Would you still consider me untrained? (Perpetual beginner syndrome)

[Maxeffort]

Hi Jordan and Austin,

I have been following you guys for a while and really enjoy the content you guys have been putting out.

A little bit about me and my training history.

Male
28 yrs old
5'10"
148lbs BW
33" waist
South Asian with very small frame (less than 6" wrist and 7.5" ankles)

I basically started going to the gym regularly 2 years ago in order to gain weight and look good. I was severely underweight at the time @ 115lbs. I managed to gain weight to about 154lbs in a year by eating more. Now I am at 148lbs but don't require any effort to maintain it. Although I have gained quite a bit of weight a lot of it is fat and I think the number one reason is that I have been very inconsistent with ky weight training as I kept program hopping like crazy to ever see any meaningful progress.

I went through my old logs and noticed that the only time I have ever been consistent with any weight training program is when it was strength based. For some reason chasing performance in the gym keeps me motivated to train and eat well. Although that's not my primary goal, I have decisded to pursue getting stronger without worrying about my physique too much as I believe that would come with it given I get strong enough and eat well enough. The highest I have ever been in terms of lifts is;

Bench 115lbs 3 x 5
Squats 160lbs 3 x 5
Deadlift 175lbs 1 x 5

Given my history, do you think I am still untrained/novice as my strength levels are really low despite gaining weight?
If that's the case then I will start LP. I know from your recent podcast that I need to gain weight to prob around 200 at this height but I am afraid my waist is already disproportionately high compared to my weight. I will be aiming to gain about 2lbs on avg. per week if I start on LP. Does this seem reasonable?

Thank you.

[Austin Baraki]

Yes, you remain underweight. Yes, you remain untrained.

You don't need to fixate so much on the 200 lb number *right now*, but you do need to train and eat more consistently, and focus on regular increases in strength.

[Maxeffort]

Thanks Austin. I will get on with SSLP to gain strength accompanied by weight gain. Will start a log here as well.

I guess instead of looking at a fixed number such as 200, it would be better to perceive weight gain as a necessary component to facilitate strength increases? So as long as I am gaining strength, its fine and when it becomes difficult to progress then re-evaluate if its weight gain that's holding me back, correct?

[Austin Baraki]

Sure, that will work - at least for a little while. You should listen to our last podcast for more discussion on this topic.

[Maxeffort]

Thank you Austin. I just listened to the podcast (again) and it did clear up the confusion. Great info. as always.