Student Fitness Thread to end all fitness threads

[iamfar]

What are your guys' thoughts on too much protein? Is that possible? I'm trying to drop 13 pounds but when I get hungry, I get super hangry. I've been consuming 1-2 protein shakes instead of snacking (I tend to eat horrible foods like ice cream and chips and fast food and bread for snacks). It's 60 grams of protein, but only 360 calories, which is much less than I eat when snacking. Does the protein turn into fat? I have one shake after working out, but one just when I'm hungry. Is that bad?

You aren't consuming too much protein. All calories will be turned into fat if you are getting an excess. The best way to lose weight is to figure out an estimate of how many calories to need to eat a day. Then take that amount and subtract 500 and eat that many calories. Try to eat healthy and weigh yourself regularly and within a few months you'll drop the weight.

For example, I need around 2900-3000 calories to maintain my weight. If I want to lose weight I try to eat 2500 calories a day.

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[The Buff OP]

My stance is shoulder width, maybe slightly narrower. I was gonna try and go a liiiiiitle bit wider, but I don't wanna go too wide since the OLY shoes make it awkward to go out past shoulder width

Get you some Chuck Taylors' The vid that Mclovin linked seems legit. I stand a little bit wider than shoulder width. I know powerlifters definitely do wider stance in the competitions (from what I have seen).

 

[Futuredoctor1234]

You aren't consuming too much protein. All calories will be turned into fat if you are getting an excess. The best way to lose weight is to figure out an estimate of how many calories to need to eat a day. Then take that amount and subtract 500 and eat that many calories. Try to eat healthy and weigh yourself regularly and within a few months you'll drop the weight.

For example, I need around 2900-3000 calories to maintain my weight. If I want to lose weight I try to eat 2500 calories a day.

Thanks!! But okay, I know this is extreme, but I say I solely ate protein shakes for a day. I need 1400 according to this cool machine I went on that separates muscle from fat and whatever. I'm 5'8 and about 150. Would it be ridiculous to just do 900 cals a day in protein shakes so I never feel hungry?

 

[darkjedi]

Your poops would probably be gnarly from having no fiber.

As with anything in life, overdoing any one thing is usually a recipe for disaster. You would need some variety to keep from getting malnourished in other nutrients. If you really over-do it and have too little fat in your diet, you can actually have protein poisoning.

 

[iamfar]

Thanks!! But okay, I know this is extreme, but I say I solely ate protein shakes for a day. I need 1400 according to this cool machine I went on that separates muscle from fat and whatever. I'm 5'8 and about 150. Would it be ridiculous to just do 900 cals a day in protein shakes so I never feel hungry?

Eat foods that will keep you full better. Lean meats such as chicken breast, complex carbs(Potatoes, Vegetables, Whole Wheat foods). You still need fats in your diet. Basically, eat a healthy varied diet. I can't imagine how much gas you would get after 900 calories worth of protein shakes.

1400 calories a day seems low for someone your size. It would be really hard. Try this site: https://mytdee.com

 

[Gilakend]

We're freaks baby

I have laughed more at these pages then probably anywhere else on the internet.

http://genovapedia.org/
http://genovapedia.org/quotes.html

 

[Futuredoctor1234]

Eat foods that will keep you full better. Lean meats such as chicken breast, complex carbs(Potatoes, Vegetables, Whole Wheat foods). You still need fats in your diet. Basically, eat a healthy varied diet. I can't imagine how much gas you would get after 900 calories worth of protein shakes.

1400 calories a day seems low for someone your size. It would be really hard. Try this site: https://mytdee.com

Oh my gosh, that was a really high number. Almost 2,500 to maintain weight. That can't be right, I'd be huge! But it said 1600 a day if I'm on "reckless" and trying to lose 13 lbs. So, not far from 1400.

But thank you for taking the time to help explain healthy dieting! Realistically I'm not going to do an all protein shake diet, but I'm trying to learn as much about healthy eating before I start school next semester, and I want to learn more about protein since it seems to be the best thing to keep me from snacking!

