Realistic lifting goals?

[Merftastic]

Hey everyone,

How much do you set yourself as a target to achieve for weights? What is a reasonable amount of progress?

It's my (big) birthday in 3 months and I want to set some realistic goals to achieve by then. I train 5/6 times a week and alternative upper and lower sessions.

For example I currently bench press 40kg is 50kg achievable in three months?

RDL current = 75kg target = 90kg

Hip thrust = 130kg target = 160kg

Anybody have an idea of these are achievable goals?

Thanks

It sounds achievable if say you did hip thrust 2x a week, that's adding 2.5kg a week.

I found the strengths level website really helpful in calculating out some targets when I was training. In reality it's just about consistency. I also found throwing in the occasional PT session helped as they pushed me to lift more and I surprised myself.

I mosey along and do what my trainer tells me - I want to get my back squat to over my body weight (so 70k +) and maybe add another biscuit or two on my deadlift to get it at say, 107k - at some point before I get too old (I'm 66). I'd love to be able to pull 120k but I think I started lifting too late to get there.

But I think you need to be careful re injury for aiming for a specific weight in a specific time period - building strength is slow & rarely linear.

But go for it! Lifting heavy stuff is fun. Make sure you get a few more big compound lifts in there - if you can RDL 75 k, why not try that in a proper deadlift? I'd guess you could pull far more weight that way.

If you're just doing RDLs and hip thrusts, it seems a bit of an unbalanced programme.

I don’t set myself time-limited weight-specific targets in this way. I do have in mind what I would like to achieve in a vague sort of way but I don’t so much put a timeline of a few months around it. I agree with PP that time-specific weight-specific goals can easily become a route to injury. As soon as one achieves any given strength goal one aims for the next one IME.

My goals are more holistic (stay injury free is a big one for me along with commit to training regularly and goals around competition as well).

Do you have a coach? It can be worth doing a session around goal setting to make sure you are both on the same page.

The other thing to ask id. how long have you been lifting heavy? And do you do more than RDLs and hip thrusts - which sounds more like the fashion of glute building rather than overall strength & mobility.

My own trainer says that there is a max for most people. That depends on age, size, natural ability. So a 25 year old 5’10 woman will lift heavier than a 56 year old 5’6 woman (me!) . Also progression is not strictly linear.

I’m open to correction, I’m not an expert

I agree with the others that setting yourself target weights is an injury risk - it's impossible to know what is realistic. It depends on how long you've been lifting, as the closer you are to your potential/genetic limits (and taking into account age as well) the slower progress will be. It depends how consistently you train, your nutrition, your sleep etc.

Personally i think setting a skill goal is safer and more interesting to work to than a weights goal, not least because you can see progression rather than a binary achieved/not achieved. So things like being able to do a pull up, or a handstand or an L sit. Or just aiming to be rang consistent with your training and programming and then testing yourself at your deadline (I personally don't go for one rep maxes but might do a 3 rep test for example)

@VaddaABeetchI’m sure there is a limit for people but most people are nowhere near it. I’m a powerlifter so I know lots of super strong people. They can lift a lot cos they work hard and are consistent. And train to be able to do it. So whilst your trainer is right in theory, unless he’s working with elite powerlifters he’s not working with people anywhere near their limit.

OP - I used to set myself goals like that, so I get it. But these days I realise that’s futile as you’ll get to where you get to. So I’m also about non time limited non specific goals. So milestones like double bodyweight deadlift, bodyweight bench, but not time limit on that. For my birthday I do AMRAPs instead for that sense of achievement.

It's impossible to say how realistic these goals are without knowing your current bodyweight. Height isn't the determiner of potential- bodyweight is. in any case adding 10 kg to your bench press in a few months- took me a year to go from 40-50kg but I Weighed under 50kg so that wa see benching above my bw. If you weigh 70kg, it might be doable if your training is optimal. Obviously, injury is an issue to. To add 30kg to your hip thrust- that's a massive percentage to your current hip thrust to achieve safely. Rdl goals seem less extreme if it's just or the one rep but difficult to say without knowing your stats and technique.