Burnt out, need advice

[MikuGlastonbury]

Hello everyone, I am long time lurker but I decided to finally make an account and post this thread. I know this is a long ass post so thank you for taking the time to read it.

The problem I am having is that I am both physically and emotionally burnt out from lifting weights, and it's related activities, to the point where I am starting to dread working out and that I am no longer enjoying myself. My weightlifting career has essentially stalled where the last 2 years of me working out I have barely gone up at all in any of my lifts.

Currently I am going to take between 2 weeks and a month off and let myself recover and figure out what the hell I want to do while recovering from a knee injury I gave myself and an on and off again stomach ulcer I got from consuming daily painkillers to deal with the pain and injuries I got from weightlifting.

My question is, what can I do to make weight lifting fun again and what can I do to get past my stalling lifts? What routine should I try for someone with very poor recovery?

Here, have a quick break down of my weightlifting career. I have been working out now for 2.5 years and did the first year and half doing Stronglifts before transitioning onto Madcow 5x5. I have also tried the Texas Method and 5/3/1 BBB but both of those routines burnt me out very fast and hard.

My stats are:
6'1"
180lbs
22 years old
Squat 205 lbs
Bench 155 lbs
OHP 105 lbs
Deadlift 285 lbs
Vertical Jump 16.5"

The problem I constantly have is that I reach my max weights then crash and burn shortly afterward. I would then deload for a week before working my way up to the same weights and then repeat the process. The issue I think I have is that I have very poor recovery from weightlifting.

Obviously since my weight was not going up, I began forcing myself to eat more which ended up back-firing as I would throw up once or twice throughout the day and had to lay off because it simply was not healthy for me. I should mention that even though my quality of sleep is crap-tastic I still get 8-9hrs of deep sleep a day. I should also mention that every time I take time off from weightlifting I sleep very, vert well.

Now I will just mention that besides my frustrations with weightlifting everything else in my life is super awesome and going along smoothly as I have no social, no family, or financial problems and I actually enjoy my white-collar job. I recently did a bunch of blood work and physically testing and I am super healthy and suffer from zero physical diseases or complications.

I know this is a long ass post so thank you for taking the time to read it. Please do not hold back and tell me to stop being a little bitch if that is the case.

[hollismb]

My stats are:
6'1"
180lbs

This is your problem. Like KOJ said, you need to gain a bunch of weight (I think 20 lbs is actually pretty conservative for your height), and lifting will become easier, your numbers will go up, you won't hurt yourself as easily, and it will be fun again. Unless you're an endurance athlete, or have a legitimate reason to be so light for your height.

[Kyle Schuant]

If you are throwing up your food, then you need to look at what you are eating. Sump oil? Rotting rat carcasses? Seriously mate.

If your sleep quality is "craptastic" then look at ways of making that better.

The weights are a little low for the genuine end of a novice linear progression, 10-20% higher is more common for a healthy young guy. Very probably you are simply not used to grinding out heavy reps. Nonetheless, you might want to look at something like HLM (heavy-light-medium), a weekly progression takes less out of you. And for burnout reasons, past the first 3 months I usually give people 6 week programmes, so it only gets hard in the last 2 weeks, the other 4 are no pressure.

Really it sounds like you need the guidance of someone in person, someone who'll encourage progress but not be a meathead about it.

SSCA : Coaching

[Vogstar]

Being light bodyweight won't be helping your lifting or recovery at an "early" stage in strength training.
When i first started gaining weight i struggled to hold down breakfast, however it was 1L milk, 6 eggs and a cup of oats. But your body gets used to things that you titrate, just like the lifts.
Find some coaching as I'm willing to bet your form isn't quite where it should be to get the benefits of doing the strength training. Sure your verticle jump isn't great, but it doesn't have a massive effect on strength training, especially until the advanced level.

[Chebass88]

Here is a great article by Bill Starr regarding a PR every training session. It is a great way to get some fun into your training. And no, a new PR doesn't have to be a new maximum - it could be a lower (or higher) bodyweight, lower total time overall, additional reps on an auxiliary exercise (chins, dips, etc.), or anything else you want.

