God Help Me Here!

[vinh]

ok heres my problem...

i had double the size chest and arms when i worked out real hard and ate heaps but then when i thougth working out pays off, 1 week later i notice that i was losing size for somereason and happen for like 2 weeks befor it stop(now it looks like i just started out again'.

what could it be? could it be that since i started to eat heaps and train heaps.. it could be just hard fat?

heres me now, took 2 pics right this moment


man i would pay anyone anything to tell me why i aint gaining muscle anymore. i just want to train and see myself gaining muscle again

[Abbaddon]

first off how long have you been working out and second do not panic or loose faith. There could be a number of reasons for the difference including your own self image in your head. Give me a little more info to work with here and I will try to come up with some ideas. I need to know how long you have been working out, a general idea of your chest routine and a general idea of what your diet is like.

[vinh]

iam 17 so i go to school

i use to eat loads of pies and suage rolls a day and half a chicken at the hotchip place on the way home.

i know pies anmd suasage rolls aint good, so i just eat lebanese bread with boiled chicken and lettice. about 3 of them a day, full of chicken.

my workout on bench was. 6sets on bench untill fail then 6 sets with dumbell presses to fail. and i use to work out like that every 2 days.

once i educated myself a bit more.. thats when i gain a lost. i started to work out like people said, 1 chest session a week.

man if u could help me, i would be your slave forever. iam about to give up weights in a week or two if i dont get back on track.

been training for 1 1/2 years now and 5months of a real workout at the gym.

[EXCESS]

Now I know what Primodonna feels like when she talks about turning red trying not to say anything. Ahhh who cares! Did Muhammed Ali have garage sale?

[Pete235]

Vinh...when training naturally you should only work each body part once per week...this will give the muscle adequate time to recouperate. It is imperative that you plan a logical traing routine and follow it strictly for 8-12 weeks before making changes...this is a very long process my friend. It takes much patience.

Are you following the diet tips we gave you? Make sure you eat 6-8 small meals per day (evenly spaced, similar nutrient values). Diet is 80% of the equation my young friend, it is also the hardest to master.

Do us a favor....for one week write down everything you eat per day, as well as everything you do in the gym. Do exactly what you have been doing. Next week, give us a review of what the past week was like...that will give us more information and maybe we can see where you going wrong.


Good Luck Vinh

[Big Al]

Pete's on the money. I info is key here the more we have the more we can help. I'd also like to see a typical training week.

At 17 you have plenty of time to grow and are infact at the nest stage in your life for muscle growth naturally.

[Billy Boy]

From your diet it looks like low protein high fat and med carbs if that is the general diet you follow.

I,m not flaming you bro but I,m not that old that I can,t remember being 17

When I was 17 I got despondant because the gains were not coming quicker enough and so I trained more often which in turn led me tto overtrain and finally I gave up because basically I was pissed off.

My mistakes are simple to view

I thought I had a good knowledge of diet when in fact I only knew about 10% of what you need to know

I though I trained hard.Many years later I found training hard is good but also training smarter is just as valuable

I never listened to my body and followed other peoples programs and what others did.I then learned not all excercises are suited to eevrybody and not eevryone grows in the same manner.

You sound at the stage I was ......but you are smarter than I because you have a vast wealth of knowledge at your fingertips and a lot of guys who can encourage you and help with diet and training.

Do as Pete and BA suggested write EVERYTHING down for a week and I do mean everything from you daily protein intake,carbs, fat to how you trained in the gym who many sets,reps.

Tell us your stats height weight do you smoke or drink ......the full works

When you have compiled that list post it here and you,ll be amazed at the advice that will be offered to you

Good luck I know it sounds a lot but the only key to success is knowledge without it you,ll fail.

[MarkyMark]

Your body cannot gain indefinately ... It will ( on its own ) go thru cycles of adding weight on .... ( muscle or fat )

As answered many times with your other posts ,,,,, DIET is part of the answer ... in my opinion you eat like crap ....
EAT CLEAN .... drop the sausage and other junk foods .... Train hard .. eat slightly more calories per day than your burning maybe up to 500 additional past your BMR but eat ( good calories like lean meats , veggies and clean carbs ( not potatoe chips and fries ) and drink plenty of water ... )\

Over TIME you will build up a Strong and Powerful body .... It will not happen Crying about slow growth ... this will just make you depressed ... YOU MUST make a serious LONG TERM dedication to the WHOLE sport of Bodybuilding to look great brother ....

You know what to do ....NOW DO IT >>> good luck

[dumbells101]

You've not reached your genetic potential. Three things for muscle growth to take place

1. A stimulas at the cellular level (workout)
2. Proper nutrients to feed the cells (especially after training)
3. Sleep! Your body only recovers while you sleep!

