Hi, I’m standing at 6’2 (188cm) and currently about 202lbs (92 kg), 20 years old. I’ve been lifting for about 3-4 years (started from 130 lbs(59 kg)). I’ve been progressing good until like 1.5 year ago, when I’ve taken measurements which were 16 inch biceps (40 cm), 23.6 quads (60 cm) and stubborn calves 14.5 inch (36,37cm) and 12.59 inch (32 cm) forearms, and after 1.5 year training my measurements are pretty much same, maybe +0.5,1 cm and that’s it…
Through the last year I’ve bulked up 10 kg, and progressed pretty much in strength on basically every lift. Everything went up about +25/30 kg from last year (220 lbs (100kg) x 7 bench, 242(110kg)x10 barbell rows, 550 lbs (250kg) x 10-15 leg press). When it comes to squat and deadlift, I haven’t seen any of benefits when it comes to hypertrophy so I’ve replaced them with exercises mentioned above.
Currently my physique looks a little bit skinny fat, because I’m not doing any of the cardio neither do I do abs, because being always skinny through childhood I didn’t care much about it.
Currently my split is: chest/shoulders, legs, back, arms, legs (calves every workout, 2 exercises 4 sets each exercise), rep range is between 6 and 10, about 4-5 exercises per workout.
My main problem and question (any advice would be helpful really), what should I do next in order to start progressing with my physique?
First off, welcome to “intermediate” where improper nutrition, sleep, and subpar training will no longer produce gains.
Good news = you’ve built a good bit of muscle.
Bad news = it only gets harder from here.
Have you ever run a legit program like 5/3/1, DoggCrapp or any Waterbury or Meadows stuff, etc? I believe you are at a point where bro splits no longer will work for you.
To be honest, I’ve never followed any type of program or diet plan, and still don’t know how even in strength I’ve progressed and weight (never heard of any of those programs… I’ve just trained as hard as I could on bro split (chest,back,legs,shoulders,arms) and recently switched to modified: chest/shoulders, legs, back, arms, legs.
When it comes to nutrition in last few months, I’m trying to eat as clean as I could, and one day looks like this:
-oats,milk
-eggs (4-6), turkey ham, cheese, bread
-banana
chicken and rice / pasta,beef/ tuna,rice
(and I usually mix those combinations and choose one of them)
-banana
then I do the last meal again, maybe add sometimes oats,milk again.
When it comes to macros and calories, never tracked them because of the fast metabolism that slowed down by time (or at least I think that it slowed down).
Just to mention, that I didn’t pay attention on food when I was bulking like before few months
I really have hard time with squats, like I’ve tried everything to increase my depth, because I can really squat only quarter squat. Tried putting something under heels but it seems it hurts my knees.
Should I include abs at the end of the workout and should I keep doing calves almost every workout?
I strongly recommend finding a program you believe you’ll like, investing in it and following it as written. You will learn a lot and likely grow a lot too.
5/3/1 will make you stronger in the big 4, and it will also get you bigger as a result. It is strength-focused, but I don’t believe you’re at a point where you need to start diverging into either strength or hypertrophy training.
I would absolutely figure out WHY this is, because it sounds like you’re unable to perform a basic, fundamental human movement, which is ABSOLUTELY limiting your growing potential.
When you sit down on a toilet, do you just fall down onto it, or are you able to lower yourself down to the depth of the seat?
Get a private instructor to show you basic movements. Ideally get some powerlifting coach to do it. 20 year old man who cant squat below paralel without his knees being hurt is some sort of ridiculous idiocy. Soon we will have 15 year old who dont get erections seeing naked women. NOTHING hurts for a 20 year old unless you are a cripple or some sort of freak. You need to fix it or you will be completely useless when you hit 30.
Anyway, back to the original question.
Your stats are good. We are similar height and i was around the same weight at your age and i know the feeling when you train more and more but always feel skinny fat.
The thing you have to understand about increasing measurements is that for tall guys it takes A LOT.
If all your muscles grow, id say in order to increase 1cm to your biceps you would probably need to gain at least 10kgs.
My biceps were 42,5cm at 100kgs and they are around 44,5cm now at 115kgs. But in order to get from 100kgs to these 115kgs i needed to bulk up to like 122kgs.
40cm arms at 92kgs at your height is good. Bulk up to like 105kgs, lean down to 100kgs or below and you will be around 41,5cm… Thats how it works. I know it sucks, but that is the reason why all the tall bodybuilders weight so much more.
If you are tall, you will never look big below 110kgs. At your and my height, 110kgs is the lowest we can aim for in order for it to look like we work out unless we are super lean at a lower weight.
My advice to you and my younger self would be - just get strong. Size will come with strenght. Sadly i realised it 10 years later than you can.
Well that depends on your goals. I dont think you look skinny fat. I think you look very good and you can bulk. If you dont bulk you wont gain size, so it depends on what you want to do. The more you bulk and less time you spend cutting the more muscle you will gain in the long run.