I starting lifting weights just over two years ago. I made good gains when I started, just doing random lifts. Then I found rippetoes starting strength, did that for a while, and went onto the madcow 5x5. I have made some gains:
Squat: 90 lbs–245lbs
bench press: 100lbs–180lbs
overhead: 80lbs–140
bent over row:80–155
deadlift:180–320
And I went from weighing about 130 to now 180 and a bit…
Lately, probably the last 6 months or so, I havent really got much stronger. A little bit, but barely…despite putting on wieght. I keep thinking I should be stronger for having 2 years of lifting under me. Lately I just don’t feel strong, and I don’t have any energy or drive. Also, I almost never get morning wood(I’m 20 years old)sometimes I get a bit of a morning “chubby” but not hard like It used to be.
I can’t help but think something is off. Am I missing something from my diet? I eat alot of meat and potatoes, I eat quite a bit of fat too(to help get my calories up). Im eating about 4500-5000 calories a day, and I eat quite a bit of fast food. I get 7-9 hours of sleep, I usually sleep pretty good.
I just think I’m making poor gains. I thought I was overtraining but apparently that is very rare so I guess its not that. Maybe I’m just destined to be weak who knows?
I am worried about the erection thing, I used to get good wood every morning, now almost never. Could that be because of a bad diet?
[quote]six wrote:
I eat quite a bit of fast food.[/quote]
^you know better than that…^
[quote]six wrote:
I am worried about the erection thing, I used to get good wood every morning, now almost never. Could that be because of a bad diet?[/quote]
yes.
[quote]daneq wrote:
six wrote:
I eat quite a bit of fast food.
^you know better than that…^
six wrote:
I am worried about the erection thing, I used to get good wood every morning, now almost never. Could that be because of a bad diet?
yes.
[/quote]
Please. Problems with getting an erection would be more likely related to his stress levels at that age than whether he ate a hamburger. Exceptions would be obesity and/or high blood pressure. Trying to narrow this down to food intake without question is oversimplification. You could also cause him to avoid looking for a more important reason this could be happening.
In other words, if it continues to happen, go see a doctor.
how often do u take a a break a from lifting altogether?.. do u ever just take a week completely off… do u do deload weeks etc…?
are u in college currently? has ur course-load been more difficult than usual… i know stress from school could sometimes be a real libido killer for me… im currently 22
something else u have to realize is that as u get older even a little ur morning wood is naturally gonna become more rare
Hmm…it has been a while since i’ve taken time off from lifting. Actually a really long time. Maybe I will take a week off when I stall again. 1 week is good?
I’m not taking any supplements really, just a gainer powder. No prohormones. I take a multivitamin also.
Stress? Ya a little bit. Work has been nuts the last couple months…social life sucks ass right now too. No girlfriend
Too much wanking really? Does that deplete you or something? I’m willing to cut it out if it makes a difference
^ yea, what have you been doing in the last 6 months when you haven’t got stronger?
And yea, I’d take some time off. And then return to a routine that worked for you before. Like Starting Strength or the 5x5 you did, or something similar.
[quote]kroby wrote:
Without you posting your diet or workout routine… how’s anyone to offer suggestions?[/quote]
very true what kroby wrote.
fast food, no nutrients…your body needs 'em…especially when lifting.
I’m 35 yrs old & take ZMA before bed and around 2-3 am I’m at full attention nearly every morning. ZMA helps, but it’s also in addition to a good multi vitamin, or vitamin pak (universal’s animal pak), and eating healthier foods.
I use to love grease and fried foods (downed with a soda)! Now if I have anything fried, say for a cheat meal once and a long while, I get sick, or feel run down.
Clean up your DIET & take your vitamins! There’s tons of get herbal things out there for wood, but you’re 20 and I’m not sure if you should take 'em at that age. At 20, I was a rabbit…lol
make some changes from above suggestions and let us know how you feel then. Also chill for a week and see if you feel stronger.
maybe quit taking your vitamins if it contains iron. an iron accumulation is well known to kill erections.
Also you could consider giving some blood to reduce a likely iron accumulation. I find this makes me feel much better after getting drained of some plasma. That being said I dine on a constant diet of cow. More than one pound daily at minimum.
Also be sure to include deload weeks at least every 6 weeks if not 4-5. Also you may want to start changing up the routine to a plateau buster like smolov meso-cycle or a westside template. The ME/DE style can really put those max’s up well.
Also try and make sure you are getting lots of nutrition from fruit and veg.
Get lots of sleep before midnight as well. naps if you can in the afternoon. Sleep is the key to good training and fucking IMO. And watch the booze as in cut it out. That shit will give you the “whiskey dink” as the name implies.
I’m not going to comment on the erection problem I think that’s been covered. In terms of your diet, obviously clean it up but lets talk about how. I would keep a religious food diary you say you are eating 4,500-5,000 calories per day. Keep that food diary of everything you eat with a calorie + Macronutrient breakdown for about a week. If you critically analyze that I think you’ll see if you’re really eating that many calories and also see how “clean” your eating is.
Ok. Right now I’m on the linear 5x5 by madcow. I’ve added in a few isolation moves too.
Diet: Diffferent every day but today here is what I ate:
Meal 1:
almond crunch cereal with milk: Serving is 270 cals, I ate more than that. Say 350.
Critical mass powder: 2 scoops, with 500 ml milk, olive oil. 750 calories
Meal 2: Didn’t have time to sit down today, I drank from a 4 litre of milk all morning…
Meal 3: noon. Beef burritto. package says 670 cals. Plus a bunch more milk.
Meal 4: Kubasa(Kubasah?), cheese and crackers. JUst ate till I was full. Bunch more milk. about 300-400 Without the milk
Meal 5: chicken breast(decent sized), mashed potatoes with butter, broccoli.(I do eat brocollit quite often). Lots of milk
About 500 without the milk
Meal 6: After workout, mass shake. 750 calories
Meal 7: Haven’t had this one yet. Will probably be some leftover potatoes, and eggs. No more milk, or else Ill be pissing all night. At least 400 cals id guess
Total calories: About 3750 calories without the milk. I just about finished 4 litres of 2% milk… a full jug is 2000 calories, I drank at least 3/4 of it. 1500 cals there. Grand total of about 5200 calories.
Today when I got home from work I layed on the couch, while I was watching TV I got a full hard on. So thats definitely working. I had the usual half hard chubby when I got up this morning.