Goal setting

Dear BBM,

I noticed that when people ask questions regarding bodyweight and strength you require them to state what goals they have. Naturally they say they want to be the strongest they can be, which seems to be to unspecific.

How should I set my goals then?

Let’s say I want to achieve my maximum strength. Since S/B/D, press and back work target most of the muscles, I want to get stronger in these exercises. As I don’t plan to compete in this sport, my goal is not solely specific to maximize my 1RM strength, although I’m curious as to how my 1RM strength develops.

Furthermore, I don’t want to train 6 times per week. 3-4 is ok for me. But, if 5 times per week would yield extreme results, I’d probably take this route …

The reason I ask here, is to determine how I should progress in terms of bodyweight. Since you guys said that you don’t want to gain more weight, because your are happy with your strength levels, I wonder why … Are there any detrimental effects on health to be expected, or would more bodyweight restrict you in daily activities?

I am 33 years old, ~187 cm in height and currently weigh 89 kg with a waist circumference of ~85 cm (all measured in the morning).

How much weight should I gain to be the strongest yet healthiest version of myself?

On a side note: My current bench 1RM is somewhere in between 110-120 kg. I train since 2006 but I never followed any specific templates, until a few months ago. I don’t know my squat or DL maxes because I deal with some minor low back injury.

Best regards from Austria
Mark

Hey Mark,

Thanks for the post. I am usually trying to find out what a person values the most from their workouts (or results from said workouts) in order to tailor whatever advice I may give to them.

As far as why we don’t want to gain more weight, I can only speak for myself. Gaining more weight would likely result in me being a bit stronger if everything else stayed the same, but I don’t think I’d be more competitive as a powerlifter as best as I can tell. I don’t really care if I can squat 660 vs 640 outside unless it’s at a competition, so lifting a little more by carrying more weight and not becoming any more competitive isn’t really appetizing to me. This is especially true given my other interests in golf, motocross, and being attractive to potential mates.

I cannot tell you how much you should weigh to be the strongest version of yourself. I don’t think I would gain weight given your waist circumference, but you don’t need to lose weight either. I think it is likely your waist will reduce as you train more (both AT and RT) and you’ll have more freedom to gain weight once this occurs. I think programming is going to be very important here as well.

-Jordan

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Thank you for your reply, Jordan. I now understand.

I am usually trying to find out what a person values the most from their workouts

Luckily for me the path is the goal :slight_smile:

and you’ll have more freedom to gain weight once this occurs

So is there something to aim for circumference-wise?

I think programming is going to be very important here as well.

Because I will train in an isocaloric state?

I’ll first try planning around myself, so that I can have a more profound exchange with a coach in the future.

Another question: In one of your podcasts Austin said something like “for someone to get the strongest, we’ll have them get jacked as fast as possible”. Does this mean that you expose clients to a more hypertrophy focused phase in the beginning (or doesn’t this really matter, since hypertrophy occurs with strength training as well)?

Best,
Mark