New to Lifting - how fast to start gaining strength?

abarriere
abarriere Posts: 135 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone,

Out of curiosity, when you were new to lifting (and eating at a deficit), at what rate did your strength increase?

I am finished with week three of Thinner, Leaner, Stronger. I upped the weight pretty easily in week 2 (week 1, I was afraid to do higher weight and focusing only on getting form correct). First two weeks, tons of energy! 3rd week, I am pretty tired in my workout, sleeping an extra hour at night (falling asleep while watching my one hour of TV at night and actually slept through my alarm once), and didn't really increase strength very much. I know that it should take a while, and if eating at a deficit, a really long while perhaps. So, I am not discouraged in any way. Just curious what other people's experiences were when starting out. Every week you added 5 lbs? every month?

Thanks!

Replies

  • slinke2014
    slinke2014 Posts: 149 Member
    in the first few weeks I am able to get more weight on the bar pretty quickly as my body remembers how to lift and I get my form perfect again. Once I crossed that threshold though its REALLY slow going for me personally. Its different for everyone. I try to increase my weights every week. sometimes I can do a full 5 lbs, sometimes its only a couple lbs and sometimes none at all or even have to do a deload week and try again. Just progress the best you can while maintaining proper form and that is all you can do. HAPPY LIFTING!
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    it different for everyone but newbie gains will get you down the road a few months, 6 months maybe? Most of that strength gains isn't really gains its just learning how to use the muscle you already have through form and technique and waking your body up. Once you get past that, thats when you start gaining strength and that is very slow going.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    How big a deficit are you running? You should see strength gains just from your CNS adaptations for longer than 2 weeks. Plus the severe tiredness has me thinking you are running a pretty steep deficit
  • abarriere
    abarriere Posts: 135 Member
    edited August 2017
    rybo wrote: »
    How big a deficit are you running? You should see strength gains just from your CNS adaptations for longer than 2 weeks. Plus the severe tiredness has me thinking you are running a pretty steep deficit

    Hey! I am eating about 1800-1900 calories 5 days a week, and closer to 2000-2100 (sometimes more) on the weekend. According to IIFYM my TDEE is 2360. I don't eat any exercise calories back since i am doing the TDEE method. Prior to that, i was eating more, but not really losing weight. Now that I lowered it a bit, i have lost a little. I also do not weigh food, for sanity reasons. I know that's a no no, but it's just what keeps me sane and going. I am ok if it's not quite as exact. I do keep an open diary.

    Maybe i am just trying to increase too much, so that's why i am tired...

    Here's my schedule so far. 3 sets of 8-10 reps each week, sorry if formatting is weird, i copied and pasted a spreadsheet:

    Week 1 Week 2 Week 3
    Day 1:
    Flat Barbell Bench Press 55/65/65 70/70/70 75/75/70
    Incline Dumbell Bench Press 20/25/25 25/25/25 25/25/25
    Flat Dumbell Bench Press 25/25/25 25/25/25 25/25/25
    Close-Grip Bench Press 45/55/55 55/55/55 60/60/60

    Day 2:
    Barbell Deadlift 95/95/95 100/100/100 110/110/110
    Barbell Squat 85/85/85 100/100/100 105/105/105
    Barbell Row 45/55/65 65/65/65 70/70/70
    Dumbell Row 30/30/30 30/30/30 30/30/30
    Alternating Dumbell Curl 15/15/15 15/15/15 15/15/15


    Day 3:
    Seated or Standing Barbell Military Press 50/50/50 55/50/50
    Side Lateral Raise 12/12/12 12/12/12
    Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise 12/12/12 15/15/15


    Day 4:
    Barbell Squat 100/100/100 100/100/100 105/105/105
    Leg Press 110/125/125 125/140/140 140/140/140
    Romanian Deadlift 70/75/75 85/95/95 95/95/95
    Barbell or Dumbbell Hip Thrust 25/40/40 40/45/50 50/50/50



    It's harder to go up on the dumb bell sets since you have to go from like 15-20, or 25-30, so i have had a hard time making a jump on those.

    Thanks for the help!
  • abarriere
    abarriere Posts: 135 Member
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    it different for everyone but newbie gains will get you down the road a few months, 6 months maybe? Most of that strength gains isn't really gains its just learning how to use the muscle you already have through form and technique and waking your body up. Once you get past that, thats when you start gaining strength and that is very slow going.

    That makes total sense. I get this fear every time i squat that i won't be able to get back up! Maybe once i get more used to it and have more confidence in what i am doing, i will be able to add to the squat rack more!
  • RavenLibra
    RavenLibra Posts: 1,737 Member
    Eating at a deficit will not only lose fat... it will also consume muscle. If you want strength gains eat at slightly higher than maintain... and fuel your workouts... eat what you expect to burn... and add some cardio after the weights to bump your metabolism.
  • mlh6468
    mlh6468 Posts: 47 Member
    One thing I'd like to contribute is form. Many people I see in the gym have terrible form, i.e., swinging their backs while curling, bending their wrists when doing bench presses, etc. I think you'll find it is well worth the effort to study proper lifting form as much as anything when it comes to weights.
  • abarriere
    abarriere Posts: 135 Member
    RavenLibra wrote: »
    Eating at a deficit will not only lose fat... it will also consume muscle. If you want strength gains eat at slightly higher than maintain... and fuel your workouts... eat what you expect to burn... and add some cardio after the weights to bump your metabolism.