 

[aalamruad]

Interesting... how much caffeine do you think I should take though? Like the equivalent of 1 cup of coffee? The pre workout I take has 135mg, I think that's like a cup and a half of coffee, I'm 130 lb's and I never drink coffee so I'm thinking the 135mg is maybe too high?

Also, could you elaborate on why you think there's no point in taking caffeine on every run?

A cup of coffee is generally 90-100mg, so 1-1.5 cups of coffee should do the trick. Unless you're racing, you should feel free to experiment with doses as long as you keep it under 400mg in a single dose (try to avoid exceeding 400mg in a single day, actually)

The reasoning for not taking caffeine on every run is kind of complicated, but it basically boils down to the counter-intuitive fact that unlike most sports, improvements in long-distance running aren't optimally attained through maximum effort. Moderate effort typically leads to more improvement than pushing yourself hard, and caffeine can prevent you from using moderate effort (though its benefits typically outweigh its consequences which is why you should use it regularly, and also why almost all Olympic long-distance runners use it). If you want to read a pretty interesting article about it that I just came across, here ya go: https://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/how-to-run-faster/

 

[Skittsie13]

Is there anybody here that doesn't lift lol, Its not that I don't want to lift, I actually want to, but that section of the gym always has all these muscular dudes (All of you guys!) and I'm this skinny girl with no upper body strength so it's kinda intimidating. Plus I don't know how to use any of the equipment over there so I'm gonna look like a complete idiot lol

But does anyone have thoughts on using pre workout for running? I know a lot of the lifters here use it, I personally love using it before a run, but I've heard mixed views online that it's bad for runners. I heard since running itself increases your heart rate and pre workout also increases heart rate, then together its dangerous. But I love my C4, maybe I could just use it 2-3 x a week instead of everyday?

Hey! As a fellow small female, I found it a lot easier to get into lifting with a program. I definitely recommend that female fitness subreddit someone linked, and I also recommend one of the programs that you can find linked there, Strong Curves. The Kindle version (which you can use on a smartphone with the Kindle app) was only $10 and it really helps me not feel intimidated when I know exactly what I have to do. It has pictures of all the exercises and the ones I'm not sure of, I just watch on YouTube to make sure I'm doing them correctly.

 

[aalamruad]

Anyone here currently training for a marathon with me?

 

[redsox93]

Anyone here currently training for a marathon with me?

I wanna do a half. Have you done one?

 

[aalamruad]

I wanna do a half. Have you done one?

Nope, this will be my first, never been much of a long-distance runner until recently

 

[The Buff OP]

Anyone here currently training for a marathon with me?

No, but good luck. What goes into preparation for a marathon?

 

[Skittsie13]

I did a half in December! At the beginning of the year I could barely run two miles straight through. Didn't run my first 5k until May and 10k sometime in the fall. I was super slow but I'm looking forward to training again and improving my time a lot later this year.

 

[aalamruad]

No, but good luck. What goes into preparation for a marathon?

Thanks! Most training schedules are about 3-4 days of running per week with strength training and cross training (usually cycling or swimming) in between, starting at 2-3 miles per run with slightly longer runs one day per week, and slowly working up the distance on the long runs until you get to ~20 miles a month before the race at which point you start to taper the long runs down to ~8 miles the week before racing.

Here's a schedule for beginners, which I'm following pretty closely:
edit: can't seem to upload the image, this is the link to the site with the schedule: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/marathon-training-schedule.html

I did a half in December! At the beginning of the year I could barely run two miles straight through. Didn't run my first 5k until May and 10k sometime in the fall. I was super slow but I'm looking forward to training again and improving my time a lot later this year.

