I’ve been lifting seriously for about five years. It’s always been difficult for me to put on weight but I’ve managed to go from 180ish to a solid 210 in those five years. The problem is I hit 210 exactly a year ago today. Over the last year, despite no drop in my intensity and diet, I haven’t gained a single pound and my lifts have remained pretty much the same.
I’ve always practiced muscle confusion in my training and maintained a constant bulk 6000+ calorie diet + supplementation. In fact I’d venture to say that the last two years have been my best years with the addition of a 5 day a week training partner.
I have no idea what could be holding me back. 210 is the biggest anyone in my family has been; my dad was 170 in his weight lifting days. Can genetics hold you back, or in my case, stop you dead? I’m 26yrs old, so these should be my best years. Needless to say, I’m pretty discouraged. A year without gains is pretty rough.
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
Your use of the term “muscle confusion” to describe your training is a HUGE red flag here and my guess as to why you aren’t growing anymore.[/quote]
This.
Thirds regarding â??muscle confusionâ??. Branch Warren said in one of his recent videos that he has, by and large, been using the same training split/exercises/rep and set range for 10 years plus â?? Iâ??m sure he would have unwittingly been speaking for many pros at that point. As long as one is progressing within their chosen rep range without injuring themselves, I think the whole â??confusionâ?? thing is irrelevant.
I also think you need to list the 6000 calories that you eat daily. As soon as I ramped my diet up to 6000 or so calories about 4 years ago, I added about 50lbs of body mass, much of it muscle (200lbs to 250lbs, similar to your situation) so itâ??s surprising to hear that it isnâ??t working for you, particularly if you are ingesting enough protein to grow.
I know this is a body building forum but I think you’re getting messed up with your weight.
Who cares how much you weigh, what is your BF%, are your lifts getting stronger?
What are your goals? Are you hoping to go pro?
There comes a time when you just have to sit down and decide where you are going with weight training (wether its bodybuilding,powerlifting, any lifting) and adjust for that.
I feel to many people worry about reaching some “goal” without being able to enjoy the journey or even the results they get on the way.
[quote]Thornan wrote:
I know this is a body building forum but I think you’re getting messed up with your weight.
Who cares how much you weigh, what is your BF%, are your lifts getting stronger?
What are your goals? Are you hoping to go pro?
There comes a time when you just have to sit down and decide where you are going with weight training (wether its bodybuilding,powerlifting, any lifting) and adjust for that.
I feel to many people worry about reaching some “goal” without being able to enjoy the journey or even the results they get on the way.
[/quote]
Your weight matters a great deal. I sure as hell hope none of you think you can make significant physical change by staying at the exact same body weight for years.
It is HIGHLY unlikely that someone is going to stay at the exact same body weight for a year while dropping so much body fat that it justifies it unless they are already big and are just expecting a slight “recomp”.
This is NOT just about enjoying the damned journey if you never actually get anywhere near a destination.
Stepping one foot out the door and standing there for 5 years is not “enjoying the journey”. That is called STAGNATION.
[quote]Thornan wrote:
I know this is a body building forum but I think you’re getting messed up with your weight.
Who cares how much you weigh, what is your BF%, are your lifts getting stronger?
What are your goals? Are you hoping to go pro?
There comes a time when you just have to sit down and decide where you are going with weight training (wether its bodybuilding,powerlifting, any lifting) and adjust for that.
I feel to many people worry about reaching some “goal” without being able to enjoy the journey or even the results they get on the way.
[/quote]
Your weight matters a great deal. I sure as hell hope none of you think you can make significant physical change by staying at the exact same body weight for years.
It is HIGHLY unlikely that someone is going to stay at the exact same body weight for a year while dropping so much body fat that it justifies it unless they are already big and are just expecting a slight “recomp”.
This is NOT just about enjoying the damned journey if you never actually get anywhere near a destination.
Stepping one foot out the door and standing there for 5 years is not “enjoying the journey”. That is called STAGNATION.[/quote]
Pic so you can get an idea of my body comp. I’m at work now, but I’ll get my GF to take some pics on Friday when I see her.
Edit: I’ve made 2 lengthy replies on the diet, but it appears quick reply isn’t working. I thought there was just a delay due to forum moderation. I’m not ignoring your questions.
Thanks for the compliments. I am happy with the way I look and feel, but unhappy with the stalled development. I want to be more.
I feel my dieting is on target. I find it pretty easy to count calories. I basically try to take something I know it good for me, and eat enough of it to equal 600cals. If I can find six items that fit that requirement, it makes counting the remaining cals with various foods easy.
The rest I fill in with another 8oz beef or fish, Hard boiled eggs, various veggies, and even some more McD’s If cooking time is tight. I increase my carb intake on leg and back days, usually by just eating an extra two servings of rice.
[quote]23278 wrote:
Thanks for the compliments. I am happy with the way I look and feel, but unhappy with the stalled development. I want to be more.
I feel my dieting is on target. I find it pretty easy to count calories. I basically try to take something I know it good for me, and eat enough of it to equal 600cals. If I can find six items that fit that requirement, it makes counting the remaining cals with various foods easy.
The rest I fill in with another 8oz beef or fish, Hard boiled eggs, various veggies, and even some more McD’s If cooking time is tight. I increase my carb intake on leg and back days, usually by just eating an extra two servings of rice.[/quote]
That comes out to 6,000 cals?
Dude, I am sure I am eating about that much now and what you just typed doesn’t seem to come close.
Bottom line, if you are not gaining, you are not eating enough. This shit isn’t magic and while you do look good for the time you’ve put in, I am not sure you really understand how to even force a body weight change.
[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
I can not fathom that you eat 6,000 cals/day and don’t gain weight in any way. Whether it’s fat or muscle you gotta gain some kinda weight. [/quote]
Some may need more food than that…but this guy doesn’t seem big enough to need that much unless his metabolism is on fire or his activity level outside the gym is extremely high.
Here we go again with all the extraneous bullshit dissecting symptoms instead of causes and undue mollycoddling. Doesn’t matter if you’re eating 1000 calories, 5000 calories, 6000 calories or 10,000 calories; if you aren’t growing, you aren’t eating enough, period.
23278, if I read your post correctly, it said you have been eating 6000 calories the whole time you have been stuck and you have been using muscle confusion (i.e. changing your workouts). Why didn’t you just up your food intake? It’s the simplest solution in the word when it comes to weight gain.
All these guys who said you should be growing if you eat that much have no idea what your body does with food, how fast your metabolism is, etc., so they should be shot. Just eat more than you are, period. And X, is right, you have done a good job so far.
Come on X, you’re slippin’. It took your third post to tell the guy to eat more.
