Weight Gain Nocebo

Training Q&A [Moderated]
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tl;dr How concerned should I be about continually gaining weight as an intermediate, provided I’m not 165 lbs still?

34 yo / 6 ft / male
192 lbs (16-ish % bodyfat)
Tested 1RMs: (was a while ago, e1RMs a bit higher now)
170 / 215 / 360 / 420 (Press / Bench / Squat / DL)
Arbitrary Goals:
200 / 300/ 400 / 500
Been lifting about 2.5 yrs. Started with SSLP, to standard TM, to 4 day TM, to bridge.
Currently running 12 week strength template

I’m apparently still not an “adult male”, as I don’t yet weigh 200lbs, haha, thanks Rip. Having the weight gain thing drilled into my head for a long time, I feel like I psych my self out with regard to gaining more weight: i.e. “I’m not going to be able to make the desired e1RM increases week by week if I’m not gaining weight quickly”, “that was an RPE 10, should have been an 8, I need to gain weight”.

Then I look at the stats Jordan/Austin have posted (and others), I don’t know how tall you are, but your body weight’s aren’t massively higher than mine and yet your totals are much, much greater. Granted, you guys have been at it way longer than me, programming, technique, genetics, etc, etc. Still, should I not also be able to achieve my reasonable goals at a similar weight? Without hitting 240 lbs?

I’m fine with gaining more weight, I am not trying to actively avoid it, but without really stuffing food in 24/7 it goes slowly and isn’t super enjoyable. I’m basically maintaining BW, and/or going up very slowly, maybe a pound or two a month. Am I slowing my progress down significantly by not trying to continually gain weight at a faster rate?

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As you noted, it is not appropriate to be comparing yourself to others (like us) who are under a different set of circumstances, have a different training history, and likely have a different training sensitivity to you.

With that said, yes, I think your goals are very reasonable and should certainly not require you gaining weight up to 240 lbs, and you also don’t need to be gaining weight rapidly. You are two inches taller than both of us, so at 6 feet tall you may want to gradually work your way up to, say, 210-220 and reassess how you feel/perform, but this is also totally up to you. With sufficient time and training, I suspect you could reach your goals at a lighter BW than this, but it might just take a bit longer.

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