That's the truth. Follow the advice posts above and remember those three things each day and you'll continue to grow for a few more years at least. BE PATIENT!

[Mighty Joe]

Great answers from all of you!!!

I read that and wish I had help like that at my finger tips when I was 17 years old.

Oh Yeah, they didn't have computers back then. Well they did but you could'nt get one smaller than the size of a miniVan...LOL

[JRMY2711]

YOUR NOT TALKIN ABOUT THE ONES THAT WERE JUST BLACK SCREEN WITH GREEN WRITING ARE YOU MJ THE ONES WITH THE 14 1/2 IN FLOPPY DRIVE LIKE IN WAR GAMES WITH MATHEW BRODERICK. " WOULD YOU LIIKE TO PLAY A GAME" ( THAT WAS DONE IN MY COMPUTER VOICE)

[Pete235]

Holy Moly JRMY....when you said that in your computer voice, it was so realistic I thought my computer was talking to me !! Either that or Stephen Hawking was rolling up on my ass

P

[JRMY2711]

HEY P MAN IS THERE ANYTHING YOU HAVE NOT SEEN OR HEARD I SWEAR YOU KNOW IT ALL

[Pete235]

My lid is jammed full of totally useless information. BTW...nice avatar, that will be you in a couple of years big "J"

[vinh]

man


Thanks all who replied.


iam taking all of your advises.


for the next few weeks, iam writing downw what i eat and how i train.


i should post my logs in 2 weeks.

thanks all again

[vinh]

ok iam using this diet, i found in a magazine "mass-packing diet" "quality food and nutritious calories will pack on pounds of raw muscle"

Breakfast
1 glass of fruit juice
2 large glasses whole milk (protein supplement added)
4 eggs, any style
2 slice whole-wheat bread with butter
6 strips bacon
1 serving fresh fruit

Lunch
2 think sandwiches (tuna, meat, cheese or peanut butter)
2 large glasses whole milk (protein supplement added)
1 serving macaroni salad
1 vitamin-and-minieral tablet
2 teaspoons wheat germ oil

Dinner
1 huge bowl think vegatable soup
1 large serving steak, chicken, fish or other meat dish
1 large fresh vegetable salad
2 large glasses whole milk (protein supplement added)
2 slices whole-wheat bread, buttered
Fresh fruit
1 liver-iron-vitamin B12 tablet

[dumbells101]

WOW! That's quite a diet Bro. I have a few suggestions that you may want to consider.


1. Cut out some of the fat. Whole milk, whole eggs, bacon, butter etc. There is a lot of saturated fat in your diet, so consider skim milk, cut out the bacon, butter, and make sure you're using natural PB. Try your eggs 3 yolks and 6-8 whites, then skip the protein powder with breakfast.

2. You need to divide your meals into 5-6. Remember that whatever you can't assimilate will be stored as fat. Make sure you plan the amount of food by how active you'll be, especially so you don't over do the carbs. Use your fruit and protein shakes in between meals if that's more convienent.

3. You have a lot of bread in your diet. Substitute some yams, sweet potatoes, brown rice for the bread.

4. Increase your fibrous veggies a lot. Spinach, broccoli, califlower and salad.

Absorb this and then we'll work from there. If you have any specific questions pm me.

[Billy Boy]

Like DB said far too much fat in that diet bro You need to balance it out over 6-8 meals throughout the day,I reckon your getting enough cals just a lot of them are from fat do as DB said and you will be getting closer to your target

[EXCESS]

Ditto!

Vinh,
DB101 and Billy Boy gave you some great advice.

[Pete235]

VINH.......Eat 6 meals per day...not three!!!

[vinh]

ok if i got too much fat in my diet, i should cut out all the carbs.



what sort of meals should i eat.. 6 meals a day then? can someone make me a diet please. Everyone tells me u gotta eat 6 meals a day but no one ever says what you eat.

thats what i need i think. tell me 6 meals i should eat a day.

[EXCESS]

Cut the fat, but not necessarily the carbs. You could eat egg whites instead of whole eggs, have the toast without butter, and drink skim milk.

My diet consists of a lot of chicken, tuna, brown rice, baked potato, frozen vegetables (boiled, easy to prepare), and sometimes pasta. I drink a protein shake when I wake up and eat a protein bar between my 2pm meal and my 5pm meal. Ultimately you have to do what works for you, but a high protein/moderate carb diet works for me.

[dumbells101]

Originally posted by vinh
Everyone tells me u gotta eat 6 meals a day but no one ever says what you eat.

thats what i need i think. tell me 6 meals i should eat a day.

I posted this last page but this time READ IT!

1. Cut out some of the fat. Whole milk, whole eggs, bacon, butter etc. There is a lot of saturated fat in your diet, so consider skim milk, cut out the bacon, butter, and make sure you're using natural PB. Try your eggs 3 yolks and 6-8 whites, then skip the protein powder with breakfast.

