So, I'm working out mainly to build muscle mass. I'm 16, 5'7 and I weigh between 130 and 135 lbs. My 3RM bench is 175lbs. I've been pretty satisfied with my mass growth since I started working out, but lately I seem to have hit a wall when it comes to building mass.
To be honest, I’ve never been too fond of the idea of actually setting a routine in stone for myself. I work out 5 days a week, and do coordinate what muscle groups I work but I don’t pre-meditate exactly what lifts I’ll do for each group and in what order. Obviously, though, I do have a set arsenal of motions and I basically pick group-specific motions from those on my spur-of-the-moment preference.
Anyway, lately I’ve been reading some articles about lifting for mass gain and I’ve become concerned with my rep tendencies. Now, I know that bodyweight exercises like say bodyweight squats in high sets are obviously not nearly as good for building mass as weighted squats with low reps are. That’s a given. But, I’m a little confused as to where the line is drawn. While I obviously use extremely low reps and high weight for my squats and bench (3-5 reps), my other exercises usually include higher numbers like 12-16 reps.
My question, to anyone who’s willing to answer it after my unnecessarily long rant of a post, is are these numbers negatively effecting my mass gain? Should I lower my reps, and how much if so?
I’ve been particularly disappointed with the lack of growth in my arms lately. As I said, my reps for arm workouts usually include between 12 and 16 reps per set, usually for 3 or 4 sets. My arm workouts include the usual stuff… tricep extensions, tricep rows, single-limb bicep curls (bench or wall supported) and standard rows. They’ve gotten me pretty far in the past, and now I’m just being let down with my lack of progress in the past few months.
I know I’m a physically small guy and I’m very strong for my size, but I’m obviously not at my peak. There’s so much more potential gain for me and this wall is driving me crazy.
And, just f.y.i, I take Surge Recovery before and after my workouts, and a serving of creatine along with my after-workout Surge. I just made the switch from Metabolic Drive to Surge.