That's awesome! I could barely run two miles at the beginning too, I feel ya. I'm trying to finish my training and run a marathon before I go on a backpacking trip through South America this summer since my training will probably be set back quite a bit if I run the marathon afterwards, I just hope I don't injure myself by trying to compress my suggested training schedule! Keep us posted about your training later this year

 

[Mclovin0351]

A cup of coffee is generally 90-100mg, so 1-1.5 cups of coffee should do the trick. Unless you're racing, you should feel free to experiment with doses as long as you keep it under 400mg in a single dose (try to avoid exceeding 400mg in a single day, actually)

The reasoning for not taking caffeine on every run is kind of complicated, but it basically boils down to the counter-intuitive fact that unlike most sports, improvements in long-distance running aren't optimally attained through maximum effort. Moderate effort typically leads to more improvement than pushing yourself hard, and caffeine can prevent you from using moderate effort (though its benefits typically outweigh its consequences which is why you should use it regularly, and also why almost all Olympic long-distance runners use it). If you want to read a pretty interesting article about it that I just came across, here ya go: https://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/how-to-run-faster/

The book 80/20 running explains this wonderfully. Also I did a marathon on a whim in October, great experience, have fun!

 

[Kgizzle]

I didn't see the most important work out tip in this thread so I'll mention it... NEVER... SKIP....LEG...DAY

 

[Lollygag]

I didn't see the most important work out tip in this thread so I'll mention it... NEVER... SKIP....LEG...DAY

This is so true!!!! I'm sure it's important for lifters too but I used to never do anything else except run, and after a while I noticed my 2 mile run time was pretty stagnant yet I still felt sore after runs.

I started doing squats and lunges and my legs were on fire the first week, but I slowly noticed my run time decreasing and my legs didn't feel as fatigued after a run anymore.

It makes a huge difference, I also used to pull my hamstring every now and then and I haven't pulled it once since I started doing leg workouts.


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[RogueBanana]

This is so true!!!! I'm sure it's important for lifters too but I used to never do anything else except run, and after a while I noticed my 2 mile run time was pretty stagnant yet I still felt sore after runs.

I started doing squats and lunges and my legs were on fire the first week, but I slowly noticed my run time decreasing and my legs didn't feel as fatigued after a run anymore.

It makes a huge difference, I also used to pull my hamstring every now and then and I haven't pulled it once since I started doing leg workouts.


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Just be careful not to overtrain your legs!

 

[darkjedi]

Just be careful not to overtrain your legs!

No way man, squats eerday

 

[The Buff OP]

Thanks! Most training schedules are about 3-4 days of running per week with strength training and cross training (usually cycling or swimming) in between, starting at 2-3 miles per run with slightly longer runs one day per week, and slowly working up the distance on the long runs until you get to ~20 miles a month before the race at which point you start to taper the long runs down to ~8 miles the week before racing.

Here's a schedule for beginners, which I'm following pretty closely:
edit: can't seem to upload the image, this is the link to the site with the schedule: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/marathon-training-schedule.html

Do you sip on energy gels during your runs? How come some people like to go running on long distances without any water?

 

[The Buff OP]

Just be careful not to overtrain your legs!

0/10

No way man, squats eerday

10/10

 

[redsox93]

Nope, this will be my first, never been much of a long-distance runner until recently

Same here I just got into it pretty recently too. I wanna start out with a half by this summer and maybe train for a marathon by next summer. 26 miles just seems so daunting haha

 

[RogueBanana]

Same here I just got into it pretty recently too. I wanna start out with a half by this summer and maybe train for a marathon by next summer. 26 miles just seems so daunting haha

first 25 are the hardest. It's gravy after that.

 

[RogueBanana]

No way man, squats eerday

Calm down Smolov

 

[aalamruad]

The book 80/20 running explains this wonderfully. Also I did a marathon on a whim in October, great experience, have fun!

I'll check that book out, thanks

Woah, you ran a marathon on a whim?! That's impressive! And you sound like Barney from himym haha

Do you sip on energy gels during your runs? How come some people like to go running on long distances without any water?

I don't use energy gels yet, but I certainly will when I get up to longer distances.

