If My Lifts Aren't Progressing

Training Bodybuilding
21

That doesn’t look like enough protein… What does your workout schedule now look like, how often do you workout, how often do you switch up excercises, grips, db/bb/cable ~ how often do you switch your main leadoff excercise ?

Do you ever train with a partner.

I suggest this ~ decide if you really want to make progressive gains - Rededicate, refocus, and reorganize.

then…

Get more protein, baking chickenbreasts isn’t difficult, or double scoop ~

then…

Immediately find a workout partner that can spot you through the gates of Hell. So he can push you and help you do lots of assisted reps. Hell… if you go to the gym so much and haven’t made any friends to help spot you, get to it! A training partner is awesome to have, I try to kidnap friends, acquaintances, and strangers for my evil diabolical workouts.

and lastly - probably the most important thing : drop that emo state of mind, and visualize a powerful, strong, focused self again.

if worse comes to worse and your struggling through a rep, say OOOOHHHH YEAHHHHHH~~~ SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!!

22

Just a few things I noticed that were conspicuously absent:

Chicken
Steak
Ground Beef
Meat of any kind except… tuna

23

Drink 4 pints of WHOLE milk every day for 3 weeks IN ADDITION to your current food intake. That’s always helped me through similar plateaus.

24

I dont think the milk bulk is what this guy needs right now.

He needs to reconsider his diet. Most of his meals look like they are out of a vegetarian cookbook.

The one thing that I have been trying to be very conscious about recently is not necessarily the grand scheme of calories, g’s protein, etc, but rather the individual meals. At each meal, ask yourself these questions:

Do I have (6-8 oz of) lean meat?
Do I have (1-2 cups of)vegetables?
Do I have (1-2 cups of) some sort of low-GI carb? (rice, beans, etc.)

If you cover those bases, you should be alright. I usually munch on almonds or peanuts in between meals if I get hungry.

Pay attention to your post workout nutrition. Fast acting (whey) protein and a hi-GI carb source (I usually just pour sugar into my shaker with the whey). Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night and pay attention to your hydration. 3-4 liters/day. Do not ignore it.

25

[quote]fightingtiger wrote:
I dont think the milk bulk is what this guy needs right now.

He needs to reconsider his diet. Most of his meals look like they are out of a vegetarian cookbook.

The one thing that I have been trying to be very conscious about recently is not necessarily the grand scheme of calories, g’s protein, etc, but rather the individual meals. At each meal, ask yourself these questions:

Do I have (6-8 oz of) lean meat?
Do I have (1-2 cups of)vegetables?
Do I have (1-2 cups of) some sort of low-GI carb? (rice, beans, etc.)

If you cover those bases, you should be alright. I usually munch on almonds or peanuts in between meals if I get hungry.

Pay attention to your post workout nutrition. Fast acting (whey) protein and a hi-GI carb source (I usually just pour sugar into my shaker with the whey). Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night and pay attention to your hydration. 3-4 liters/day. Do not ignore it.[/quote]

Some of you get lost in the details before you ever take a look at the grand picture. if you don’t focus in on and address this guy’s apparent belief that he will keep his calories that restrictive to where he isn’t gaining any weight but then also wants his body to recover quickly, he will continue to stand in the same place.

Before you worry about anything else, you worry about the specific goals and whether someone is doing the smart thing or the stupid thing to reach it.

Expecting your body to recover well when you aren’t feeding it enough to grow at all, while still training for gains is the stupid thing. Nothing else matters until that gets covered.

The belief that someone will even make much progress “slowly” is flawed. For many, without forcing their body to a new weight set point, it is much more likely they will look back years later and realize they have made little to NO progress at all. It isn’t like people “slowly” begin looking like cover models for fitness/bodybuilding magazines over 20 years. There were some blatant periods of mass gain and then dieting.

If your body is screaming fatigue, why continue not feeding it enough to grow?

26

When was the last time you changed program?

If you can’t get more quality food in without excess fat gain, I’d be looking at reducing volume of your workouts until you start progressing again. Then you can slowly add a few sets per session until you find what feels right for you.

27

Exactly. Im not saying he should count calories or really even worry about them. Simply that hes getting enough to eat at each meal, and eating 6-8 times per day.

28

[quote]NeoSpartan wrote:
Professor X wrote:
That One Guy wrote:
well, natural selection has a funny way of working…

I think it’s broke.

I think so too. Dumb people are still breeding.[/quote]

Smart people know how to properly use birth control. It doesn’t take much brain power to get pregnant, so dumb people tend to breed like rabbits.

(I’m being slightly sarcastic people, don’t shit yourselves)

29

thanks for replies.

basically just telling me things i already know.

and the diet that i posted worked perfectly for me until i got my job. i was increasing strength, and maintaing bodyfat(or losing). believe it or not. which is what i wanted, i dont want to bulk, sorry if that doesnt fit your perfect vision of a bodybuilder, so yeah .

ive calculated ive been burning like 1000-1500 calories at my job, im walkin on my feet, lifting boxes, pushing carts , etc…for 5-9hrs when i work. so, im sure thats why it hasnt been working the same:P

and i eat meat, alot of meat, that was just one day of my diet, which i happened to have no chicken breast or steak around the house.

as for my routine, i been stickin with heavy compounds, 5x5. which has done wonders for me. i rarely ever do isos, or ab work. recently i lowered the weight cause i was finding i couldnt put up as much as i used to, so i lowered the weight, and upped the reps as a change in my routine, so i could get my form down as well…so hoping thatll shock my muscles a bit.

i switch between dumbells/barbell every 2weeks. i recently added cleans on back day, i dropped flat bench the passed 2weeks and did weighted dips, and my dips increased, somehow…so ill do flat bench see if it has improved…

anyway, thanks again for replies

30

Stick to your same old diet that was working, but carry round a bag of trail mix (1000 calories) and snack on it throughout the day, I am sure this will make a difference, try it for a week…

ShadoW