Is strength training supposed to be easy?

[Jr_Geezer]

There's something I'm not getting. You say "I do not find it hard in any way." but later, "Usually I either get it or I don't at all." So it's easy except for those times when it's impossible?

You also say "I understand that it's not about doing work, but instead about making progress, and doing reps that you are too likely to fail will sabotage your progress. But I just feel like I could be doing something else." I don't get how one would make progress without doing work. How many reps have you failed? Or do you not do reps that are likely to fail?

Lastly, if everything is easy, why aren't you pulling at least 225kg and squatting 180kg? What's keeping you at 190 and 170?

I'm obviously missing something, just don't know what.

[scwot]

I get what you’re saying. The thing to keep in mind is you’re at a training level where most cookie cutter programs will work. Just plug in your numbers turn up and lift. You’re young and nowhere near your genetic potential, so unless you do something really stupid you’ll recover within the parameters of that program, turn up and lift the numbers again.

At some point you’ll need to come up with your own program (that might not work), deal with niggling or severe injuries, be chronically under slept and battered by life’s stresses. Do you carry on lifting or just take a break, not because it’s hard just because other things have taken priority (you’ll tell yourself).

[Justin Smale]

Alexander Dargatz
One of the reasons I started lifting was because I thought it would make me more resilient. This is what I meant by hard.
I kind of feel like this isn't what I signed up for. I understand the purpose of training is not that is feels hard, but I still expected some difficulty. You see all those bodybuilders almost dying on the last reps and I expexted at least a small part of that.

No offense intended here, but you kind of sound all over the place. It sounds like you've run through a lot of your easy gains on some of your lifts (without knowing your bodyweight it's hard to know if you've run it out completely though and your upper body lifts seem a little low compared to your leg lifts). The program is SUPPOSED to be easy for beginners because you have so much potential (especially as a young guy). Keep doing it and see how much harder putting weight on the bar actually becomes before saying it's too easy. Or conversly wait until you're 35 years old and I PROMISE you that it will be harder to make progress

But your definition of "hard" gets confusing. In your first post it sounds like your definition of "hard" actually means "complex", that the simplicity of the program (or barbell training in general) is what's bugging you. That you feel you should be doing more. Then later you make it seem like a thing about physical exertion (the bit about bodybuilders dying on their last reps). To this I would borrow one of my favourite sayings and "don't confuse motion with action". You have no idea what work those bodybuilding types did to get there. Their goals are pretty niche and not nearly as applicable as the development of strength for your life.

You may not see the benefit of training and getting stronger right now, but show me even one person who says life isn't better as a stronger person and I'll show you a person who has never been strong. Brushing your teeth isn't hard either, but you do it for a reason.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I could wrong here, but between the OP's rather carefully chosen screen name and his somewhat nebulous observations and remarks, it sounds like an attempt to play the lot of you.

[Jr_Geezer]

I could wrong here, but between the OP's rather carefully chosen screen name and his somewhat nebulous observations and remarks, it sounds like an attempt to play the lot of you.

Certainly well within the realm of possibility. Time will tell (perhaps).