I'm weak
I used to be fairly strong for my size. I could bench, squat, and dead lift twice my weight. I've only done brief 5 x 5 or 5 x 3 programs but my strength came along pretty quickly when lifting in the lower rep range. But....
I'm pretty weak these days. I'm only taking a little bit of test, no creatine, nothing else. And I just cannot believe how little I can push. My wife and I went to the gym last night and I quickly noticed that at this rate she will be out lifting me in the not so distant future. Granted she is very strong for her size but this is just embarrassing. Some of my lifts were only 40-50 lbs better than her's, that means that pound for pound she is stronger than me.
I'm wondering if it has to do with yoga. Since I got very involved with yoga my endurance has increased 10 fold but my strength has dropped significantly. For example, I can now do 100 burpees but I can't even bench 300 lbs.
Here's a chart to show what's up.
Exercise. 8 weeks ago Current
Squat. 405. 280
Bench. 340. 280
Dead lift. 405. 315
Dumbbell press. 120's. 95's
But something like chins or push-ups is the complete opposite.
12 body weight chins then 22 now
So my questions are -
Was my strength false strength due to the use of anabolics? My best lifts were all on anavar actually maybe a year or so ago.
Does the stretching of yoga really make power drop that significantly? I've heard stretching hinders power but this much?
Does creatine make that big of a difference?
Does strength just ebb like this occasionally?
Is there some trade off for endurance power?
Is there some other major factor I'm not thinking of?
Does it even matter if I'm just bodybuilding in the first place? I'm still getting excellent workouts.
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TheCaptainThe power in your body can be broken down into 2 categories: Strength and Endurance. When you're training your muscles, you are targeting mainly your muscular system obviously which attributes in an increase in your body's ability to exert great power in a short amount of time so that you can move the weight. When you're doing yoga, you are not training your muscles with the same kind of movements that forced it to adapt to short term power training. So when you start doing yoga, you are making your body adapt to Endurance. Endurance being it's ability to endure power for a longer period of time. So really, you would actually be better off if you did not doing anything at all during that time instead of choosing yoga, because you trained your body to adapt to a different type of power. Hope that makes sense.
RustyhookerStrength and endurance can be compkex. So many things that cause weakness. Estro, stress, fatigue, vitamin deficiencies, carbs too low, electrolytes. If you're pyshing super hard then I'd start with liquid multivitamin. Health stores carry it. Tasty and fast uptake. Second I'd jack up leafy greens for potassium uptake.....or bananas. Your body can't "spark" without potassium and salt in good ratio. Take a week off the gym and complex carb up. Refill those muscles. You're hitting hard on gym plus excess exercise. I played pro soccor pkus was sponsored bbuilder decades ago.....soon as i jacked up cals and modified foods both size/strength went thru roof. I was burning too many calories to properly recouperate.
GearofWarIt's a big mental block for me too brother. I've been "off" for 7 months now, almost 8 and I'm all bummed that I've lost significant strength, but I've only lost a total of 8 lbs since being off for nearly 8 months(1lb per month is NOT bad I suppose). I'm on TRT though so I attribute keeping most of my gains to that. I'm on 100mg t-cyp EW. Also for me, I lose lots of motivation while not cycling. But when I'm "on" all I want to do is lift, lift, and then lift again. Not sure if it's just a mental state or if the hormones can actually make you more motivated to destroy shit? You're not alone in any case bro.
BigBmajIt's very difficult for me to stay motivated when I feel like I'm not making obvious improvement. I need to make a psychological u turn and realize that improvement is being made in the department of healing, restoring, and recovering. When I say "obvious improvement" I mean getting BIGGER.
It's accepting the whole picture the yin and the yang of this whole game.
I keep catching myself saying "well I could add some dbol or drol and get an awesome lift". But I can also get an awesome lift in a totally different way. A chance to improve in other aspects.
Have you had a deload recently? You may just need one bro.
BigBmajWhat's that? I'm being serious when I ask that. I've often heard this said but I've never seen it laid out. I did take one full week off - well almost one full week - closer to 5 days. I'm still very physical because of my job.
