Frustrated by bodily limitations

Foreigner

Foreigner

Bluelighter
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Mar 18, 2009
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I've been going to the gym for the better part of 10 years, off and on. In the beginning I basically had no idea what I was doing but I was too proud to seek help, so I kept blithely exercising to my own dissatisfaction. Later on I figured stuff out, and made some progress.

I have the frame to support a medium build. I'm 6'4" (192cm) and closer to 180lbs. If I don't workout, I lose weight. Yeah, some people say "you're so lucky", but it sucks. I become a bone rack and then get chronic fatigue. In order to keep weight on, I must weight lift and eat like crazy -- so there's that.

But I've also aspired to have a buff body. I know I could do it, if only I could just keep up the consistent weight lifting and weight increases. My diet is pretty good. Losing body fat is of no concern, my gym routine is pure muscle building.

Here's the problem though... I reach a certain point, and then I get sick. It's like my immune system says, "No way, stop now". The gym is a rather filthy place, the equipment is used by so many people and not everyone is wiping it down with the supplied disinfectant, so getting sick is really inevitable. But I find for myself that getting sick coincides with some kind of bodily limit, so I'm never able to achieve the kind of body I want. Yes... my aspirations are totally vain, and I know it takes a lot of work to get there, but at least I'm honest about it. I also love how I feel when I'm becoming muscular, there's a lot more vitality in me and I feel more virile.

I workout 2-3 times per week, about an hour each time. My sets consist of 8-12 reps, in 3 sets. The third set may have fewer reps if my muscles are maxing out. I consume at least 2000 calories per day. I give myself adequate rest in between workouts, and I stretch. I also take various supplements to supply the muscles with nutrition for growth. Yet I still seem to max out at a certain point, my body gets sick, and during that illness a sizable portion of my muscle mass gets shed. Annoying!! This has happened for years. It's like my body gets sick in order to revert back to a lighter body weight. Am I going against the grain here?

Any idea what might be going on? I just don't get it. I'm not abusing my body here with overtraining, yet it seems like I can't sustain continued growth of muscle mass. Could it be possible that my body is just not constitutionally strong enough to do this? Btw, I'm not talking about getting HUGE like a body builder, just big within the context of my natural limits. Not looking to take steroids or other enhancers.

Thanks a lot in advance for the advice!
 
Obviously there's no single rule to cover everyone's metabolic rate, but the general rule of thumb I've heard and found to be relatively "accurate" is: BMR = bodyweight (lbs) x 15.

Using this "rule", your BMR is roughly 2700kcal. In my experience, it's more likely to find people who require MORE than this figure than it is to find people who require less (unless the subject is sedentary, ergo homeostasis [correct use of word?] will see their BMR move towards efficiency)


If I were you, I'd look to increase your intake to 3000kcal. Focus on nutrient-dense foods like oats, and increase "good" fats while ensuring to keep sugar intake/GI loading low to avoid insulin resistance.
 
Like I said, I consume at least 2000... but usually more. I don't think calorie intake is the problem. I fortunately have a good appetite and when I workout I'm hungry way more often, so it guides me to consume more.

Is it possible for a man to be constitutionally incompatible with doing intensive weight training?
 
Foreigner said:
Like I said, I consume at least 2000... but usually more. I don't think calorie intake is the problem. I fortunately have a good appetite and when I workout I'm hungry way more often, so it guides me to consume more.

Is it possible for a man to be constitutionally incompatible with doing intensive weight training?
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Between us CFC and myself have over 50 years training experience, obviously you know much more than we do... do as you please...!!!!
 
Try not to read too much tone in the replies here, else you'll never return (and also be without invaluable advice) - if you aren't counting calories, or haven't at least counted in the past to have a rough idea what volume of which foods you need to eat to hit your target, you're almost certainly not eating enough. I don't mean to insult your intelligence at all, but short of you having a serious metabolic, hormonal, or physical condition that would impact on your body's ability to synthesise protein, not gaining weight is absolutely caused by not eating enough (or eating the absolutely wrong things, like 100% protein and 0 fat/carbs).

