Do you want to get strong? You want more in the 2 - 5 rep range for many sets. I followed the Sheiko method (which lays this out) for 2 - 3 years. In June I tested and had the following:

1. Squat - 505lbs 2. Bench - 355lbs 3. Deadlift - 540lbs

Also, eat big!

This, plus getting your sleep in order.

Wow those are big numbers! I'm training for body re-comp (I'm fat, I want to be muscular with some endurance) and my numbers are half that.

That will be maximum, ever, I suspect. In reality, it isn't hard but does take time and you have to push yourself. The hardest part is really eating. A typical day would like this,

1. Breakfast, a cup of espresso with milk, 6oz NY Strip, 1 cup of grits with butter, 16oz whole milk.

2. Lunch, 6oz NY Strip, 2 eggs, 16 oz whole milk

3. Snack, 2 - 4 pieces of fruit e.g, 3 apples with peanut butter.

4. Dinner, 2 - 3 pieces of fried/grilled chicken, collard greens, sweet potatoes.

5. Desert - a quarter slice of pie with 16oz of milk

I didn't take any supplements, just ate whole foods I cooked at home. Everything was made from scratch. The pies used lard we rendered at home from leaf fat (fat near the kidney).

I loved your routine. Any vegetarian diet advice. I am vegeterian.

Dairy, legumes like beans and lentils, and protein supplements like whey powder will take care of your protein needs.

It's a bit harder for vegans, but still doable. Look up Clarence Kennedy, the vegan Irish weightlifter.

Vegetarian lifter here. Getting quality protein is a bit more difficult, but if you're ovo-lacto vegetarian then egg whites and whey are great sources. You don't need to overdo it, just make sure you're getting enough. Once you're no longer a complete beginner, you might also want to consider supplementing with creatine, since you aren't getting much in your diet.

For a deeper dive, I'd recommend this excellent article: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/vegetarian-and-vegan-athle...

I am not fully veg but have reduced consumption of meat hugely and don't buy it for home anymore. What I have found is really good is retextured soy protein. I get a bag for about 2 pounds and it has 60g of protein in it.

I would be the last person you want vegetarian advice from. If it weren't for my wife, I'd stick to potatoes, broccoli, and grilled asparagus. However, as you noticed I drink a lot of milk, a lot. A pint has 300 calories and 16g of protein. Additionally, add butter to anything you want. Grits butter, eggs, cook in butter etc... It adds a lot of calories (good in my opinion) which is what you want when lifting heavy.

How do you handle the fat? I gained most of my muscle weight eating like you do - lots of protein, fat and whole-grain carbs (oats, whole wheat bread, pasta, potatoes with skins, legumes). I gain fat too though.

I was also supplementing with whey (mainly casein) and creatine.

With the baby I've been eating a lot of crap sugars and put on 5kg of fat. I'm trying to drop 20kg of bodyfat now to get to down to 10-12% body fat. So far I've been able to drop without any real muscle loss as long as I still lift regularly.

I put on some fat with it, but due to the weights I was lifting for the last 6 - 12 months it didn't seem to be a concern. Remember what you see on TV and the movies aren't representations of strength, they are on special diets, have trainers etc...

I was strictly concerned with being strong, not being cut, so carrying around a little extra wasn't a big deal. The main thing, no one will think you are fat when you are strong, it is quite noticeable. Lastly, the meal I posted was at my strongest, lifting the heaviest. If I wasn't lifting those weights I would have gained quite a bit of fat.

If you are taking a few months off due to a baby, cut back on eating. Always think long-term. Two months off while you adjust to a newborn will do wonders when you get back into it. If you try to do it all, you'll be stressed and not enjoy lifting - or anything for that matter.

This guy is a vegetarian weight lifter and goes through what he eats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHrysja5lYw

Also another one of his videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5fsqg6aJOI

I am in the same boat. Strength has increased significantly and I have also lost some fat. However, I wonder if that will continue. From what I've read, it's difficult to gain muscle and loose fat at the same time.

Fat metabolism comes from low glucose/insulin level. If you can decrease the insulin level or you can guard it to couple of hours in a day, you are fine.

