I have not been making the gains that I want, and am looking to change things up. For the last two years I have been training strictly for “strength,” yet I am only at:
Bench~205 (hit 185x5 recently haven’t maxed in a while)
Squat~ 225x5
Deadlift~315 (hit 280x3 easy, only lift that is getting stronger)
Military~115x3
All this at 19 y/o, 5’10, 175-180 lbs
I feel like I have a decent build when it comes to legs chest and back, but my arms are lacking in every way since I haven’t done direct arm work for nearly 2 years… I am thinking about doing a split routine and improving my diet tremendously(i can write out my diet but i wouldn’t want to bore you guys).
I have done 3 straight cycles of 5/3/1, and rippetoes before that.
What I am asking is… what routine should i do? I am sure this is posted often, and i used the search function for split routines and mostly found user made ones… Should i create my own? I am thinking about doing Big Beyond Belief. any input will help, and thanks.
1st Lunch:
1 chicken breast, 1.5 cups of quinoa or brown rice, 1 cup spinach or whatever green vegetable i have cooked
2nd Lunch:
~1 chicken breast 1.5 cups brown rice or quinoa, 1 cup vegetable
OR
Turkey Sandwich with 15 grams worth of turkey (3 slices) and whole wheat bread w/ quinoa on the side
Workout:
Peri workout- 15 grams protein w/ 40 grams of gatorade powder 5 g creatine
Post workout- 25 grams of whey protein
Dinner:
1/2 Chicken breast or two thighs/drumsticks
cup of quinoa
Dessert:
1 cup of frozen berries
Dinner
1/2 chicken breast, cup of quinoa
Why not just continue to do 5/3/1? if you feel you’re not hitting your arms enough add in some curls, or close grip bench. I don’t see why your bench and squat aren’t going up with the deadlift. Is your form messed up?
When I stall, I up my intake of milk to a gallon again. Quick and simple.
@haas- Alright, i will go and buy some ground beef and flank steak later today. Is there a certain amount that i should be eating?
@Bonez217- Okay, what should i do differently? Add in a meal or two?
@Zerpp- Im slightly lactose intolerant so i drink almond milk, but yeah on my 5/3/1 military press day i do CGBP as an accessory exercise. I am hitting the required reps on 5/3/1, but rarely do i go over the required rep amount, do i reset or keep going until i can’t hit them anymore. I haven’t “stalled” yet but, i feel it coming. I am going to drastically change my diet though and hope for the best.
Meal 1: Protein shake w/ 25 g of protein and a piece of fruit
Breakfast: 4 eggs (2 yolks) 2 tortillas and a whole avocadoe
Meal 2: Bag of almonds (at school)
Meal 3: Turkey Sammich with 20 grams of protein+quinoa and brown rice
Lunch: Chicken Breast w/ veggies+ quinoa or brown rice
Workout: peri workout shake 15 g protein 40 gram carbs/ post workout shake 25 g protein
Dinner: Chicken Breast or steak/ground beef with veggies and quinoa/brown rice
Dessert: Cup of frozen berries.
Is this looking better? Any easy snacks to clean bulk?
[quote]Zerpp wrote:
Why not just continue to do 5/3/1? if you feel you’re not hitting your arms enough add in some curls, or close grip bench. I don’t see why your bench and squat aren’t going up with the deadlift. Is your form messed up?
When I stall, I up my intake of milk to a gallon again. Quick and simple.[/quote]
Seriously. OP check out the “simpliest strength template” from the 2nd edition. It has assistance for every body part programmed.
As far as your diet, you have good food choices, you just need to eat a bit more at each meal. Add an extra egg or two, throw in an extra chicken breast, a few more slices of turkey, etc.
If you did the same routine and ate 5x more food you would have significant muscle gains. Believe it or not the more you eat the stronger and bigger you will get be it muscle or fat. That will depend on food choices. If you are bored with the programs use the search bar located at the top right of the screen and type in “Do This Routine Instead of That Dumb One”. Pick one and stick with it for 3 months and see how you feel. A lot of people are against it but a gallon of milk a day is a very easy way to add calories to a days total with lots of fat carbs and protein.
