I’m 18 and I’ve been working out for almost 2 years. Although only the past 6 months have been smart and hard enough to make any real difference(diet and strategy got better). But for the most part I’ve just gotten cut up and can’t bulk all that much. My weights gone from 145 to 170 but its been a very slow process.
Do you guys see any deficiencies or have any ideas to break the barrier between cut and bulk? My diet is about 4-5000 calories on good days.
Camera died before I could get a good pic of my back since I was retarded and couldnt do it well in front of a mirror.
First pic is january 150-155 lbs.
I really don’t think you’re eating 4,000-5,000 calories. But if you are, then eat more.
People can give you suggestions, but you really got to find what works for you by testing out different things. More sleep, more food, different food, more training intensity, eat peanut butter and drink whole milk all day on top of what you’re eating, etc.
Bench Press, Rows, Pullups, Deadlifts, Squats and variations of each.
Ya my metabolism is pretty disgusting I try to aim for that amount and I ususally get it to be honest. I’ll try to find time in the day to eat more I guess. And those exercises you listed are my bread and butter, love them. I used to do a ton of isolation stuff but I chucked most of it for compound lifts a couple months ago.
it doesn’t look like much change,if you are looking for advice i will give you some rule #1 eat like a horse and forget your abs(as far as seeing them)until you bulk up.gain 20-30 clean pounds and then post again.and there is no way your are eating 4-5000 cal(clean)and lifting and not gaining a good amount of mass.just not possible.
what supplements are you taking?but to post a rate my physique is a reach.you should post on beginners or physique and performance side.but just keep working.
Ha yup I figured I might get crucified especially seeing as I just threw up a shitty pic at 2 in the morning with no routine or diet on there and no other angles. Well from that pic its a 20 pound increase and alot of strength gains.
I actually am eating a good 4000 cals a day and going to the gym 5 times a week. With a protein shake with glutamine.
As for giving up the abs I’m doing this for asthetics not to become gigantic so want to keep my abs. I’m sure you guys wont like that though. And even if I wanted to I dont know how I could gain 20 pounds just because I want to. I eat like a horse as it is.
you should go to the nutrition and supps section it helped me i have gained about15-20 lbs of muscle and dropped alot of bf. you have to start somewhere and you sure picked the right place man.
just stick with it and if you cycle through a 12-16 week set-up mix it up and change and tweak your diet,different strokes for different folks man, not everything works for everybody or we would have 1 million mr. olympias running around you know.it’s hit and miss just don’t give up!
K maybe I’m counting wrong heres my diet for today. And its hard for me to eat a ton since I’m generally out for the entire day and night.
Bowl of Oat Bran Cereal
Piece of pizza
Went to the gym
Protein Shake
2 1/2 lbs ish cheese burgers with wholegrain buns (one postwork with shake)
croissant with cut up chicken
bowl of pasta with tomato sauce and sausage
2 oatmeal to go bars
4 oranges
yogurt and milk
bagel with peanut butter.
Might add a bit more before I go to bed.
I’d approx 3500-4000 cals. Not enough to gain weight I’m assuming your saying? I’ve gained the 20 lbs since I changed my diet but maybe I need to up it again.
I seriously cannot believe you’re eating 5,000 calories and you still look like that. No offence but I gave you a 1.
Please, for your own benefit start a proper food log - where you measure the amounts of every bit of food that goes in your mouth, then head to calorieking.com /etc and work out the amount of p/f/c and get your total for the day. In most cases the truth comes as a big shock, people think they eat alot but they don’t when it’s worked out on paper (I know this first hand hides).
In regards to the training side of things, post up what you’ve been doing for the last few weeks (do you keep a training journal by any chance?, if not you should start one), and then the guys can give you advice on changes to make…cough compound lifts once a week + eat and sleep.
Ouch a 1 lol.
Well what I listed last night was a bit of a lighter day sicne I missed out on 1 big meal. But I guess I could be a bit under. I’m about 6’1 170 pounds. Heres my routine
Back and Bi’s
7 sets x10-25 chins with variations (wide grip, narrow, palm in, weighted up to 65 lbs dumbbell)
4 sets of Inverted rows x10-20 (weighted up to 65 lbs)
2-3 sets of low row
3 sets x5-7 1 hand olympic bar curls
2 drops sets of alternating db curls and reverse curls 50 to 15 (4 or 5 sets in one)
Shoulders and Tri’s
6 set Clean and press x5-10
3 sets face pull x12
3 sets… dunno name but cross hands on the cables and pull out horizontally for post delts.
2 sets 6-10 front raises
5 sets x6-10 Skull Crushers
Legs
7 sets squats 6-12
5 sets deads 6-10
misc. calf stuff sometimes that changes.
**Chest
3 set decline bench x3-8
2 set bench x5-7
1-2 sets cable or one hand bench x10
**Traps
6 set 6-15 Olymp. bar shrugs
Bi’s Back
Legs
Off
Tri’s Shoulders
Off
Bi’s Back
Legs
5 day cycle with 2 off and chest and traps float. Traps is once a week chest is every 3-4.
Bench 210x 3
Clean and Press 110x 5
Squat 275x 6
Dead 260x 6
Shrugs 400x 6
I dont do 1RM’s for safety’s sake. Am I missing out without em?
Do mostly compounds only have a few isolators.
ok i think you are ballooning your lift #'s.and also your not eating the right amount of stuff. you can bulk clean or dirty and end up fat.your supplements need to be a factor in your training.and on your daily stuff. i don’t see,BCAA,or protien shakes or creatine ect,ect,ect.
if your going to post expect honesty especially from these guys,if you want it sugar coated go to fantasy land.i got the same when i started as well,i haven’t even posted anymore photos in 6 months or so and i have picked up alot of clean weight.go and look up amsterdam animal or professor x and hit those guys up they know there shit and will give you an honest veteran opinion man.
