice improvements very quickly.
Once again though, this is a good reference. It's compiled from strength training competitions and general sports training:
http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.htm0 -
Good = going back consistently and following the program.
Anything else is, in the big scheme of things, irrelevant.0 -
I've just finished the fourth week of stronglifts so all your stats are better than mine right now. 6'0", 183 lbs
Squat 160
Bench 120
Row 95
OHP 90
Deadlift 205
I have no idea what my 1RM is. At this point everything is changing so fast that it is probably pretty much irrelevant anyway.0 -
Also from what you said, you're in the middle of your program... your numbers don't matter yet lol0
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So I know that this answer will completely depend on the weight/size of the person and how long they've been lifting among many, many other factors. I guess it's more of a comparison so I can get an idea if I should be proud of what I do or shamed into the corner. I am curious where others are in the Stronglifts routine (especially those with similar builds to mine) or what others think is a pretty good amount of weight to do.
I am 6'3.5" and 281 pounds and my most recent lifts were:
Squats - 225
Rows - 150
Bench - 150
Press - 125
Deadlift - 225
I know I can do more on squats and deadlifts, just haven't gotten there yet. Bench press I can probably continue increasing for a while and rows will be stalled sooner. Press I am not sure I will be able to do 130 before I stall.
Anyway, curious if this is pretty good for a guy who used to weigh 337 pounds and is working on a new life. Validation, dammit!
Thanks
Seriously? No shame, EVER! I don't care how much or how little you lift. The simple act of at least trying is admirable.0 -
1RM matters in a competition. 1RM matters if you're in a life and death situation where you need to get something heavy out of the way. Testing your 1RM, especially as a beginner, is an absolutely senseless way to injure yourself.
And remember, you don't stall until you're under the bar and the weight won't go up anymore. I was convinced I was about to stall on my squat at about 180. I just did 275 for 3 sets of 5 yesterday, still haven't stalled on squats. Don't go into a workout thinking you're going to stall.
And, as people have said, if you're still adding weight to the bar each workout, you have no basis for comparing yourself to anyone. Any comparison you do is completely apples to oranges.0 -
I've been doing stronglifts for a couple of weeks. The thing that jumps out at me is that it seems like everybody else who has posted here is deadlifting at least as much as they're squatting, which hasn't been my experience at all. At this point, my lifts are as follows (I'm 6'3 and about 255#, down from 330# or so):
Squat: 295
Bench: 180
Row: 120
OHP: 110
Deadlift: 170
I don't have access to free weights at the moment, so that might be part of it. Another contributor might be that the deadlifts and rows are particularly hard to approximate on the machine I'm using. I end up using the curl bar, which makes the angles all wrong. I've recently started replacing the rows with a lat pulldown. I know it isn't a perfect substitution, but I can't even get close to the right posture for the rows without smacking myself in the face with the weight blocks.0 -
Oh - slightly off topic, but a suggestion on your press - I did stall pretty hard on my overhead press and got to the point where I couldn't make 5lb jumps anymore. I could get 115, but just couldn't do 120. Tried deloading, got stuck at the same place. Picked up some heavy washers (5/8 lb each) and started adding just 2.5 or 1.25 lbs per workout, and just got 120. It's a technique called microloading and is really useful especially on the bench and overhead press, since they use fewer muscles overall. Allows you to keep making linear progression for longer, even if it's going a little bit slower.0
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Oh - slightly off topic, but a suggestion on your press - I did stall pretty hard on my overhead press and got to the point where I couldn't make 5lb jumps anymore. I could get 115, but just couldn't do 120. Tried deloading, got stuck at the same place. Picked up some heavy washers (5/8 lb each) and started adding just 2.5 or 1.25 lbs per workout, and just got 120. It's a technique called microloading and is really useful especially on the bench and overhead press, since they use fewer muscles overall. Allows you to keep making linear progression for longer, even if it's going a little bit slower.
Good advise, thanks, my gym only has 2.5 but it might be worth picking up a couple of smaller fractional plates, especially for my OHP - especially if the deload doesn't help.0 -
Just keep with the program until you stall out a couple times and can't break the plateau, then switch to the next phase.
Don't worry about 1RM yet. Taking a week off in pursuit of this will just likely stall you out. Not too mention, always trying for that 1RM can lead to injury. Leave it to the guys who can't keep their eyes off the mirror and act like everything is a pissing contest.
Strength isn't just measured in your 1RM. If you can just lift 5lbs more in a working 5x5 routine, you are getting stronger. Just like if you were able to do more reps per set with the same weight, you are getting stronger.
