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

[cybernetic]

@jayb05 What do you mean the rep and weight numbers are all over the place? Throughout the week the rep ranges change because of DUP, and the sets change week to week because I’m increasing volume through auto-regulation.

 

[kryztzyn]

@cybernetic Trugor is right. Furthermore, DUP is a bad choice for you, because it is a distraction from the simple things you need to fix. Auto-regulation is a bad choice for you because it's extremely unlikely you are able to do it effectively. Your focus on changing sets is a bad choice because you need to focus on adding weight and effort.

Pick a simple proven program, follow it, and eat animal protein.

 

[godschild88]

@cybernetic Man I see you talking about "myoreps" and "RPE" and "daily undulating periodization" and "autoregulation" and "mesocycles" and all sorts of down-in-the-weeds details ... and as far as I can tell you've got a program where you're down into neck and calf and forearm volume but you don't have a single hip hinge anywhere?

You are definitely majoring in the minors from every angle I can see. It's like you're trying to perfect your technique for poaching eggs and you can't even boil one properly.

You could've started with a really shitty novice linear progression program like StrongLifts or Starting Strength and you would be leaps and bounds ahead of where you are right now.

You do you but I think the general gist of the responses here is the same: you should take a step back and start over from scratch. Do a real program that many other people have used to get strong (GZCLP, SBS RTF, 5/3/1 for Beginners, whatever), run it for a few months as written, and then reevaluate from there.

 

[jayb05]

@godschild88 This. But somehow I get the feeling that this isn't the response he wants to hear.

 

[jayb05]

@cybernetic I don't want to dwell into the details, but for example you're leg pressing 120kg, but you do hamstring curls with 7.5kg? You supposedly week 1 were rowing 80lbs and week 2 you do only 8 reps with empty bar?

 

[cybernetic]

@jayb05 With the hamstrings, the machine without the added weight actually had a bit of weight in it.

Yeah I thought that was weird too tbh. I could only do 8 reps with the empty bar. I’ve done more in the past with the bar.

 

[kryztzyn]

@jayb05

week 1 were rowing 80lbs and week 2 you do only 8 reps with empty bar

great catch, something way off there

 

[nemnoch]

@cybernetic I mean this in the nicest way possible but your programming is almost certainly what's holding you back.

You'd be better off following a proper program that spells out progression based off a % of your 1rm. This will ensure you're progressing in weight based off kg on the bar rather than how you feel. Don't use RPE if you don't know how to (you don't).

Your selection of exercises is quite unbalanced. You're missing a hip hinge and you don't have enough leg volume.

There is literally no reason to do your own programming as a beginner or intermediate lifter, I've yet to see it work well for anybody.

 

[trumpeter2]

@cybernetic How many sets do you do per workout and week?

How close to failure?

How fast are the first reps?

 

[cybernetic]

@trumpeter2 Which muscle group? It varies based on soreness as I increase every week. Right now I’m doing about 7 sets on bench. 8 on biceps. 8 on quads, etc.

The mesocycle starts at RPE7 and goes to RPE10 over 4-5 weeks. The comments in this post have me questioning if I’m really doing the RPE I say I am though.

Depends on the rep range. 5-10 is still pretty fast but not flying. 10-20 is faster. 20-30, first 10-15 reps fly.

 

[torie]

@cybernetic What is your programming for bench?

 

[cybernetic]

@torie Chest day 1: Flat DB bench (5-10 reps)

Chest day 2: Incline DB bench (10-20 reps)

Didn’t add huge volume because I’m just back from a few month layoff and didn’t think I would need that much volume to grow.

 

[torie]

@cybernetic That's not programming; programming includes weight, progression, and management of stalling

 

[cybernetic]

@torie I’ll DM you a screenshot

 

[cybernetic]

Oh I didn’t think to link. Yeah cool I’ll upload and post shortly

 

[torie]

@cybernetic Why not put it here?

 

[sneha]

@cybernetic Are you gaining weight still? Do you get DOMS ever?

 

[kryztzyn]

@cybernetic Are you still vegan?

I’m my experience (n ~10) when someone asks “working out isn’t working, I can’t make any progress, what am I doing wrong?” I find veganism is the answer at least half the time. (That is a tremendous overrepresentation.) You’ve posted about this before so dietary restrictions are my bet for the single most relevant thing between you and your workout goals.

If so, the smallest dietary change (from an ethical perspective) would be to find a source of farm eggs and eat at least six a day. There are plenty of non-supermarket egg producers where the chickens are humanely treated. No horrible cages, no male chicks ground up, no beak clipping, none of that awful torturous stuff. Just chickens living chicken lives and their eggs make your workouts work.

 

[cybernetic]

@kryztzyn I see where you’re coming from, but I’ve only been vegan 3 years of the 8. Must be something else.

 

[christalvision]

@cybernetic You can definitely still gain just as much muscle as a vegan. Just check out r/veganfitness

But you do need to be more mindful of how much protein you're getting. Do you keep track?