Novice strength levels - 0-1 rep a week even in calorie surplus, high protein, good sleep

[cybernetic]

@ingersoll Good points. I might look into buying a program off someone else then just as a test. What I’ll first do is do the next week of training going to failure and see if that makes any difference the following week. Very interested to see.

 

[ingersoll]

@cybernetic You do not need to buy a program.

The r/fitness beginner routine is free.

SBS has free programs.

531 BBB (and other variants) is free.

GZCLP is free.

There are plenty of proven and free programs available.

I very much doubt you will see major improvements from one week of training.

 

[jayb05]

@cybernetic Well yeah. People talking about bench press usually refer that to barbell bench press.

Have you ever gotten any feedback on your form, maybe posted a form check? If you really have everything in check, you don't have any health problems, there might not be much more than shitty genetics to it.

Nevertheless, how is your effort? Training to certain RPE can leave people spinning their wheels because you just randomly stop your set when it gets hard. How is your program looking? We really don't know anything about your training besides your claim, that your volume is "good". You might need more, you might need less. How often do you train? etc. etc.

edit: Saw that you go 5 days a week and do 7 sets of chest a week. Is it a bro split? How often you train chest specifically? If you were progressing well, 7 might be enough but judging by the fact that you are stuck on 22kg dumbbell press, do more.

Also 0 or 1 rep progression a week is pretty big difference. With one you are plateaued, with the other it's what you would expect for a week to week progression.

 

[cybernetic]

@jayb05 I was meticulous about form when I started and I’ve only improved from there, so form is all gg. I also had a professional coach check form and everything looked good.

I have a good hang of RPE, I usually program RPE7-10 in my mesocycles.
Training 4.5x a week in total. Each muscle gets 2x a week.

I program for my friend who doesn’t track calories or protein and he’s already waaay stronger than me in about a year.

 

[clevernamehere]

@cybernetic If you’ve never bulked for over a month because you get scared of fat gain, you’re not gonna have the best results.

Are you training with adequate volume? Have you ever done a set to failure, so you’d actually be able to gauge whether you’re close to failure or not? Gaining 1 rep per week is great progress. For most 1rm calculators, an extra rep is an additional 5lbs give or take on your 1rm. I’m ecstatic to gain a rep after 3-4 weeks on some of my lifts but I’m at intermediate numbers.

There has to be something clearly wrong going on here with your training or you may possibly be one of the rare non-responders. Might be worth getting a coach if you can afford it

 

[cybernetic]

@clevernamehere I’ve bulked for months at a time and got quite fat, I’m not really scared of fat gain.

Yeah I’m doing about 7 sets of chest a week at the moment, I increase every week depending on soreness (if no soreness I increase sets). Yeah I know what failure feels like. I stay around RPE7-9 for the whole mesocycle. Yeah gaining 1 rep per week would be fine if I was already strong to begin with, not at novice numbers. With this rate of progression it would take me years to get out of my novice numbers. To be honest, I’ve been at this years and I’m still novice so that says enough lol.

Had a very experienced coach for a few years, same issue I’m also quite knowledgeable in regards to bodybuilding as I have read 2 big hypertrophy books.

 

[rebecca1918]

@cybernetic How can you say that reading 2 books makes you highly knowledgeable on a topic?

 

[cybernetic]

@rebecca1918 Two 300+ page science books and 8 years of watching science videos, listening to podcasts, reading articles, etc.

 

[humbleservant46]

@cybernetic

I’ve been lifting 8 years and this has been my situation for years.

22kg bench press

I’m also quite knowledgeable in regards to bodybuilding as I have read 2 big hypertrophy books.

Stop.

 

[cybernetic]

@humbleservant46 Like I said, I don’t have the experience of lifting at intermediate and above levels, but I understand the sciences of how hypertrophy training works.

 

[humbleservant46]

@cybernetic

understand the sciences of how hypertrophy training works.

You have a 22kg bench and have been lifting for 8 years. If you understood even a modicum of "the sciences of how hypertrophy training works" then we'd be having an entirely different discussion here.

 

[cybernetic]

@humbleservant46 But yet my noob lifter friend I’ve been coaching for a year does 40kg dumbbells in each hand for reps on my programs not even tracking protein or calories.

I’ve done cookie cutter online programs - shit progress. I’ve done custom made programs from great coaches - shit progress. I’ve made my own programs - shit progress. Don’t just assume I don’t know what I’m talking about because I’m weak as piss. I’m weak as piss doing any program over the last 8 years. The only reason I started studying and writing my own programs was because my progress was shit and I thought learning loads about the science would solve it… nope. Now I’m asking for advice on what people think could be the cause, and I appreciate each and every comment for the feedback, but don’t discredit me by making me out to some delusional idiot who threw a few exercises on a spreadsheet and went “durrr this’ll work”.

 

[humbleservant46]

@cybernetic

Don’t just assume I don’t know what I’m talking about because I’m weak as piss

This is your own program https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...YKIYxZx-Eb92Vrbo-N7p3IEZBA/edit#gid=208461814

but don’t discredit me by making me out to some delusional idiot who threw a few exercises on a spreadsheet and went “durrr this’ll work”.

I don't have to actually discredit you because I think you've taken that task upon yourself already.

I’ve been lifting 8 years and this has been my situation for years.

22kg bench press

I’m also quite knowledgeable in regards to bodybuilding as I have read 2 big hypertrophy books.

 

[cybernetic]

@humbleservant46 What about the program?

Alright mate, we’ll agree to disagree. Thanks for the comments anyway. I’m going to test going closer to failure and seeing if that’s the issue.

 

[curtswill]

@cybernetic If you did you would not dumbbell bench 22 kg after eight years.

and listen to the people here who know

 

[rebecca1918]

@cybernetic All of that with no experience does not make you knowledgeable.

 

[clevernamehere]

@cybernetic Damn, if everything you say is true then I hate to hear that. May need to just keep chipping away at training, something good has to come out of it sooner or later. Unless there’s some medical issue you don’t know of. Have you been consistently training the whole 8 years?

I could say that I’ve been lifting for 10 years and that I only bench press 225lbs. But that would be a lie - there’s been 3-4 years completely off in that time along with tons of inconsistency.

 

[elliep78]

@cybernetic Maybe you're not training hard enough. You say you're staying around 7-9 RPE, but most people overestimate their RPE by one or two reps. Try going to all out failure more often, the last rep being a slow grind.

 

[cybernetic]

@elliep78 This could be it tbh. Im 80% sure I’m getting close to failure usually, but still willing to try this out. Just did a set of abs and I thought at around rep 16 (here feels like an RPE8, I would stop here), but ended up getting 24 reps before the reps were way too slow. Could be something in this tbh.

 

[elliep78]

@cybernetic Yea that's a quite a big margin of error

I always go to failure, except heavy compounds like squats and deadlift, and have been seeing good progress. If you're going to failure, dont stop when the reps become "way too slow" - that's when you're incentivising the muscle to grow.