And I'm not sure why some people avoid drinking water, my best guess is that they're concerned about cramps/stitches. Seems unwise, but I've read that running counteracts the diuretic effects of caffeine which I suppose might also mean that it effectively maintains hydration and fluid level balances in general, so maybe the lack of drinking water isn't actually so bad. I'd have to do quite a bit more research on the topic to really have any idea what I'm talking about though haha

Same here I just got into it pretty recently too. I wanna start out with a half by this summer and maybe train for a marathon by next summer. 26 miles just seems so daunting haha

Yeah it's definitely intimidating! Most training schedules for beginners suggest 4.5-6 months of training, so you can definitely do it in that amount of time! Keep us posted with your progress

 

[centyrone]

How did you improve your bench? I've been stuck at 265 for a while.

Weak point training is ideal for strength gain plateaus in my experience. What is your weak point? For the longest time my weakpoint was off my chest and now its more towards 50% ROM, but for a lot of people it's the last 10% of the lockout. Depending on what your weakpoint is you can ideally incorporate certain bench variants to train that weakpoint. I personally train the conjugate method which is completely centered around training weakpoints and it really is effective, however in powerflifting you'll get a large range of opinions and there are other options out there.

 

[centyrone]

I followed the heavy-moderate-light weekly rotation. So the recovery wasn't awful.
I started a 5x5 modification recently, and the problem is definitely my ability to stay tight under the bar. @Mclovin0351 's post on chris duffin's breathng technique actually helped me a lot with this! I'm hoping it'll translate to a significant increase in poundage next time I hit heavy squats.

I can leg press nearly 700, so the hip/hamstring strength is there, it's just my ability to transfer that force to the squat bar...

Unfortunately leg press is not a huge indicator of strength. A friend of mine can leg press 650 and she weights 120 pounds. It sounds like you need to develop the power behind the movement. Have you tried incorporating different variations of box jumps to develop the speed and power from the hole.

 

[centyrone]

I know many people are familiar with myfitnesspal and use it regularly for tracking their calorie intakes, but there are definitely features missing and their calories estimates are always off. I've been using fitgenie recently to track. It was created by Eric Helms and a few other guys in the fitness industry. I find its calorie estimates to much more accurate for those who are beginners in calculating their own macros. Also it adjusts calorie needs based on your weigh-ins and how hungry you feel throughout the week. Might be worth trying for those of you who don't really know where to start with tracking calories and macros, whether it be for losing weight or gaining weight.

 

[The Buff OP]

Does anyone remember Scooby1961 from YouTube? I use to watch him when I first started lifting a long time ago.

 

[WhittyPsyche]

Female physique trainer checking in. Lifetime of track and cross country, now primarily lift, cardio is for cutting only.

Also a serious supplement stacker, stimulant-free only. Would love to chat about that!

Love this, especially want to connect with lifters, haven't met anyone on the interview trail or current students that are serious lifters, especially women.


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[iamfar]

Does anyone remember Scooby1961 from YouTube? I use to watch him when I first started lifting a long time ago.

Ya I used to watch him way back. I used his videos to learn how to do pull-ups.

 

[The Buff OP]

Female physique trainer checking in. Lifetime of track and cross country, now primarily lift, cardio is for cutting only.

Also a serious supplement stacker, stimulant-free only. Would love to chat about that!

Love this, especially want to connect with lifters, haven't met anyone on the interview trail or current students that are serious lifters, especially women.


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Welcome!
lol when you say physique trainer, do you mean like Dana Linn Bailey?

 

[WhittyPsyche]

Welcome!
lol when you say physique trainer, do you mean like Dana Linn Bailey?

Haha Dana is goals because she is amazing and I have used her Olympia Prep for my cutting season. Howeverrrrrr that is not my body type goals. More slender.


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[FuturePharmerOfAmerica]

What are your guys' thoughts on too much protein? Is that possible? I'm trying to drop 13 pounds but when I get hungry, I get super hangry. I've been consuming 1-2 protein shakes instead of snacking (I tend to eat horrible foods like ice cream and chips and fast food and bread for snacks). It's 60 grams of protein, but only 360 calories, which is much less than I eat when snacking. Does the protein turn into fat? I have one shake after working out, but one just when I'm hungry. Is that bad?

Eat more protein. That's what helps with trying to lose weight. Lower sodium helps with bloating, lower carbs helps with bulk, lower calories in general. Eat more protein than carbs and etc. Lower sugar intake.