Im one of those people who tends to err on the side of over exertion.
I do chin ups everyday and have for over 20 years. the good news about those going up is not only is your endurance strength better but also your tendons are very healthy. Which is something that aas users should be concerned about. Because many times they blow out tendons because the muscles out grow the proportion of tendon strength. Then you are pretty much f*cked. guys who are able to do a lot of chins usual have tendons that are very healthy.
BigBmajI've got to say my body does feel pretty good. I don't have nearly the aches and pains I had a few months back.
That brings up a good point. I guess that's part of the reason we cycle on and off to give the joints, tendons, ligaments, bones a bit of breathing room.
I think it all boils down to accepting where we are and not trying to always be somewhere else.
My muscles grow but if I lost my endurance and stamina, i would never blast again. That is my bread and butter, the fact that I have put on muscle is good but I train to not let it affect my endurance. I would say for me I major in strength, stamina, and endurance training with a minor in bodybuilding. When i feel like I have lost wind and stamina I imagine it is what a bodybuilder feels like when they are holding water on the day of a big show.
Big muscles will not do anything for me when in combat. I was hoping my size would make the Taliban run away sadly it failed to do so. Persistent bastards!
BigBmajMaybe you need to go into combat shirtless.
I could but I would probably lose my really cool nickname and be called something like "boy toy!"
BigBmajWhen I was bulking people called me Rambo. Now that I'm doing yoga they call me Rainbow.
Look at it in a positive way, you're less likely to pick up an injury.
I think people worry about how much weight they move too much. Unless you're a weightlifter, who cares? Some of us are made more for power, sone for more endurance. My brother is an ex competitive triathlete, can't lift anything my mrs couldn't. I can push big weight, but can't cycle / run if my life depended on it.
lmao..... we could be twin brothers, that just sounds like me...... thing is though i dont care for endurance or massive cardio ability, this backs up what nitti has been saying lately about the difference in fighters, cyclists etc and TRUE bodybuilders.
Brother Bmaj you need to re-think your long term goal and alter your training to be be specific to bodybuilding or a cross training fitness style instead.
BigBmajYeah I think about that often. Everyone says to me "hey why don't you do something you would be really good at and could excel at, rather than kill yourself trying to get huge". I'm still thinking about it.
It would be nice to be really good at one thing rather than sort of good at many.
yeah.. thats what i was meaning bro.... still young you have the future at your fingertips and NEVER forget................. YOU are the master of your own destiny
I am the master of my own Baiting.
do you mean.... maz der baiting ???
BigBmajI'm so clearly designed to be an endurance guy. My body is naturally very light and my cardio comes quickly when I focus on it. But I fight it every step of the way. I often wonder why I don't choose to accommodate the body's natural path. It comes with a cost, having to eat so much, getting stiff and slow, blood pressure increases. It would be nice to be content with my bodies natural state but this just isn't possible at this point.
I often struggle with this notion of fighting against nature vs working with it. A power vs force story.
You look like you're doing more than ok to me bruv. Just don't worry about the weight, and I'll explain why.
About January / February time I was benching with my training partner who competes in strong man events. We had 5 plates on, so 220kg including bar. A guy asked us if we had much left to do just as we finished our last set, I said "all yours mate" and started unloading plates. He was a big lad, probably 250lbs so obviously his ego took over when he said, "leave them all on". By this time, I'd taken off 1 plate each dude, so 180kgs still on the bar. I made sure he wanted it, was adamant it was fine do I left him to it. 30 seconds later I had to pull the bar off his chest when he tore his pec....
Trying to push too much weight gets you injured more often. Time under tension builds muscle, not pressing weight you think you "should" be able to lift.
BigBmajThanks for the complement. And yes getting ego under control is a huge achievement. One of these days I'm going to figure it out.
I'm really not complaining here at all. I was just amazed at how strong my wife compared to me. Some people are just designed to be strong.
I know the feeling. I'd agree with what everyone else said below. Also, the stretching involved in yoga may decrease your weight a little. I say this because the elasticity of tendons. Kinda like how pitchers usually don't go all the way down on bench press since they try to keep the tendon strength very tight.
