If your lifts have stalled while you think you're in a surplus, check three things in your food log before you touch your program. Your trend weight should actually be rising (about 0.25 to 0.5% of bodyweight a week for most novice and intermediate lifters), protein should be at roughly 1.6 g per kg of bodyweight or more on most days, and you should be eating enough carbs on the days you train. If all three hold up and the stall has lasted 3 weeks or more, I'd look at your program, sleep or recovery before your food.
Two recent Reddit threads show how this goes when workouts are logged in one app and food in another, so nobody reads the stall and the food together. A lifter on r/Weightliftingquestion described six months stuck on a small surplus with around 120 g of protein a day, with training and food in separate apps. Another, stalled on dumbbell bench at 26 kg for months of a long bulk, saw their sets slide from 10, 9, 9 to 6, 6, 5.
01Check 1: are you really in a surplus?
"I'm bulking" and "my trend weight is going up" are different statements. If your appetite drops or a busy month cuts out a meal, the surplus you set in September can be maintenance by November.
Look at your 7-day average weight over the last 3 weeks. Iraki and colleagues' review of off-season nutrition for natural bodybuilders suggests a surplus of about 10 to 20% with a target gain of about 0.25 to 0.5% of bodyweight per week for novice and intermediate lifters, and slower for advanced ones. For an 80 kg lifter, that's roughly 0.2 to 0.4 kg a week. If your average has been flat for 2 to 3 weeks, you aren't in a surplus anymore, whatever your target says.
02Check 2: are you hitting protein most days?
Use your average protein over the week, not your best day. Morton and colleagues' meta-analysis of 49 trials found that gains in fat-free mass from extra protein stopped improving beyond about 1.62 g per kg of bodyweight per day on average. That's about 130 g for an 80 kg lifter. If your weekly average is well under that, fix it before anything else, since it's the cheapest change on this list.
03Check 3: are you eating enough carbs on the days you lift?
The same review recommends at least 3 to 5 g of carbs per kg of bodyweight a day for lifters in the off-season, to cover what resistance training uses. If you "cleaned up" your bulk by cutting carbs, and your training-day carbs dropped around the time your lifts did, that's a lead worth following.
04A 6-week bench log, read week by week
This log is illustrative, not a real user. It's an 80 kg lifter on a planned lean bulk, with a protein target of 130 g.
| Week | Bench top set | Avg calories | Avg protein | Trend weight change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 80 kg x 8 | 2,900 | 150 g | +0.3 kg |
| 2 | 80 kg x 9 | 2,850 | 145 g | +0.2 kg |
| 3 | 82.5 kg x 7 | 2,600 | 118 g | 0.0 kg |
| 4 | 82.5 kg x 7 | 2,550 | 112 g | -0.1 kg |
| 5 | 82.5 kg x 6 | 2,500 | 115 g | 0.0 kg |
| 6 | 82.5 kg x 7 | 2,550 | 110 g | +0.1 kg |
In weeks 1 and 2 the bulk is working. Trend weight is rising inside the target range and bench is going up.
In week 3 the load jumps to 82.5 kg, and losing a couple of reps after a jump is expected. What's not normal is that average intake fell by about 250 to 300 kcal and protein dropped under target in the same week.
In weeks 4 to 6 the trend weight is flat and bench is stuck at 6 to 7 reps. Read on its own, the training log says "plateau, change the program." Read with the food log, it says this lifter has been at maintenance for four weeks with protein short of target.
In this example the fix is food. Get protein back to 130 g or more, bring intake back toward week 1, and give it two weeks before judging. If the weight trend starts rising and bench still doesn't move, then look at the program.
Arrow keeps your lifting log and your food log in one app and uses both, which is the loop this example is about. When your progress stalls on a gain goal, Arrow suggests new calorie and macro targets that you can accept or ignore, which is covered in how Arrow changes your macros when your training stalls.
05What if the food log is clean?
If your trend weight is rising, protein is on target and carbs look fine, the stall is probably somewhere else:
- The program has run its course. Running the same sets and reps for months can stop working. A change in rep range, volume or exercise selection is reasonable.
- Sleep and stress. They're hard to log, so they're easy to underrate.
- You're bulking too fast. A trend rising much faster than 0.5% a week with flat lifts is probably adding more fat than you need. Our lean bulk guide has the signs a surplus is too big.
- Missed sessions. Count how many you actually did in the last 4 weeks.
06FAQ
How long should a stall last before I change something?
I'd wait until two or more main lifts haven't improved for 2 to 3 weeks of training on schedule. One flat session is noise.
Should I just eat more?
Only if your trend weight says you're not gaining. If you're already gaining at 0.25 to 0.5% a week, more food mostly means more fat.
Does protein timing matter for a stall?
I'd get the daily total right before worrying about timing. Our page on what to eat after a workout covers timing in more detail.
07Sources
Checked 2026-11-03.
- Iraki J, Fitschen P, Espinar S, Helms E (2019). Nutrition Recommendations for Bodybuilders in the Off-Season: A Narrative Review. Sports (Basel). PubMed 31247944
- Morton RW et al. (2018). Protein supplementation and resistance training gains, systematic review and meta-analysis of 49 studies. Br J Sports Med. PubMed 28698222
- Reddit threads referenced: Feeling a little stuck 24M (r/Weightliftingquestion, 2026-11-01) · Dumbbell bench press 26kg plateau (r/strengthtraining, 2026-11-01)
- Arrow: App Store listing
This is general information, not medical advice. Talk to a professional before making changes that affect your health.