As in a Sumo-Style Deadlift?

I got up to pulling 157.5kg with the conventional stance, but my form wasn't so good after a couple of reps - I could feel my back rounding. I've since de-loaded and switched to the Sumo Deadlift, to see how I get on with that.

It's hardly well below 4%. Getting it that low is very difficult to get, and also to maintain. Were it that low you'd have veins popping out and the muscles in your face and neck would be clearly visible while you're chewing etc. Yours, at a guess, is probably closer to 10% than 5%. Have you ever tried a body-fat calipers?

And also on a side note, despite my being the same height, my thighs are bigger than your waist (they're 26.5'').

Nah my stance is a little wider than it should be but my grip placement is the same as a regular dead lift. Where in the sumo it seems like your grip is closer and stance is wider.

Whatever works for you.

4 % is extremely low, most professional athletes aren't that low (for example most professional soccer and basketball players are around 10 % or slightly below it). I'm guessing you are in the same range (8-10 % bodyfat)

Bruce Lee in his prime might be close to that 4 %

First Day at the gym.
Had a friend show me stuff.
My Bench Press is 70lbs.
Going to get that up to my body weight - 155.
Going to go 3 days a week.

If gloves help you, chalk (or any powder of the sort) will do miracles for you. Chalk ground up will aid immensely in your grip with dead lift. My fingers personally are stuck in a grip position for a few seconds and feel numb after the lift, but my grip is tenacious (I don't let go). This paves the way for letting your back, legs, and core get their maximum exertion.

I guess it's time to report some progress after roughly a year now. Here's what I'm at now:

Deadlift: 160kg x5
Bench Press: 87.5kg x3
Military Press 65kg x3
Squat 132.5kg x5
Stiff-Leg Deadlift 100kg x5

I've de-loaded all of those since though as I'm mixing it between low weight-high reps and high weight-low reps since and I've also cut back my calorie intake slightly. I hope to draw up a proper balanced caloric deficit plan for myself and give "cutting" a try soon.

That's some fine progress in the space of a year, just think how much better again it will be this time next year; I seem to recall reading your 5-8 in height and around 190 lb ?, so how much weight and body fat do you plan on losing

Yeah I'm 5'8 or so and around 90-92kg (~200lb). It would be nice to get it down to like 87kg or so. I'll be getting myself a kitchen scales soon and weighing all my food.

For fatties trying to lose - Michi's food guide. Fat people need to only eat from tier's 1 and 2. If you're overweight and eat from only tier's 1 and 2, you should see some decent fat loss from diet alone, without exercise. With HIIT style training, this diet will destroy your unwanted fat very quickly.

Eat 5 meals per day, 3 main meals and 2 small snacks. 1200-2000 cals/day. Protein(meat) portion should fit in the palm of your hand. Snacks should be very small, like an apple, or half a granola bar, not to fill you up, just enough to keep your body metabolizing all day.

At least 2 Litres of water/day.

Tier 1: The Pious Tier

Apples, with skin
Artichokes
Arugula
Asparagus
Avocados
Beans
Beets
Bok choy
Boysenberries
Bran
Broccoli
Broccoli sprouts
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Cereal, whole grain
Chard
Cherries
Citrus fruits
Collard greens
Cottage cheese, nonfat
Cucumbers
Egg whites
Endive
Fish, cold water (salmon, mackerel, sardines)
Fish, freshwater
Flaxseed
Garlic, fresh
Granola, raw,
no sugar
Hemp seed
Kale
Lettuce, romaine, green or red leaf
Milk, nonfat
Milk, soy
Muesli, raw,
no sugar
Mushrooms
Mustard
Nectarines
Oatmeal
Olive oil
Olives
Onions
Pears, with skin
Peas
Peppers
Plantains
Prunes
Radishes
Raspberries
Refried beans, nonfat
Rice, brown
Salsa, natural, no sugar
Seitan
Spinach
Squash
Strawberries
Sweet potatoes

Tea, green or black
Tempeh
Tofu
Tomato sauce, no sugar
Tomatoes
Vinegar
Water
Yams
Yogurt, nonfat,
no sugar


Tier 2: The Happy Tier

Apples, skinless
Bananas
Blueberries
Bread, whole grain
Cantaloupe
Cheese, nonfat
Chicken, skinless white meat
Coffee, black or cappuccino with nonfat milk
Corn
Cottage cheese,
low-fat
Cream cheese, nonfat
Duck, free-range
Eggplant
Fish, farmed
Granola or energy bar
Grapes
Hummus
Juice, fresh-squeezed with pulp, no sugar
Kiwifruit
Mangoes
Meal replacement
bar
Melon, honeydew
Milk, 1%
Nuts, raw
Ostrich
Pancakes, buckwheat
Papayas
Peaches
Pineapple
Plums
Raisins
Ricotta cheese, nonfat
Soy nuts
Soy sauce
Squid
String beans
Sunflower seeds
Tortillas,
whole wheat
Turkey breast
Vegetable juice
Veggie burger
Venison, free-range
Watermelon
Yogurt, no sugar
Zucchini