 

[The Buff OP]

Haha Dana is goals because she is amazing and I have used her Olympia Prep for my cutting season. Howeverrrrrr that is not my body type goals. More slender.


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Was it high carbs?
The Bailey's sure look like nice people. I still have their original FNF car decal on my truck.

 

[WhittyPsyche]

Was it high carbs?
The Bailey's sure look like nice people. I still have their original FNF car decal on my truck.

I have a separate diet regimen that I design myself. The prep book documents only her workouts prepping for Olympia 2013. I've seen some of her diets though, carb cycling so mixture of high days low days.

They do seem super nice, her gym videos are cute lol. I also break out in random dance sessions during my workouts, so I relate haha.


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[The Buff OP]

I have a separate diet regimen that I design myself. The prep book documents only her workouts prepping for Olympia 2013. I've seen some of her diets though, carb cycling so mixture of high days low days.

They do seem super nice, her gym videos are cute lol. I also break out in random dance sessions during my workouts, so I relate haha.


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yeah, I doubt she would leak Farrah's diet methods. George Farrah is known for putting his clients on high carbs (it works for them). I think she is done with competing. I have met a couple of IFBB pros and for the most part they are nice.

¿oye de donde eres?

 

[WhittyPsyche]

yeah, I doubt she would leak Farrah's diet methods. George Farrah is known for putting his clients on high carbs (it works for them). I think she is done with competing. I have met a couple of IFBB pros and for the most part they are nice.

¿oye de donde eres?

Yeah I know. I don't do high carbs. Have tried it but I can't keep my water retention optimal with the high carbs, and oddly I feel more fatigue with it.

I have some pros in my circle. A lot of former track stars get into BB. Plus IG has connected me with many that I've then had some fire sessions with.

East coast! You?


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[The Buff OP]

I have some pros in my circle. A lot of former track stars get into BB. Plus IG has connected me with many that I've then had some fire sessions with.

East coast! You?


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Damn, that's what's up.

From Texas, but currently live in Arizona.

 

[WhittyPsyche]

Damn, that's what's up.

From Texas, but currently live in Arizona.

I only started using IG this year. It's amazing what social media can do.

Very cool, was just in Arizona for a day for the first time haha.


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[Yadster101]

So at first you start light, it takes 45-1hr

Once the weights get up there (heavy day isn't fun) the rest between sets will increase and you can expect to be there about an hour on average, sometimes more. As your weights and strength increase, sleep and diet become much more important because heavy high rep work like that can burn you out quick. Watch your recovery, sleep good and eat good and you should never be more than 1:30. Usually closer to 1 hour. If you end up doing the routine and have questions for me feel free to pm! I did it for almost 2 years straight so I'm an expert on it at this point...

So I've been doing allpro for about ~6 months. I've worked out on and off since high school. I bulked on all pro for ~4 months and went from 155 to 163. I'm currently at 160 lbs at 5"9 probably ~18% bf. My lifts are : Bench: 60 lb dumb bells X 10 reps (2 sets). Bent over row: 115lbs 8 reps (2 sets). Shoulder press: 30 lb dumbells for 12 reps (2 sets). Barbell curl: 65 lbs for 10 reps (2 sets).

I've kind of stalled out on bench and its not really going up for me. Same with bent over rows. I do do dead lifts/squats but I've purposely slowed the progression on those cuz of some shoulder issues. At this point I want to get down to ~155lbs but I know my lifts are weak. I just dont personally like walking around at 160+lbs and bulking is annoying. What should I do? Should I gain/lose weight? Am I super weak?

 

[centyrone]

So I've been doing allpro for about ~6 months. I've worked out on and off since high school. I bulked on all pro for ~4 months and went from 155 to 163. I'm currently at 160 lbs at 5"9 probably ~18% bf. My lifts are : Bench: 60 lb dumb bells X 10 reps (2 sets). Bent over row: 115lbs 8 reps (2 sets). Shoulder press: 30 lb dumbells for 12 reps (2 sets). Barbell curl: 65 lbs for 10 reps (2 sets).

