39" belly

[Nockian]

I've been cutting back on calories over the last few months-mainly taking fat out of my diet-and have managed to get the old belly down from 40.5" to 39" whilst still adding weight to the bar. I'm 59, 2 years of lifting, 5'8" male, weight 175lbs. Current numbers: Bench 158lbs 4x4, press 92lbs 5x3, squat 209lbs 4x3, DL 308 4x1(reps/sets). I've added pull ups and chins as accessories but can't do very many as yet. Training 3 X per week HLM.

I'm starting to miss reps and struggle at these numbers I'm aiming for 5 reps and end up failing either all or some. Still haven't managed to pull 308lbs for a set of 5 and that's seriously bugging me as I can get it off the ground but can't finish it out.

I know I'm not significantly below the 40" belly number, but I'm wondering if I should start increasing my calories again in order to move forward ?

[Robert Santana]

Nice work on the fat loss. I'd honestly just add more calories and get that weight up on the bar higher. You just really need to get stronger.

[Nockian]

Nice work on the fat loss. I'd honestly just add more calories and get that weight up on the bar higher. You just really need to get stronger.

I definitely do need to get stronger, but I'm balancing it with the recommendation not to exceed a 40" belly at my age. My progress has stopped and I can't see there is anything other than diet which is preventing me getting stronger.

[Robert Santana]

How is diet preventing you from getting you stronger?

[Nockian]

How is diet preventing you from getting you stronger?

? Didn't you just advise me to increase calories in order to put more weight on the bar - ie getting stronger ? So this assumes that I adjust my diet in order to get stronger, thus not adjusting my diet will not make me stronger.

Am I wrong in thinking that the advice on not exceeding a 40" belly in an ageing male of 59 years might lead to additional complications which could outweigh the benefits of getting stronger ? Making this into a bit of a straw man argument, I don't think you are advising me to beging taking GOMAD and get to a 50" belly in order to get stronger ? Or maybe you are ?

[Robert Santana]

I think that you can probably get stronger without gaining additional inches on your waistline. On the same token, you need to decide what you want and deal with it. If you want to lose body fat then you need to just take the hit on the strength you have temporarily and get your waistline down. If you aren't good with that then you need to just train and not worry about the 40" waistline. You definitely DO NOT need to do GOMAD or any aggressive weight gain diet.

[Nockian]

I think that you can probably get stronger without gaining additional inches on your waistline. On the same token, you need to decide what you want and deal with it. If you want to lose body fat then you need to just take the hit on the strength you have temporarily and get your waistline down. If you aren't good with that then you need to just train and not worry about the 40" waistline. You definitely DO NOT need to do GOMAD or any aggressive weight gain diet.

Thanks Santana. I think you have essentially restated my original choices. I'm only concerned about the waistline because the advice here has always been to avoid breaking that 40" number. I already have high BP, so, although I don't have any other health issues, but I'm trying to avoid aggravating the BP, or causing any other issues.

I've upped my calories a bit by adding more protein and carbs, so I will just keep an eye on the waistline whilst trying to get as strong as possible.

[Robert Santana]

You are welcome. That will work just fine.

[Nockian]

A few added calories and voila:

Bench 158lbs 4x4 >5x4, press 92lbs 5x3>5x4 , squat 209lbs 4x3>5x3, DL 308 4x1>5x1(reps/sets) now ready to add another 5lbs to squat/DL and 3lbs to press and bench next week.

[Robert Santana]

Fascinating isn't it?