What am I doing wrong?!

[bigyin1314]

I need HELP!!

I've been training for the last 7-8 months now, I started off at 259lbs - 6ft - 26years, now currently sitting at about 210lbs. I realise that the progress I've made is reasonable, but I'm begining to get concerned. Muscular definition is definately coming back, but really really slowly. I'm not stupid enough to believe that its all gonna happen overnight, but I do feel that progress could do with being a little faster. In terms of resistance, I've not been able to up the weights of any great margin, which has me concerned, as I thought the more I lifted, the stronger I'd get, the more I'd lift. I do train to failure every time, but it seems like I always fail at the same point, and thus cant up the weight as i wouldnt be able to lift it. Whilst the fat loss is apparent, the muscle side of things is not. I know that building muscle requires calories, and fat loss requires reduced calories, but surely I should be gaining something?


Schedule is as follows - All routines follow a 3x12 set/rep

Sunday - AM - 30mins Cardio
Sunday - Weight Training - Back / Biceps

Dumbell Bent Over Rows
BB Pullovers
BB Rows
EZ Bar Bicep Curl
Preacher Curls (If I have any energy left)

Monday - Rest

Tuesday- Weight Training - Chest / Triceps

Flat BB Bench
Incline DB Bench
Decline BB Bench
One Arm Tricep Extension

Followed by 30mins of Stationary Bike Cardio (Moderate / Intense)

Wednesday- Rest

Thurs- Weight Training - Legs / Calves

BB Squats
Leg Extensions
Straight Back Straight Leg Deadlift
Leg Curls
One Leg Calf Raise
One Leg Reverse Calf Raise

Followed by 30mins of Stationary Bike Cardio (Moderate / Intense)

Friday- Weight Training - Shoulders

BB Behind Neck Press
EZ Bar Upright Rows
EZ Rear Delt Rows
BB Shrug

Followed by 30mins Stationary Bike Cardio (Moderate / Intense)

Diet is of reasonable / good standard. I probably dont get as much protien as I should, but I do eat a lot of Chicken, Fish, Turkey throughout the week, which I believe is giving me a good protien intake. I eat fruit an veg throughout the day, and I drink anywhere between 2-3 litres of water a day, and eat regularly (5 meals per day).

I'm hoping that someone could look over this routine, an tell me where things could improve, allow me to start achieving the results i want. I've read countless websites, and although a lot of them say the same thing, information is conflicting at best. Some say do cardio at least 3-4 times a week, others say dont do any at all. I get up at 5am every morning to go to work, so eary morning cardio is a problem, and i dont get back home till about 6.30pm, hence my workouts are all in one go. My goals are to get down to about 180lbs, an then bulk back up to about 195lbs.

I have found that although the websites of some bodybuilders are very good, someone is always trying to sell me something....... Forums appear to be a load of normal guys, doing what they do, and sharing their results / experience. This appears to be the 'Real World' stuff. Any of you guys willing to help out would be much appreciated.

 

[big4life]

I would check out needsize's 5x5 routine in the training methods sticky at the top of the page. I really think that it promotes good size and strength increases. I think that the 3x12 routine that you were on helped get you back into shape, but sometimes you get stuck, and the 5x5 routine can help you break through that sticking point.

Good luck with it and welcome to Elite.

 

[bigdho]

Have you had your body comp done? Id say aside from your routine, which BTW should be changed to needsizes, your diet is off. Have you sat down and measured out your daily caloric intake and macros? You would be suprised what you see.

 

[cwick0]

play around with your set/rep scheme, i.e. 3 x 10 at the same weight, 5x5, sets of 10 as high as you can go, etc.

 

[Illuminati]

bro, did i read it right, you lost 49lbs in 7-8 months? and you dont think that you are getting the results "reasonable" and that you are "concerned"?!?
if you can't be happy with dropping 50lbs in under a year, then i dont know WTF would make you happy...

 

[Allon]

I agree with most of the above posts but correct me guys if I am wrong in thinking that 5X5 is a bit heavy for a begginer... I myself am still keeping away for it until I feel I am worthy...... Anyway...

