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I notice a lot of people lifting much more than me in the deadlift and squat and wonder how long they spent working up to those numbers - whether I'm just really weak at these lifts or it's just a symptom of never training them before. What numbers did you start out at when you begun seriously training strength, how long have you been doing the lifts and how far have you come in that time? All exercises welcome.

lennarn wrote:I notice a lot of people lifting much more than me in the deadlift and squat and wonder how long they spent working up to those numbers - whether I'm just really weak at these lifts or it's just a symptom of never training them before. What numbers did you start out at when you begun seriously training strength, how long have you been doing the lifts and how far have you come in that time? All exercises welcome.

I wouldn't worry about what other people are lifting. What matters is that you stay consistent. Everyone has different body types and just because someone can throw up big numbers, doesn't necessarily mean they are good at everything. Look at pro powerlifters. Some of those top guys can throw up a ridiculous amount of weight but they probably lack in other areas.

I struggled with powerlifts when I first started lifting about 10 years ago but I could ruck no problem, which is what my job required of me so one ever asked or cared how much I could lift. But I still stayed consistent over the years, making small improvements and now I can throw up respectable weight in relation to my bodyweight. Still not where I would like to be, but my life doesn't revolve around the gym.

Keep pushing yourself with heavy weight because both squats and deadlifts have huge benefits when performed correctly in proper programming, but be patient and focus on form.

Tyr0331 wrote:

lennarn wrote:I notice a lot of people lifting much more than me in the deadlift and squat and wonder how long they spent working up to those numbers - whether I'm just really weak at these lifts or it's just a symptom of never training them before. What numbers did you start out at when you begun seriously training strength, how long have you been doing the lifts and how far have you come in that time? All exercises welcome.

I wouldn't worry about what other people are lifting. What matters is that you stay consistent. Everyone has different body types and just because someone can throw up big numbers, doesn't necessarily mean they are good at everything. Look at pro powerlifters. Some of those top guys can throw up a ridiculous amount of weight but they probably lack in other areas.

I struggled with powerlifts when I first started lifting about 10 years ago but I could ruck no problem, which is what my job required of me so one ever asked or cared how much I could lift. But I still stayed consistent over the years, making small improvements and now I can throw up respectable weight in relation to my bodyweight. Still not where I would like to be, but my life doesn't revolve around the gym.

Keep pushing yourself with heavy weight because both squats and deadlifts have huge benefits when performed correctly in proper programming, but be patient and focus on form.

Good post, well said. Some people start out naturally better or worse in certain areas. I was always good at short sprints, but had to work on my endurance. Now my endurance is a strength, but it didn't come as easily for me as for others I worked with.

x2 what was stated in that first reply. Personally, I have many friends that are a lot stronger than I am in a variety of areas, if I focused on why I don't have their ability in X area, and let it dominate thoughts, I don't think I would work how I do, worrying about that can either put one off of training or lead to a lot of ego lift sessions that can really take a person down a not so good path (burnout, injury etc). Practice patience,and with time, consistency/effort, results will eventually follow.

Thanks for the pep talk guys I'd still like to see some numbers though, maybe it would help give me perspective and make my expectations more realistic?

Adski wrote:x2 what was stated in that first reply. Personally, I have many friends that are a lot stronger than I am in a variety of areas, if I focused on why I don't have their ability in X area, and let it dominate thoughts, I don't think I would work how I do, worrying about that can either put one off of training or lead to a lot of ego lift sessions that can really take a person down a not so good path (burnout, injury etc). Practice patience,and with time, consistency/effort, results will eventually follow.

I just want to add my 2c by saying that I had to start from almost ground zero quite a few times through my life. Life itself can bring you something you don't expect. It can break you in many ways. You can make wrong decisions. You can face difficult life events. You can just get lost, injured, sick, stupid. All of it can interfere with your training. I have made a life choice to be in the training. I stick to it even if it is not what I have expected and my numbers are equal to zero at giving moment. After all these years I am coming to understanding that free will and ability to be in safe injury free continuous training is the ultimate goal. That's the way of living. Progress comes as a nice benefit. And it is your progress.

I was benching about 115 and squatting about 185 when I started.

Also, it really depends on your body weight. It's unfair to compare absolutely strength instead of relative strength. This chart is pretty good:

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifti ... dards.html

I can't remember my squat numbers when I started, but I remember getting up to 185 on bench just doing the regular BB stuff from the magazines my first 4-6 months of lifting.

Not certain what you're looking to get out of this, training isn't a linear uninterrupted process. People give it up or come back to it over the years for various reasons. You're going to find people that started out weaker than you and people that started out stronger. You really won't get anything out of this other than people progress at different rates.

What do you think the reason is your DL and SQ are weak?

I've been all over the place with working out the past few months and have been dealing with a screwed up knee, but last Spring I trap bar deadlifted for 290x3, then ran fighter using a 90% training max for about 11 weeks (the second half of that was during basebuilding), did only SE for a couple weeks, then took a couple weeks off, and still managed to trap bar deadlift 310x5 when I finally retested. So that's a 40 pound increase in estimated 1rm(307->350), with a lot of non strength focused time in between. I also pressed during this time, and the 1rm after basebuilding, SE, and time off was about the same as when I started (~135-140), which isn't as impressive an increase, but still satisfying considering how little strength work I did after the initial Fighter programming. Also, keep in mind Fighter is probably the least effective TB program for strength, and it stilled delivered impressive gains that stuck around.