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Thread: Struggling to lose weight

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
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    Default Struggling to lose weight

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    Hi Robert,

    I have run into an issue that I cannot understand at all. Started NLP in November 2020, eating 3500 kcal at first, then upping it to 4k to 4.2k. On these calories, my weight has been stable for the past 5-6 months. Switching over to intermediate programming, I would like to get rid of the fluffy belly (seems to be the only place where a significant amount of fat has accumulated). Been eating 3200 kcals a day now for close to 3 weeks and have not even lost a fraction of a pound. Any ideas what is going on here? It's frustrating by now since I am hungry all the time and there are literally no results at all from it.

    Stats:
    Male, 38 years, 6' 1", 230 lbs
    Daily intake: 250 g protein, 350 g carbs, 80 g fat

    Squat: 330 for 3 sets of 5
    DL: 475 for 2 doubles and a single
    Bench: 240 for 5x5 and 250 for 5
    Press: 125 for 5x5 and 165 for 7 singles
    Power Clean: 180 for 5 triples

    Still able to progress right now, but slowly.

    Any advice or ideas what is going on here?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
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    Phoenix, AZ
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    Default

    You aren't at a bad weight but your press needs work. Are you chinning? How are those calories distributed?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
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    I know that my weight is about right where we'd normally want it, but all the fat accumulating around the belly is a bit too much for me, just looking to shed maybe 5-10 pounds, depending on how much of that is belly fat.
    Macros are 250 g Protein, 350 g carbs, 80 g fat. I know that we'd ideally want carbs a bit higher and cut down on the fat, but this is the minimum I manage (Blame my wife, she doesn't like chicken, so dinner is usually something with 10% ground beef).
    Yeah, my shoulders have always been my weak spot, before starting strength I could barely do any overhead work like hanging curtains or screwing something into the ceiling for more than a Minute without my delts being on fire.
    I just started the transition to Nick's compressed upper body Texas method and am still a bit below the weight I can manage for sets of 5, my best was 135 for 3 sets of 5 before having to switch to less reps, more sets. Chinning is something I have recently implemented again after switching to a four day split, time constrains made me skip them more often than I'd have liked on the typical three day program.

    I'd also argue that compared to my deadlift, my squats need some serious work too...

  4. #4
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    Aug 2013
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    Your squat and pulling ratio is pretty normal. I can squat 410 x 5 and deadlift 495 for a double. For 3 x 5 I'm at 365. Your ratios aren't bad and your squat will keep going up with time. You need to prioritize that vertical pushing and pulling though. Bodyweight press will make your shoulders overshadow your abdominal fat. What is your waist circumference?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
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    Any ideas on how to prioritize them? So far on a four day split: Monday: Squat and Deadlift, Tuesday: Press intensity, Bench Volume, Thursday: Squat, chins, power clean, Friday: Press Volume, Bench intensity

    Constraints for me: I can only go Monday through Friday, I don't recover well (being 37 and having a one year old co-sleeper is not the best combination for recovery): Thursday's squats are always worse than Monday's, but squats are the only movement where I really notice it. Fitting more than two movements into one workout is pushing the limit of how much time I have (Press volume day is the exception here as bench intensity is a quick one)

    This morning before breakfast my waist was sitting at 42 inches, with pant size 34-36 that causes a noticeable belly.

    All of this aside, do you have any idea why my weight is constant at nearly a 1000 calories a day below what I ate previously at a constant bodyweight. Even if I don't plan on going down the route of losing weight and just trying to get the upper body going, I am curious what could possibly cause this...

  6. #6
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    Which day is squat intensity and which day is squat volume? Are you eating the same number of calories ALL days of the week or are you going over on the weekends? Upper body split looks good just chin twice per week too. How much volume press on volume day and how much on intensity day? Waistline is a bit high you can probably come down and be fine to get stronger too.

  7. #7
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    Feb 2021
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    So far I am still doing three sets of five on both squat days. Fatigue across sets does not appear to be the limiting factor so far, if I get 5 reps on the first set, I can normally squeeze another two sets out, so volume and intensity day would probably have the same weight. Should I still switch to get a higher volume on volume day and hope that I can get my intensity set higher this way?
    I am normally tracking six days per week, the one "off" day is due to being invited to have dinner with friends or such things. After years of tracking, I am pretty confident that I can judge it fairly well without weighing and tracking everything on that day. I might overshoot on this one day per week, but definitely not going over my previously established maintenance level of around 4k.

  8. #8
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    So your squat is on basic LP?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
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    Minus the L, and pretty much minus the P. Been stuck for quite a while with some progression here and there. Today I tried an intensity day, had a rough night, which typically means that I can complete the first set just fine and then will be pinned down after the first or second rep of the second set. Warmups felt better than ever, so I loaded 335 on the bar and was able to grind through five reps. Seems like I unconsciously held back on the first set when I knew I had to complete three sets; last Thursday I was only getting 4, 3, 3 and 3 reps at 325. Will make Thursday a volume day and then see where I can go from there.

  10. #10
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    starting strength coach development program
    Did you reset when you changed your squat programming?

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