I've kind of stalled out on bench and its not really going up for me. Same with bent over rows. I do do dead lifts/squats but I've purposely slowed the progression on those cuz of some shoulder issues. At this point I want to get down to ~155lbs but I know my lifts are weak. I just dont personally like walking around at 160+lbs and bulking is annoying. What should I do? Should I gain/lose weight? Am I super weak?

It's all about your own goals man and how you feel best! Nobody can tell you that you NEED to do a cut or bulk to get X results. Just set goals, figure out a plan of action and shoot for them. Have you ever tested your 1 Rep Max (1RM) in certain lifts, i.e. Bench, Deadlift, Squat? I'm biased because I'm into powerlifting, but if you're talking strength they're pretty good go to's. Most people determine strength as a ratio of 1RM / Bodyweight (BW). Depending on this ratio, you can determine your strength levels. Your post seems to focus on strength and less about hypertrophy. If you can get yourself on a nice linear progression strength program, I bet you'll see some nice strength gains. Other people have suggested some nice programs already (Wendler 5/3/1, SS, 1RM + 5x5) etc.

Just to throw in my .02 about where to go with your fitness goals, think long term at first and think about where you'd like to be in a year or so. Do you want a certain physique and also be strong, do you want to be really strong but don't care about your physique, or do you just want to get an optimal physique and do a lean bulk to put on some clean muscle all year? This will determine where you should head in your fitness goals. But at 18% bf I would suspect you would need to go down closer to ~147 to really cut that bf% down. But cuts can be quite methodical especially if you're trying to maintain strength and as much muscle mass as possible. Overall, do what will make you happy and what will make you enjoy going to the gym every time.

 

[Dinkin Flicka]

replying to save this

 

[RogueBanana]

Weak point training is ideal for strength gain plateaus in my experience. What is your weak point? For the longest time my weakpoint was off my chest and now its more towards 50% ROM, but for a lot of people it's the last 10% of the lockout. Depending on what your weakpoint is you can ideally incorporate certain bench variants to train that weakpoint. I personally train the conjugate method which is completely centered around training weakpoints and it really is effective, however in powerflifting you'll get a large range of opinions and there are other options out there.

I heard the conjugate method wan't really optimal for raw/natty lifters. Thoughts?

 

[freak7]

replying to save this

You can just use the "watch thread" butting next time

 

[RogueBanana]

So I've been doing allpro for about ~6 months. I've worked out on and off since high school. I bulked on all pro for ~4 months and went from 155 to 163. I'm currently at 160 lbs at 5"9 probably ~18% bf. My lifts are : Bench: 60 lb dumb bells X 10 reps (2 sets). Bent over row: 115lbs 8 reps (2 sets). Shoulder press: 30 lb dumbells for 12 reps (2 sets). Barbell curl: 65 lbs for 10 reps (2 sets).

I've kind of stalled out on bench and its not really going up for me. Same with bent over rows. I do do dead lifts/squats but I've purposely slowed the progression on those cuz of some shoulder issues. At this point I want to get down to ~155lbs but I know my lifts are weak. I just dont personally like walking around at 160+lbs and bulking is annoying. What should I do? Should I gain/lose weight? Am I super weak?

I had a similar problem, I was afraid to put weight on at first since I didn't want to lose my "abs"
You added about a lb of weight per month on your bulk, so my initial instinct is to say that you are afraid to put weight on and are therefore not eating enough.

The purpose of the allpro routine is to gain size first, and then strength. So if you are focused only on getting stronger, I would suggest you rotate to a more strength based powerlifting routine, such as 5x5, 5/3/1, etc...

If you want to get bigger, you need to eat more, you should ideally be adding a pound per week during a bulk on allpro. You can keep the fat off during this bulk by walking / swimming on your off days. I made the mistake of thinking "I'm bulking! No cardio for me, just 3 days of lifting" and because of that I put on a little more fat than I would have liked. 3 days of lifting isn't enough to have a healthy routine, and allpro recommends that you do cardio on off days.

Also, try transitioning to barbell bench press. You'll be able to press more, and It may help with your shoulder issues.

