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Lifting help


Conundrum

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Hey all, I know topics like this have been created in the past, but I need some help.

 

 

I've been lifting for the better part of the last 12 months. I've noticed myself getting stronger, as I can lift more now, but aesthetically, I've noticed no difference. I'm not any bigger.

 

My biggest problem areas are my biceps and chest. I have next to no peak on my biceps and my chest is that of a 12 year old.

 

I've tried different routines, I take protein, I eat pretty healthily, but no progress. Does anyone have any advice on how to actually get bigger, and maybe some tricks for my problem areas specifically?

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Less reps, heavier weights. Don't lift something so heavy that you struggle. Pushups and pullups are also great for the arms and chest. Lastly, the best supplement out there I have ever tried is creatine. It works wonders getting bigger, you just have to drink lost of water to get your muscles big.

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Let's forget about low reps, heavy weight or high reps, low weight for a min. That's just too broad. What is low reps? 1-3, 3-5? That's strength training parameters. High reps are what? 15-20/25? That's muscle endurance training. Both will obviously build some sort of muscle mass but a person who is already struggling to put on mass will get minimum to no results from that.

 

There is two things to consider here. Your diet and Your training routine. Those two will depend on your body type you currently have. I'm assuming, from your post, that you are a fairly slim dude who struggles to put on weight despite eating sufficient amount of food or even more so than an average person...correct?

 

The problem here is, are you taking enough protein to support muscle recovery and growth from weight training? my guess would be, probably not. Protein shake alone won't do the trick. Ideally, to be in muscle building caloric surplus, you need to be eating 1.5-2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. Since you have a really fast or hyperactive metabolism (all guesswork atm, lemme know if you do or don't), you will need to eat like a dog to say the least. Good thing is, you can have delicious carbs along with those proteins to help you gob down your meals. Forget about eating 6-8 or 10 meals a day (because that's BS), just keep your caloric intake in surplus and maintain the protein intake and you should see some change.

 

Second thing is training. It would help if you mentioned your training routine and parameters. Ideal training parameter for building muscle mass, strictly speaking, is Hypertrophy. Most people say hypertrophy parameters are 6-12 rep range. The main points of hypertrophy training is time under tension and training to failure. Those rep ranges are just reference points (because ideally that's how much tension you want your muscle to be under). So for example, Bench pressing for 6-12 reps is not hypertrophy. I mean you could pick a weight that would easily get you that rep range. The trick here is, to pick a weight that you think you could do for let's say, 7 reps and 7 only and then try and push yourself to failure or past it to get 1 or 2 extra reps and building up on that every week or so (weight wise. Make sure to use a spotter to not injure yourself and use a bit of will power to not be...well a pussy). There is loads of different techniques to increase tension on the muscle such as negative reps, drop sets, triple drop sets, supersets. Look those up.

 

Also taking into account, you are doing those exercises properly. Most of the time, when people have a lagging chest, biceps, legs or triceps; quite often it's to do with them not doing the exercises properly. Not isolating the muscle or using enough of that muscle you meant to be training, using momentum which in the end, reduces the tension off the muscle you are trying to build.

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You are correct when saying I have a hard time putting on weight. I'm 5'8" and my weight generally fluctuates around 165 lbs.

 

 

I generally do 3 sets of 8-10 reps. For the most part, I choose weight so the last 2-3 reps are always a struggle.

 

As of now, I drink a whey protein shake after my workout everyday, but have considered adding one after breakfast as well.

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You are correct when saying I have a hard time putting on weight. I'm 5'8" and my weight generally fluctuates around 165 lbs.

 

 

I generally do 3 sets of 8-10 reps. For the most part, I choose weight so the last 2-3 reps are always a struggle.

 

As of now, I drink a whey protein shake after my workout everyday, but have considered adding one after breakfast as well.

 

To be honest bro, your weight seems pretty healthy compared to your height. In fact, your are bigger than me, I am 5'8" around 157 lbs, but I work out every other day at least, take some supplements, eat well, and I look lean but muscular. I think that is what is most attractive to girls, if that's what you want. Most girls I've met would rather have a lean, athletic looking guy than a big meathead.

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You are correct when saying I have a hard time putting on weight. I'm 5'8" and my weight generally fluctuates around 165 lbs.

 

 

I generally do 3 sets of 8-10 reps. For the most part, I choose weight so the last 2-3 reps are always a struggle.

 

As of now, I drink a whey protein shake after my workout everyday, but have considered adding one after breakfast as well.

To be honest bro, your weight seems pretty healthy compared to your height. In fact, your are bigger than me, I am 5'8" around 157 lbs, but I work out every other day at least, take some supplements, eat well, and I look lean but muscular. I think that is what is most attractive to girls, if that's what you want. Most girls I've met would rather have a lean, athletic looking guy than a big meathead.

