3 Months Bulking - Feedback Requested

[JoeMyBro]

Hello,

This is from period 13th January 2009 to 8th April 2009 (approx 3 months).

I'm posting here because I'm feeling as though I've made very very little (if any) progress with my training routine and was hoping for some feedback. I use the FatTrack Self Assessment skinfold caliper to measure my BF% as well as my scale to compare with my weight and "supposedly" the measurements are from this period of 3 months is:

BF%: Start = 8.3%, End = 8.3% -- no change (HIGHLY skeptical about this)
Weight: Start = 147 lbs, End = 161.8 lbs -- (14.8 lbs increase)
Fat: Start = 12.2 lbs, End = 13.4 lbs -- (1.2 lbs increase)
LBM: Start = 134.8 lbs, End = 148.4 lbs -- (13.6 lbs increase)

However, if you look at the before/after shots you can see only a noticiable difference in FAT but no muscle. Now, this is really stressful to me because I've been doing everything I can think of and have read about to make this work (my goal is to put on muscular size). My current goal is to add 50 lbs of lean muscle to my frame but at this rate I fear something is terribly wrong and I'm only gaining FAT and maybe recording incorrectly with my skinfold caliper (although, to be honest I measure the exact same way each week, so it SHOULD be somewhat accurate).

Picture (before = left, after = right):

Link: http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/1493/annoyedx.jpg

I have no leg shots, I didn't think about it at the time when I started unfortunately.

Training Info:
I've read Sean Nalewanyj's "The Truth About Building Muscle" and am working out at home solo with a bench, barbell, dumbells and free weights doing everything he suggsted. The real problem I am noticing is that, I have not been able to increase the weight I lift very much... if I'm lucky I can increase by a couple reps each week (and this is for big compound exercises, which I'm sure is WAY too little). I train 3 days split consistantly with 99% clean dieting and using creatine, l-glutamine, whey protein shakes etc and wholegrain foods eating 6 times a day every 2-3 hours. Sleep is pretty much normal 8-10 hours per night. I live a very relaxed lifestyle at the moment. If I'm not in the gym I'm on my computer but this doesn't reflect that I sit down eating junk etc. For those who do not know the routine sean has its basically Lift HEAVY with 5-7 reps until concentric muscular failure with mostly big compound exercises being the core of each workout. The workout is split across 3 days of the week, one being Legs/Abs, next being Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and finally Back, Biceps and Forearms.

Any suggestions and feedback is more than welcome I am desperate to determine what is wrong and make all necessary changes to my routine, diet, etc.
​

 

[ExtraMile]

I really feel for you making little progress, but its amazing that you stuck at it, if you can keep this determination and consistency you will make great gains in the future...

Two quick questions -

Do you squat?

Do you deadlift?

 

[JoeMyBro]

Yes I squat and deadlift in my routine. My squat can be a little awkward because my left leg is weird and I basically hve to turn my feet outwards a little so I can go down low enough, but I think its fine. Trying to go to failure on my own with squats is also a little difficult because I have no way to drop the weight safely, but I'm determined trust me.

I'm just trying to figure out something very critical here that I think is the problem:

a). If I can't lift heavier one week, what should I do to make it so I can lift heavier the next week? How can I determine the cause? I read you should be able to add 5% of the weight each week, yet I am unable to do so thus far, despite my greatest efforts and I don't know why.

b). Today I did my back, biceps and forearms. My routine goes: Deadlifts, Bent over Barbell Rows, Bent over Dumbell Rows, Barbell Shrugs, Barbell Curls, Standing Alternating dumbell curls, barbell wrist curls. Now...

I stepped up to do Barbell Curls (biceps). I lifted 31kg x 8 reps, then could only do 31kg x 3.5 reps. The previous workout I lifted 30kg x9 then 30kg x4 and the one before that was 30kg x8 and 30kg x6. So, each week I actually got weaker progressively if you times it all up for total poundage. Why the heck am I lifting less I cannot understand it. I am lifting until concentric muscular failure, yet I expect to be stronger each week and its just not happening. Previous to these three workouts though, I managed to add 1 rep over 2 weeks which is at least something. So... could it be that its possibly because I lifted heavier in deadlifts, etc? I also lifted less in standing dumbell curls too compared to a couple weeks ago where I could do a few more reps at the same weight.

I cannot compare my progress in deadlifts yet objectively, because I only recently bought wrist straps to lift properly, however next week I need to aim for 85kg since this week was 80kg. I'm honestly not sure if I can!

Well... I do dumbbell bench press since barbell is too dangerous I feel solo. Its difficult getting the weight on me, but I can manage so far. I lift at 31kg x2 last time and I was able to do 0.5 more reps total than the previous workout which was also 2kg less (30kg x2) so I think I've been making some small strength gains there at least.

