How do I get stronger a little faster? page

**Gadsie** · 11-06-2012, 12:38 PM

Almost half a year into SS. Squat: I'm at 143 lbs squat, 165 lbs deadlift, OP 90lbs, bench 132 lbs. The low squat and deadlift numbers are partially explainable due to bad form which had me deloading them with about 50lbs. But I don't understand why my press and bench press is so weak after half a year. I was at 137 bench press about 5 weeks ago, then I went to dublin with school and got fed horribly and underfed. This caused me to lose a lot of strength and had to deload the bench all the way to 120 lbs (in 1 week!). Now 5 weeks later I am still not where I was 5 weeks ago.
I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong. My calories are between 3500-5000 a day, protein 180-220g.
I do struggle with insomnia from time to time but I get 6-8,5 hrs sleep always. 7,5 most of the time.
The only things I can thing of is doing leangains (with the bcaa and all)
Increasing weight only after every other workout instead of every workout. I'm willing to try anything
I do everything as described, I deload after I failed on an exercise 3x, I move as little as possible on rest days etc.
Tips would be very much appreciated, thanks

**teach2183** · 11-06-2012, 01:02 PM

Are you still doing extra exercises on lifting days? You may need to eat more food. You also simply may not have hit your secondary growth spurt yet. My DH lead in weight room hours in HS but was never built/strong. In college he kept lifting and finally put on some muscle.
Are you resting enough between sets?

**Mr. Anthony** · 11-06-2012, 01:05 PM

It sounds like you're doing everything pretty well. You're still pretty young, right? Don't sweat it.

People, especially adolescents, gain strength at different rates. When I started working out hard during high school I made huge gains, but I had also "laid the foundation", I think, by being a serious gymnast growing up. Some of my friends who also worked out hard didn't have nearly the gains I had; some had much bigger gains. Even so, it was a few years before I REALLY took off, physically, and frankly now that I'm in my early 30's I'm stronger than I've ever been due to really figuring out the combination of being efficient and intense, while working out less overall.

I'd say stick with the program maybe 3 more months or so, then re-evaluate. Maybe you'll need to make some changes later on, or maybe your body will finally "flip the switch" and you'll start gaining like a beast suddenly. Take a long-term approach to getting strong (and I mean seriously long-term--I've been consistently lifting heavy for around 17 years now), and you'll be a strong guy in time. Your body will figure it out.

**Miscellangela** · 11-06-2012, 01:22 PM

Have you tried microloading? Sometimes being able to add just a pound or two at a time helps immensely.

**Miscellangela** · 11-06-2012, 01:23 PM

Also, try not deloading at the drop of a hat. Plug away for a bit, even if you add a single pound at a time.

**Wanderlust** · 11-06-2012, 03:47 PM

Pretty much all good advice above. A couple things:

1) You're 15, you aren't going to get all that strong, yet. I left HS at 6'2" and 148lbs. I've since gained about 40lbs of muscle.
2) Your Press is actually you best lift relatively.
3) Deload only when you've missed a lift more than twice, and then only 10%. So if you miss a rep or two on squats, just go back next time and do the same lift. If you miss it again, then maybe deload 10%.
4) Micro weights, get some chain and a carbiner (google for directions)

I couldn't get bigger than about 150 lbs until I was 22, don't sweat it too much.

**primalrob** · 11-06-2012, 05:15 PM

good tips so far. i'm going to add that you may want to try backing off a bit. maybe drop a day, or do a light day, but do it slow-cadence. i did this when i started stalling a lot, and the extra time to rebuild helped me push through a couple PRs. slow, light days wouldn't be for brute strength, but to adapt your smaller muscles and tendons for heavier lifting.