I want to be lean, but there's areas I want bigger before hand. My chest is almost non exsistent, and my biceps have next to no peak, no matter how hard I work them. I've tried cutting for definition and bulking to get them size, neither of which helped.

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I have very little body fat myself, so most of my weight is muscle. What I do suggest is trying out creatine like I mentioned. About 5 grams per serving should do. The load up phase is recommended, so take about 3-4 servings for a week, drinking lots of water, then doing 1 serving a day for about a month afterwards. Once you start seeing results lay off it for a while. Trust me, you may see results in as fast as two weeks.

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I have very little body fat myself, so most of my weight is muscle. What I do suggest is trying out creatine like I mentioned. About 5 grams per serving should do. The load up phase is recommended, so take about 3-4 servings for a week, drinking lots of water, then doing 1 serving a day for about a month afterwards. Once you start seeing results lay off it for a while. Trust me, you may see results in as fast as two weeks.

Any creatine in particular you recommend it just any will do?

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Yea Creatine will help. I don't take it but I have friends who swear by it. Remember, you need to make sure that you are taking in the required amount of protein as I mentioned. Nutrition is crucial. Also make sure you are getting adequate sleep to allow the growth hormones to go to work.

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Creatine Monohydrate. Which brands? If you have access to amazon and a credit card, then search around. Last one I got was Met-RX brand, in a small red container. If you only have cash go to Rite Aid or CVS and look for something there, sometimes they have a buy one get one free. Any more questions I'll be glad to help.

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Quick question, to anyone, how do you eat more? I know it sounds like a silly question, but in serious. Sometimes I eat and eat, and I'll feel a little sick afterwards, but I still haven't eaten a lot. How do you make yourself eat more without getting full/sick?

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Some people like to split their meals out into 6 seperate sittings. So instead of eating 2 or 3 big meals a day, you're eating smaller portions (usually chicken and rice with broccoli or something) 5-6 times a day. Might be worth giving that a try?

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Some people like to split their meals out into 6 seperate sittings. So instead of eating 2 or 3 big meals a day, you're eating smaller portions (usually chicken and rice with broccoli or something) 5-6 times a day. Might be worth giving that a try?

Sounds good. And pretty easy :lol:

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dont recommend the creatine because once you stop it, you'll decline noticeably. it's likely a nutritional thing, but could also be something with poor form and habits such as using more back than biceps, or more shoulder/triceps than chest that's limiting growth and if so you may want to lift less to achieve proper form for maximum efficiency.

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dont recommend the creatine because once you stop it, you'll decline noticeably. it's likely a nutritional thing, but could also be something with poor form and habits such as using more back than biceps, or more shoulder/triceps than chest that's limiting growth and if so you may want to lift less to achieve proper form for maximum efficiency.

So star over and work my up from light weight again, or do only light weight to entire time?

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dont recommend the creatine because once you stop it, you'll decline noticeably. it's likely a nutritional thing, but could also be something with poor form and habits such as using more back than biceps, or more shoulder/triceps than chest that's limiting growth and if so you may want to lift less to achieve proper form for maximum efficiency.

So star over and work my up from light weight again, or do only light weight to entire time?

Pretty much what I said in my first post. You need to check your form to see if you are doing it correctly or not. Check some tutorials or ask ppl at the gym to see if you doing the exercises you are doing properly. You need to pretty much eliminate all momentum if you want to get the maximum benefits.

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Quick question, to anyone, how do you eat more? I know it sounds like a silly question, but in serious. Sometimes I eat and eat, and I'll feel a little sick afterwards, but I still haven't eaten a lot. How do you make yourself eat more without getting full/sick?

 

To be honest, exercising will cause you to be more hungry. The more you strain yourself, the hungrier you will get. The more often you eat, the more your body will get used to eating.

 

dont recommend the creatine because once you stop it, you'll decline noticeably. it's likely a nutritional thing, but could also be something with poor form and habits such as using more back than biceps, or more shoulder/triceps than chest that's limiting growth and if so you may want to lift less to achieve proper form for maximum efficiency.

 

I went off creatine and maintained the weight and muscle for 4 years. Besides, even if he stops and loses some weight, he will still be much bigger than how he says he is right now. The creatine is a supplement intended to make things easier. With healthy eating and regular exercise he will maintain the weight and muscle post creatine use.

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Ummm let's see if I can add anything to what has been said before.

Some supplements you should considered are creatine, amino acids and whey protein.

Try to up your protein intake, have a shake 30 mins before and after your workout. Like you said you're a skinny dude so if you're doing some type of cardio you can reduce the amount.

As far as sets go the 3 sets 8-10 is great but make your last set a rest pause set only on certain exercises (anything that doesn't involve a dumbbells usually us what I do, with arms being an exception).

If you didn't know a rest pause set is when you finish your set number 3 and then do 3 more subsets with the same weight with only a 10 to 15 sec rest in between

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