Believe me, right now I feel like I eat plenty; often on impulse and not even hunger, and too much on occasion. However I too am not gaining weight at an appreciable rate, EVEN ON HIGH DOSE TREN. Am I different? Well maybe a tiny bit, but I know the bottom line is that even though I FEEL like I'm eating enough, fact of the matter is that I'm NOT.

So yeah, unless you've got an underlying condition you're either aware or unaware of, the only reason you're not gaining weight is due to not eating enough.

Bonus points: you won't gain MUSCLE unless you give your body a reason to grow it through adequate resistance training. Without this (and/or hormonal supplementation), you'll store excess calories as fat, but you will still gain weight.
 
Sleep is extremely important, slow wave sleep is where most of your growth hormone is released and its where your body recovers from the day. How is your sleep doing? Do you snore? Cardio can improve your sleep, along with mindfulness meditation. In general reducing adrenaline/stress will put your body in a more anabolic state.
 
I meant no disrespect. I'll try calorie counting and then get back to you all.

EDIT: The calorie counters online say that I need 2500 per day just for maintenance. Wow! Ok... time to look into this.
 
That's what I meant haha - BMR = base metabolic rate (or whatever), so the amount of calories you burn in a day. Get out of bed and that number goes up. Pick up some heavy weights a bunch of times, and it'll go up a bit more. You need to consume calories in excess of what you burn, so as you may now see you were likely breaking even around 2500 :P

Now what you should do is use something like www.myfitnesspal.com to see just how much food that really is. Make up a menu for the day and see how little caloric value some things actually have, and overall how much food you actually need to consume volume wise to hit your targets.
 
Most people think they're eating a lot more than they are. Look at how much meat and protein bodybuilders eat. It's obscene.
 
trozzle said:
Obviously there's no single rule to cover everyone's metabolic rate, but the general rule of thumb I've heard and found to be relatively "accurate" is: BMR = bodyweight (lbs) x 15.

Using this "rule", your BMR is roughly 2700kcal. In my experience, it's more likely to find people who require MORE than this figure than it is to find people who require less (unless the subject is sedentary, ergo homeostasis [correct use of word?] will see their BMR move towards efficiency)


If I were you, I'd look to increase your intake to 3000kcal. Focus on nutrient-dense foods like oats, and increase "good" fats while ensuring to keep sugar intake/GI loading low to avoid insulin resistance.
Click to expand...

This n the previous responses I agree with wholeheartedly. I'm surprised how msny people whom have increased their calories of good foods, have increased their results.

Are you getting the necessary vitamins? Are you getting put enough (vitamin D), salmons n almons (b vits n omega 3 fats).

Are you drinking enough water? Our muscles contain water n drinking enough water is good for them.

Are you changing your routine every so often? We have what's called muscle memory n the body becomes use to the exercise n this plateaus. Changing works continues to shock the body.

What pre n post work out foods / drink are you taking? I use whey n egg white powder. Try to have a small mean at least an hour or two before workout n don't make the common mistake of ommiting carbrohydrates. Good carbs are vital for cognition, energy levels n glucagon. Without them you'll become fatigued n run down.

Hope this helps<3

Evey
 
I re-assessed my calorie intake and increases certain foods in my diet. I've been gaining steadily. I workout 2-3 times a week now and calorie horde the rest of the time.

Here is a typical daily diet for critique:
I'll make a big pot of stew for the week, consisting of: squash, carrots, collards, kale, broccoli, shiitakes, parsley, onion, leek, a whole chicken, in a base of bone broth.

Before breakfast: 2mg fo ti (he shou wu), 1000mg bovine colostrum, 1/2 cup home made kefir, couple tablespoons home made sauerkraut.
Breakfast: pureed stew with a couple of raw egg yolks mixed in, 2 slices dense whole grain bread with a whole avocado spread onto both.
Lunch: a big serving of rice pasta with havarti cheese and olive oil on it, may add veggies or just have it as is. Sometimes I'll puree the stew and add that as the sauce.
Snack: more bread with a few tablespoons nut butter, raw honey or blackstrap molasses on top; that, or home made hummus with corn chips.
Dinner: home made pizza, I usually eat the whole thing in one go; either that or an egg sandwich, fried in bacon fat (or coconut oil); either that, or more stew.

