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Thread: How much weight can I really gain?

  1. #1
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    Default How much weight can I really gain?

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    I have about 1 year and several months of total barbell training.

    First 5 months I fucked around and lifted very light just for fun. 5 months after that I got into oly lifting and basic strength training. I didn't do Starting Strength or any other program. I would just go to the gym squat a little, deadlift a little, press a bit, use some dumbells etc...I bench only once a week to keep my shoulders healthy.

    I suppose numbers are relevant so here are some:

    Squat 5RM (high bar) 286lbs Low Bar 5RM is about the same
    Front Squat 5RM 270lbs
    Deadlift 5RM 310lbs (Never been a strong lift for me)
    Press 5RM 160lbs
    Bench Press 5RM 200lbs
    Power clean 5RM 225lbs
    Max power clean 257lbs

    Max Snatch 200lbs
    Max clean 286lbs

    I am around 5'8 and weigh around 190lbs. As you can see I don't have much strength. I want to start starting strength and gain as much as I can. I'm also not a lightweight at 190lbs (13% bodyfat tested with calipers). I come from a family of heavy individuals with a not so high bodyfat. For example, my brother is 5'5 and weighs 200lbs and is at a lower bodyfat then myself. My father is 5'3 and was 9% bodyfat in his prime and weighed 170lbs. So What I am asking is how much weight could I really gain? Are we looking at something like 220lbs-230lbs after starting strength is done?

    Age: 23
    Last edited by ihatemoney123; 08-18-2011 at 10:10 PM.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by ihatemoney123 View Post
    I have about 1 year and several months of total barbell training.

    First 5 months I fucked around and lifted very light just for fun. 5 months after that I got into oly lifting and basic strength training. I didn't do Starting Strength or any other program. I would just go to the gym squat a little, deadlift a little, press a bit, use some dumbells etc...I bench only once a week to keep my shoulders healthy.

    I suppose numbers are relevant so here are some:

    Squat 5RM (high bar) 286lbs Low Bar 5RM is about the same
    Front Squat 5RM 270lbs
    Deadlift 5RM 310lbs (Never been a strong lift for me)
    Press 5RM 160lbs
    Bench Press 5RM 200lbs
    Power clean 5RM 225lbs
    Max power clean 257lbs

    Max Snatch 200lbs
    Max clean 286lbs

    I am around 5'8 and weigh around 190lbs. As you can see I don't have much strength. I want to start starting strength and gain as much as I can. I'm also not a lightweight at 190lbs (13% bodyfat tested with calipers). I come from a family of heavy individuals with a not so high bodyfat. For example, my brother is 5'5 and weighs 200lbs and is at a lower bodyfat then myself. My father is 5'3 and was 9% bodyfat in his prime and weighed 170lbs. So What I am asking is how much weight could I really gain? Are we looking at something like 220lbs-230lbs after starting strength is done?

    Age: 23
    yes

    or more

    depends on how much you eat

    won't all be lean mass, obviously

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by stonerider View Post
    yes

    or more

    depends on how much you eat

    won't all be lean mass, obviously
    Yeah that shouldn't be a problem. The only issue is I would be programming weightlifting training in with SS. Weightlifting training burns way more calories than SS. Hence, that might impede weight gain. I'm not sure if eating 6000 calories is viable...seems a lot. I don't plan on drinking gallons of milk as I'm not so tolerant of it.

  4. #4
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    I'm too lazy to search right now, but someone posted on here a while back a list of weights of the strongest olympic lifters based on height. The strongest lifters in the world at my height (5'10") were somewhere between 215-220 lbs. Thats been my guideline lately, reminding me to keep gaining weight (currently 200).

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by newguy32 View Post
    I'm too lazy to search right now, but someone posted on here a while back a list of weights of the strongest olympic lifters based on height. The strongest lifters in the world at my height (5'10") were somewhere between 215-220 lbs. Thats been my guideline lately, reminding me to keep gaining weight (currently 200).
    Yeah that would be accurate. At my height it is 85kg-94kg. I would prefer to be 85kg. If I leaned up now I would be around 170lbs. So I can def. see myself gaining 15lbs of muscle. That would be sweeeeeeeeet. Would make lifting bigger weights easier.

  6. #6
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    You can gain a lot more than 15 lbs of muscle. I started lifting at 41 and have gained more than ~45 lbs LBM and no particular effort or huge eating.

    Your lifts are a bit out of whack, but SS could fix that.

    Your bench and press are way stronger than your squats and deads. Your front squat is ridiculously strong compared to your back squat. All of this would indicate that you're very quad dominant and need to work on using your glutes and hams more when you squat.

    Your power clean, clean and snatch are huge compared to your deadlift and squat. Believe me, they're huge. This would indicate that you have good genetics for lifting, so eat your breakfast, drink your milk and go for it. You might even have real potential as an Oly lifter, so find a coach if you can.

  7. #7
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    You're no longer a novice, so I doubt you'd be able to do linear progression for very long. Even though you've been "screwing around," your lifts are about where you start to see linear gains drop off. Adding BW will make some difference, so you can try it, but don't be surprised if you don't get very far. I think the one thing you might do to help that is back off a good 15% of your 5RMs (or a little more) and come back up at them linearly. This would allow some BW gains, and perhaps allow you to push through a little further. YMMV.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greg C View Post
    You're no longer a novice
    No possible way to know this without a novice progression. Everybody is different.

  9. #9
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    At 5'8", your maximum drug-free lean body mass would be 165lbs.

    If you are 190lbs at 13% bodyfat, your lean body mass is 165lbs.

    Thus, you are already at your maximum drug-free potential, which normally takes people 5-15 years to achieve, or else the bodyfat estimation is inaccurate. It is more common for people to underestimate their bodyfat than for them to be at their maximum drug-free lean body mass.

    Just keep lifting and keep eating lots of good food. So long as you're getting stronger and are happy with your bodyweight overall, it's all good.

  10. #10
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    starting strength coach development program
    Quote Originally Posted by raw32 View Post
    No possible way to know this without a novice progression. Everybody is different.
    Technically, true. For everyone. However, application of common sense (assuming grossly you have some) would indicate otherwise. And I would bet money that I am correct in my assumption in any case.

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