r/StartingStrength

Hi everyone

I'm too weak ( literally too weak ) and I've been going to the gym for like 6 months and i didn't see any progress even in strength

And i found out that my form was too bad in every exercise and my diet was bad too

And now it's been a month and half, I've fixed my form and improved my diet a little bit( it's still not that good ), and i started taking creatine in 2 months

But still there is just a little progress in only reps

Let's say i started with weight i can do 6 reps, then after weeks i reach 12 reps, and when i try to use more weight i fail to do even a single rep with good form

( my lat pulldown is stuck at 20kg, pec deck at 16 kg, machine shoulder press 10kg )

( and in the past couple of months i gained weight but only fat with no muscles, and now I'm 70kg, and when i touch or sqeeze my hand i don't even fell muscles i only feel fat )

I'm now eating 2400 kcal, and about 80g proteins ( i not the protein is not much but i should've made atleast some progress in strength)

I'm 19, 177cm, 70kg

Does anyone know what should i do ? Or anyone has been through that can help

Thanks

I notice that a lot of bodybuilders are using low-volume approaches (1–2 hard sets) with simple double progression or linear progression. Why don't more powerlifters or powerbuilders use something similar? I know beginner programs often do, but once you get to intermediate or advanced levels, it seems like programming becomes much more complicated with higher volume and moderate-to-low intensity (percentages deloads etc..).

Why not keep it simple with low-to-moderate volume and high intensity?

For example:

• Squat: 2×5 or 3×5. If you get 5 reps on every set, increase the weight by 2.5 kg next week. Personally, I don't think double progression (like 5–9 reps) makes much sense on barbell squats because they're so fatiguing. I'd rather just progress the weight once I hit all my sets for 5.
• Deadlift: 1×5 only. Progress weekly with small weight increases.
• Bench and OHP: Either double progression or linear progression seems to work well.

My thinking is that if fatigue and volume are managed properly, why would someone stall? If someone stalls on a moderate- or low-volume, high-intensity program, wouldn't the first things to look at be recovery (sleep, diet, stress), too much accessory volume, or simply needing more rest days?

So my main question is: Is high volume really worth it for strength, or is it mostly necessary for some people because they can't tolerate high intensity as well?

I'd love to hear from people with coaching or powerlifting experience, because I'm trying to understand the reasoning behind more complex, higher-volume programming.

I've been thinking about how much information there is on lifting now, yet people still seem to struggle with certain things.
Whether you're a beginner or have been training for years:
What's the biggest problem you've experienced in your lifting journey?
What confused or frustrated you the most?
Is there something you still wish had a better solution?
I'm interested in hearing about anything—from programming, exercise selection, recovery, nutrition, tracking progress, motivation, or something completely different.
Curious to hear what everyone's experiences have been.

22M, 5'10", 150lb. Training for 3 years (started at 121lb). Ran PPL, then switched to Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty routine — sleep and diet were poor for most of this period due to working night shifts, but I still made decent progress on HD despite that. I quit night shifts in February and switched to an Upper/Lower split around then, and recovery has improved a lot since. Last month I switched to Starting Strength.

My lifts jumped fast at first on SS (all with a 44lb bar):

Squat: 110lb → 176lb

Bench: 88lb → 110lb

Deadlift: 110lb → 176lb

Overhead Press: N/A (never trained this before) → 88lb

I eat around 3000 kcal/day, roughly 1g protein per lb of bodyweight (~150g).

But I've now stalled on squat and bench specifically — deadlift and OHP are still moving.

Given that the stall is isolated to two lifts rather than across the board, is this a sign I need a reset on just those two, or is it time to move to an intermediate program? Would appreciate any input.

I’m trying to put together a small home gym, and dumbbells are probably the first thing I should stop putting off. Right now I just have a random pair that’s too light for half my workouts and somehow still always in the way.

I mostly do basic stuff at home like rows, presses, curls, goblet squats, lunges, and shoulder work. I don’t need a full commercial setup, but I also don’t want cheap dumbbells that feel awkward, smell weird, or start falling apart after a few months.

I’m torn between buying a fixed dumbbell set over time or just getting adjustable ones and saving the space. Fixed ones seem nicer to use, but adjustables make more sense if you don’t have much room.

For anyone who built a home gym, what dumbbell set did you go with? Would you choose the same setup again, or do you wish you went fixed/adjustable from the start?

I recently came back to Starting Strength from more bodybuilding-style training since my 10-year anniversary of lifting is coming up, and I still haven't hit some goal numbers I wanted to when I first set out.

When I restarted, I used 1 5RM followed by two backoff sets @90%, and of course the light squat day.

Over about 4 months, I had the following strength gains. There were many resets and microloading involved, if this looks slow, and the last month of it, basically no progress was made.

S/B/D (5 Rep Maxes)

315/205/365 -> 345/225/400

I started to stall, and not having read: https://startingstrength.com/article/programming-a-smooth-nlp yet, I decided to switch to juggernaut 2.0 for 4 months. I wasn't seeing any strength progress on juggernaut (even the low rep blocks), so I decided to go back to starting strength. Of course after 1 week deload, I came back much weaker from my body adjusting to submaximal sets, and am now building up strength again.

Coming off juggernaut, I was hitting (5RM) 300/205/370. After two weeks of making great gains and retraining maximal work, I'm back to 335/225/365.

With deadlift, the problem is pretty clearly grip strength. I used to be able to grip 400lbs (w/straps) no problem. Now, I can't even grip 365. My deadlift doesn't remotely fatigue me, but the weight slips out of my hands. It's odd, but no matter how hard I try my thumbs detach from the bar mid-rep as my grip gets fatigued, and the bar roles out to my finger tips.

I've watched a million videos on how to use straps at this point, and I haven't changed my usage since I was pulling 5x400. I'm not using them wrong. My straps were a little old, so I tried a new pair and had the same issue. I'm not gripping the bar wrong, as far as I can tell. My grip is also just way weaker and feels fatigued warming up, so I'm starting to think it is a programing thing.

Currently program deadlift 1x/per week. I am not power cleaning, and replace cleans with rows or pull-ups depending on the day.

Has anyone experienced anything similar?

Calories are about 3k-3.5k per day at the moment.