4 months of working out, want more results.

[grimble crumble]

first off let me say I dont/wont do steriods, pretty much the only supplement I use is whey protien.

height: 6 foot, maybe 6'1. weight: 180 lb

so Ive been working out around 4ish months while runing 2/3 miles on rest days. my schedule on a good week if I stick to it is work out one day rest the next, on the next off the next ect. on my on days I normally target 2 muscle groups (back/chest, Bi's/tri's, core/shoulders) and just do about 6/7 exercises of your 3 set 10 rep amount. all in all around 45 minutes and I always feel like im pushing myself. my run/rest days are normally a 15 minute 2 mile or a 23 minute 3 mile. I dont do much leg targeting exercises because I have very muscular legs already and tend to just let my runs work them.

I seemed to have lost a lot of body fat while building more muscle at the same time which is really nice, my strength has increased also.

problem is, ive noticed ive sort of hit a wall. I dont feel like im progressing forward, just very slowly moving forward now. not quite sure what to do. my diet consists of eating protien in every meal as well as having a protien shake after my workouts, so im pretty sure its not lack of protien. I also try and avoid carbs and excess calories but nobody is perfect with that.

I thought maybe it was too much running and not enough lifting but it didnt really make a difference. ive tried switching muscle groups around a little or slightly changing the exercises, but I just dunno. I was thinking maybe some pre-workout stuff might help but fuck I took noexplode once and felt like I was coked out or something so im kind of wary of them.

any tips? my goal is really only around 190 maybe 185 but with very little fat.

 

[Renz Envy]

Switch up your routine and eat more. You plateau, because your body becomes used to various exercises, even the order in which you do them.

I find that paying attention to your body while pushing it, is incredibly important. (Maintaining good mind-muscle concentration as well as textbook form.)

Pre-workout supps often have various legal stimulants in them like DMAA, which can feel sort of like coke the first times you do them, but they're no where near as abusable or cardio-toxic as coke.

But if you want to gain weight, EAT!!! Don't worry about those beach abs until its time to cut

 

[OverDone]

Are you using machines/cables, free weights or both?

For me, I quit machine workouts a while ago and focused on dumbbells, barbells (compound exercises as opposed to isolation exercises) and the smith machine. After that switch, I shortly increased the weight I was pushing and increased my number of sets to 9. This was fucking stupid and have since decreased to 5 sets of each exercise (mixing up exercises) and do a minimum of 5 exercises

Results were yielded rather quickly. A point to know is that I hardly do ANY cardio lately so this may attribute to the mass increase.

NO Xplode was my first pre-workout supplement and loved it in my naivete. I now consider it to be garbage.

I would think that since you are doing super sets (opposing muscle groups) your yields would be rather decent.

Have you considered lifting every day and just focus on one muscle group for those 45 minutes each day? I do this in the following order:

chest, legs, back, shoulders (I rarely do arms). If you do it this way it will give plenty of time for recovery for each muscle group (3 days)

I'm about 8 months into using strictly weights (prior to that it was strictly body weight exercises) so I'm very new as well. The above is just my experience and I have received noticeable results.

Goodluck, man.

(Oh... I also just started using kre alkalyn creatine as opposed to creatine monohydrate and am pleased with its perceived affects)

 

[TheUncreated]

Are you using machines/cables, free weights or both?

For me, I quit machine workouts a while ago and focused on dumbbells, barbells (compound exercises as opposed to isolation exercises) and the smith machine. After that switch, I shortly increased the weight I was pushing and increased my number of sets to 9. This was fucking stupid and have since decreased to 5 sets of each exercise (mixing up exercises) and do a minimum of 5 exercises

Results were yielded rather quickly. A point to know is that I hardly do ANY cardio lately so this may attribute to the mass increase.

NO Xplode was my first pre-workout supplement and loved it in my naivete. I now consider it to be garbage.

I would think that since you are doing super sets (opposing muscle groups) your yields would be rather decent.

Have you considered lifting every day and just focus on one muscle group for those 45 minutes each day? I do this in the following order:

chest, legs, back, shoulders (I rarely do arms). If you do it this way it will give plenty of time for recovery for each muscle group (3 days)

I'm about 8 months into using strictly weights (prior to that it was strictly body weight exercises) so I'm very new as well. The above is just my experience and I have received noticeable results.

Goodluck, man.

(Oh... I also just started using kre alkalyn creatine as opposed to creatine monohydrate and am pleased with its perceived affects)

I do a similar routine, and lift every day, as the 3 days of recovery allows for proper recovery. I therefore do each muscle group twice a week. My separate workouts are bicep/back, leg, chest/tri, and shoulder (of which I do on sunday, the one group i only work once a week).