2. You need to divide your meals into 5-6. Remember that whatever you can't assimilate will be stored as fat. Make sure you plan the amount of food by how active you'll be, especially so you don't over do the carbs. Use your fruit and protein shakes in between meals if that's more convienent.

3. You have a lot of bread in your diet. Substitute some yams, sweet potatoes, brown rice for the bread.

4. Increase your fibrous veggies a lot. Spinach, broccoli, califlower and salad.
-----------------------------------------

Plan your servings sizes to your needs, eat every 3 hours, use your protein shakes in between meals and after training, and follow what I wrote above.

There is no magic here...just learn and apply. Over time you'll know what, how much and when. YOU have to take this knowledge, absorb it and apply it.

[chillen]

Pete 235,

when training naturally you should only work each body part once per

Not to be flaming you bro, but I tried working each body part once per week and if anyting I was only able to maintain. I know that many if not all of you guys have a lot more expierence than I do, cuase I have only been lifting for a 1 1/2 years, but for me at least, work each body part twice per week. When I do this is the only time that I see gaining results. But listen to these guys they do know a lot more than I.

[Ilyich]

I second that, chillen

I am 18 myself started a year and a bit ago. I started off training about 5 days a week mainly doing the complex movements -- My bench press went up 30kg in about 4 months.
Then I began reading loads of shite about training one muscle group once a week or even once in 2 weeks. Tried that and totally lost my form.

Now I am doing 6 days a week on a 3 day split. Its working great. Great PUMPS!!!
I think at a young age your body recovers far quicker even without juice so the last thing you should be afraid of is overtraining. Its only been 6 hours since I came back from gym but I cant wait to wake up tomorrow and hit the weights again.

I am doing shoulders/biceps split between morning and evening now. Thats 2 training sessions a day. Gonna split chest/back too probably. Works great. You recover from the morning workout and can really concetrate on the biceps in the evening.

So my advice, time permitting, is to train more frequently and with greater intensity. Its a mental thing at the end of the day. Keep fuckign pushing yourself all the time. In a postively aggressive mood I find I can always go further and harder. If you put the effort in it will pay off!!!

If some bodypart is particurarly lagging just hit it more often with a greater variety of exercises and try various intensity techniques (negatives, partials, double/triple sets etc)

On the diet side I am no great expert -- still trying to figure out a good diet for myself. However, you cant go wrong with high protein thats for sure. Supplement creatine and glutamine, I think everyone will agree.


Ilyich

[vinh]

another problem iam having is i dont feel workout on chest for sometime now. should i even hold the bar even wider?

the only theory i came up with is that i dont havent enougth energy to lift more. max for me is 65kilos (i weight 65kilos too) thats my last set

my chest workout is

bench
12
10
8
6

inclide dumbell presses
12
10
8
6

and another thing is..... do yous recommend me to workout like 1 bodypart 2 times a week? last the post above by Ilyich since iam young 17 years old?


i know i ask heaps of questions... i just want to learn and grow big as yous guys and one day teach back to the next generation

[Ilyich]

Vinh,

I think it depends what you want. If you want your bench press to go up loads then I hesitate to recommend anything other than some powerlifting type routine.
If you are looking for muscular development then I can recommend you training chest twice a week -- if its the part thats lagging behind, try 3-4 times a week but not excessively. Just do some DB presses at the beginning and end of each workout.

But generally, Id say, one day you train heavy (eg a couple of exercises with 3-4, sets with 5-8 reps, make sure you do some negatives as well till you cant even hold the bar let alone lower it or lift it).
The other day you go light. So more exercises but lower weight of course. Try to do 5-6 exercises (eg decline, incline, flat, flyes, pull-overs, some db work). Keep going till failure in all once again. Aim for higher reps and sets.
I also suggest you keep stretching and flexing your chest almost after every set. I find this technique helps to get a bigger sweep in the muscle.

You can do the same for all other bodyparts of course.
Personally my routine looks summing like this:

Mon/Thu
Chest/Back

Tue/Fri
am Shoulders pm Tri's and Biceps

Wed/Sat
Legs

+ abs every day

I'd say try training more frequently. OF course different ppl take different time to recover, but at a younger age I really think its easier. Creatine, glutamine and good sleep will help you recover quicker.


Ilyich

[vinh]

ok, whats a good brand of Creatine amd glutamine


The only thing that made me think of quiting weights for a few months now.. is it seems my body stopped developing any muscles .
If i gained muscle like i use too, i would be happy.

[chillen]

vinh,

Some people will dissagree with this, but I stay away from AST products. I have tried them and they really didn't help me at all. As far as reccomendations go, I can only say that one of my friends really likes the GNC brand of creatine.