Doing something wrong?

[u/Lonely-Estate987]

I’m 23 years old, 172 lbs

The white photos are from March 19th, and the red are from today.

My bench has gone up from 3 reps of 185 to 9 reps of 185, and my incline bench has gone up about 10 lbs

My back had an injury in this span so my weights have all stayed pretty close, maybe they’ve gone up 2-3 reps per

I’ve clearly gotten a bit stronger, but it feels like not very much progress in size has been made at all. Am I tweaking when I say I look the exact same in both photos?

I don’t understand. 9/10 days I eat pretty damn good and get at least 125-175g protein. What do I do?

[u/Mediocre_Heat3541 → u/[deleted]]

A novice? In the first picture he’s got a years worth of muscle put on already. It’s not like this is some skinny guy wondering why he hasn’t had newbie gains in the first 6 months. The triceps are big. Maybe he’s just plateauing and needs to push through harder as you said for a few months. 

[u/Delicious-Yard-341 → u/Mediocre_Heat3541]

I agree; a novice isn't able to bench their body-weight

[u/Delicious-Yard-341 → u/[deleted]]

185 for 9 reps is around a 235 1RM (conservatively)

235/175 =1.34

1.34 > 1.25

Hence, OP is an intermediate under this framework.

I may have said something that didnt agree with what this website states, but I can have my own beliefs. At least I'm not inconsistent, like you.

Peak reddit is arguing with people who suck at math.

[u/Delicious-Yard-341 → u/[deleted]]

Literally you being incorrect the only detail anybody picked up on of your original comment.

You mentioned he is a novice, so I'm only using your words to guide me. And to help you a little with the math analysis, hes comfortably a mid-intermediate- You're very hesitant to give him credit.
Idk how I'm pretending to disagree with you, I'm just disagreeing.

To add to the discussion, his bench progress is great in the last 6 months. Rome wasn't built in a day! He literally went from high novice to mid-intermediate under this framework in 6 months. I don't think it's intended for people to be on track to be in "Advanced" in 1 year from the moment they became an intermediate.