have been doing SS for 5 months (only included bench as an example). I was eating very little for a while so my lifts weren't improving that much, but my body started looking better. however, the strength gains stopped, so this month I tried "bulking" (currently eating about 2.6k cals, 160g of protein).
though I can lift more, I'm starting to get fat and not like the way I look again. I'm worried if I keep this up I'll just end up 192lbs looking like I did in pic 1, the only difference being that I can push more weight off my chest while lying down.
any advice going forward? should I keep eating at a surplus and accept I won't look good until I build a foundation then cut? or should I be cutting instead until I'm not fat?
Juan Adams
What was your diet like while you were cutting and what is it like now?
Noah Brown
>I want to be stronger but it makes me fat >I want to be skinner but it makes me weak
Pick a lane please
Thomas Parker
I vary it often but sample of a typical day:
while cutting: > omelette for breakfast, about 400 cals > protein shake for lunch, about 250 cals, > chicken wrap and snack for dinner, about 800 cals
currently: > bigger omelette for breakfast, about 600 cals > chicken wrap for lunch, about 650 cals > smoothie for dinner, about 800 cals/80g of protein > fruits, veggies, and nuts for snacks throughout the day
Jayden Roberts
which would you suggest for how I currently look? I want to look like normal mode and not have a big belly (which I did even when I was like 165 in college with 0 muscle)
Isaac Rogers
don't bulk when you are still fat. while you'll get some muscle you'll also get fatter and in the end you'll have to cut for a very long time and lose most of the gains because of it.
keep cutting until you're at around 12-13% bf then do a +200-300 slow bulk as you keep lifting as heavy as you can. also try to incorporate some minimum of 30 min cardio after lifting sessions.
Dylan Reed
if you look closely at your picture on nov 11th and jan 15th you can see that even though you are at higher weight your chest looks much better. it's not a big difference but noticeable non the less.
Jordan Miller
ok and what should my lifting goal be while cutting? should I expect strength to go down? or should I just try to maintain my current lifts, then cut slower if they decrease?
Leo Clark
thanks yeah small shit like that gives me some hope (like I got an arm vein in december, my clavicle became visible, etc.) but I want to do the right thing moving forward. it seems like every month I get contradictory advice (eat more or you'll never gain muscle! eat less, you're still fat! eat maintenance and you'll get beginner gains regardless!). I'm worried I'm just gonna yo yo like this forever
Christopher Mitchell
Always cut to
Logan Wilson
this.
but ultimately op you're going to have to be unhappy with how you look for a while. especially while bulking. change the quality of your nutrients. not all fats, carbs, and proteins are equal, so opt for less sugar, less saturated +no trans fats, and not getting all your protein from protein shakes, but do take some casein before bed.
Easton Ross
Your bodyhair is shit, get the shit waxed off. If you can grow manly chest hair, you're better off being smooth.
James Hall
>ss for 5 months >bench only goes up 65 lbs ur doin it wrong
Xavier Adams
>what should my lifting goal be while cutting? maintain lifts if possible or even try to increase. most important thing is that you get enough protein and don't cut at extreme deficits so you maintain as much muscle as possible. i wouldn't go more than 500 under TDEE.
>should I expect strength to go down? depends on how overweight you are right now. if you still have lots of fat to lose then yes you can expect lifts to go down even more otherwise they should stay relatively where they are now.
Matthew Cooper
Ignore these fools telling you to cut. The quickest way for you to look good is to do a bulk. Bulking for a beginner in your situation should not mean an increase in bf%, it should mean a significant increase in LBM while keeping your bf% more of less constant. When your lifts have gone up a lot and you've packed on some noticeable amount of LBM you can cut. At that point you'll have a much higher TDEE so the cut shouldn't be difficult, and you'll actually look good when you're done. Cutting at this point is just a distraction, won't make you look good and you'll have to bulk after that anyway.
Angel Walker
Just my opinions. You should cut slowly while you continue to lift. Honestly at your current lifts I don't think your strewth should decrease that much based on where it is at. Continue to add 5 lbs until you fail and deload as needed. But you really have to make sure your giving it your all. That doesn't mean be unsafe, but if you can get the 5th rep you need to really grind it out. For new lifters you can really set your set up for fail if you think you are hitting your limit.
I'll give you an example of what i mean. When I was doing SS (on a cut as well) my OHP hit 3x5 @ 115 lbs and I thought that was it. No way I can get higher. I deloaded at 120 lbs because I failed my next few workout. But I was okay with it because it felt like I hit my limit. But really it was because I remember struggling at 115 I set myself up for failure. When I deloaded and came back I had more motivation and more drive to push myself. From there I went from failing @ 120 to getting to 165 before I needed another deload. The reality is I don't believe 120 was where I should of failed previously, it was because I was unwilling to push myself on those final reps. So just make sure your not setting yourself up for failure.