    My ultimate goal at this juncture, is to lose body fat. I read that eating at a deficit, while getting enough protein, and lifting weights (and some cardio after, like you said), is the best way to lose the body fat, while keeping your muscle, or maybe adding just a touch more.

    I think I may just need to adjust my expectations of gaining strength while i am in the "cutting" portion of the journey?

  • dieselbyte
    dieselbyte Posts: 733 Member
    RavenLibra wrote: »
    Eating at a deficit will not only lose fat... it will also consume muscle. If you want strength gains eat at slightly higher than maintain... and fuel your workouts... eat what you expect to burn... and add some cardio after the weights to bump your metabolism.

    Um, no... newbies will experience strength gains even in a deficit. As other posters have stated, CNS adaptation and muscles learning new movements and becoming more efficient at those movements are the real reasons newbies progress rather quickly. While OP may not experience muscle "growth" in a deficit, lifting heavy and adequate protein intake will spare muscle. As far as "consuming" muscle, the deficit would need to be rather large and long in a scenario like this.

    OP - as another poster suggested, possibly revisit caloric restrictions to determine if the deficit is too steep.
  • azazel833
    azazel833 Posts: 23 Member
    Your deficite is fine. Im on ~800ckal def since day one.
    First 2-3 months there where pretty much no strain gains for me, just spagetti hands on every rep.
    Then when I got better with form and got some confidence the weight on the bar (dumbels only in my case) start climbing slowly but shorely, on the same 800ckal def.
    So keep doing what you do and prioritize good forms, kilograms will follow.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    RavenLibra wrote: »
    Eating at a deficit will not only lose fat... it will also consume muscle. If you want strength gains eat at slightly higher than maintain... and fuel your workouts... eat what you expect to burn... and add some cardio after the weights to bump your metabolism.

    Awful post, basically every part of it is false. You can make ENORMOUS strength gains in a deficit.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    DopeItUp wrote: »
    RavenLibra wrote: »
    Eating at a deficit will not only lose fat... it will also consume muscle. If you want strength gains eat at slightly higher than maintain... and fuel your workouts... eat what you expect to burn... and add some cardio after the weights to bump your metabolism.

    Awful post, basically every part of it is false. You can make ENORMOUS strength gains in a deficit.

    in the beginning yes. But at advanced levels, deficit makes us lose strength and over time a deficit will consume muscle as well as fat, the reason for the strength (and size) decrease .
  • Okiludy
    Okiludy Posts: 558 Member
    edited August 2017
    I gained a fair bit of strength running a fairly sizable deficit. I went from 300lbs to 263lbs and here is a history of my lifts.
    Squat
    • 3x5 45lbs 6/5/2017
    • 3x5 150lbs 7/5/2017 last day on SS
    • 2x5 260lbs 7/28/2017
    • 3x3 280lbs 8/4/2017

    Bench
    • 3x5 45lbs 6/5/2017
    • 3x5 135lbs 7/5/2017 last day on SS
    • 3x3 160lbs 7/28/2017
    • 5x4 167.5lbs 8/4/2017

    Deadlift
    • 1x5 65lbs 6/5/2017
    • 1x5 265lbs 7/5/2017 last day on SS
    • 1x5 335lbs 7/28/2017
    • 2x3 340lbs 8/4/2017

    If going from 65lbs to 340lbs isn't strength gain I really don't know what to say.

    @abarriere for me your program wouldn't have enough rest. I needed to lift 3x a week with all compound lifts to make substantial strength gains. Rest is just as important to me as the lifts themselves. Being old and in calorie deficit wipes me out. I also needed 40% protein as a macro. Less protein ment a slower recovery meaning slower gains in gym. This is my personal experience and you might have a different experience altogether.


  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    edited August 2017
    Your rate of increase (and how long you can keep increasing at that rate) is going to depend on the lift. You'll likely be able to keep increasing on your lower-body lifts for a longer time than your upper-body lifts. Plus, if you're adding 5# to a squat (say, going from 100# to 105#), that's a smaller % change than going from benching 65# to 70#.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    edited August 2017
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    DopeItUp wrote: »
    RavenLibra wrote: »
    Eating at a deficit will not only lose fat... it will also consume muscle. If you want strength gains eat at slightly higher than maintain... and fuel your workouts... eat what you expect to burn... and add some cardio after the weights to bump your metabolism.

    Awful post, basically every part of it is false. You can make ENORMOUS strength gains in a deficit.

    in the beginning yes. But at advanced levels, deficit makes us lose strength and over time a deficit will consume muscle as well as fat, the reason for the strength (and size) decrease .

    I agree completely, however the OP says specifically "new to lifting...".

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