Bulking, No Gain After 3 Weeks

Training Bodybuilding
41

I don’t know if you are or not, but just in case you’re not, here is my personal experience with muscle gain.

I always had whey and Creatine before training, sipped a n02 product while training, and had Creatine and a high GI drink after training, followed by another shake and some Glutamine and bcaa’s.

Also, I find that having a whey shake in the morning upon waking helped muscle growth.

Lastly, TRAIN HEAVY. Heavy weights and good negative reps helped me out man.

hope i helped you out too

-raymond

42

[quote]eric_lacrosse wrote:
Now, I am a finance guy not a scientist, so after reading carb cycling codex, and refined physique transformation and a couple other articles I put together an excel spreadsheet to develop the macro breakdown I interpreted was necessary.

I set it up using the guidelines for poor insulin sensitivity 45% protein, 25% carb, 30% fat.[/quote]

All these spreadsheets and precise percentages have given you… nothing. I would think that as a ‘finance guy’ you would have figured out the simple formula of ‘Calories Eaten > Calories Burned = More Muscle’.

[quote] After 3 weeks, I have not gained an ounce. I eat all day, turkey, chicken, salmon, and buffalo, and either sweet potato, or brown rice with spinach, toss in 2 protein shakes some almonds and peanut butter for fats. All damn day I eat, but no weight gain.

I have noticed that having more carbs in my diet has improved my lifts, shit even my mood. But the bulk isn’t coming.

How long should it take and is my assumption of eating for the weight I want to achieve incorrect?[/quote]

After reading all those articles and making detailed spreadsheets with flow charts and macronutrient calculations, I think it’s fair to say you still are lacking the BASIC concept of what you need to eat to build size. No one will give a shit exactly how much fat you eat, or whether you are ‘insulin resistant’ if you can’t even gain weight. Bodybuilding is not rocket science. You sound like a beginner.

I suggest you stop it with the overcomplication and simply focus on getting enough overall calories. That means protein with every meal, accompanied by carbs in the first half of the day (and PWO) and fats in the latter half. Vegetables with each meal.

This is ALL you need to know when it comes to ‘Food Scienze’ UNTIL you get your head around the fact of EATING ENOUGH calories to GAIN WEIGHT. Whether that is 4,000 or 10,000. It doesn’t matter. If you are not gaining weight… its not enough.

Now go kill it in the gym.

43

[quote]hardcoreraymond wrote:
I don’t know if you are or not, but just in case you’re not, here is my personal experience with muscle gain.

I always had whey and Creatine before training, sipped a n02 product while training, and had Creatine and a high GI drink after training, followed by another shake and some Glutamine and bcaa’s.

Also, I find that having a whey shake in the morning upon waking helped muscle growth.

Lastly, TRAIN HEAVY. Heavy weights and good negative reps helped me out man.

hope i helped you out too

-raymond[/quote]

This means JACK SHIT if he isn’t eating ENOUGH CALORIES to gain weight.

Perhaps it’s time to stop shying away from some pizzas or burgers once in a while.

44

[quote]

This means JACK SHIT if he isn’t eating ENOUGH CALORIES to gain weight.

Perhaps it’s time to stop shying away from some pizzas or burgers once in a while.[/quote]

He already said hes eating 4k+ cals a day. If you’re eating that much and not gaining, it could very well be the timing of the eating and training.

So, eating ENOUGH CALORIES means JACK SHIT if youre not training hard enough to build new muscle.

45

[quote]hardcoreraymond wrote:

This means JACK SHIT if he isn’t eating ENOUGH CALORIES to gain weight.

Perhaps it’s time to stop shying away from some pizzas or burgers once in a while.

He already said hes eating 4k+ cals a day. If you’re eating that much and not gaining, it could very well be the timing of the eating and training.

So, eating ENOUGH CALORIES means JACK SHIT if youre not training hard enough to build new muscle.

[/quote]

You have just proven that you know even LESS about bodybuilding than I thought you did.
You gain weight from overall CALORIES. That has nothing to do with training. The timing of the eating and training determines how much of that turns to either fat or muscle.

If he is eating 4k a day and not gaining weight… then that means he needs to eat MORE food. The specifics of whether that food is turned into fat or muscle are currently irrelevant… because he has stated that he isn’t gaining any WEIGHT in the first place.

Why is this so difficult to understand?

46

3 x 40min cardio is not a lot.

