wanna get strong

I started just under a month ago weighing about 145. I have been taking pro-nos, an isolate protein powder and now i weigh about 155. I look bigger and ive seen gains in my lifting power, but i dont look toned. my question is how long do you generally lift heavy for? I have been lifting heavy low reps for about 3 weeks (i.e a bench set would be:
1 set of 10 at 155
1 set of 8 at 170
1 set of 4 at 185
1 set of 2 a 200)


I understand that when I "cut", ill lose some of my mass but still retain the power, just that i will have definition. in order to cut, i move to lower weight higher reps. Again, how long should one lift heavy for? Should i switch it up? My goal is to be able to bench 240 or 225 more than 4 times.

Thanks

p.s any recommendations as far as keeping my body in optimal lifting condition?

First of all. If after 3 weeks lifting you can benchpress 130% of your body weight you should be training on the natiol powerlifting team and also working on olympic lifting so you can win the olympics in a few years.

I dont really know what your asking though. I mean you have gains that are basically not possible what else do you want?

If your looking to loose weight there's nothing to that, just eat a little less and do a little more cardio.

If your into that sort of thing. As always your better off just doing crossfit.

Peace

I guess i forgot to mention that I am a swimmer and have always had a pretty strong upper body. When i first started working out, my max was 185 I guess what im asking is how long should i be lifting heavy in order to reach my goal of 240? Should i be cycling between a period of heavy lifting then go to light lifting/lots of reps, or should i just continue to be lifting heavy in order to reach my goal the quickest? My fear is that if i continue to be lifting heavy, i will surpass the weight i want to be at. Im guess ideally, i would like to be weighing around 160 to 165

so recap:

im currently 155 at 5'7 my body looks bigger and a lot stronger, but not as toned as i used to be(swimmer body)
I have been lifting consistently for 3 weeks now
I want to reach my goal bench of 240 lbs the quickest way possible without gaining incredible amount of weight.
Question being what is the best way to achieve my goal with the restraint given:
a. cycle between low rep hi weight periods and low weight high rep periods?
b. continue to lift heavy until i reach my goal, then do high rep and low weight to get the definition i wanted.
my fear with option b is that i will continue to gain weight past the physique i wanted to, therefore becoming to bulky.

hope that makes sense.

bump for a reply

To recap... you're looking to gain 85lbs of lean muscle. Because you're just stareting out... If you train hard and eat right, you may be able to gain most of that in a year.

Look up Westside Barbell and elite lifts. Sounds like you want a powerlifting routine which will maximize muscle recruitment and not so much hypertrophy. I don't know as much about powerlifting so I will leave the specifics for you to search out but it is clearly the route for you as far as reps and weights.

im not trying to gain 85 lbs of lean muscle, i want to get to my goal of 240 as quick as possible without gaining to much weight. So i have heard the best way to do this is to do heavy llifting until i reach my goal, then "cut" by losing weight and doing high rep lower weight sets to get the definition. In the end, i wanna be strong but also look toned and define (not like body builder style). is 160 lbs to little to achieve those goals effectively? If this is possible, what are some routines i can do?

thanks

Just keep doing what your doing, like I said. You are already gaining better than probably anyone in history. So why don't you tell us what you've been doing so everyone else can copy it? I coach a number of athletes that could do with your advice!!

Aside from that if your looking to increase your bench press (not strenght) without gaining much body weight you should be incorporating an olympic weight lifting style of routine.

What that means is.... Lifting without "burning" your muscle about 5 times a day (or more if you can do it). Get under the bar as often as possible to lift as heavy as possible but dont try burning out your muscle (that is what makes them grow).

What your looking to do is to recruit more muscle fibre. However, if you are already lifting the weights and reps you say you are you probably have a very high % anyway.

Peace

Westside barbell, elite lifts, and metal militia. These are the guys benching 700+lbs take a look at what they are doing.

It's completely possible theobvious, I'm your same height and weight but I rep 235. You're on the right track with how you're currently training. Key advice to gaining about ten pounds would be to train your whole body, not just chest. Squats will increase your weight.
I used to max out at 225 on bench so what I did to increase my max was dumbell presses. You can go deeper than on a bench and focus on your movements better. Just remember to do full range of motion

thank you all for the advice, but generally how long should you cycle workouts? from what i have been reading, its usually 3 months or about 12 weeks of maintaining a routine. After the gains, do most people cut and pump up the cardio? or is it safe to continue heavy? Also, if it is advisable to cut, how can i safely cut without losing the strength i worked to get? how long do i cut for? Im relatively new to the weight lifting scene and have been researching rigorously. ultimately, i would like to bench twice my weight as my long term goal (roughly 300 lbs). I know olympic weight lifters bench well over 300 lbs weighing around 140, so if i weighed 160, it seems doable. Again thank you all for you help, please veteran weight lifters, any advice?