[quote]wannbeBIG wrote:
It seems to me like you have a real problem with consistency and effort. Now, I realize that you’ve stated numerous times in the past that you train hard. But, to be perfectly honest, if you haven’t increased the amount of weight that you are lifting in the past year, then you can’t be training all that hard.
You should be lifting more weight on at least one exercise per body part every workout or at least lifting the same weight more times. Period. No excuses, just do it. I don’t care if you have to do forced reps, negative only reps, whatever. Just do more weight or more reps every single workout.
Either that of you are changing routines so often that you never give your body a chance to adapt to the exercises. Or you are completely clueless as to the process of muscle growth and are messing up on a key factor (rest, recovery, etc…).
I will get back to this but I’m pushed for time at the moment.
you question my Consistency and effort - I’m so dedicated to this, I never miss a meal, a workout, I don’t drink alcohol, I make sure everything is on order, I’ve been following the routines set out for me EXACTLY how it was meant to be, so what more can I do?
I try and increase the weight each week, or add reps and it just doesnt happen, I bust my balls trying to do it, but leave the gym, angry and frustrated that I couldn’t increase the weight or reps.
it upsets me when people say I aint trying - that might sound like a pussy thing to say but that’s the way it is, I’ve try so fckin hard and I’m being totally honest when I say that.
I know all about rest and recovery etc.
Anyway, I’ll get back to the rest of your post tomorrow.
[/quote]
WannabeBig,
I’m not sure if you missed when I said that you could try forced reps, or negatives, or rest-pause, etc… Using those tools there is NO WAY that you can’t perform at least more reps with the same weight. Period. Heck, you could even do more sets.
You may be right that you can’t increase weight every workout, but you need to at least expose your muscles to a greater stimulus. Utilizing forced reps, negatives, etc… allows you to overload your muscles, even if you aren’t necessarily getting more consecutive reps, or adding weight. Or, heck you could even try a progression by density (meaning you’d lift the same weight, for the same reps, but in less total time).
And I’m sorry if I have a hard time believing that you are really trying to lift more weight each workout, or the same weight more times. Because quite honestly, I’ve never, ever seen someone who couldn’t do the above (even if it meant using one of the above mentioned methods, or lowering reps with more weight), that is if they were eating enough for recovery and adaptation to take place and allowing for enough time between workouts to fully recover (which I would monitor and adjust accordingly).
And to the best of my knowledge, none of my clients have ever been on AAS, which you mentioned you were (which should mean that your recovery abilities should be above, or at least at normal levels).
You say that you’ve been following the routines set out for your “exactly” how it was meant to be. So, are you saying that the routine doesn’t have a built in progression? Or are you saying that you haven’t actually been doing the routines as they are set out for you?
If it’s the former, then once again, your trainer doesn’t seem to know what they’re doing. If it’s the later, then you obviously aren’t doing the routines exactly as written, are you? That’s one of the problems that I see with an online trainer, they aren’t actually there with you while you perform the workout, so they can’t actually make sure that you are doing what they tell you. They also can’t give you “on the fly” advice, or little tricks that you can use to accomplish the goals of the workout.
You also mentioned that you understand rest and recovery, which is good. But, if you are having a hard time increasing load/reps on your subsequent workouts, then perhaps you aren’t giving your body enough time to recover.
If in fact you do have as hard of a time putting on muscle as you have suggested, then perhaps you also have extremely slow recovery abilities. What is enough time for your brother (or another lifter) to recover and grow, might not be enough time for you. Have you experimented with different recovery periods? Like say, only working out every third day, and still following a body part split? Meaning that you’d only work out each body part once every 12 days?
How much sleep do you get? Do you take a multivitamin supplement? What do you do for work? Also, when was the last time that you took a backoff/deloading/rest week?
Please understand that I’m not trying to be a dick, and although my advice may seem harsh from time to time, it seems like what you need to hear. As several people have already stated, there are mental barriers that must be overcome the same as their are physical ones. Making up excuses of why you didn’t do what you set out to do is not a good habit to get into and will sabotage your progress.
It also seems like you have a very limited knowledge of weight training methodologies, tools and how to utilize them effectively. Luckily you have a great resource in this website (and I’m sure that you can find others as well) from which to learn more.
In closing, I once again suggest that you increase load or reps every workout out, no if’s ands or buts about it. There is absolutely no reason why that shouldn’t be possible. Period.
Good training,
Sentoguy