Dumbbell side laterals -- 6kg x 2. How can I improve on this? Each week I can barely lift the 12 reps of 6kg x2 I do not know how I am going to increase the weight. Perhaps at such a low weight I need to focus on adding more reps first?

Well... sorry for writing all that. I just have a lot of questions I was hoping someone could answer. Either way I'm getting to the bottom of this because I am dedicated to my training. I'm going to read the No Nonsense Body Building ebook and try to determine the empty gaps in my knowledge. So far I feel maybe I just lack the confidence to really up the weight... either that or I am just not getting stronger .

ANY TIPS/ADVICE IS WELCOME (sorry if I put this in the wrong forum/topic section)

 

[c24k]

If your aren't able to lift heavier the next week thats fine. It doesn't happen for everyone. Just keep working on what your currently lifting or go up by smaller increments, don't over train yourself. Make sure you get roughly 1.7g of protein per pound of bodyweight. Also try and get a caloric excess. If you go to the Diet and Bodybuilding section you will find an article on RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) it will help you figure out how many calories you need to maintain and then u can add on 500-1000 EXTRA to help you grow. Personally i've never trusted things like that program your doing. Just looked shady. I think you would benefit more from the 5x5 program, which is totally free. Bill Starr 5x5 - Madcow Intermediate or Linear Version . From what i've read in your post your trying to do more than you can like your getting frustrated and adding more weight than you can do to get bigger ASAP which leads up to over-training and possibly hurting yourself. I've been doing the 5x5 and i love it. By the way, how old are you?

 

[JoeMyBro]

I'm turning 21 very soon... the program I'm doing focuses exactly on the concept of "progressive overload", and that nothing shy of muscular failure within a set will result in muscle growth. I've actually read this from both of the programs. The idea is, you lift heavier and your muscles must get bigger. If you lift too little reps with heavy weight, you will only become stronger and your muscles will not have a reason to grow. This means you need heavy weight + high reps (5-7, or something like that).

I guess I need to be looking into this 5x5 program too.. thanks.

 

[c24k]

I'm turning 21 very soon... the program I'm doing focuses exactly on the concept of "progressive overload", and that nothing shy of muscular failure within a set will result in muscle growth. I've actually read this from both of the programs. The idea is, you lift heavier and your muscles must get bigger. If you lift too little reps with heavy weight, you will only become stronger and your muscles will not have a reason to grow. This means you need heavy weight + high reps (5-7, or something like that).

I guess I need to be looking into this 5x5 program too.. thanks.

I'd stay away from Sean N.'s program. You don't always have to go to muscular failure. Lift big and eat big to get big. 1-3 Reps builds Neuromuscular Strength; 4-7 Reps build Strength and Muscle; 8-12 is considered the Prime of Building Muscle but doesn't develop Strength as fast. Anything over 12 is just endurance training and warm up sets. 5x5 is all you need. 3 months and only gained 14 pounds is pretty good btw for being natty. Are you new to working out?

 

[ExtraMile]

Yes I squat and deadlift in my routine. My squat can be a little awkward because my left leg is weird and I basically hve to turn my feet outwards a little so I can go down low enough, but I think its fine. Trying to go to failure on my own with squats is also a little difficult because I have no way to drop the weight safely, but I'm determined trust me.

I'm just trying to figure out something very critical here that I think is the problem:

a). If I can't lift heavier one week, what should I do to make it so I can lift heavier the next week? How can I determine the cause? I read you should be able to add 5% of the weight each week, yet I am unable to do so thus far, despite my greatest efforts and I don't know why.

b). Today I did my back, biceps and forearms. My routine goes: Deadlifts, Bent over Barbell Rows, Bent over Dumbell Rows, Barbell Shrugs, Barbell Curls, Standing Alternating dumbell curls, barbell wrist curls. Now...

I stepped up to do Barbell Curls (biceps). I lifted 31kg x 8 reps, then could only do 31kg x 3.5 reps. The previous workout I lifted 30kg x9 then 30kg x4 and the one before that was 30kg x8 and 30kg x6. So, each week I actually got weaker progressively if you times it all up for total poundage. Why the heck am I lifting less I cannot understand it. I am lifting until concentric muscular failure, yet I expect to be stronger each week and its just not happening. Previous to these three workouts though, I managed to add 1 rep over 2 weeks which is at least something. So... could it be that its possibly because I lifted heavier in deadlifts, etc? I also lifted less in standing dumbell curls too compared to a couple weeks ago where I could do a few more reps at the same weight.