*EDIT*
also, take a week off!
The biggest problem I had on allpro was that the "deload" weeks were not really deloads at all. 8 reps with more than 75% of your 1rm is not a "break". I was consistently fatigued and I was paranoid about taking a week off. Trust me, this routine will beat you up if you don't take a week off between cycles.

If I were to run allpro again (and I'm probably gonna in the near future) I would take a week between each 5-week mesocycle where I drop the weight down and do different exercises:

for example, I'd do leg press or regular deadlifts instead of squat, I'd drop stiff legged deadlifts for hamstring curls, bench press would be replaced by cable flyes with light weight

 

[Yadster101]

I had a similar problem, I was afraid to put weight on at first since I didn't want to lose my "abs"
You added about a lb of weight per month on your bulk, so my initial instinct is to say that you are afraid to put weight on and are therefore not eating enough.

The purpose of the allpro routine is to gain size first, and then strength. So if you are focused only on getting stronger, I would suggest you rotate to a more strength based powerlifting routine, such as 5x5, 5/3/1, etc...

If you want to get bigger, you need to eat more, you should ideally be adding a pound per week during a bulk on allpro. You can keep the fat off during this bulk by walking / swimming on your off days. I made the mistake of thinking "I'm bulking! No cardio for me, just 3 days of lifting" and because of that I put on a little more fat than I would have liked. 3 days of lifting isn't enough to have a healthy routine, and allpro recommends that you do cardio on off days.

Also, try transitioning to barbell bench press. You'll be able to press more, and It may help with your shoulder issues.

*EDIT*
also, take a week off!
The biggest problem I had on allpro was that the "deload" weeks were not really deloads at all. 8 reps with more than 75% of your 1rm is not a "break". I was consistently fatigued and I was paranoid about taking a week off. Trust me, this routine will beat you up if you don't take a week off between cycles.

If I were to run allpro again (and I'm probably gonna in the near future) I would take a week between each 5-week mesocycle where I drop the weight down and do different exercises:

for example, I'd do leg press or regular deadlifts instead of squat, I'd drop stiff legged deadlifts for hamstring curls, bench press would be replaced by cable flyes with light weight

You're right that I am a bit afraid to gain weight. I'm also trying not to gain weight because I sometimes fast for religious reasons and I feel like it's easier to fast and stay focused on my studies when my caloric needs are ~2300cal vs 2800+ calories. So there's also a lifestyle thing. So with that being said I'm pretty sure my goal right now is to gain strength/maintain strength while not going above 160lbs. Is this a dumb goal? Should i do a 5x5?

 

[centyrone]

I heard the conjugate method wan't really optimal for raw/natty lifters. Thoughts?

I'm not sure there really is any "optimal" program for certain lifters, raw or natty, but I know from my own anecdotal experience (natty) and watching a few people on Youtube (pretty sure natty) who run conjugate that there's definitely strength gains to be made running conjugate. I know it gets criticism because of the resistance bands and chains you'll see guys using in conjugate, but I personally don't use them. Instead I focus on exercise variations to hammer weakpoints and use dynamic days to really work on speed and power. To me it just makes sense anatomically that the weakpoints are a result of a certain muscle group being weaker and emphasizing those muscle groups through other variations allows the entire movement to become stronger. Conjugate is pretty low volume so that's another consideration.

 

[RogueBanana]

You're right that I am a bit afraid to gain weight. I'm also trying not to gain weight because I sometimes fast for religious reasons and I feel like it's easier to fast and stay focused on my studies when my caloric needs are ~2300cal vs 2800+ calories. So there's also a lifestyle thing. So with that being said I'm pretty sure my goal right now is to gain strength/maintain strength while not going above 160lbs. Is this a dumb goal? Should i do a 5x5?

I think 5/3/1 or 5x5 would be a better fit for your goals.
You aren't gonna get much stronger and will probably burn out doing allpro without eating properly. At least with a 5x5 or even 5x3 the volume will be in a more manageable range. Either way you should try to eat more when you can if you want to continue progressing.