Make sure your getting good sleep. Eat about 1800 calories w/ 180g of protein. I wouldn't go below that, if you feel like you need to go down a little more weight just add a few extra days of walking. If your getting adequate protein and a descent amount of calories (even below maintenance) for a new lifter you should be able to do some re-comping but if your calories are too low your going to have a hard time doing that.
Jose Brown
>does SS >only shows progress pics of upper body Confirmed troll
Hunter Robinson
I know thats why I'm asking for help
I'm bulking now because I kind of agree with this. it seems like if I cut, I'll spend 3 months getting to 165 and losing muscle, then 2 more months getting back up to 190, and once again wasting 5 months while ending up in the exact same place.
I feel the same way about bulking now. I'll get up to 200lbs with muscle underneath fat, then cut the fat and lose the muscle and end up the exact same as I looked in November
the whole "push yourself" thing I don't understand. with cardio, I get it - I feel like I'm gonna die but my body can always go a little more. with weight lifting, I literally can't move my arms up any more times, and when I try, they just fall down. but ppl talk about it all of the time like it is will power so idk
Nolan Harris
how long noob gains last depends from person to person. some people reach that after few months while others after a year or more. once you are done with them you will start to see progress on weekly basis, after that on bi-weekly and so forth.
some stall even on noob gains but that should only be for like a week or two at most. stalling can be caused by something simple as stress or not sleeping enough. don't worry about it too much as long as you aren't stuck for more than 2 weeks or start regressing in lifts heavily.
once you stall 2-3 times on SS then you are most likely out of noob gains and it's time to advance to another program. i would suggest something like candito linear or candito 6 week.
people who say you can't get muscle without eating at surplus are right but you are in no position to do that unless you are at ~10% bf or you will just get fatter. your first priority should be to drop down to that range then worry about eating at a surplus. you can only gain 0.5 lbs of muscle per week and that usually comes with 1:1 ratio to fat so gaining anything over 1 lbs per week is pointless if you are natty and will mostly be just fat. you can minimize the fat gain by lifting heavy and doing cardio during this.
you will only yo-yo like that if you bulk when you are already fat. if you first cut and then control bulk you will keep progressing at a steady pace.
anyway, your goal should be: >drop down to around 10% body fat >slow controlled bulk with no more than 500 above TDEE for that optimal 1 lbs/week gain >lift as heavy as you can on compounds 3x5 then do 2x8-12 of the same exercise for volume to stimulate muscle growth and get better strength progression >cardio after lifting sessions to minimize fat gain >stop bulking once you hit 15% bf (depending on how hard you train and how much cardio you do this can take quite some time) >repeat
Isaac Diaz
Pushing yourself is about mentality and I find that SS itself is not exactly the best program for it (as written). Its one of the reasons I like GSLP better but there is no reason you can't use the same philosophy. I'll explain.
When you setup to bench, squat, whatever You have a number in mind. You just have to get to 5. Then you can put it down. That works fine for your first few sets as your more fresh. Getting to 5 is harder at that last set. So when you approach the set you know okay, just up and down 5 times. On the 4th rep, your 80% of the way there, your almost done and in the back of your mind thats what you are thinking (subconsciously or not). So if you fail on the 4th rep...oh well you got 80% of the way there.
Instead you need to approach the last set like your going to grind out 10 of them. 4 reps isn't even halfway there. That approach tends to let people push themselves more. Now don't misunderstand, your not TRYING to get 10, your goal is still 5. But you need to approach it like your going for 10.
It is one of the reasons I am a big fan of AMRAP sets on your last set. (As many reps as possible -- with good form!). This allows you to have other chances to get stronger.
So your doing 135 on your bench right now for 3x5. You also did 3x5 @ 120. Now lets say you fail your bench and deload. You will deload to 120. So you go back and do your 3x5 @ 120, you did it before so you should be able to do it again. But does that feel like you got stronger doing it again? Not really.
But if you use an AMRAP set and you deload back to 120, maybe you do 2x5 then 1x7 or 1x8, you feel like you made more progress.
But again, its more about how you approach it mentality, you may not think it impacts you but in my (personal experience and observations) it does.
Anthony Robinson
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOUR NIPPLES
Dylan Hall
ok I am officially doing this, thank you. I just hope next month I'm not down to 178 again and everyone says "wtf you dont have enough muscle to cut you should've been bulking you're gonna get fat from bulking anyways"
are they really weird?
William Jenkins
Here's what you do. Continue with your program, don't miss any days, and maybe throw in a few accessories. Continue cutting until you're at a reasonable body fat, say 10-15%. Then, and only then should you consider bulking. Find your TDEE, and bulk at +250-500, don't just guess your calories. Try using something Ike MyFitnessPal to make sure you're getting the right caloric/protein intake. Don't worry about strength loss until you get into that body fat range, you will look much better.
Also do cardio
We're all gonna make it brah
Easton Edwards
Do you want this summer to be topless or do you want to wait another 18 months for that?
