Fustrated...need advice

L

lifechange

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Hi everyone,

i just need some advice if anyone can plz help me....

K, in short I'm at a plateau in my work out and it's driving me nuts...i have been working out since last june and i dropped a load of weight and gained a good amount of muscle...now what i notice is that no matter what i do i'mnot gaining anymore muscle or losing any weight..acutually i feel like i am gaining weight despite the fact that i have not changed my eating. Actually in past week i find myself hungry all the time.

I work out 4 times a week which consists of 40 min cardio and 45 min weight training...i want to gain more muscle and lean up, my tummy is very flat but not firm..what can i do?

Some one told me to ease up on the cardio but i am afraid to do that for the fear that i will gain weight.

Can anyone help me or give a bit of advice? It would be greatly appreciated as i wanna keep this up.

Thanks for your time :)
 
Plateaus usually indicate that something needs to change.

ask yourself a few questions
1. How long has it been since I've lost any weight?
2. How long has it been since I've changed up my routine?
3. How long has it been since I've reevaluated my diet?

If the answer is longer than 2 weeks to question 1, then you are on a plateau. If the answer to questions 2 and 3 are longer than 8 weeks, that could be why your on a plateau.

Your body gets used to what you do. Changing routines forces it to change with you. Do 5 more minutes on your cardio (add 5 minutes to your cardio every 2 weeks until you hit an hour,don't go over an hour though), switch up cardio machines (this one works wonders for me, plateau buster!), Change the order of your exercises, substitute different exercises, Change the days you work out, eat 200 less calories a day. Anything you do to change your routine will help you bust the plateau. Keep your body guessing :)
 
I think you would see better results if you eased up on your cardio. 3 days of strength training and 3 days of anaerobic cardio would probabally suit you better. Eight months time is usually a pretty quick time to hit a plauteau. Once we get to a certain point, we have to revamp our training because our body adjusts to what we're doing.

You also have two different goals that are very hard to hit at the same time--cutting and bulking. Work on one, then the other; it becomes increasingly important to periodize your program with specific goals.

The other thing that might need to be looked out is your dietary intake. If you're not consuming something every 2-4 hours, eating protein with every meal, and eating vegetables with every meal then that's a good place to start. The other consideration is how much protein are you getting in a day as this can effect anabolism/catabolism.
 
hi there,

Thanks for the reply..but here is the thing,

I have changed my cardio
I have changed my eating (by the way did i mention that i more hungry now than ever)

i can lift more weights no problem(everytime i go i can increase my 5 pounds, more if someone is spotting me), i just can't seem to tone down anymore. And i think yoru right the last time i think I dropped any weight was about 2 weeks ago. But here is another thing, i don't weigh myself i go by the size of my cloths as it;'s known muscle weighs more than fat so i don't wanna freak myself out if i weigh myself.

I eat ever three hours if i can..but i will be honest with you i have a fear of eating more even though i know i should cause i am soooo afraid to gain weight.

So here is the thing, do i ease up on the cardio or do more? as someone told me that it makes you lose muscle..not sure if that's true?

What can i do with my weight training...for a women i can lift a lot so my weight training is in no way moderate.

Thanks once again

Sorry if i babbled on
 
To much cardio will start to burn muscle as a fuel source. Better results have been documented by interval running than by steady state cardio. Do you get your bodyfat measured on a semi-regular basis? If you are increasing your lifts but not increasing/decreasing your weight then that's not a plateau...you are getting stronger.

I'd like to see what kind of lifting you are doing, some questions
1. Are your lifts centered around free weights?
2. Do you use mainly compound movements?
3. Do you go to failure, if you are, stop
4. Are you neglecting any bodyparts?
5. Are you working the body equally as a whole?

If you are curious about eating, then check out this site
www.johnberardi.com
go to his articles and he has everything about when to eat what, why you should eat it, and if you know your body fat percentage how much of what to eat to maximize the results of your goal(s).
 
well judging by your clothes seems like a good idea, it's probably better to invest is a pincher (don't know the 'real' name, it measures ur bf %).. that will help you more accurately measure your fat weight.. and in my opinion, it's not so much switching up your cardio, as is it making it more intense, run(or w/e exercise you do) harder and faster for the same amount of time..
 
Hi Evolution,

Here is a reply to your questions:

I'd like to see what kind of lifting you are doing, some questions
1. Are your lifts centered around free weights?
i do free weights
2. Do you use mainly compound movements?
a mix of isolated and compound
3. Do you go to failure, if you are, stop
some exercises i do till failure
4. Are you neglecting any bodyparts?
in all honesty i don't pay much attention to my legs but i do work them out(lower back problem is the reason)
5. Are you working the body equally as a whole?
pretty much

type of cardio i do is running straight on a 5.5 incline for about 20-25 min then walk on a 11 incline without holding on pretty fast for the rest of the 40 min...

does this help at all!!!???
 
Anaerobic cardio is sprints, interval running...stuff like that. Basically hits your heart rate at about 90% and you stay within a 30 minute time limit.

I would definately advise you to hit legs just as often as upperbody or at least in close proximity to it.

Go to the link I provided above, follow his guidelines and you can be assured you're not overeating and you're eating the right stuff.
 
Most people don't. What we here most often is "if you run 15 billion miles every day you will....blah blah blah." I'm not discrediting aerobic cardio by any means at all, it's just not practical or the most beneficial in some cases.

If you're training for a marathon, then by all means...run long distances. But to bring up energy systems and burn fat, anaerobic cardio is usually the best way to go, expecially if you want to minimize or negate muscle loss. Athletes expecially should heed what type of cardio they do because endurance type activities decrease explosiveness and that includes martial artists.
 
I never really have done any HIIT, If I was wanting to start doing some kind of HIIT running program, what would you recommend ? A good way to start, and when / how to increase volume?
 
My favorite is one I have already posted but I can't remember where that is so....
Jog 30 secs
run 20 secs (full speed run or sprint)
jog 60 secs
run 30 secs
jog 90 secs
run 40 secs
jog 120 secs
run 50 secs
jog 150 secs
run 60 secs
jog 180 secs
run 70 secs
Total time=15 minutes

The other would be
Week 1-60 sec jog, 15 sec runX6
Week 2-60 sec jog, 15 sec runX7
Week 3-60 sec jog, 15 sec runX8
and increase as such each week until you hit X10 and then up the running part. Do this 2-3 times a week.

Something else you might consider is GPP (general physical preparedness)
Sledgehammer GPP:
Using a 10 pounds sledge and a tire to strike the hammer on-downward swing for 4 minutes, swinging across the right side of the body for 3 minutes and tehn swinging across the left side of the body for 3 minutes

Dumbbell GPP:
Two arms swing-30 swings
left arm split swing-10 swings (step forward with left leg)
right arm split swing-10 swings (step forward with right leg)
 
I agree completely with the HIIT advice.

What type of set/rep schemes have you worked with? Maybe a change to 3-day/week full-body style training would be a beneficial to your progress.

DM
 
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