I started lifting a few months ago and would like some input on my stats.

You sound like a beast. Keep it going - get it where you can do bench reps with 225. You'll soon lose interest in running, and will be much happier for it.

What you are experiencing is commonly referred to as 'noob gains'. It's not meant to be a derogatory term but illustrates exactly what you are seeing. You can even see the comparisons in a beginner runner where they exponentially increase their performances in the initial stages.

To answer your question: what type of gains can you expect? That's a difficult question to answer. Some people will experience these gains for a longer duration than others. Just ride it as long as you can, and just like running - eventually, you're going to have to work harder and smarter to keep increasing these gains.

But looking at these numbers, for your weight, those are some decent numbers. But how are you squatting 273? I'm guessing you mean 275.

If you want to use a one person sample as a reference, I experienced these noob gains for about 6 months and then plateaued somewhere around the following - 5'11" 188 lbs

Bench: 245

Squat: 325

Dead Lift: 395

I haven't really gained much since then and have just maintained.

Two sources of uncertainty in your estimates - one is that the squat is very form dependent so was this 90 degrees? Did you have someone who knows what they're doing watch? and two, 4x rep isn't exactly equivalent to 1x match, that assumes a lot of things. Personally I find that my 1RMs predicted by many reps to be pretty off because my squat form deteriorated as the weight approached true max.

For comparison, I'm 5'8"/145 and have similar numbers to you on squat and deadlift and worse bench press.

ScottEvil wrote:

Two sources of uncertainty in your estimates - one is that the squat is very form dependent so was this 90 degrees? Did you have someone who knows what they're doing watch? and two, 4x rep isn't exactly equivalent to 1x match, that assumes a lot of things. Personally I find that my 1RMs predicted by many reps to be pretty off because my squat form deteriorated as the weight approached true max.

For comparison, I'm 5'8"/145 and have similar numbers to you on squat and deadlift and worse bench press.

I have worked with experienced lifters who helped me with my form, one of which spotted me during this session. I realize converting 4rm to 1rm is not ideal, but because I don't have much of a background in lifting and don't want to hurt myself, I went with 4rm and converted.

I know my gains have been very quick and will not continue at this pace, but I'm still getting stronger pretty much every week I go in, so I think I can still get significantly stronger just from sets of 8-12 over the next few months. I hope to then get a lot stronger from dropping down to sets of 4-6. It's exciting!

There is no point to doing reps, unless you don't care about running and just trying to build bulk and gain weight.

Singles are by far the best for keeping lean and for strength. I competed for a year or two in weightlifting in my mid 20's and we always did singles, the same for the top weightlifters in the world.

This is the difference between weightlifters, who focus on strength, as the competitions are based on strength, and bodybuilders who focus on weight gain and bulk.

Most of your gains will come in the first 6 weeks of training, and will stay with you a long time. I see no reason for runners doing weightlifting training for more than 6 weeks the first year, and only a few weeks a year after that. The best way to develop and test your strength is with singles, and with whole body exercises.

When I was in college, there was a guy in band who worked out on the weights in the gym, usually doing bench press. One day I walked in between running, pressed 235 pounds he went berserko on me. How did I do that, etc.

It turned out he could press 180 ten times, but could only press 190 once, he outweighed me at least 40 pounds and his arms were huge compared to mine that were well defined and quite lean.

Another time I came in and the football guys were there. He said, hey this guy can press 235. I was going to do it anyway, so I did, and he was trying to jam his hand under the small of my back, but couldn't because it was flat on the bench.

That's the difference between singles and reps.

If you keep doing reps, you will keep pumping your arms and your arms will get bigger. If you want to get stronger and keep lean, then do singles, but don't overdo it. Once you are reasonably strong, there is no reason to keep doing it more.

What you describe is abnormal.

Most people who can press 180 ten times will be at least 240 for a single.

Strength is partially determined by the cross-sectional area of the muscle fiber.

So....if you lift for reps your 1RM will still increase. Naturally if lift for singles, doubles and triples your top end strength will improve better.

My suggestion if you want to lift, be strong, still run some....Basic Strength or something similar.

Lift for 4-6 reps. Choose big heavy basic lifts. Total body. 3 times a week. Alternate a period of time of 4-6 reps and a period of time of 10-15 reps (period of time: weeks, months, whatever). Alternate a period of time of low volume (3-4 exercises) with a period of time of high volume (Ahnuld-style....8-10 exercises, many sets)

Now, this is a running site...so if you actually want to run and improve your running then your lifting needs to be minimal in volume.

Alan