Tier 3: The Swiss Tier

A1 Steak Sauce
Angel food cake
Applesauce
Bagels
Beef, eye of round
Beef, London
Beef, top round
Canola oil
Cheese, low-fat
Chicken, dark meat
Chicken sandwich,
broiled
Chicken taco,
baked
Clams Coffee, cappuccino with whole milk
Crab
Cream cheese,
low-fat
Eggs, whole
French fries, baked
Fruit, dried
Graham crackers
Granola
Honey
Jam or marmalade
Jerky, turkey
Juice, from concentrate
Ketchup
Lamb, lean
Lettuce, iceberg
Lobster
Mayonnaise
Milk, 2%
Muesli
Oatmeal, flavored
Oysters
Pancakes
Pasta, plain
Peanut butter, raw
Popcorn, plain
Pork tenderloin
Potatoes, baked
or boiled
Pretzels
Refried beans,
low-fat
Rice cakes
Rice, white
Sauerkraut
Soup, canned broth
Steak, lean
Sweet-and-sour
sauce
Veal cutlet
Wine, red
Yogurt, frozen,
nonfat


Tier 4: The Dodgy Tier

Animal crackers
Beef, filet mignon
Beef, lean ground
Beef, sirloin
Beef Stroganoff
Beer
Bread, refined flour
Buffalo
Butter
Caesar salad, with chicken
Canadian bacon
Cheese (including bleu and goat)
Chili
Chinese food
Chips, low-fat, baked
Coconut
Coffee, iced mocha latte with nonfat milk
Coffee, latte with whole milk
Coffee cake
Crackers
Grilled cheese
sandwich
Ham
Hot dogs, turkey
Ice cream, sugar-free or fat-free
Jell-O
Juice, sweetened
Lamb chops
Lasagna, with meat
Macaroni and cheese
Margarine
Meat loaf
Mexican food
Milk, whole
Muffins
Nuts, salted or roasted
Peanut butter,
not raw
Pepper, stuffed
Pizza, meatless or Hawaiian style
Popcorn, with salt and butter
Pork chop
Potato salad or
macaroni salad
Pudding, with
low-fat milk
Reuben sandwich
Sherbet
Shrimp
Sloppy Joe, lean beef
or turkey
Soft drinks, diet
Soup, canned creamy
Spaghetti,
with meatballs
Sub sandwich
Taco salad,
with chicken
Tortilla, refined flour
or corn
Tuna salad or
chicken salad
Vegetable oil
Wine, white
Yogurt, frozen

Tier 5: The Newburg Tier

Alcohol, hard liquor
Bacon
Baked beans
Beef, ground, regular
Beef taco, fried
Breakfast sandwich,
fast food
Cakes
Candy
Cereal, sugared
Chicken a la King
Chicken, buffalo wings
or nuggets
Chicken or fish
sandwich, fried
Chips, potato or corn
Chocolate
Cinnamon bun
Coffee, mocha, macchiato, ice blended, frappé, triple caramel vanilla buzz bomb, etc.
Cookies
Cream cheese
Creamed veggies
Creamer, nondairy
Doughnuts
French fries
Gravy
Hamburger, fast food
Hot dogs
Ice cream
Jerky, beef, pork,
or venison
Juice, sugar added
Lobster Newburg
Nachos
Onion rings
Pastries
Pies
Potato skins, fried
Potatoes, fried
Potpie
Refried beans,
with lard

Salad dressing, creamy
Sausage
Soft drinks, sugared
Tater tots
Toaster pastries

For those of you who do not workout, but have it in the back of your mind as a viable option, or are starters who lack drive, consider this:

When one works out, dopamine, a feel-good chemical, is released. Upon completion of a good workout, one feels better about oneself, empowered, and self-esteem gets a boost. However, an all-too-common pitfall many stumble into lies in the motivation. Seeing results slowly or not at all, not having quite the time to do the workout, or plain just not having the drive all contribute to avoiding workouts at the beginner stage. Progress can be slow and motivation scarce, leading one to wholly give up keeping frequent workouts seriously. I, as a more advanced lifter, have some advice that may motivate newbies/wannabe lifters. As I said before, lifting releases dopamine, not wholly unlike that of a drug. Take the drug often enough, and a sort of dependence follows. Take the drug away once dependence has set in, and a withdrawl is inevitable. The same holds for weightlifting. Having lifted years, I can say that missing a workout sets me on edge. A minor withdrawl is accompained with slight agitation, weak frustration, and the overall pissed-off attitude (very diluted). I have had a strain in my deltoids for nearly a month now; frustration overtakes me when the day of the week comes along for me to do benchpress (my favorite lift as well). The "symptoms" are hardly felt, but noticeable. They are small body indicators that it is time to take that drug (working out); start pumping some iron.

To those who need motivation, the situation begs less motivation over time. Workouts become something of a joyful habit, not of intermittent pleasure, to you. Getting motivation to complete a good workout will all you need be concerned with, not whether or not you even do one.

This is my advice to you.

I just feel drained afterwards, go home eat a lot and sleep generally lol.

Do you do cardio, weight loss, or weight (muscle) gain?

10 minutes of cardio at start, then bench press, sometimes deadlifts, shoulder press, curls, pull downs, leg press. usually 3x6 of each. then a bit of swimming. I've been drinking protein shakes before the swimming, though. get the amino acids into the blood stream before cortisol can kick in and start breaking them down.

I've been thinking of the possibility that I'm overtraining. It's annoying, because my friend, who hopes to gain strength but won't listen to me, does 40 minutes of cardio at the start. he's not stupid, just seems to disregard me when I say about the limited useful time you have to train before it loses benefit or worse. but I need a spotter, so I need to wait for him to finish lol. still benches 80lbs on a good day, but no talking to him...

God damn cardio bunny. If he's an ectomorph he shouldn't be doing cardio at all, otherwise strength training is a waste of time. My friend had the same mentality until I suggested he cut cardio for a week and in that week he overcame his squat plateau.