Need help, not gaining weight like I would like.

[chevy1080]

Hey guys, just joined this forum because I am looking for some tips. Here is the scoop. I am 22 years old and have been working out for about 5 months consistently. Have worked out on and off for years.

I am 5'11 and weigh about 176 lbs in the morning before I eat anything. This is my cycle I have been trying out at the gym for the last 4 or 5 months. I hope you understand it.

I do an anabolic prime for about 3 weeks. No supplements (to get my body running normally again). I run on the treadmill for probably 25 minutes one day and that is it. the next day I work two muscle groups and I do 6 sets total of 15-20 reps, push-ups are until I cannot do anymore. Just a light workout for these 3 weeks.

After that I start my bulking part of the cycle as I am trying to bulk up. I take protein often and 50g after workout along with glutamine, size-on creatine during work out, Nitric oxide right before workout. I eat lots of carbs and I eat often.

I focus mainly on 1 muscle in a day during bulking cycle (along with either abs, sides of core, or forearms; which I do one set every 2 sets of the main muscle I am working on. example: 2 sets of bicep, 1 set of abs, 2 more sets of bicep, another set of abs etc. one day will be the abs, next day will be sides of core and leg day is forearm day). I do 12 sets (not counting the the ab, sides of core or forearm sets), 4 different workouts. So 3 sets per workout of approx 10 reps the 1st set, 8 the second, and 6 the 3rd. I go until absolute failure, some days I will do reverse negatives also just to change it up. I am always trying new workouts, and each day I try to do a workout I never did the previous week

This usually takes me around an hour and I take a 3 min break between sets to let my muscles get some energy back. I do the the bicep, tri, shoulder, back, legs, and the chest each 3 times over. This takes about a month as I go to gym every other day. by this time I am feeling over trained and I am ready to do the cardio again. Hope that made sense.

After the bulking cycle I go back to anabolic prime and it starts over. However in these last few cycles between prime and bulking I haven't really gained any weight or any inches. I am shredding the muscles and it feels great, I recover good, eat like a horse but still not gaining weight. I have tried a test booster with estrogen blockers along with amino acids but didn't notice much of a difference so I saved my cash by not buying them again. I know there are a million ways to exercise but this is just the cycle I am trying out. A guy I know is a body builder who has one competitions and looks great, he told me to try it out.

Anyone know why my weight is stuck? The abs are coming along ok but everything else doesn't look to be gaining to fast at all though the past months.

 

[Goldfish]

Stop doing abs between sets of all your main lifts. A fatigued core cannot lift as heavy as a core that's ready for work. You need your core to be ready for every exercise. A while ago I did a Pilates session one day, and a session doing squats, bench press and deadlifts the next day. The squats and deadlifts were down by 10-15kg each, which for a weak, skinny mofo like me is a lot. I couldn't lift more than that. If you aren't performing an exercise right, how are you going to reap the benefits of it?

Also, do consistent routines, if every week you're doing things you've never done before, it'll always be hard work, but will it be progressive? Maybe, but there's a distinct lack of a guarantee there.

 

[Typhon]

Weight gain occurs when you're consuming more calories than you expend. You listed a load of suppliments in your post but nothing about how many calories you're consuming every day.
If you're not gaining weight then you aren't eating enough to gain weight, regardless of how much you think you're eating

 

[chevy1080]

I do different work outs in an attempt to hit the muscle in a different way. This may help prevent muscle memory, if there is such a thing. I eat lots of carbs like breads, pastas, potato's.

 

[Typhon]

I do different work outs in an attempt to hit the muscle in a different way. This may help prevent muscle memory, if there is such a thing. I eat lots of carbs like breads, pastas, potato's.

Yeah, but how much? If you want to gain weight then you must consume more than you use, it's just basic physics.
Write down everything you eat, weight your food and work out your exact calorie intake and then look at ways to increase your intake.

 

[chevy1080]

I eat lots. I don't eat like a competing body building which is insane amounts of food. But I eat big meals and several times a day. Lot's of people at my gym work out and gain but don't eat any different than the average person. Friggin genetics.

 

[Steel]

trust to gain weight you need to eat alot of food now how you define alot of food is your opinion but if you base it on calories then if I take my self for example I'm 6ft2 weigh around 175lbs and for me to maintain my body weight according to my doctor I'm suppose to eat around 3000 calories a day now your thinking but the government says I'm suppose to eat around 2500 calories a day well that's just an average and everyone is different. now to gain say 1 pound a week then you need to eat 500 calories a day more than what you need to maintain your weight. Now I tried this for like a couple of months but I also want to gain 2 pounds a week. To gain 2 pounds a week for me I had to consume 4000 calories a day ridiculous right. But for about 10 weeks a managed to do just that though it was a struggle as its near impossible to consume that amount of food. I use to be 6ft2 and weigh around 150lbs so I gain 25lbs and that was all muscle or at least most of it. So i suggest to you that you do the same as it does work its just down right difficult to eat that much.

 

[Goldfish]

I eat lots. I don't eat like a competing body building which is insane amounts of food. But I eat big meals and several times a day. Lot's of people at my gym work out and gain but don't eat any different than the average person. Friggin genetics.

That's all well and good, but "lots" is not a measurement. Neither is "big." Try 700kcal 4x/day, or 600kcal 5x/day. That's measurable. That will tell us something. Don't blame genetics. And remember, the average person eats in excess of what they need. That's why they're fat. So it's not a huge surprise that people at the gym can eat like average Joe's and get some results. You can expect to need a minimum of 2,500kcal to increase muscle mass. Could be 3,000kcal, could be 3,500kcal, could be 5,000 depending on a person's current build, environment and occupation.

 

[Typhon]

+1 to what Goldfish just said. What you consider 'lots' clearly isn't enough, you need to eat more. You can't be in a positive calorie balance and not gain weight, it defies the laws of physics.

Make a log of everything you eat and measure your exact calorie intake every day to get a picture of what you are actually intaking.

 

[chevy1080]

Alright I will try to eat more. But it is tough seeing as how healthy food is pricey and I am by no means a rich man. Costs a lot to eat like a horse.

 

[darren187]

Alright I will try to eat more. But it is tough seeing as how healthy food is pricey and I am by no means a rich man. Costs a lot to eat like a horse.

What Typhon and Goldfish have said is right... you need to eat more.

Eating more calories on a budget is only as easy/hard as you make it! I have a budget of around £25-30 per week for food and am currently on around 3000 cals per day (but could easily up that to 3500), which is split over 5 or 6 meals. My macro breakdown is 45/30/25 c/p/f, and I always eat 6 different portions of protein per day (which are the most expensive items on my weekly/bi monthly list)(beef, turkey, tuna, mackerel, quorn & cottage cheese). The rest of what I eat is vegetable based, wholemeal/wheat carbs and healthy fats.

You really need to plan what you are going to eat IF you are not getting the results you desire. Simply thinking you are eating healthily often means you are either not eating enough period, or not enough of the right amounts of what you should be eating ie protein/carbs.