How do you know you haven’t lost some fat and put some muscle on? Have you been at least measuring your waist?

In any case, it’s been said before now, 3 weeks isn’t long enough to notice any changes.

47

[quote]DragnCarry wrote:
3 x 40min cardio is not a lot.

How do you know you haven’t lost some fat and put some muscle on? Have you been at least measuring your waist?

In any case, it’s been said before now, 3 weeks isn’t long enough to notice any changes.[/quote]

it is if you’re not gaining weight eating that much food.

either increase calories, or decrease overall exercise if you don’t want to eat more.

48

[quote]Der Candy wrote:
eric_lacrosse wrote:
Now, I am a finance guy not a scientist, so after reading carb cycling codex, and refined physique transformation and a couple other articles I put together an excel spreadsheet to develop the macro breakdown I interpreted was necessary.

I set it up using the guidelines for poor insulin sensitivity 45% protein, 25% carb, 30% fat.

All these spreadsheets and precise percentages have given you… nothing. I would think that as a ‘finance guy’ you would have figured out the simple formula of ‘Calories Eaten > Calories Burned = More Muscle’.

After 3 weeks, I have not gained an ounce. I eat all day, turkey, chicken, salmon, and buffalo, and either sweet potato, or brown rice with spinach, toss in 2 protein shakes some almonds and peanut butter for fats. All damn day I eat, but no weight gain.

I have noticed that having more carbs in my diet has improved my lifts, shit even my mood. But the bulk isn’t coming.

How long should it take and is my assumption of eating for the weight I want to achieve incorrect?

After reading all those articles and making detailed spreadsheets with flow charts and macronutrient calculations, I think it’s fair to say you still are lacking the BASIC concept of what you need to eat to build size. No one will give a shit exactly how much fat you eat, or whether you are ‘insulin resistant’ if you can’t even gain weight. Bodybuilding is not rocket science. You sound like a beginner.

I suggest you stop it with the overcomplication and simply focus on getting enough overall calories. That means protein with every meal, accompanied by carbs in the first half of the day (and PWO) and fats in the latter half. Vegetables with each meal.

This is ALL you need to know when it comes to ‘Food Scienze’ UNTIL you get your head around the fact of EATING ENOUGH calories to GAIN WEIGHT. Whether that is 4,000 or 10,000. It doesn’t matter. If you are not gaining weight… its not enough.

Now go kill it in the gym.[/quote]

I understand what you and the rest of the ‘just eat more’ crowd are saying, I just thought employing some of the tactics that the coaches ON THIS SITE write about might be good guidelines to follow.

That being said, I have been KILLING it in the gym lately. All those additional carbs are doing something to me. Two different guys at the gym told me I looked bigger, and weight is now up 3 lbs since I started this bulk at the beginning of January.

49

[quote]DragnCarry wrote:
3 x 40min cardio is not a lot.

How do you know you haven’t lost some fat and put some muscle on? Have you been at least measuring your waist?

In any case, it’s been said before now, 3 weeks isn’t long enough to notice any changes.[/quote]

I agree that the cardio is not excessive, but have reduced the intensity to that slow paced ‘fat burning’ mode anyway. I don’t want to give up muscle, but I think it is important to pursue cardiovascular health as well. It could be that I have replaced fat with muscle, because I’m lifting more each week.

50

Yeah, uh, about that: there are guys on this thread giving you advice that are a lot bigger than “some of the coaches ON THIS SITE.”

Also, I’m not trying to sound like a dick, but authors, by definition, need to sell books to make money. Boring, time-tested advice that produces repeatable results does not sell books.

Always consider the size of people giving you advice.

51

Try doing less lifting volume. I was having this problem not long ago. and people just said eat more eat more eat more. I just switched to 1-3 rep range for 6-9 total sets per workout. Workout twice a week. Its been working well.

52

One thing is saying that you train hard, other thing is to actually bust your ass in the gym.
You can say that you eat 4k cal, eating that same macro breakdown day after day, consistently, is totally different. How is your resting? I currently study finance and I know that the people dedicated to this field don’t rest that much.

Be honest with yourself, find your flaws, otherwise you’ll end blaming genetics.

53

[quote]eric_lacrosse wrote:
It could be that I have replaced fat with muscle, because I’m lifting more each week.
[/quote]

Take some measurements, leave the scales alone. I lost weight and put on muscle when I started. Strength is not a good indicator of muscle mass, especially early on.