I cannot compare my progress in deadlifts yet objectively, because I only recently bought wrist straps to lift properly, however next week I need to aim for 85kg since this week was 80kg. I'm honestly not sure if I can!

Well... I do dumbbell bench press since barbell is too dangerous I feel solo. Its difficult getting the weight on me, but I can manage so far. I lift at 31kg x2 last time and I was able to do 0.5 more reps total than the previous workout which was also 2kg less (30kg x2) so I think I've been making some small strength gains there at least.

Dumbbell side laterals -- 6kg x 2. How can I improve on this? Each week I can barely lift the 12 reps of 6kg x2 I do not know how I am going to increase the weight. Perhaps at such a low weight I need to focus on adding more reps first?

Well... sorry for writing all that. I just have a lot of questions I was hoping someone could answer. Either way I'm getting to the bottom of this because I am dedicated to my training. I'm going to read the No Nonsense Body Building ebook and try to determine the empty gaps in my knowledge. So far I feel maybe I just lack the confidence to really up the weight... either that or I am just not getting stronger .

ANY TIPS/ADVICE IS WELCOME (sorry if I put this in the wrong forum/topic section)

OK,
1. what is your diet like?

2. increasing weight on side laterals and db curls its pointless, increase 5lbs every week on deadlifts, squats, barbell rows, strict military press and barbell benchpress.
This is one of the best beginner routines and the main focus is increasing weight on those 5 lifts. 5x5 Calculator

3. make sure your resting enough between sets, 2-3mins on heavy compound lifts, 90secs-2mins on smaller single joint lifts like laterals.

4. make sure your sleeping enough.

5. now I dont mean this as an offence but Im gonna say this in the nicest way possible, you dont even need to be bb curling IMO you need to just build up your strength on the 5 lifts mensioned in number 3, Im 14 years old and I bench more than twice your weight lol, I understand your a beginner but going about your training doing back and biceps is the wrong way, do full body workouts just like the one in that workout program I posted above, as an alternate you could do something like this.

Workout A
Squats 3 sets 5-8 reps
Deadlift - work up to 1 set 5 reps
Dips 5 sets 8 reps
Chinups 3 sets 8-10 reps

Workout B
Flat Barbell Benchpress 3 sets 5-8 reps
Dumbell Pullover 3 sets 8-10 reps
Barbell Rows 3-4 sets 8 reps
Strict Military press 3 sets 8 reps

You would then alternate that throughuot a 3 day split, week 1 would go workout A on monday, B on wednesday and then A again on friday, week two would be B,A,B and so on.

Thats the routine I did when I started lifting, SaiBoT came up with it for me and it worked great.

The three main things to concentrate on right now for you will be eating big, lifting big, sleeping big.

Make sense? Shoot whatever other questions you have at me bro

 

[keasbey]

extra nailed this one. look into the 5x5 or the 3x5 program and i wouldnt touch those calipers again. they may be consistent but they are off alot. at 8%bf you wouldnt bother talking to us. a sorta rule of thumb is most guys see abs around 12-13%.

personally id start with the 3x5 and run that routine for 4months atleast its 3 lifts a day so if u feel u have a little extra to give throw in some dips/lat raises/leg press and you will grow.
how is your diet? getting 1-1.25g of protein per lb thats a good way to start. alot of guys notice a huge gain when they up it to 2-3 but just starting out hitting that mark will work well.

 

[JoeMyBro]

I'd stay away from Sean N.'s program. You don't always have to go to muscular failure. Lift big and eat big to get big. 1-3 Reps builds Neuromuscular Strength; 4-7 Reps build Strength and Muscle; 8-12 is considered the Prime of Building Muscle but doesn't develop Strength as fast. Anything over 12 is just endurance training and warm up sets. 5x5 is all you need. 3 months and only gained 14 pounds is pretty good btw for being natty. Are you new to working out?

I worked out for about a year but it was all isolated machine lifts with this home gym I bought. From start to end I was lifting the same amount of weight... really sad... but I also started at 88kg and dropped my weight to 64kg while I believe maintaining most my muscle.

Natty? Well if I gained 14 pounds of fat I'm not too happy -.- and I think that's the case. Those reps you listed seem about right, but I read muscular failure is something to aim for on the set to ensure you're going harder than the previous workout.

 

[JoeMyBro]

OK,
1. what is your diet like?

2. increasing weight on side laterals and db curls its pointless, increase 5lbs every week on deadlifts, squats, barbell rows, strict military press and barbell benchpress.
This is one of the best beginner routines and the main focus is increasing weight on those 5 lifts. 5x5 Calculator

3. make sure your resting enough between sets, 2-3mins on heavy compound lifts, 90secs-2mins on smaller single joint lifts like laterals.