Also I'm no expert about yoga, so I don't know what all is involved in it.
You'll bounce back bro. I think we ALL can relate to this when we come off. I had same "issue" last time icame off cycle. I started to gain size and was eating more. Just hang in there, you are a big mofo anyway and you will be back stroger than before for sure
BigBmajThanks bro. I know if I can keep this current size before my next bulk I will be in for an awesome run. I'm feeling really good these days. I was just wondering if there was a direct correlation between building endurance and loosing some raw power.
When power is down do you switch up your training style?
For instance, do I encourage this new endurance phase and train in a higher rep range? Or should I fight to be gaining strength at this point and do a powerlifting protocol?
Not sure how people adjust training to accommodate off time, it's been awhile since I've been "off".
Me personally, i am an Endurance athlete, always have and always will be. I guatantee you everyone switch to higher rep less volume off cycle. Either off cycle and low carb diet i feel weak, but endurance is always there. Not sure if i explain myself right... But basicly everyone i know either swith to high rep low volume or try and do their max while they off cycle which is not gonna be the same. Nothing to be ashame of hommie
BigBmajIt sure does feel healthier to not be winded after sending a text message. I don't think I will ever let my cardio drop like that again.
It's nice being strong but having endurance is so important.
I know it makes sense to train lighter off cycle, obviously. But I'm wondering if there is any point to trying to improve natural strength off cycle. It would be nice to know I could actually move some weight while I was clean. But I guess it doesn't matter since I'm not a power athlete and I'm just a physique guy.
I'm not ashamed, I just train with a hoodie and sunglasses these days.
Lulz^^^^
AssUhlBro to be completely honest the yoga is known to increase both strength and endurance as well as agility. The compounds you were running before could very easily have made the difference between the numbers then and the numbers now. When you cycle, your strength is always much higher than when off cycle and if you run creatine as well that definitely helps in strength because creatine directly helps your muscles absorb more water and therefore more nutrients. I can assure you that when you cycle again your strength will come back and you should absolutely continue the yoga during cycle because the stretching movements in yoga promote muscle fiber growth.......so all in all your on track and when you cycle again youll get that super strength back and the yoga will help you grow bigger than before. Dont let the "mental blues" of being off cycle get you down! Youll come back strong!
BigBmajDeep stretching prior to lifting has been shown to significantly reduce strength. I took a two hour intense yoga class yesterday, then I ate and went to the gym. I was amazed how little I could move. Strength may improve in the long run but in the short term it's a wow factor, for me at least.
Yoga also slows the metabolism, so perhaps it will be helpful in this next bulk because I have a hard time getting enough calories. I'll be very curious to see the outcome of this next bulk.
UFOBrother..of course your strength is going to drop when off cycle!! Thats just something you got to expect at the end of every round. Whats more important to me is keeping the mass I gained while on cycle, the strength comes and goes very easy, not the mass though. Personally my body just cant take the weight I push around on cycle, while off, so I listen and ease back. For example my bench drops from 275 for sets of 10 to 225 for set of 10-15! Have you changed your diet up at all?
BigBmajI'm eating more. I'm actually gaining weight which is amazing. I just cannot believe how weak I am. My training partner is still on, but a few weeks ago I was out lifting him by quite a bit now it's the opposite. He thinks I'm selling myself short and not pushing hard enough but that is not the case.
I know strength drops when on down time, but I'm just amazed how significant it is.
UFOSame exact sotry with me actually bro. I came off 3 amlmost 4 months ago and my boy has stayed on since then with a tren cycle. I used to stomp him in pretty much every lift especially bench but now we have switched places, hes killing me in bench. But I expected that. Dont worry too much about your lifts or PRs when off. Just stay beasting on that diet, stay training and prepare for the next round! Id be super happy if I wass till gaining weight off cycle..
I bounce around like that too. When I'm wrestling my endurance is insane and my lifts suffer and when I'm lifting heavy like I am now my endurance suffers. I think it's just the difference between building the fast twitch and the slow twitch muscles. Granted, I don't think that I see as extreme loss in gains like you did, and I generally am off cycle when I'm wrestling.