When I was doing a full weight lifting routine, I might've been limited by protein intake. I tried consuming protein bars in the morning to fill in a protein intake hole. It didn't seem to make a difference. I've been a manager at a pizza place, so I consume lots of meat and cheese. I liked doing heavier weight lifting for strength increases. I tried doing lighter and longer, but I didn't seem to be getting anywhere with that. Maybe I approached it wrong. I was just toning down the heavier stuff and trying to go longer. More recently I tried really long and slow lifting with light weights. I started having nerve irritation in my arms, though. I was doing heavier lifting for my body, because I'm naturally thin and weak (Buddy Holly or Screech from Saved by the Bell). I liked having something closer to normal male strength levels. I would bench press about 65 pounds to start right now and when I was 15 and had done no weight lifting, the 45 pound bar was too heavy for me. It might have been my arms that were too weak. I got where I was bench pressing 135 pounds (3x45) with about 8 reps. I went heavier than that, but I was hitting the reps and spending a lot of time under the bar.