Best Exercises To Get As Strong & Buff As Possible?

[AnfoAjax]

So... What exercises are the best to increase strength as much as possible? Any Advice On Reps & Sets, 5x5? Training Until Failure? Frequency?

As a background, I'm a male, 18, 5'11'', 150ish lbs, and around 9-11% BF. Originally I was at 255 lbs of solid fat a year ago, and have finally reached my desired BF % and dropped the majority of fat I wanted to get rid of. I feel confident enough that I can finally start Bulking & gaining some strength, but i'm a complete amateur in the Weight Lifting category (I've only started Weight Lifting 3 months ago for the first time, I've remained consistent since then).

My main goal right now is to get as strong as I effing can while also attempting to get huge/buff at the same time, if possible. I can't really tell whether or not i'm improving.

What type of Nutrition & Exercises am I going to be looking at in order to achieve maximal, pure strength?

Currently my 1RM for the exercises I do are:
Bench Press - 135 lbs
Deadlift - 240 lbs
Squat - 115 lbs

I realize that's embarrassingly low but that's why I want to reach out to others more experienced than me to see what they've done in order to get stronger.

My goals for a 1RM now is an increase in 100-150 lbs for all 3 exercises within the next year or so.

Is this a realistic goal, could I achieve even higher within that time frame? Currently, I focus on Bench Press, Dead lifts, Squats, Chest Press, Rows, Farmer's Carry... Is there anything else I should be working on?

For Nutrition, how much should I be eating? Protein Amount? I've noticed I struggle very much with dieting (Still in that Weight Loss mentality I adopted even though it's not necessary anymore...), and I know i'll definitely have to be eating alot more than I do since I'd also like to get HUGE/BUFF as fck. Not so much shredded or lean. Just wanting to be a Big, Strong Mofo. Also, can I still do Cardio? I really enjoy running, a lot, but should it be something I remove during my Workouts for now?

Either way, I'd just like to get strong and lift heavier as my #1 goal. Thanks all for reading this far

[air2fakie]

I can't really tell whether or not i'm improving.

For starters, drop the "get as strong and huge AF as fast as possible" attitude. That'll lead you down a path of bad routines and doing way more than is productive, resulting in spinning your wheels and not seeing much visible improvement.

Get on a good novice program. Read the stickies on the Workout forum page for options - that eliminates the need for you to design your own program based on your 3 months of lifting.

You just lost a ton of fat so eat at a sensible surplus so you put on more muscle than fat. Read the stickies on the Nutrition forum page for more info on how to do that. Gain muscle and weight sensibly and you'll be better off in the long run, and more likely to stick to it consistently when the initial excitement wears off.

Cardio is good for you, so if you enjoy running don't stop doing it. If you pick a program like Fierce 5 3-day full body you can do running on your rest days. You can adjust your calories as necessary to stay on a surplus.

[BenMcLeodNZ]

Bench Press and Deadlifts, Chin Ups. Start off with big compound exercises, then finish the bodyparts off with isolation exercises. Squats are good but can blow out your guts too, and the upper thighs which are unaesthetic. 3x8 is way better than 5x5, just take my word for it. Go to failure on your last set of each exercise if possible. Work the frequency out yourself, your body automatically adjusts intensity to match frequency so it doesn't matter much, but each bodypart once a week is good, maybe twice but no more. Do around an hour a workout, no need to slug it out any longer at lower intensities.

[supramax]

... Currently, I focus on Bench Press, Dead lifts, Squats, Chest Press, Rows, Farmer's Carry... Is there anything else I should be working on?...

Isn't a bench press a chest press on a bench?
Muscle snatch, Power Clean and Press//Push Press, HEAVY hard style explosive kettlebell swings, dips & chins, the Spiderman crawl and add supramaximal sprints to your runs.

[HeMB]

Basically, squats, deadlifts, ohp, power cleans, chinups, cheat and strict rows. That's what I'd do.

[shazee13]

thx for information...

[clwhoops44]

You've got some good advice here so I am just going to weigh in on the goals part.

100-150 pound increase seems pretty reasonable in squats and deadlifts. The odds of a similar increase in bench press are slim but possible. There is a very, very small percentage of the population that can bench 1.5 - 2x body weight and it almost certainly doesn't happen in a year.

I am much bigger than you... I currently weigh about 235. I lifted quite a bit about 10 years ago and was able to bench 225 for a couple reps at my peak then. I've been back working out now for about a year and when I started lifting again I quickly progressed back to the 225 bench press range. I've trained hard (4-5 intense lift sessions per week, hitting each muscle group twice), ate a metric **** ton of food, taken my creatine and supplemented my diet with whey protein, and I just hit 300 pounds for the first time the other day, so I've added about 75 pounds in a year. I'm growing and I'm getting stronger, but I can definitely tell you it takes more than a year to get where you want to go in the weight room. Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Keep setting attainable goals and challenge yourself to reach them. I find, for me, strength related goals are much more motivating than vanity related goals.

