Powerlifting to Win

[Kooline]

Why not go ahead and switch to the lean mass gain setting?

[Tom Narvaez]

I don't think I'm ever going to "bulk" again. I always gain a disproportionate amount of fat. Being 6-7 years deep, I don't grow new muscle fast enough to justify bulking. Their lean mass weight gain goal is too aggressive. I also need to stabilize things and spend time at maintenance first to minimize fat regain. I'll probably just leave it on conservative reverse until I'm 187-188. The focus will be on driving intake as high as possible with minimal weight change versus actively trying to push scale weight.

BW: 172.6lbs, diet low

Conventional Deadlift:
Up to 212.5x1@8.5, lol...
180x4@6
182.5x4@6.5
182.5x4@6 or less
182.5x4@less than 6
Only one set of comp plates out. Couldn't adjust weights easily. Wanted 185 for most of these. Hook feels great right now.

One Arm DB Row:
80s x 10
90s x 10
100s x 10, slightly too hard
Trying to be more strict

Face Pulls
70 x 15
80 x 15 x 2


No idea why I lost 5lbs in three days, but it killed my strength across the board. I'm starting to get into that body fat range that is perhaps a bit too low for me personally (10-12%).

[Mahendra]

172.6lbs @ ~11% BF.

#goalsforshortguys

I guess after powerlifting you could compete in bodybuilding. [emoji5]

[Eric Larousse]

it would seem to me that you might just be suited for a different sport than just upping max strength. I dont know if you have thought about it but even in one of your videos you mentioned that even after you just finish the brief novice phase you are pretty much done and ready to transition into anything you want to do(other than strength sports). Again I have no idea how much you enjoy the gym on a day to day basis as far as just lifting. Personally I thought about going full bore powerlifting but really I dont see the benefit in driving however far I have to drive to compete in a sport that to me personally is boring to do(fun to watch though)and also at my optimal BW I would need to be 242-275 to even be competitive and with the job I have I really have no business being that big because really it doesnt help much with anything else in life even other sports.activities. Since you have helped me out quite a bit in the past just thought I would throw my 2 cents in feel free to disregard.

[BenM]

I don't think I'm ever going to "bulk" again. I always gain a disproportionate amount of fat. Being 6-7 years deep, I don't grow new muscle fast enough to justify bulking. Their lean mass weight gain goal is too aggressive. I also need to stabilize things and spend time at maintenance first to minimize fat regain. I'll probably just leave it on conservative reverse until I'm 187-188. The focus will be on driving intake as high as possible with minimal weight change versus actively trying to push scale weight.

How aggressive is it, just out of interest? I'm not 6-7 years deep but I was intending to go that way (to the lean mass setting) however last time I 'bulked' I also gained too much fat for my liking, so my other option is leaving it where it is (standard reverse) - my aim would be to gain about a kilo a month.

Was going to say this in Mahendra's log (since he is also trying to gain weight, at about a pound a week or less) but I was listening to a podcast this morning with Mike Israetel and he said they're rewriting the RD book at the moment and have revised weight gain targets down to .25%-.5% of body weight per week as their previous recommendation of .5%-1% was resulting in too much unnecessary fat gain. That puts my kilo a month target right in the middle of their new recommended range so I was pleased to hear that.... now just gotta execute which is the harder part. I'm gaining a little quicker than that at the moment.

Anyway sucks you had a shitty session. There is a good one just round the corner when that happens, usually

[Tom Narvaez]

Thanks for the feedback, fellas.

Ben, The goal for me on lean gain is 0.8lbs per week. That was the same weight loss goal on sustainable fat loss (the slowest one) and that was more like a midpoint than anything else. I had several weeks of 1.5-1.6lbs lost with no adjustment at all. So I don't trust that the lean gain setting would keep weight gain reasonable.

Eric, I'm not considering another sport though I've grappled extensively in the past. I want to return to that someday. For now, I'm really content to see how far I can go in powerlifting if I optimize everything. That's my goal. I just want to see what I can do. I just lost 30lbs and had a decently serious injury so this isn't the time to doubt things. Strength will be back. I'd like to do the Arnold and USAPL Nationals at least once.

I don't think you'd need to be 242-275 if we are talking about drug free IPF lifting here. Unless you're 6'+. If so, disregard. Marty, Rip, etc all make weight gain recommendations for elite powerlifting that are only appropriate for steroid abusers.

[BenM]

Thanks for the feedback, fellas.

Ben, The goal for me on lean gain is 0.8lbs per week. That was the same weight loss goal on sustainable fat loss (the slowest one) and that was more like a midpoint than anything else. I had several weeks of 1.5-1.6lbs lost with no adjustment at all. So I don't trust that the lean gain setting would keep weight gain reasonable.

Cool beans - thanks for the info. So at 172lbs that's on the higher end (or just above) what Israetel was saying - at your level of training advancement, probably too high even if you did manage to limit it to that amount.

Definitely good to know for when/if I make the switch. Just kinda been hanging out on the reverse even though I haven't had any macro increases for 2 weeks now.

[Tom Narvaez]

I just have a feeling that if I was on lean mass gain that even if I was gaining 1.1-1.2lbs per week it wouldn't adjust anything. That's not a rate I'm comfortable with. If it was a MAXIMUM of 0.8lbs per week instead of the target then I'd be more willing to use that setting.

[Sean Herbison]

I don't think you'd need to be 242-275 if we are talking about drug free IPF lifting here. Unless you're 6'+. If so, disregard. Marty, Rip, etc all make weight gain recommendations for elite powerlifting that are only appropriate for steroid abusers.

Are you telling me I'm not going to be 335 and lean at 6'4" like Rip told another guy in a recent video?

[Aaron Montgomery]

Are you telling me I'm not going to be 335 and lean at 6'4" like Rip told another guy in a recent video?

Is that the same dude that Rip said is supposed to have a 60" chest and 40" waist? I've got the 40" waist part down, but I haven't even reached a 50" chest measurement yet.