I’m saying this plain, you’re still a relatively weak newb
A: Stay with 5/3/1 - do more than the minimum reps, i like to go for 10+ on 85%. Do boring but big, add weight (even if only 2kg) every time. Fucking go to war every time you hit the gym
B: Red meat, eggs, potatoes and green vegetables, these are the foundations of you’re diet. With beef, get the cheaper cuts such as Brisket (unless you can afford the steak).
C: Aim for 300g of protein and 200g of carbs a day as a start. you really aren’t eating enough at the moment
Meal 1: Protein shake w/ 25 g of protein and a piece of fruit
Breakfast: 4 eggs (2 yolks) 2 tortillas and a whole avocadoe
Meal 2: Bag of almonds (at school)
Meal 3: Turkey Sammich with 20 grams of protein+quinoa and brown rice
Lunch: Chicken Breast w/ veggies+ quinoa or brown rice
Workout: peri workout shake 15 g protein 40 gram carbs/ post workout shake 25 g protein
Dinner: Chicken Breast or steak/ground beef with veggies and quinoa/brown rice
Dessert: Cup of frozen berries.
Is this looking better? Any easy snacks to clean bulk?
[/quote]
Chicken breast is around 90 calories per 100gm. 21/0/1 PCF
Red meat is around 215 calories per 100gm. 18/0/15 PCF
It takes a lot of chicken to get calories up, start eating a few hundred grams of red meat and you will push that calorie count up, a lot.
And why are you only eating 2 eggs and 2 whites? 2 eggs ~140cals, 2 whites ~fuck all. Eat the yolks, thats where the goodness is.
1st Lunch:
1 chicken breast, 1.5 cups of quinoa or brown rice, 1 cup spinach or whatever green vegetable i have cooked
2nd Lunch:
~1 chicken breast 1.5 cups brown rice or quinoa, 1 cup vegetable
OR
Turkey Sandwich with 15 grams worth of turkey (3 slices) and whole wheat bread w/ quinoa on the side
Workout:
Peri workout- 15 grams protein w/ 40 grams of gatorade powder 5 g creatine
Post workout- 25 grams of whey protein
Dinner:
1/2 Chicken breast or two thighs/drumsticks
cup of quinoa
Dessert:
1 cup of frozen berries
Dinner
1/2 chicken breast, cup of quinoa
[/quote]
at 19 you should eat at least 16 kcals per pound man. Divide you caloric intake in 40-40-20 or 40-30-30 and create some decent sized meals
Think of eating as if it were part of your training (indeed, it is). Even if you don’t want to eat more at this point, you’re wasting your time at this point if you’re not going to do it. A day of insufficient eating is about as bad as a day skipping the gym.
Thanks to all, to crazyj, thats a really great post and i will definitiely be using that to help with some meals when i want to add some variation.
To The3Commandments, i do think this way, i was just extremely overestimating the amount of calories i was taking in. Now that i realize chicken breast on its own won’t do (unless i have 6 or more…), i will be more serious about my diet.
My question is, on 5/3/1, i have been hitting all required reps, but i am barely doing it. Should i just reduce the amount im lifting by 10-20 lbs on each lift with this fixed diet, or should i just fix my diet and see what happens from there?
EDIT: WHen i say barely hittin the reps, i don’t mean I am grinding them out, i am just not hitting 10 reps even on my 5 week. I am hitting 5 easy reps, probably fail on the 6th, most likely 7th.
A 25% deload could be a good thing. But if you are still able to hit your lifts and you can sort out your nutrition NOW then why go backwards? I would wait to stall a few times in a row before a deload.
[quote]Zerpp wrote:
Why not just continue to do 5/3/1? if you feel you’re not hitting your arms enough add in some curls, or close grip bench. I don’t see why your bench and squat aren’t going up with the deadlift. Is your form messed up?
When I stall, I up my intake of milk to a gallon again. Quick and simple.[/quote]
Don’t listen to this guy. Your smaller lifts are going to stall before the big ones if you started everything correctly. Thats just the way it is. Just because you didn’t make one type of lift doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep progressing on the others.