-Kre-alkalyn (a buffered form far superior to monohydrate in its delivery to muscle tissue) is fantastic. Also, as far as pre-workout goes, you should invest in some Pupfuel. Like Overdone (and you as well apparently) I think NO explode is a pile of donkey shit. It is very high in caffeine and sodium, but not much else. Pumpfuel contains a wonderful balance of a wide variety of the best things you can put in your body as far as athletic advancement goes. It also doesn't give that tense rushy feeling a la NO Explode. Finally, I recommend casein immediately before bedtime. Most take it for granted or don't consider that during sleep, our bodies are breaking down muscle tissue for sustenance. Casein is a slow-burning protein that will help keep your body catabolic throughout the night. Think of whey as the shot of 100 proof, the casein is your connoisseur beer.


-My parting advice to you, OP, would be to never do the same thing, keep your workouts dynamic to keep shocking your body so to speak. Also, once I started experiencing a plateau in my strength gains, I started incorporating "drop sets" into my workouts. I instantly starting gaining strength more quickly than ever. Start with 5 reps at the heaviest weight you can lift (while maintaining perfect form of course), then lower the weight and add 5 reps, up to 20 or 25 reps (mix it up with different increments) of a relatively light weight, and then go back down/up the ladder. For instance, on bench press:

4 reps, heaviest possible (lets assume 200 as just a general example)
8 reps @ 180
12 reps @ 160
16 reps @ 140
20 reps @ 120
16 @ 140.... etc

Ive pretty much switched entirely to the above technique and have seen incredible results, I'll never lift any other way. Remember, the first time you try it, you will be floored. Even though you are in good shape from lifting for a few months now, by the time you get to that set of 20 or 25 you'll be shocked at how heavy it feels. Start slow, build it up.

Hope it helps!

 

[grimble crumble]

thanks for the tips guys, keep em comin. just wondering, what kind of rests are you taking between sets. I normally take 50 seconds for sets less than 10 reps and 1:00 for sets over 10 reps.

 

[-Guido-]

Start using Creatine, L-Arginine, and up your protien intake.

From their, try a new routine or switch up your current routine.

I have plateaued before and switching up my routine was a sure fire way to start making gains again.

 

[-Guido-]

thanks for the tips guys, keep em comin. just wondering, what kind of rests are you taking between sets. I normally take 50 seconds for sets less than 10 reps and 1:00 for sets over 10 reps.

I usually take 60 second rests between sets. Sometimes though, I do super sets with no rest to shock my muscles occasionally.

 

[ColtDan]

Start using Creatine, L-Arginine, and up your protien intake.

From their, try a new routine or switch up your current routine.

I have plateaued before and switching up my routine was a sure fire way to start making gains again.

this.

do you do body weight training?

 

[andyclark1225]

For diet...if you're bulking 5000 calories a day (yes I know it's a lot) but there's a protein shake called serious mass, check it out and what it says on the tub...may be a solution to your "hitting a wall" situation. As for routine, I did the p90x workout program this time last year and every month the exercises changed...completely but still focusing on certain parts of the body, I wish you all the best!

Most importantly, mega props for not using steroids

 

[Voxide]

I'll stray off from training a little bit and instead ask you how many hours you're sleeping a night and what recreational drugs you are taking.

By the way, NEVER say that running gives your legs enough of a workout. That's one sure fire way to piss off any serious lifter out there. Never say that again. Start doing squats. Your legs are not muscular. I'm going to say this again: Your legs are not muscular. They are just lean. If you want to look like a man who gives a fuck, start squatting. Don't worry, you won't get "too big". Things like that don't happen by accident.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

By the way, NEVER say that running gives your legs enough of a workout. That's one sure fire way to piss off any serious lifter out there. Never say that again. Start doing squats. Your legs are not muscular. I'm going to say this again: Your legs are not muscular. They are just lean. If you want to look like a man who gives a fuck, start squatting. Don't worry, you won't get "too big". Things like that don't happen by accident.

Vox is correct. Just running vs leg muscular exercises, running by itself just can't compete.

I have an exceedingly easy time with legs at the gym, I can do the top weight for seated leg extensions.

Squats are very essential as Voxide has pointed out time and time again.

 

[-Guido-]

this.

do you do body weight training?

I incorporate some body weight exercises into my routine only because my muscles have always reacted positively to them.

