Muscle Gain

[Headfoot]

I've been doing a weight lifting routine (SL 5x5) for a while now, but I haven't really been pushing myself 5lbs. each workout as the program suggests. Once I hit 200lb squats (which is also my current body weight) I've only been adding 5 lbs every 2 cycles (every 4 workouts for squats, 2 workouts for DL).

I'm only up to 225 for squats at this point but I'm ok with this weight, and am happy with the results I'm seeing in my body so far. I'm wondering if continuing at this weight will continue to increase my muscle mass over time, or without increasing the weight will they stop growing?

I know this is probably a stupid question, but I've heard a lot of people state that unless you are increasing the weight weekly you don't gain much muscle. At this weight I actually struggle toward the last set, so I'm hoping that is enough to gain muscle for now.

Also, will it get easier over time, or if I stay at this weight will I always struggle on the last set? (And by struggle, I'm not in risk of failure, I mean I can feel it and I'm actually pushing, it's not as easy as my warmup sets).

My deads are up to 275 and I don't have any issues with those, but I'm thinking about staying at that weight for those as well. I'm not looking to be able to squat/DL 2x my body weight or anything. I just want to maintain muscle mass and have comfortable workouts.

You can not increase your lifts weight, but that will be essentially "maintenance" work out. Which is a viable option, no doubt. If you are past the "noob gains" phase and into intermediate lifting, you will probably stay at that weight, or perhaps increase very slowly. Muscle wise you will slow down as well, or perhaps even stop. That's not to say this is a bad thing. You can be where you are and stay happy there, maintenance at somewhere where you are happy is the point after all. Maintenance work outs do not have to be intense or as frequent as when you are trying to gain muscle. It's a sliding scale, and the maintenance point depends on the person.

I guess to answer your question, there is a point where you will stop gaining muscle and strength. You're going to have to experiment for yourself and figure out what you need to do and how much you need to eat in order to maintain.