I just need a place to vent out and get some opinions, so here it goes. I am 19 and have been working out for 4 years. I’m 5’11" 171lbs. I have been on Creatine (cell-tech), cytovol, and ZMA since 2/1. Last monday 2/19 I started the “Get Big Diet For Bodybuilders” by Thomas Incledon. I weighed in last Monday at 170.5 and today, one week later im at 171, am I just being paranoid or are these WEAK results? My workout (3-4 days a week)is intense and consist of 4-5 excersises, 16-20 sets per bodypart, for 8-10 reps. My 1RM for bench is 315lbs. Any advice? Should I just be patient? I feel like just giving it all up, I am at a good size now but I wanna GET FREAKING HUGE DAMMIT!!! HELP!?!?!!
- That’s some crazy volume, try cutting back by half and see what happens
1A. try cutting back frequency to 3 days/week - realize that you’re not going to put on several pounds of muscle in a few weeks through diet manipulation alone. Be patient. A pound a month is good for most guys.
for a 19 year old a 315 pound bench isnt that bad at all. what you may want to change is how many sets your doing per workout. 3-4 days a week is fine but 16-20 sets per body part is way too much. ian king recommends 15-25 per WORKOUT, NOT MUSCLE GROUP. even though some will think this isnt enough, and it may not be, its still a good guide. look up his articles at this site a think about buying his book, it has alot a great info. hope this helps
Yes, you are being paranoid. Unless you were weighed scientifically, your scale probably isn’t precise enough to register half-pound increments, and even if it is, that small a fluctuation could be anything (i.e. water). Try this. Hide your scale for a month. While you’re hiding it, convince yourself that you’re going to give the diet a fair shot for that month, and that you’re not going to expect to see ANY results before the month is up. Then you’ll have a decent interval in which to measure your progress.
Any 19 year-old who is training hard and not gaining (assuming they’re not overtraining) has a 99% chance that they’re doing one thing wrong: NOT GETTING ENOUGH FRIGGIN’ CALORIES! I guarantee you your metaboloism is running a-mile-a-minute. Mine was RIDICULOUS when I was 19 (I’m 26 now). I could eat absolutely eveything under the sun (truly ludicrous amounts), and still stay around 180 no matter what. And I’m not a hardgainer or an ectomorph (not by any means); that’s just how it is when you’re 19. Granted, I haven’t read the Get Big Diet in detail, but I have one more word of advice for you: EAT!!!
I work with alott of younger athletes mainly track and football players. I can tell you one thing, you don’t need to train with the current volume your using, (your wasting your time). More of an endurance workout!I suggest you keep the 4 day a week split, focus on full recovery (6 meals a day, and the current postworkout shake, don’t forget your healthy fats, and don’t follow a low carb diet). The reason why your not getting bigger (is that bench press sucks! most people lift with form that the use alott of elastic energy to move it. Write back to me on this board when you can hang clean 315, and deadlift some serious weight. Than check and see what your body weight stats are. I suggest keeping your total volume down. no more than 12 sets for the entire workout. Just make sure you getting stronger in the big lifts ie either more reps or more weight each time you walk in that gym.(Powerclean, Squat,and its variations, deadlift, snatch) I’ll bet your lower half is rather weak looking! GET TO WORK!
You’ve been taking creatine for 18 whole days and haven’t put on ANY muscle! OH MY GOD! I would suggest you go get yourself a boat load of anabolics, but you probably wouldn’t respond to them either (just funnin’ ya).
Chill out young buck, give the creatine at least 6 weeks and eat tons of Kcals.
–Better to be pissed off than pissed on–
I train twice a week, an hour each time. 1 set per bodypart. 6-10 reps, progressive overload. I’m getting stronger on almost every exersize all the time (if I don’t, I know what the problem is an fix it, like jumping to a higher weight too quickly).
Doing lots of sets and 1RM benches won’t help your cause. Most guys won’t even try this because:
- the pro bodybuilders don’t do this
- they like training a lot
- it’s too hard
- 1,000,000 theories out there
- it sounds too much like something from Mike Mentzer… and he has a rep for being a bit batty
If you want to try it then, let me know, and I’ll post as much info as I can on doing it right.
Ok so your saying take the volume down to about 16-20 a workout. So what should my rep/weight scheme be like? I am eating like 6-7 times a day, lots of protein, from chicken, tuna, nuts, etc. As far as deadlifts go, i do them every other week, and typically work out with about 315, same for squats.