Leucine also spikes the insulin level regardless the source, it is better to take it with fibres and a bit of fat, e.g. avocado.

If you still struggle, you might give a try to a constant glucose monitor (GCM) to see what crosses your efforts.

Yeah definitely, I didn't mean to imply that the weight/rep ranges don't matter, just that the specific number you can do within that range on a particular set isn't so important as long as you're reaching failure. If you're doing the 5-8 range for strength and your form breaks down after 4 on the last set, just note "cool, I did 4 today" and stop, rather than trying to do more with bad form or feeling discouraged that you didn't reach an arbitrary number.

A big trap a lot of people fall into is worrying about whether they are training for strength vs hypertrophy before they are strong enough for it to really matter. Sure, those big body builder types you see won't be as strong as competitive power lifters, but they are a heck of a lot stronger than the average gym goer. Every huge guy is pretty strong, and every super strong guy is going to be pretty big.

It's not exactly the same topic, but Mark Rippetoe gets to the spirit of it "My opinion about barbell rows is as follows: fuck barbell rows. Really. Fuck them. Stop wasting time worrying about barbell rows and get your deadlift up to 500. By then you'll have your own opinion and you won't have to worry about mine."

Until you get to the point of at least a 350lb squat and 400lb deadlift, it's far more useful to just stick with a program you can stick with than worry about optimizing it based on what "professional" athlete you want to be like.

/r/fitness got heaps in to Starting Strength like 5 years ago where they recommended it to basically every beginner lifter and there were a bunch of before and afters from it of dudes t-rexing themselves when their primary (often only) goal was looking good.

It doesn't make sense to perform routines that don't aim to achieve the results you want and the routine you're most likely to stick with is the one that promises the results you want, has people who have done it and achieved the results you want, and is created by a guy who has the results you want.

I don't think it is necessary to reach failure every workout, in fact I find it detrimental to your gains.

I think this is specific to person, age, other aspects of life e.g. level of stress and sleep quality that affects recovery. If you go to failure but you can train that main muscle group on the same week, I think you are fine as ideal set number for intermediate athletes are between 12-20 per muscle group (according to Dr. Mike Israetel @ Juggernaut Method).

Yeah, I know there are different takes on this. Going to failure or near-failure (I stop when I can't maintain proper form) has been working for me so far, but I think the point still holds that what matters is how much you've taxed your muscles, whether that's to failure or 90% of failure or 80% or 50%, not the precise number of reps you've done.

Actual failure is a good way for a lot of people to lose confidence, and that carries over more and longer than leaving one rep in the tank.

Any reasearch/evidence on size vs strength, please? From what I've skimmed through, size vs strength looks like a myth (popular one though). It seemed to me that one can't get bigger without getting stronger (== handling heavier load) and vice versa. (Without pharma)

If it would be this simple, no programming would be needed. I'd recommend to look at 5-3-1 or Juggernaut Method. You need a regimen with variability to promote hypertrophy and strength with different focus at a time.

What is the difference between big, explosive strength for sports and strong?

The difference in end result? "Big" as in you'll look good, but not necessarily be strong (hypertrophy, bodybuilding). "Explosive" as in move weight fast, has many sports applications. "Strong" as in you'll end up looking like a bear but you can move ridiculous amounts of weight (albeit slowly).

Big means that you're training for hypertrophy (muscle growth). You gain as much muscle mass as possible, but don't care where. This results in an imbalance, your big muscles get really big but the smaller ones don't. They become the limiting factor in strength. Also, your endurance then sucks.

Explosive strength and strong is more subtle. You basically have two sorts of muscle fiber: one is for short explosive strength the other more endurance. Different training results in a different mix of these fibers (as does genetics!). It's a case of getting the right kind of fiber in the right muscles for your sporting goal.

There are some fantastic youtube videos from people who are experts (for me it's a hobby), I can recommend Shredded Sports Science for the theory and Athlean-X for a mix of both theory and practice.

Look up fast twitch vs slow twitch muscles.

My understanding is you can't "get" one or the other. You either have them or you dont. Keep in mind I last read on this in 2012.

Everyone has both, though I'm not sure you can change the proportions.

Humans don't experience hyperplasia. You can't gain fibers.