 

[grimble crumble]

thanks for the tips everyone. Ive started mixing legs in (fuck forgot how much they work you) on my chest and arm days. totally switched up the routine and will be buying some L-Arginine and L-Carnitine

another question. how do you guys feel about carbs/calories?
normally I try to avoid them, but ive starting eating them more because obviously your body needs fuel to lift and also to repair muscle right? how much is too much and how much is not enough?

and to ansere someone elses question yes I mix in body weight exercises, mainly dips and pullups and different kinds of pushups (fingertip/clap/incline)

 

[Voxide]

First, don't mix legs into anything. They need their own day. There is absolutely no way you can focus on the intensity of the workload when you do splits like "chest/legs/abs". Chest doesn't need its own day by itself. Legs on the other hand, do.


If you're trying to gain weight, fuck what you heard. You need carbs, and you need lots of them. There is no upper limit.

 

[Snarky91]

First off, I'm happy that you're not using steroids, seeing as how you've been training for four months. NO ONE without multi-year training experience should even consider using steroids. Besides, you can't enjoy the benefits of steroids unless you already have a very solid base to work with.

One other note: Bodybuilding is constrained by the resources you have, most importantly time and money. If you are working 60+ hours a week, the intensity (and quantity) of your workouts will suffer; you may not have enough time to eat properly, recover, and so on.

Second, unless you are rich, you want to spend your money on food and supplements wisely. I'll spare you a long laundry list of the best high quality cheap foods, but please consider eggs, tuna, milk, and wheat bread -- they go a long way for someone on a budget. By that same token, you don't want to waste your money on useless supplements. Creatine, beta-alanine, zinc-magnesium, and various others fall into this category. Some of them are tried and true, but the cost/benefit analysis isn't favorable. Take creatine; after you stop taking it, its effects not only diminish but reverse themselves as though you hadn't taken creatine to begin with! Other supplements such as, say, glutamine might enhance recovery, but the cost/benefit ratio is very unfavorable. That said, you only NEED two supplements for your purposes. They are whey protein and a multi-vitamin. If you have extra money, the third most effective supplement would be casein protein/cottage cheese, taken before bedtime. You may hear many conflicting opinions, but the bodybuilding community and scientific community associated with it have a consensus on the relative priority of those three supplements.

About your training regimen, consider what voxide said. If you don't train legs, you're ultimately hampering how big and how muscular you can get. Legs definitely need their own day, and one or two days after ought to be reserved for recovery afterward. Effective exercises for legs include squats, leg press, hack squats, stiff-legged deadlifts, and hamstring curls, in about that order. Also, use a range of 6-10 repetitions per set, for most exercises (12-15 is the upper range for legs). Low repetitions increase strength, moderate repetitions increase muscle, and high repetitions increase endurance. Try to keep between 6-10 (besides warm-ups and legs).

As far as cardio, you need to slow down the pace. For bodybuilding purposes, cardio should be done at a power-walk or jogging pace. In other words, 4 mph on the treadmill for about 25-30 minutes. Any faster and you're eating into muscle. Much slower and you're not reaching into fat stores.

Finally, the importance of exercise selection is nothing short of crucial. For chest, that means you're getting in flat bench press and incline bench press as the first two exercises you do and you're including dumbbell flyes to get that isolation movement, making sure to hit the muscle group at different biomechanical angles. For back, rows must be done first, for shoulders seated presses must be done first, and so on.

I could add more, but I think I've touched on all the important points.

 

[PsychedelicPeptide]

4 months isn't very long. You need to keep at it a lot longer to make good natural gains. Read articles on t-nation.com, they are written for people will all ranges of experience lifting but especially beginners looking for advanced techniques.

If you want to build muscle the best exercises are squat, deadlift and olympic exercises such as power clean, clean & press (jerk) and snatch. Then add on secondary lifts like military press, bentover barbell row, bench press and variations of squats and deadlifts.

Lots of reps at low weight. Few reps at high weight. Mix and match all the time. It should never be easy.

 

[TheGlimmaMan]

first off let me say I dont/wont do steriods, pretty much the only supplement I use is whey protien.

height: 6 foot, maybe 6'1. weight: 180 lb

so Ive been working out around 4ish months while runing 2/3 miles on rest days. my schedule on a good week if I stick to it is work out one day rest the next, on the next off the next ect. on my on days I normally target 2 muscle groups (back/chest, Bi's/tri's, core/shoulders) and just do about 6/7 exercises of your 3 set 10 rep amount. all in all around 45 minutes and I always feel like im pushing myself. my run/rest days are normally a 15 minute 2 mile or a 23 minute 3 mile. I dont do much leg targeting exercises because I have very muscular legs already and tend to just let my runs work them.

