Am I progressing too slowly?

[blueskies88]

I‘m 16M, been training for a but over two years (since march 2022) and I‘ve went from 120lbs 5‘7 at 14 to 176lbs couple months ago at 5‘9 to 165lbs now. used to train 3 times a week for about bit over a year and got to 4 till now (upper lower) with the whole two years playing basketball twice days a week. Didn’t test 1RM when starting but at 24/9/2023 I tested it:

Bench press(flat): 50kg
DeadLift: 80kg
Squat: 75kg
Overhead Press: 40kg

And ant the end of the year I went to:

Bench press(flat): 65kg
DeadLift: 100kg
Squat: 95kg
Overhead Press: 50kg

And I guess they’re a bit higher now.

So after I did the small cut two months back, I stopped bulking intentionally and just focused on eating healthy overall with good amounts of protein. And my lifts are getting better (able to overload) so should I continue what I’m doing or should I bulk again?

 

[mefe]

@blueskies88 Pretty good stats my friend, all I would say is if your getting enough protein, bulking at a large enough surplus, training until failure with proper form (assuming your training for size, ie focusing on the contraction, controlling the eccentric, etc), having a training split that targets multiple muscles, and your doing that consistently. Then just keep doing that

However, overtime try new things such as flex sets, supersets, experiment with low rest times vs long rest times, low vs high volume, go back to movements that you maybe did not like before as they might feel good and “natural” to you now. See what gets you results and adapt.

Also since your young you might think your bulletproof, but as time passes and you lift more you might get injured, one of the best ways to counter that is with proper warm up

For insurance:

Doing a pressing movement? Warmup rotator cuff, elbow, triceps, and chest.

Doing squats? Warmup hip joints, and stretch your hamstrings and quads.

Best of luck, great to see youngsters going to the gym. I’ve been lifting for almost 3 years and I’m often the youngest one there (22M)

 

[blueskies88]

@mefe Yes I did actually incorporate new things such as partial reps and have also tried lifting high volume for strength (that was the 3 months I’ve increased my 1RM in). Even though I didn’t like that way of training, but as you’ve mentioned, I should try new things over time and I’m glad I did it. Maybe would also do that again if I felt like changing.

Even though I stopped focusing on a surplus, just focusing on good protein intake and somewhat healthy eating, I was able to progressively overload. I also did lower the weights on certain exercises like squats, just to get better at form and do full ROM before increasing again.

Appreciate your advice!
And yes I discovered that it’s not that hard to injure my self the hard way. I now have

 

[armsofmorpheus]

@blueskies88 They say the slow steady is the best, will stick with you for life.