Today was another good day for me. I am running an upper lower 4 day split. Upper body still felt meh this week even after deload. Might need to ease off a bit. Squats weren't great because I tweaked my hip so I did accessory work lower day 1. Step ups and lunges and good mornings.

Then deads today felt great. Pulled 315 3x5 and had ~3 in the tank for first set I'd guess. Puts my PR near 400. Squats are prolly @350 and bench who knows. Torn pec and surgery in high school means I'm never going above 225 for reps but prolly 275 ish there right now. I think if I maxed I could get close to 1000 club, which feels pretty cool. It means at least I can out lift all the guys on strava that are so much faster than I am on the local mtb trails! Moral victories for the win!

Sounds like you need to put 4 plates on to deadlift next time!

Starting max out week tomorrow.

Hoping for 405 on squat and deadlift and 300 on bench.

Will report back when I'm done. After that, gonna try to drop about 25-35 pounds depending on how I look/feel.

Honest question: what's the point of big lift numbers if you're 35+ lbs over weight?

I'm asking wouldn't a guy be better off getting in better shape, then evaluating max numbers, and working on moving those up without stacking on useless bf/weight

You intentionally gained 35 pounds? Over how long? That's impressive

I think he saw all the guys leaving through the transfer portal back when Jimbo was canned so he's going out for LB in the spring.

This was my first time doing it, so definitely some things I would change. But, first what I did:

I started early September with a goal to gain about 10% of my body weight. This was doing 5/3/1 with FSL as my accessory work. In November I saw the Boring But Big 3 month challenge and decided I would take that on. So I started that in December and ran that for 3 training cycles.

In between my start and today I had a week where I tried to shed a few pounds to guarantee I would fit into a tux for a special occasion. So it hasn't been quite linear, but it's been mostly gaining weight for 5 months.

As of today I averaged almost exactly 1 pound a week and slightly over my 10% mark. I basically stuck to my usual diet but added on a half gallon of milk everyday. And I allowed myself to splurge a little extra on desserts during the holidays and stuff that I knew I would only have available to me once a year.

I will have a better plan next time. I will likely only try to gain in 3 month windows, 5 was too long and that was just due to poor planning. I also want to get my starting point down by about 10-15 pounds so that if I keep my pound a week pace, my "heavy" weight will be closer to what my starting weight was this go around. I don't like how I feel at the weight I'm currently carrying, though the measuring tape and the mirror show clear gains in my size. I think the most noticeable areas are my quads/hamstrings and my lats. I'm wearing all the same pants, so while I know my midsection has puffed up a little, I know a lot of the weight gain is going elsewhere.

So, I gained a hair over 20 pounds, hence why I want to lose 35 at the top end. But that will all depend on my energy level and how I look carrying that much weight. I definitely think my body can handle vanilla FSL without much in the way of excess calories so I will likely only try to gain when I'm doing BBB or some other more intense variation of 5/3/1.

Overall, I am happy with it especially for my first time. I will shorten the window so my weight gain only goes up by about 15 pounds so it will be more manageable when it's time to lose it.

I grunt and groan when I stand up now, I'm not sure intentionally running into objects at full speed is a great idea for me at this point of my life.

Good info. I appreciate it

And congrats on making such progress. That's awesome.

Thanks. Got a long ways to go and it's always a learning process. It's basically just turned into a science experiment for me and I'm the test subject.

Anyone dabble in methylene blue? Bought some to try and replace (or supplement) my pre workout. Curious about dosage…

Meh. Maybe. I also know a lot of guys at my gym that cling to their weight like an old ladies purse bc it's just easier to lean into "but I'm strong" rather than evaluating their overall fitness level. But yes, this is a weightlifting thread so it may not apply.

Cardio is about as touchy of a topic as carbs. Everyone has a strong opinion. But the older I get, the more I lean into the hybrid athlete model. The guy who can throw down in a 5/10k but also throw legit weight around in the gym.

Maybe that guy is missing 10% off the bar bc he's got a 20 min 5K time, but if my days of listening to Peter Attia has told me anything….thats also the guy who's setting himself up for long term success.

YMMV

I have not delved too much into the science of it all. But I do know that as we age we lose the capacity to create muscle and lose bone density. That will happen no matter what you do. So I want to make sure that I give myself as big of a starting point as I can and I already have a late start.

I see videos of old dudes (that aren't fat) pulling serious weight and that's what I want. Plus, having kids, I want to be able to launch them in the pool for as long as possible. My kids aren't impressed if dad can go outside and run for 30 minutes. But they sure like when I can toss them around like a ragdoll.