4. make sure your sleeping enough.

5. now I dont mean this as an offence but Im gonna say this in the nicest way possible, you dont even need to be bb curling IMO you need to just build up your strength on the 5 lifts mensioned in number 3, Im 14 years old and I bench more than twice your weight lol, I understand your a beginner but going about your training doing back and biceps is the wrong way, do full body workouts just like the one in that workout program I posted above, as an alternate you could do something like this.

Workout A
Squats 3 sets 5-8 reps
Deadlift - work up to 1 set 5 reps
Dips 5 sets 8 reps
Chinups 3 sets 8-10 reps

Workout B
Flat Barbell Benchpress 3 sets 5-8 reps
Dumbell Pullover 3 sets 8-10 reps
Barbell Rows 3-4 sets 8 reps
Strict Military press 3 sets 8 reps

You would then alternate that throughuot a 3 day split, week 1 would go workout A on monday, B on wednesday and then A again on friday, week two would be B,A,B and so on.

Thats the routine I did when I started lifting, SaiBoT came up with it for me and it worked great.

The three main things to concentrate on right now for you will be eating big, lifting big, sleeping big.

Make sense? Shoot whatever other questions you have at me bro

Hmm ok...

1). My diet is like this most of the time:

Meal 1: Cereal + Whey Protein Shake in Soy Milk (I'm lactose intolerant so soy is my option)
Meal 2: Oatmeal + Tuna in olive oil
Meal 3: Oatmeal + Whey Protein Shake in Soy Milk
Meal 4: Oatmeal + Tuna in olive oil
Meal 5: Oatmeal + Tuna in olive oil
Meal 6: Toast + Peanut Butter + (sometimes) flaxseed oil+extra virgin olive oil combo + Whey Protein Shake in Soy Milk

(yes very plain... on workout days I'd have about half a chicken with some white bread and tomatoe sauce (to help it go down lol) post workout)


2). So basically I just needed to focus on increasing the weight on the big exercises, that the smaller ones are virtually impossible to increase the weight very quickly?


3). Yeah I rested plenty probably about that amount in fact but I never really thought about it.


4). 8-10 hours most nights.


5). Well that's the thing I could never understand why my strength doesn't go up. If that's because of my exercise choices, then I can understand, but my routine does involve those big lifts. I have my own gym at home, so I'm limited to what I have. Plus I workout solo so some exercises just aren't safe in my opinion my friend dropped the barbell on him when he did that it was a close call.

Ok I guess it's time I ditch my routine take a week off and re-evaluate things such as workout this new routine. All the knowledge I read from seans workout makes sense though, and it focuses around those big lifts, but it doesn't mention about strength increase and what to focus on lifting heavier with. I have a feeling if I stepped out into the gym again I could probably lift another 5kg heavier if I tried.

Here is my progress with squats the last 9 weeks of training:

(note, I never change the weight for each new set during the same workout day)

(prior weeks I was practising form mostly at lower weight levels)
40kg: 10 + 8 reps
50kg: 7 + 8 reps
60kg: 7 + 7 reps
65kg: 7 + 7 reps
70kg: 7 + 7 reps
75kg: 7 + 7 reps
75kg: 7 + 7 reps (I believe I did the same weight this week, because the prev. week my back hurt from 75kg so I wasn't gutzy enough to increase the weight)
77.5kg: 5 + 5 reps
80kg: 7 + 7 reps

Ok... so... the thing is i'm not sure if I could lift 80kg from the beginning, or if this was actual progress. I know I started really low and I'm sure I wasn't that weak. But I remember since I started lifting 70kg it felt damn heavy.

Deadlifts was about the same but I didn't have wrist straps so I kept dropping the weight and it stopped me from attempting to lift heavier. Last I lifted was 80kg and it was definately heavy.

I actually do dumbbell rows, not barbell rows. Is this a big issue? -- I had the same problem though with dropping the weight and controlling form only got up to 25kg x 2 for this one. (that is, 25kg per dumbbell not 25kg for 2 reps lol).

Barbell rows is weird. I have a question about this one. Do I focus on lifting heavier or should I make sure I can lift it all the way up into my stomach before progressing with the weight? I can do 50kg now it started at like 45kg. I have no clue if that's strength increase or if I could actually lift 50kg but only went for 45kg because of form or something. I have trouble lifting it all the way up after maybe 4-5 reps so I never knew if I should be increasing the weight on it?

I have not been doing "strict military press" - 1). It wasn't mentioned in my home workout options and 2). I had alook at it, it doesn't looks safe to do solo?? whats your opinion??