Fat guy not making strength gains ;_;

[-Volume]

Hi all. I'm 6'4 289 pounds and type 2 diabetic. I used to weigh 392 pounds though and learned ALOT about nutrition and food. I was one of those weak obese people, not your stereotypical fat person who is really strong- no, my lower body is very strong, my upper body is terrible.

That's irrelevant though, my question is I'm doing SL 5X5. I've been doing it for over a month now, squat gains have been nice, deadlift gains are consistent (though my grip sucks and I need to work on it) however anything that includes my upper body is either coming together VERY slowly or NOT AT ALL. And I was wondering if it's due to my diet? I eat around 2k calories a day and between 50g-100g of carbs a day (even on lifting days). Again, I'm a Diabetic and eating low carb has been a godsend to my diabetes (I rarely even take my medication anymore).

Fact is though, my bench press started at 80 pounds, now it's stalled at 110 (form begins to suffer quickly too). My standing overhead press is around 70 pounds with decent form. I was wondering is this ****ing normal for someone who is eating like myself? I'm never hungry, I eat whole foods, salads, fats and lean proteins. I like to have veggies with every meal so fiber and taking a **** is not a problem.

I always thought strength was something that people built with consistency, not necessarily nutrition unless you're starving yourself (it's why you see 150 pound guys dead lifting 300 pounds).

I've thought about limiting the exorcises I'm having trouble in to 3x5 instead of 5x5. This would only be for my overhead press and bench press.

I've also thought about purchasing 1.25 plates to micro-load on the lifts I'm having issues with.

What's my issue? Can someone please help me? I'm not making upper body strength gains and I've had 25 work outs since November 16th (working out 3x a week).

[MattIsBored]

As soon as I saw 2000 calories at 289 at 6'4 I was like huh? Increase your calories and make sure you're getting enough rest. I personally have a maintenance level of 3500 calories a day and that's not even doing any cardio, though I have a fast metabolism. Bottom line you're practically starving yourself at 2000 calories. It also could be you need to rework your program albeit rep scheme or exercise choices.

[Sp1re]

Yeah brah like Matt said you have to increase the amount of calories youre taking in. Find your maintenance level and cut 500 calories from it, you'll still be able to make good strength gains and lose bodyfat

[lamairet]

As soon as I saw 2000 calories at 289 at 6'4 I was like huh? Increase your calories and make sure you're getting enough rest. I personally have a maintenance level of 3500 calories a day and that's not even doing any cardio, though I have a fast metabolism. Bottom line you're practically starving yourself at 2000 calories. It also could be you need to rework your program albeit it rep scheme or exercise choices.

^this

Yeah brah like Matt said you have to increase the amount of calories youre taking in. Find your maintenance level and cut 500 calories from it, you'll still be able to make good strength gains and lose bodyfat

alot of ppl will tell you to cut 500 from your maintenace but really cut 10-20%

Hi all. I'm 6'4 289 pounds and type 2 diabetic. I used to weigh 392 pounds though and learned ALOT about nutrition and food. I was one of those weak obese people, not your stereotypical fat person who is really strong- no, my lower body is very strong, my upper body is terrible.

That's irrelevant though, my question is I'm doing SL 5X5. I've been doing it for over a month now, squat gains have been nice, deadlift gains are consistent (though my grip sucks and I need to work on it) however anything that includes my upper body is either coming together VERY slowly or NOT AT ALL. And I was wondering if it's due to my diet? I eat around 2k calories a day and between 50g-100g of carbs a day (even on lifting days). Again, I'm a Diabetic and eating low carb has been a godsend to my diabetes (I rarely even take my medication anymore).

Fact is though, my bench press started at 80 pounds, now it's stalled at 110 (form begins to suffer quickly too). My standing overhead press is around 70 pounds with decent form. I was wondering is this ****ing normal for someone who is eating like myself? I'm never hungry, I eat whole foods, salads, fats and lean proteins. I like to have veggies with every meal so fiber and taking a **** is not a problem.

I always thought strength was something that people built with consistency, not necessarily nutrition unless you're starving yourself (it's why you see 150 pound guys dead lifting 300 pounds).

I've thought about limiting the exorcises I'm having trouble in to 3x5 instead of 5x5. This would only be for my overhead press and bench press.

I've also thought about purchasing 1.25 plates to micro-load on the lifts I'm having issues with.

What's my issue? Can someone please help me? I'm not making upper body strength gains and I've had 25 work outs since November 16th (working out 3x a week).

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981
^read that its pretty much everything you'll need really

instead of doing 5x5 too i'd suggest starting strength and keep doing that till you stall out and stop seeing gains..even after you stall out you can deload and restart and probably get more gains..
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=131379243
theres a link to that too

[-Volume]

^this


alot of ppl will tell you to cut 500 from your maintenace but really cut 10-20%



http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981
^read that its pretty much everything you'll need really

instead of doing 5x5 too i'd suggest starting strength and keep doing that till you stall out and stop seeing gains..even after you stall out you can deload and restart and probably get more gains..
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=131379243
theres a link to that too

Thank you all for your replies, the general consensus is I should up my calories a bit and I will do that and see how I'm feeling the next 2 weeks. May I ask why you would choose SS over SL? I've always thought it was just personal preference, SL due to the more sets you're doing seems like it would be better for someone who is trying to lose weight, no? I appreciate all replies! Thank you guys

[lamairet]

Thank you all for your replies, the general consensus is I should up my calories a bit and I will do that and see how I'm feeling the next 2 weeks. May I ask why you would choose SS over SL? I've always thought it was just personal preference, SL due to the more sets you're doing seems like it would be better for someone who is trying to lose weight, no? I appreciate all replies! Thank you guys

more sets does not mean you'll lose more weight, SS is where everyone should start, if you eat right, rest properly, and follow either normal SS or babylovers SS i garentee your lifts will go up and with a proper diet you'll lose weight, stuff like 5x5 and 5/3/1 are great programs dont get me wrong, its just best to milk SS as long as you can, keep doing it as long as all your lifts are going up, when you stall first deload and try again, if you keep stalling then its time to move on to something like SL 5x5 or something...im assuming you were thinking more sets = more calories burned? if you want to burn calories bike, walk, walk on an incline, jog etc..just dont go overboard with it and make sure you are getting enough calories to support yourself

[sief3792]

It also could be you need to rework your program albeit it rep scheme or exercise choices.