[quote]MementoMori wrote:
K maybe I’m counting wrong heres my diet for today. And its hard for me to eat a ton since I’m generally out for the entire day and night.
Bowl of Oat Bran Cereal
Piece of pizza
Went to the gym
Protein Shake
2 1/2 lbs ish cheese burgers with wholegrain buns (one postwork with shake)
croissant with cut up chicken
bowl of pasta with tomato sauce and sausage
2 oatmeal to go bars
4 oranges
yogurt and milk
bagel with peanut butter.
Might add a bit more before I go to bed.
I’d approx 3500-4000 cals. Not enough to gain weight I’m assuming your saying? I’ve gained the 20 lbs since I changed my diet but maybe I need to up it again.[/quote]
What the hell? This to you is ‘eating like a horse?’ Wow that is some small horse.
The problem is you say its between 3500-5000 calories, yet you have no clear idea HOW much it is and you’re not satisfied with your size gains.
These things do not add up. I also find it hard to believe that with ALL the diets on this site, you canNOT put one into effect for your bulk? Silly.
[quote]MementoMori wrote:
Ouch a 1 lol.
Well what I listed last night was a bit of a lighter day sicne I missed out on 1 big meal. But I guess I could be a bit under. I’m about 6’1 170 pounds. Heres my routine
Back and Bi’s
7 sets x10-25 chins with variations (wide grip, narrow, palm in, weighted up to 65 lbs dumbbell)
4 sets of Inverted rows x10-20 (weighted up to 65 lbs)
2-3 sets of low row
3 sets x5-7 1 hand olympic bar curls
2 drops sets of alternating db curls and reverse curls 50 to 15 (4 or 5 sets in one)
Shoulders and Tri’s
6 set Clean and press x5-10
3 sets face pull x12
3 sets… dunno name but cross hands on the cables and pull out horizontally for post delts.
2 sets 6-10 front raises
5 sets x6-10 Skull Crushers
Legs
7 sets squats 6-12
5 sets deads 6-10
misc. calf stuff sometimes that changes.
**Chest
3 set decline bench x3-8
2 set bench x5-7
1-2 sets cable or one hand bench x10
**Traps
6 set 6-15 Olymp. bar shrugs
Bi’s Back
Legs
Off
Tri’s Shoulders
Off
Bi’s Back
Legs
5 day cycle with 2 off and chest and traps float. Traps is once a week chest is every 3-4.
Bench 210x 3
Clean and Press 110x 5
Squat 275x 6
Dead 260x 6
Shrugs 400x 6
I dont do 1RM’s for safety’s sake. Am I missing out without em?
Do mostly compounds only have a few isolators. [/quote]
Deadlift, squat, and bench are all over 200lbs yet you only clean and press 110 x 5?
Alright I’m upping what I’m eating some, although I’m not going to go on Creatine, BCAA and such, for now anyway. I’m sticking with protein/glutamine want to use as little as possible(dont have the money for it right now). And my Clean and Press is low because I’m moving it up very slowly been doing it for less time than the other ones and I dont want to risk injury.
And they not inflated if anything the squats and deads are a bit low becuase I havent pushed my max in a little bit because I’m working on my technique and range more.
And feel free to flame I’m in better shape than the majority, but thats clearly not what this place is. I’ve seen what the other guys rated near me look like and I’m a little surpised at how high my score is.
At least you’re not really fat. With regards to diet, don’t go by numbers. Just eat until you gain weight.
Maybe you should consider changing your training routine. That is a LOT of volume and eats up a ton of calories- I don’t think you realize how much. This is especially catabolic if you pre/during/post workout nutrition isn’t in order. I’d switch to Westside for Skinny Bastards or a more concise, to the point routine. If you really enjoy the way you train by all means keep training, but if the shoe your wearing isn’t working then it’s time to change it.
[quote]KombatAthlete wrote:
At least you’re not really fat. With regards to diet, don’t go by numbers. Just eat until you gain weight.
[/quote]
Agreed. According to the rules of the universe, if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If your training is poor and lazy and you are eating too much of the wrong foods, you will gain mostly fat, but you will still gain weight. If you train hard and intelligently, and consume the right amount of foods, you will gain mostly muscle.
But in both of the above cases, the scale should still be moving upwards. Skinny people often tell me that they eat “a ton” yet they don’t gain weight. For naturally skinny people, it may take more calories, but it does not change the fact that if you eat more than you burn, you WILL GROW.
How do you know if you are eating more than you burn? If you are gaining weight. It’s pretty simple, but not necessarily easy.
Really you think its alot of volume? Sometimes I wonder if its enough becuase while thats a template I dont always have the time and sometimes do as few as 2 or 3 exercises when I go into the gym. (Bunch of squats/deads/bench).
And I’m generally there for maybe an hour pretty much exactly so I’m not living in the gym all day. But it is almost time for a shake up. I’ve never really been big on just grabbing someones routine and using it, I usually make my own and slowly tweak it.
As for shrugging more than deadlifting… I dunno your right guess it doesnt make sense since more muscles used with one than the other. I guess its bercause I’m more scared to max out my lower back than my traps and again I’ve been doing traps for longer than deads which I just started maybe 2 months ago.
And I dont mind eating some bad foods like pizza, burgers that may be high in fat because my metabolism is very high. The stuff I avoid is sweets, caffiene, chocolate, sugar etc.