There are days where I'll just eat the stew and avocados all day. I also make sure to have some salmon once a week.

I'm not big on fruit, though I do include it. Raw veggies are so so. I usually steam them at the very least.

My diet includes a lot of fats, both saturated and unsaturated. For the first time I'm experiencing true bulking. There's muscle but also a layer of fat over top. I currently weigh more than I ever have in my life and seem to keep gaining. The great thing is that I mainly work from home now, so I can be sedentary and conserve calories. However I do balance that with running around the neighborhood, swimming, or weightlifting.

I'd love to get more ideas for meals. I'm omnivorous so anything goes as long as there's no gluten or soy in it. I don't have a huge disposable income but I've made food a priority by almost never eating out anymore, so all the food I eat is food I make myself.
 
Great to hear you're back to making gains mate! Personally I don't bother much with fruit either, even though I know I probably should find some room for certain fruits haha
 
I could eat 2000 calories in one sitting.
Ill get slated for this.... But I'm not joking here eat a kfc every day for dinner, big daddy meal has 1700 calories that's basically what you eat in a full day in one sitting. It will work I am telling you, I've did it before.
If you don't gain fat at all try this, it's going to be unhealthy as fuck but it will add mass, and to anyone who says it will pile on the fat, that just isn't true.

This is not a long term solution try it for a month or 2 and you will grow then try to maintain the growth.
People at that sort of build Imo if they can handle it should eat dirty, I have that body type and it's worked pretty well for me burger king and kfc is where I used to get my gains, when I hit the wall when I first started lifting after a few years.

I know this is shit advice, but it Will work.
 
^ I think it would be too taxing on my GI to ingest that many calories in one sitting. I'd basically have to go to bed right after eating. (I have a GI disorder.)

But every now and then I'll order a pizza and eat the whole thing in one sitting. Definitely can't do that every day though! :)
 
Some men are naturally skinny. And that's fine. No need to force yourself to eat abnormally high levels of calories in the hope of bulking up! You're body is going to find its way back to its predetermined base weight in time anyway. When will we accept ourselves?

That being said, zinc gluconate supplementation seems to work wonders at increasing my libido and sexual performance. Any other of you guys noticed the same thing?
 
Dresden said:
Some men are naturally skinny. And that's fine. No need to force yourself to eat abnormally high levels of calories in the hope of bulking up! You're body is going to find its way back to its predetermined base weight in time anyway. When will we accept ourselves?

That being said, zinc gluconate supplementation seems to work wonders at increasing my libido and sexual performance. Any other of you guys noticed the same thing?
Click to expand...

Zinc contributes to the regulation of testosterone serum.
 
I believe my body had a metabolic dysfunction that was only repaired recently, as evidenced by my ability to gain and keep on weight recently. Could also be that I'm just getting older. I don't have a testosterone deficiency. That was checked with blood work 3 months ago and my levels are above average. I do notice that zinc helps with virility and with muscle development, and I take it regularly.

I understand that my body will revert to a baseline weight if I stop lifting, but since my interest is in gaining more muscle mass that's kind of a moot point. No offense. Plus lifting is how I stave off seasonal depression and my proclivity for drug use.
 
Foreigner said:
I'd love to get more ideas for meals. I'm omnivorous so anything goes as long as there's no gluten or soy in it. I don't have a huge disposable income but I've made food a priority by almost never eating out anymore, so all the food I eat is food I make myself.
Click to expand...

Good to hear that you're putting on weight now. Only thing I would suggest is to add more meat to your diet because it doesn't look like you're really eating that much. Meat is where the protein's at and what's going to pack the muscle on. Do you like fish? Fish, particularly salmon is a great healthy source of protein and omega 3.
 
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