Lifting Expectations

kevinf2380 wrote: »

I've been doing Stronglifts for a few weeks now and I was wondering what the expectation should be once you start lifting a certain amount of weight. Certain exercises are getting tough now but the only ones I've had failing reps with so far is overhead press. I was wondering what kind of strength gains I should expect and what failures are normal at certain stages. Here is where I am right now with each exercise.

Weight is based on how much of my body weight I'm lifting per exercise
Squats - 74%
Overhead Press - 34%
Bench Press - 60%
Barbell Rows - 45%
Deadlift -74%

I think it's obvious that the squats and deadlifts will get super hard the closer I get to my body weight. The question I have is what are significant or decent gains for overhead press, bench and barbell rows?

I'm 5'10, 178 if that helps at all.

I find OHP to be the hardest to make progress with. I can make somewhat steady progress with the others, albeit in smaller increments as time goes on. Not sure I understand what you are asking here: "what failures are normal at certain stages."

kevinf2380 wrote: »

When did you start to stall? When you were close to lifting 100% body weight on certain exercises?

I don't remember exactly what I weighed, but it was somewhere around 170-190, I think. My stalls were as follows:

OHP: 105 lb
Squat: 205 lb
Bench: 165 lb

I hadn't stalled on rows or deadlift at that point, but 3/5 lifts stalled meant that I changed programming.


eta: It doesn't matter, though, really. Everyone will have different strengths/weaknesses (although OHP, by virtue of recruiting fewer/smaller muscles, tends to be weaker for virtually everyone) depending on previous activity/training, build, Caloric surplus/deficit, etc.

Sometimes you deload, sometimes you need more calories to get more muscle growth. Ive tweaked my progress such that it's not just 1.30 or 3.00 min rest breaks, but something in between

kevinf2380 wrote: »

I've been doing Stronglifts for a few weeks now and I was wondering what the expectation should be once you start lifting a certain amount of weight. Certain exercises are getting tough now but the only ones I've had failing reps with so far is overhead press. I was wondering what kind of strength gains I should expect and what failures are normal at certain stages. Here is where I am right now with each exercise.

Weight is based on how much of my body weight I'm lifting per exercise
Squats - 74%
Overhead Press - 34%
Bench Press - 60%
Barbell Rows - 45%
Deadlift -74%

I think it's obvious that the squats and deadlifts will get super hard the closer I get to my body weight. The question I have is what are significant or decent gains for overhead press, bench and barbell rows?

I'm 5'10, 178 if that helps at all.

There is no normal stall. You've only been doing the program a few weeks. Give it a lot more time. Many people do find OHP the most difficult, that's about the closest thing to a "norm" you may find. Be patient

IMO, if you can OHP your body weight then you can start partying like a rock star.

As mentioned by @mmapags and others, a strict OHP is almost universally considered to be the toughest of the "Big Four Compound Lifts" to increase.
Maybe some of the Olympic lifts are harder but I have never done them.

Weights adjusted to 5RM, from my notes:

Deadlift: 1.7x BW was about where I first stalled, reset
Squat: 1.3x BW was about first stall, no reset
Bench: 89% BW was about first stall, no reset
OHP: 59% BW was about first stall, no reset
Dumbbell rows: 41% BW was about first stall, no reset

Some clarification about those numbers:
1) I train my grip more and want less stress on my lower back, so I use 2 inch thick-handled dumbbells instead of a barbell for rows.
This percentage is for a single 2" dumbbell on one side so you could double it to approximate a barbell row.
2) 45lb Trap bar is used for deadlifts almost exclusively
3) 65lb SS Yoke bar is used for squats almost exclusively

I'm old and beat up from years of fighting and coaching.
Those 3 adaptations have improved -and surely prolonged- my training, fighting and coaching career immensely.

Is using a SS Yoke bar as cool or "effective" as bending a Ohio bar over your shoulders?
I don't know.. and I don't care. It works for me and I have no plans to compete in powerlifting.

If you keep training consistently and safely then you will reach your goals eventually.
Just don't let your ego write checks your butt can't cash.

Don't worry too much about comparing yourself to others.
Just keep track of your own progress and have some reasonable goals.

I don't really know but I found an awesome website that compares your main lifts with other people's and give you lots of feedback. It's a free thing, www.strengthlevel.com Here's some samples.

kevinf2380 wrote: »

I've been doing Stronglifts for a few weeks now and I was wondering what the expectation should be once you start lifting a certain amount of weight. Certain exercises are getting tough now but the only ones I've had failing reps with so far is overhead press. I was wondering what kind of strength gains I should expect and what failures are normal at certain stages. Here is where I am right now with each exercise.

Weight is based on how much of my body weight I'm lifting per exercise
Squats - 74%
Overhead Press - 34%
Bench Press - 60%
Barbell Rows - 45%
Deadlift -74%

I think it's obvious that the squats and deadlifts will get super hard the closer I get to my body weight. The question I have is what are significant or decent gains for overhead press, bench and barbell rows?

I'm 5'10, 178 if that helps at all.

I'm also 5'11 178-180. just finished week 4 of SL5x5, started with the barbell. its getting tough now, so ive reduced deficit from 1000kcal to 500kcal a day.

As per my last 2 workouts, im lifting

Squats - 71% of BW (failed last rep of last 2 sets, fixing my form)
Overhead press - 41% (failed), 38% (success)
Bench Press - 62% (failed last rep of last set)
Barbell row - 65% (finding this easy)
Deadlift - 80% (finding this easy)

hope this helps.

OP: If you are doing SL as proscribed, you should max out in 4-6 months at which point you should switch to an intermediate program.

Almost everyone's weakest lift is the OHP. If you gym doesn't have them, buy a pair of 1.25 & 2. 5# plates and a set of fractional plates (1/4, 1/2 ,3/4 & 1#) to use at the gym (or at home, if you've got a home gym setup).

Don't get locked into doing 5x5 +5# each time. You will max out very quickly and wilk risk injury if your form is not soot on when the weights get really heavy.

There is no harm in repeating a cycle w/o ibcreasing tge weight or just increasing the weifgt by 2.5# or less if the prior weight was a struggle. I prefer doing this to doing drop sets, which I consider a step backward rather than forward.

Everyone is of course different but, as a very general rule of thumb, when you max out on SL, you should be able to:

DL 2xBW
SQT 1.5X BW
BP 1x BW
OHP 0.75x BW

The best website that I've used to compare strength by age, sex and BW is Strength Levels, which you can find here:

http://strengthlevel.com/

This website uses your calculated 1RM to compare your performance w/other men of similar weight and age, which is the best way to measure your performance. Makes no sense to compare your performance w/men of a different age or weight because performance is largely dependent on those factors.

Just for comparison, I have been lifting continuously for 15 months and consider myself an intermediate.Began w/Starting Strength, maxed out in 4 months and have been doing a program of my own design ever since.

I'm male, 66, weigh & 158. My calculated 1RMs are:

DL 403 (2.55xBW)
SQT 274 (1.73xBW)
BP 210 (1.33xBW)
OHP 126 (0.80xBW)

These numbers put me in the advanced
category for SQT, BP and OHP and in the elite catrgory for DL for men my age and weight.

However, a man my size and 1/2 my age would have to lift at least 50% more weight in order to achieve the same ratings compared w/men of the same age/weight.

Hope this info is helpful to you. Good luck!