I seemed to have lost a lot of body fat while building more muscle at the same time which is really nice, my strength has increased also.

problem is, ive noticed ive sort of hit a wall. I dont feel like im progressing forward, just very slowly moving forward now. not quite sure what to do. my diet consists of eating protien in every meal as well as having a protien shake after my workouts, so im pretty sure its not lack of protien. I also try and avoid carbs and excess calories but nobody is perfect with that.

I thought maybe it was too much running and not enough lifting but it didnt really make a difference. ive tried switching muscle groups around a little or slightly changing the exercises, but I just dunno. I was thinking maybe some pre-workout stuff might help but fuck I took noexplode once and felt like I was coked out or something so im kind of wary of them.

any tips? my goal is really only around 190 maybe 185 but with very little fat.

I would stop doing 2 a days, meaning train one body part hard, and leave it at that. If youve been using the same exercises, start switching things up, smith machines, dumbells, etc. Try hitting the muscles from different angles.

Running as musch as you do, I would believe you have lost a lot of BF, but remember that cardio can be catabolic to the muscle tissue, muscle goes before fat if you dont keep your heart rate in a target zone, to high by bye muscle, to slow nadda

Increase the amount of meals your taking in. Are you eating on a schedule, like every 2-3 hrs? And the body can only absorb so much protein in one sitting, roughly 60g is about as much as its going to handle at once, as long as your on a schedule and your metabolism is cooking, than replenishing nutrients like the pros do, every 2hrs or so is probably where you need to be since you run so much your metabolism is probably through the roof

And take more time than 45min, see if using less exercises per body part, but with more volume will help get you past your sticking point. Thats most likely your biggest problem is going in with the same routine, the body adapts fast if you dont keep changing it you will hit the wall quickly as you have. And again, its only been 4 months of serious training, give your body more time, and dont be afraid to use lighter weight and more reps, there is a study on people doing 1 rep of 90% of there 1 rep max, vs people doing 30% of there one rep max, basically what it boiuls down to is that by training wiuth the heaviest weight possible you may just be burniung your self out to quickly, but at a more moderate pace, with a lighter weight and more reps, you get the same goal accomplished, it just took more time.

hope some of this helped, and best of luck...when your ready for the dark side, we'll all be here for ya

TGM

 

[heerutosen]

Good job on staying natural!

- Stick to compund movements and freeweights(Bench/Squat/Deadlift)
- Switch up your routine
- Try reverse pyramid training
- Your best bet is not eating 5000 KCAL. You need to find out what your maintenance is and work from there.. Try eating +40% above maintenance on workout days, while taking in most of your carbs postworkout and stay below maintenance on rest days(10 to 20%). Keep protein high on all days.(low carb, medium fat high protein on rest days and High Carb + High Protein and Low Fat <50grams on workout days) When eating in a caloric surpluss all the fat you eat will spill over into fat stores.

-Go hard or go home.. I destroy myself everytime i go to the gym and always try to keep that mind/muscle connection. This might sound weird, but thinking about and focussing on the muscle group you are using WILL work..

-Try to chew your calories. MEAT/Fish/Veggies/Fruit/Sweetpotato/Oats/Nuts/Quark etc. No processed crap and only use protein shakes or weightgainers if your having a hard time reaching your macro's for the day.

Supps: A good preworkout can help get you passed that barrier at first.. Currently im using a mixed protein blend(egg albumine,whey,casein) BCAA or EAA amino acidcomplex and Creatine and Fishoil

Good luck on getting where you want to be!

 

[ston3d]

Switch up your routine. You need to confuse your muscles as much as possible. I find running a mile in 6 mins before I lift helps me get more concentration. Throw some creatine in their, it helped me a lot. I personally gained over 20lbs of muscle lost .4% body fat (now at 5.1) in just under a year. If you really wanna build muscle EAT!!!!! Protein and carbs to the max! i weigh 150lbs now and eat 300-400 grams of protein a day! I stick to the same diet when i train, it gets boring eating the same food day in day out but it is easy for me because i know exactly what my body gets. Message me if your interested in my workout programs.

 

[KrazyEyesKilla!]

Download this and read it. http://s3.stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-report.pdf

You need to start doing squats if you want to gain weight. Don't use smith machines or dumbbells. Don't run before you workout because then you can't put as much of your energy into working out and then you wont get the results you want. You need carbs in your diet if you don't eat carbs then you wont gain muscle. You don't need to confuse your muscles it doesn't benefit you. If you are running then you should be eating more than if you were just working out every other day or you will loose muscle mass. Remember the 5x5 workout is just the beginning. You won't be doing 5x5 forever. Message me if you have any questions.