54

[quote]MEYMZ wrote:
One thing is saying that you train hard, other thing is to actually bust your ass in the gym.
You can say that you eat 4k cal, eating that same macro breakdown day after day, consistently, is totally different.

How is your resting? I currently study finance and I know that the people dedicated to this field don’t rest that much.

Be honest with yourself, find your flaws, otherwise you’ll end blaming genetics.[/quote]

I have been training for a lot of years so I do know the difference between training hard and just going to the gym.

This is the first time I have ever set a goal to gain a specific number of lbs. So training hard, check, eating 4K each day, check, as I mentioned a few days ago, weight is now up 3 pounds and I suspect to have another one soon.

Sleep, well, you got me there. I get 6 hours on a good night. I have never been one to sleep that much though. I could not sleep for 8 straight hours unless I went to bed really drunk or on some type of sleeping aid.

I suspect both of those would be worse for my goals than only getting the number of hours of sleep my body actually wants.

I never use an alarm clock, just wake up when I’m ready. Even on weekends, if I’m up until midnight, the eyes open at 6.

55

[quote]eric_lacrosse wrote:
MEYMZ wrote:
One thing is saying that you train hard, other thing is to actually bust your ass in the gym.
You can say that you eat 4k cal, eating that same macro breakdown day after day, consistently, is totally different.

How is your resting? I currently study finance and I know that the people dedicated to this field don’t rest that much.

Be honest with yourself, find your flaws, otherwise you’ll end blaming genetics.

I have been training for a lot of years so I do know the difference between training hard and just going to the gym.

This is the first time I have ever set a goal to gain a specific number of lbs. So training hard, check, eating 4K each day, check, as I mentioned a few days ago, weight is now up 3 pounds and I suspect to have another one soon.

Sleep, well, you got me there. I get 6 hours on a good night. I have never been one to sleep that much though. I could not sleep for 8 straight hours unless I went to bed really drunk or on some type of sleeping aid.

I suspect both of those would be worse for my goals than only getting the number of hours of sleep my body actually wants.

I never use an alarm clock, just wake up when I’m ready. Even on weekends, if I’m up until midnight, the eyes open at 6.[/quote]

Seems ok, keep going.

56

u eating enough fats?

57

I’ve been dealing with the same thing for years. Takes me around 6 months to put on 10 lbs, but when I do it has proven to be pure muscle mass. Takes me a lot longer to see the scale go up but when you add 10 lbs and lose body fat%, you won’t be complaining about having to wait some extra time.

58

[quote]eric_lacrosse wrote:
I have been training for a lot of years so I do know the difference between training hard and just going to the gym.

[/quote]

i think its safe to say that you can forget about all those years youve been “training”. if youre 170lbs after training for a lot of years, you havent done much. sorry. cold hard facts, that a lot of us have to face at some point. if youve been training for a lot of years and dont know how to flip that “mass time” switch, then you havent learned much in all those years.

forget all those years youve trained. forget what you think you know. something isnt working. if youve been doing high volume work for a while, time to go low volume. if youve been low volume for a while, time to go high. shit like that.

your world of finance is much more complicated than putting on weight. if you can do that, you can do this.

59

[quote]dez6485 wrote:
eric_lacrosse wrote:
I have been training for a lot of years so I do know the difference between training hard and just going to the gym.

i think its safe to say that you can forget about all those years youve been “training”. if youre 170lbs after training for a lot of years, you havent done much. sorry. cold hard facts, that a lot of us have to face at some point. if youve been training for a lot of years and dont know how to flip that “mass time” switch, then you havent learned much in all those years.

forget all those years youve trained. forget what you think you know. something isnt working. if youve been doing high volume work for a while, time to go low volume. if youve been low volume for a while, time to go high. shit like that.

your world of finance is much more complicated than putting on weight. if you can do that, you can do this. [/quote]

I was gonna say that saying that you train hard and actually doing it are quite different. You could get a personal trainer, a really good one to find your flaws.

I believe that, until we’re seen in objective eyes, there’s some self bullshitting to some extent. Maybe in first person you train hard, but you train like shit under the eyes of someone who has attained a higher goal than you have.

60

I think coming out of high school my main strength was my mentality from football when I walk into the weight room. Anyone lacking in gains can usually see some changes just from training with a new partner to push you. Whether you change your calorie intake or not.