It looks like your progress is just fine. You've lost a substantial amount of weight and you are getting stronger, pat yourself on the back. Making gains on a deficit is hard work.0 -
I have no clue what my 1RMs are. I used my husband's because he knows them. I honestly have no clue what program he's running right now.0
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Thanks everyone for the advice, critiques and words of encouragement. I tend to try and keep my eyes off the mirror and off of others in the gym because I don't want to compare myself to them. But when I see some short, stout guy crawl under 8 plates to squat, it makes me feel feeble
I'll avoid the 1RM attempts and just keep doing the program (without going in expecting to stall).0 -
Oh - slightly off topic, but a suggestion on your press - I did stall pretty hard on my overhead press and got to the point where I couldn't make 5lb jumps anymore. I could get 115, but just couldn't do 120. Tried deloading, got stuck at the same place. Picked up some heavy washers (5/8 lb each) and started adding just 2.5 or 1.25 lbs per workout, and just got 120. It's a technique called microloading and is really useful especially on the bench and overhead press, since they use fewer muscles overall. Allows you to keep making linear progression for longer, even if it's going a little bit slower.
Dude the OHP is one of my favorite lifts, and most challenging by far. This one progresses REALLY slow. Everyone has trouble with the OHP, and I think it's great that you decided on smaller increments.
That said, I'm due to hit 135lbs on the OHP in two weeks. Two 45s over my ****ing head, super excited... and a little worried lol. I remember the first time I saw a guy doing those, I thought it was crazy lol0 -
Oh - slightly off topic, but a suggestion on your press - I did stall pretty hard on my overhead press and got to the point where I couldn't make 5lb jumps anymore. I could get 115, but just couldn't do 120. Tried deloading, got stuck at the same place. Picked up some heavy washers (5/8 lb each) and started adding just 2.5 or 1.25 lbs per workout, and just got 120. It's a technique called microloading and is really useful especially on the bench and overhead press, since they use fewer muscles overall. Allows you to keep making linear progression for longer, even if it's going a little bit slower.
Dude the OHP is one of my favorite lifts, and most challenging by far. This one progresses REALLY slow. Everyone has trouble with the OHP, and I think it's great that you decided on smaller increments.
That said, I'm due to hit 135lbs on the OHP in two weeks. Two 45s over my ****ing head, super excited... and a little worried lol. I remember the first time I saw a guy doing those, I thought it was crazy lol
I just did that a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty awesome ... and surprising how much harder it is with just a coulpe of those little 5lbers on. My pipe dream right now is to press my body weight (passed that in the others exept the Row). Although I may have to lose another 75lbs to get there.0 -
Good = more than you lifted last time
:flowerforyou:0 -
Just as an FYI, I went in on Friday and did my Stronglifts and muscled those 130 pounds over my head doing Overhead Press. Onto 135!0
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Throwing in another data point for comparison. These are my numbers from this morning. I've de-loaded once on the squat so far, and twice on OHP.
M/34/5'9"/185 lbs
245 lbs - Squat
200 lbs - Bench
170 lbs - Row
145 lbs - OHP (first stall was 130; steady progress since switching to 3x3)
225 lbs - Deadlift0 -
Oh - slightly off topic, but a suggestion on your press - I did stall pretty hard on my overhead press and got to the point where I couldn't make 5lb jumps anymore. I could get 115, but just couldn't do 120. Tried deloading, got stuck at the same place. Picked up some heavy washers (5/8 lb each) and started adding just 2.5 or 1.25 lbs per workout, and just got 120. It's a technique called microloading and is really useful especially on the bench and overhead press, since they use fewer muscles overall. Allows you to keep making linear progression for longer, even if it's going a little bit slower.
Dude the OHP is one of my favorite lifts, and most challenging by far. This one progresses REALLY slow. Everyone has trouble with the OHP, and I think it's great that you decided on smaller increments.
That said, I'm due to hit 135lbs on the OHP in two weeks. Two 45s over my ****ing head, super excited... and a little worried lol. I remember the first time I saw a guy doing those, I thought it was crazy lol
I just did that a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty awesome ... and surprising how much harder it is with just a coulpe of those little 5lbers on. My pipe dream right now is to press my body weight (passed that in the others exept the Row). Although I may have to lose another 75lbs to get there.
ROFL! You could press your current weight, or loose the weight to get to where you're pressing now lol
That's awesome man, keep it up
Incidentally I'm pressing 135 today and a little concerned bc I only got 6 hrs of sleep last night and my nutrition the past few days has sucked.0
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