[AnfoAjax]

You've got some good advice here so I am just going to weigh in on the goals part.

100-150 pound increase seems pretty reasonable in squats and deadlifts. The odds of a similar increase in bench press are slim but possible. There is a very, very small percentage of the population that can bench 1.5 - 2x body weight and it almost certainly doesn't happen in a year.

I am much bigger than you... I currently weigh about 235. I lifted quite a bit about 10 years ago and was able to bench 225 for a couple reps at my peak then. I've been back working out now for about a year and when I started lifting again I quickly progressed back to the 225 bench press range. I've trained hard (4-5 intense lift sessions per week, hitting each muscle group twice), ate a metric **** ton of food, taken my creatine and supplemented my diet with whey protein, and I just hit 300 pounds for the first time the other day, so I've added about 75 pounds in a year. I'm growing and I'm getting stronger, but I can definitely tell you it takes more than a year to get where you want to go in the weight room. Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Keep setting attainable goals and challenge yourself to reach them. I find, for me, strength related goals are much more motivating than vanity related goals.

Hey, Thanks for the advice and reassurance! Yeah I've seen so many people hitting all these crazy numbers while weightlifting, at least it seems crazy to me, and I always tell myself "I want to do that...". You really cleared up my confusion on the goal part since I was unsure if that was realistic or not. For Nutrition, I currently consume about 1g Protein per pound of Bodyweight, I've tried doing lower, higher etc. but I really don't know what's been working or not, should I just stay where i'm at? Currently I've been eating at a 500 calorie surplus, is that enough or too much for my goals?

[SuffolkPunch]

thx for information...

Announcing your intention to spam before actually doing it doesn't sound very intelligent to me lol

[clwhoops44]

Hey, Thanks for the advice and reassurance! Yeah I've seen so many people hitting all these crazy numbers while weightlifting, at least it seems crazy to me, and I always tell myself "I want to do that...". You really cleared up my confusion on the goal part since I was unsure if that was realistic or not. For Nutrition, I currently consume about 1g Protein per pound of Bodyweight, I've tried doing lower, higher etc. but I really don't know what's been working or not, should I just stay where i'm at? Currently I've been eating at a 500 calorie surplus, is that enough or too much for my goals?

I think the best strategy is just to not overcomplicate this. You're 18, so you are literally in your muscle building prime. Your hormones and metabolism etc. are higher now than they every will be again, so just eat (a lot) of good quality food and lift heavy. I think the generally accepted protein intake is 0.8 to 1.0 g per pound of lean mass, not body weight, but honestly, I wouldn't even stress about hitting a certain number if I were you. If you're building strength, you're building muscle, so focus on progressive overload. Take progress pictures and don't put too much emphasis on the scale. The pictures will tell you if you're gaining weight (fat) too fast. The scale can be deceiving, especially when you're young and potentially still growing.

[paulinkansas]

If you could lose 105 lbs in a year, I think you have the determination and willpower to reach your goals as far as weightlifting goes. Follow some programs on here. Don't try to make up your own.

[MDSal92]

Bench Press

T - Rows

Weighted Pull Ups

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Triceps Pull Downs

Train for Strength not muscular endurance, that will build up your non vascular tissues and make you less separable to injury in the long run.

[JamSumo]

Stronglifts 5 x 5 is pretty rock solid. Then after that gets stale if you want to go crazy and you are consuming extra calories (bulk) then DC training which incorporates rest-pause but that is advanced, save that for last when you are advanced, that is no cake walk.

[BeginnerGainz]

The one you do consistently

[Garage Rat]

I'll agree use more big compound movements.
Try to get both strength and size can be tough.
You can train optimally to achieve one or the other.
Training for one rep maxes doesn't have the intensity to maximally stimulate muscle mass and training for muscle is usually a higher rep protocol average 8-12 reps on sets with greater intensity like shorter rest periods,super sets ,drop sets ect focusing on the muscle.
Of course you can get stronger with reps but it usually doesn't carry over well to one rep maxes IMO.
Much of strength training for a max single uses rep of 1-5.
IMO you should work on gaining as much as pure muscle as you can and not just "bulk" up.
When you bulk up thats gaining some fat back that you worked hard on getting rid of.
Gaining muscle and as little fat as possible is a very long process that requires discipline and patients.
You need to record you training and diet in a journal,every thing you do in training and everything you eat including macros and calories if your not doing it already.
Thats the short of it.