You didn't mention it as an issue, but make sure to stick to a schedule. For me, I squat on Friday, Bench on Sunday, Deadlift on Tuesday, and Press on Thursday. It helps to know that there are a few days after squatting before deadlifting. It also helps when I plan my work schedule - If I have an option, I don't schedule travel or long meetings on training days.

Have fun & keep pushing forward.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Hello MG,

I can relate to what you write. When I started SS I got injured a lot, and my Linear Progression didn't take me very far, ending up with very similar numbers to you. Here is the first post in my Intermediate Log, which goes back a long way (and has been closed for a long time):

Going Intermediate - very slowly

After the LP I moved to the Texas Method, got injured another couple of times, reached a PR in squats and then burnt out. Like, I did 280 x5 one week (we are talking pounds), and the week after that I had huge trouble doing five singles at 285. And then, it got worse.

I spent a couple of years, actually more, not improving at all. In my case, the breaker seemed to be holidays. I would reach a certain level, then go on holiday a couple of week,s lose at least 10%, and spend the next two-three months slowly getting back to the previous level, only to go on holiday again and start back to square one.

I've actually started to move again my numbers in the last 15 months, and that's because I am now asking for programming advice to someone competent.

My advice to you would be a combination of what the others have said:

- forget about weights for a couple of months. Seriously, just go and do something else; run, swim, cycle, whatever you like, but take your mind off and give your body a rest. Nothing messes up progress like an injury, and no injury is worse than a chronic one. Don't worry, the weights will always be there waiting for you, and you will only take a few months to get back to your current level.

- try to increase your weight. At the time of the post linked above, I was your same weight, but I am one inch shorter than you. Since then I've added another 10 pounds in bodyweight, and that has helped.

- assuming your technique is sound on the main lifts, ask some programming advice. What made my numbers rise (very slowly) again was switching to longer programs. I now spend many weeks lifting lots of volume at medium intensity (around 60% of my PRs), than ramping that up over a period of weeks, before giving it a go at improving the PRs. IT means I can only increase my PRs two/three times a year, but at least I am making progress. The point is, without competent advice I would still try beat my numbers very often, getting nowhere and becoming very frustrated. Sometimes things like TM and 5/3/1 just don't work, for whatever reason (I tried 5/3/1 too). Rather than insist with them to satisfy a public of strangers on the Web, it's better to take stock and look for something that actually works. It's easier to do so if you have a third person looking at you and your training.

I hope this helpes, all the best for the future.

IPB

[ud2o]

Now I will just mention that besides my frustrations with weightlifting everything else in my life is super awesome and going along smoothly as I have no social, no family, or financial problems and I actually enjoy my white-collar job.

If this is the case, maybe you just don't like lifting weights.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm serious. If everything else is going great (that's awesome, by the way - I'm happy for you) and you're burned out and frustrated with weightlifting, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to take a break or find another hobby. Nobody has to do this.

That said, if you want to stick with it, lots of good advice above. Take it.

[Charlie Davies]

If your recovery sucks, and you aren't willing or able to fix it (by gaining weight and cleaning up your sleep hygiene), you'll have to switch to a less demanding, lower volume, slower progressing program.

You can make slow steady progress if you don't constantly injure yourself by outrunning your recovery.
And not hurting all the time will put a lot of the fun back into it.

But really, it sounds like you need a coach. At 22, you ought to do way better than this.
Likely there are some simple form and recovery/lifestyle fixes that will be obvious to a coach in person.

[K.O.]

Not sure if it was mentioned before, but do not be afraid to microload. If you haven't already, buy a set of microplates and take them with you to the gym. If you're jumping 10 lbs per workout and even 5 lbs, you could stall pretty quickly. In addition with what has been said above (sleep, eating, etc.) you want to micro load before you stall to ensure progress, even if it's 1 lb per week.

Yes, I have my days too when I don't feel up to it, but the sense of accomplishment feels better. Also, blast any music that will get the blood moving.

[ColoWayno]

Milkshakes.