I do walks with a weighted vest, throw in some occasional box jumps, pull a sled, etc. I don't neglect cardio, it is just not the focus of my training. I know I can go pick up and play basketball for an hour if I want to, so I'm not worried about that.

I use weight gain to GET strong. I don't use it as an excuse to be lazy and shove whatever food I want in my face 24/7. That isn't appealing to me and isn't conducive to my goals. I'm sure some people use that as an excuse, but if we want to go down the path of anecdotes and hypotheticals, we can do that to argue any viewpoint or opinion we want for an indefinite amount of time.

I used to have the same attitude about "meatheads". It's just a matter of inexperience and not understanding that different people have different goals.

It's a coping mechanism so that you can justify why you are only loading 200 pounds on the bar to squat because you're trying to be "well rounded".

I'm with ya man. I wish I had age 20-30 back. I gave up too much prime time. So now it's catch up before the clock fights me even harder.

Good take. We all have diff goals, no doubt. And anything fitness oriented puts you in the top 1% in the world. I can't even begin to imagine how few people actually have a fitness based lifestyle. Very few. So props to all who do it, and do it their way. Was just sharing my views.

Same little buddy, same.

I intentionally gained 70 lbs over the course of a year.....

Now, that isn't fair. I have seen some races where there are bends in the road and the occasional 5 degree incline.

Curious for the more serious lifters - at what weight do you start to see the benefits/feel the need for specialty bars for squats and deadlifts?

I'm using a Rogue Ohio bar I got as a boneyard special. It's fine and works for me, but I've never used anything nicer so I have nothing to compare it to.

I don't think I'm anywhere close to needing a dedicated deadlift bar - though I think having the weights spin less would probably be helpful for my grip. I've noticed the Texas Power Bar squat bars are wider in between the collars and I have caught myself having some issues on my walkout with bumping the uprights, so I know it would help there.

Anyways, just wondering if anyone has any experience with these. I've been wanting to add a new bar to my garage setup, and I'm looking at camber bars and safety squat bars and some other things and just trying to decide what I want to pull the trigger on when the time comes.

My small gym has a safety squat bar. Absolutely love it for single leg work. BSS and walking lunges/reverse lunges.

If you like heavy single leg stuff where dumbbells lose their flavor bc grip fails before legs do… I can highly rec the SS bar for that application.

Everyone is different so don't take this as exact science, but for me at least, anything over 545 is when I really notice the difference between a deadlift bar and a general/stiff one. That's about 85% of my current 1RM so maybe that's (85%) a general rule to toy with. Near your max, the ability to set your hips high and pull the slack out of the bar is the difference-making utility of the deadlift bar. Along with the grip and length on each side to fit more plates.

Doesn't mean there isn't real utility in training with stiff bar also, though. Just does mean if you want to push your deadlift total as far as you can to see what you're capable of, you'll probably want a deadlift bar in your arsenal at some point. Particularly if you're not concerned with competing in USAPL/IPF style meets.

I don't use or know much about SSBs. The only prerequisite for a bar to squat with that I'm aware of is knurling on the center to sit on your back.

Yeah, I think if I had my pick I'd get a dedicated squat bar first and then a deadlift, just because I feel like I probably have the most potential on my squat out of the three lifts.

Really, I guess I need to decide if I want a nicer bar for squat/deadlift, or if I want a bar for accessory work first. I imagine at this point in my journey the bar for accessory work would probably give me more utility.

I've been in a similar situation as you. Currently have a Rogue Power Bar for all my lifts, want to had a curl bar next, then a safety squat bar. Eventually I'd go with an open trap bar, specifically the one from Giant Lifting fits the bill.

I recently got the Titan EZ curl bar on sale and it's been great. I have enjoyed getting back to doing some curls and skullcrushers and what not with it. Something about the EZ curl bar just feels right compared to using dumbbells.

I did get the short version, and kind of regret not getting the rackable one. But it was cheaper and I can see pros and cons to both versions.

I have seen the open trap bars - what do you plan to use it for? I got the farmer carry handles from Titan and I like them - if I had the space I probably would've gone with the farmer walk platform they sell, but it isn't something I do regularly so I couldn't justify the cost. I plan to use the farmer carry handles for my next block of training to do some suitcase deadlifts.

I have 2 barbells, a trap bar, and a curl bar. I don't know the difference between the barbells I have and others I've used in the past. I think one was from Sharpstown HS when they were shutting down and giving away ***** The other I bought from facebook marketplace a decade ago along with an adjustable bench. They hold weight and fit in my hand/on my back. Not sure what else they need to do.