First of all you made amazing gains. Losing so much weight in so little time may have made your strength gains much harder so if you are at the same strength it is still good.

To make gains in strength and muscle size again as above you need to seriously consider changing reps, exersizes, weights, sets etc...

Apart from examples above I will give you some more just so you have an idea of what kind of changes you can make, I never used to understand the concept myself but sometimes to make gains doing 3X12 you have to do sets of 8 or 5 or 15 or even 20 with different weights accordinally. Then when you come back to X12 you are suddenly stronger and visa versa...
Also if you are not changing your exersizes then also you are gonna plateu so make sure you keep switching things up every 6-8 weeks max even every 3-4 weeks if you feel like it.

Your routine looks solid to me (I am no expert though) at first glance it looks like you need to add pull ups or pull downs for back day... and dips for chest/tri day
Try changing the DL's to regular and move them to back day also for a few weeks maybe also...
Keep the squats but change most the rest of the exersizes if you haven't yet.
Incline DB to BB, bench BB to DB, take away the declines if you add the dips, do flies or crossovers also, they work wonders for me. (Do less sets of all chest exersizes if you are doing more exersizes)
etc...

Now I also have some other suggestions.
Don't go to failure for a while. Some people here on the board will not agree but some will agree and have actually convinced me that going to failure definitely for some people is not good. So maybe try to go almost to failure but stop one rep before. Going to failure all the time may be hindering your results... If you really have to go to failure, then try to only do it on one of your sets PER BODY PART... try it and see what happens.

Thats it, hope it helps...

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

first off, let me say awesome job on the weight loss man!! 50 pounds in 7 months is huge!! i wouldnt worry a bit about strength while you are losing so much weight. even if your weights are not going up, you are still getting in better shape. the stagnation that you have hit with the weights is probably because you havent changed your routine up.

i would also suggest the 5x5, and i am (almost) a complete beginner at lifting. just in the last few months i have noticed a big increase in power. keep in mind you need to eat lots of protien too. its a lot to soak up at once, but just stick to it and you WILL succeed

 

[Tom Treutlein]

If you're really looking to push the strength margin upwards, I'd try a WSB or BFS routine. Personally, I feel 5x5 training is too infrequent to be optimal. It works, sure. I don't doubt that. I just think 2x a week should be the minimum frequency. The volume seems a bit too much on 5x5, in my eyes. Though, it can be tampered with.

Play around with your routine, see what you enjoy. Make sure you enjoy what you're doing. You won't stay motivated if you don't have fun in there, and then you'll get mentally burnt out and think you're overtrained, when you're just not having a good time! Unless it's your job, enjoy it.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

hmmm, ive been getting closer and closer to 2x a week with my 5x5. it hasnt effected me yet, but time will tell.

 

[Lee]

switch up yer routine, shock yer muscles. try some new lifts, maybe try 5x5 for a couple weeks to see how you like it. make sure you get plenty of protein and carbs to ensure your muscle building. remember, you NEED carbs to build muscle.

 

[bigyin1314]

cheers for the replies guys... appreciated

With regards to the "what would make me happy" statement.... i believe nothing short of perfection is the answer. lol, I know I've made good progress, i mean 33%bf to 17%bf isnt too shabby, but until I reach my goals, I'm gonna want more. I'm not saying I'm not happy with progress, but losing LBM is becoming more and more important to me, hence the post.

Will look into the 5x5 routines, a guy at work suggested a 4x8 routine, i dunno yet, still got about 25lb of bodyfat to drop, so I'll continue to concentrate on that for a while. With regards to that, the cardio i'm doing right after lifting ..... am I burning up any of the LBM that I'm trying so hard to increase?? I'm guessing not by the fact that my lifts havent decreased, but Should I stick with the cardio at this level, or perhaps move into Interval Training??

 

[cwick0]

KEEP THE CARDIO TILL YOU LOSE ALL THE BODYFAT YOU DESIRE. It is nearly impossible lose bodyfat and gain lean muscle mass at the same time.