Time for a change/need help

[Gibbo997]

Hi all,

I've been training for around 2 years now, and although i have seen results, i don't think my progress has been as good as it could/should have been. It's been tough but over the last few months i've started admitting to myself that a lot of the size i've gained is just fat and water, and i don't have a good base or much muscle mass.

I'm 5'11, weigh 176lbs (80 kilos) and estimate myself to be around 20-25% bf, and i'm not being generous as that's the whole point of this post. I have the typical skinny-fat problem; thin on top but with a belly. (cannot stand the protruding gut) However i've always been a small skinny guy, so the idea of cutting seems silly at this stage, but if it's necessary then i will.

The problem is, i see a lot of skinny-fat type posts like this, and the experienced guys tend to say that you need a good diet. However, i do eat very clean, and have a diet structured around most of the examples on here, and based on the calculators that people seem to swear by. I've checked out most of the stickies like the 'how to diet' and 'how to bulk' etc. but it doesn't seem to be working. If i drop the calories, i lose strength and size, and if i up them, i just put on more fat and not much muscle mass. I've always used the harris-benedict formula to work out bulking calories, which comes out around 3,500 calories because of weighing 176lbs, so i suspect i may be eating too much.

As for training, i follow a 5 day per week split, I.E. chest, back, shoulders, legs, arms. I do switch it up regularly, and try to hit the big compound lifts first.

My maxes (1-3 reps) for the big 3 are as follows:

Bench-165
Squat-225
Deads-264

Sorry for the long post but I'm hoping some more knowledgeable members can help me out.

From what i've been reading on various sites, the opinion is that i need to eat less and follow a 3 day per week split doing the big compound lifts every time i train until i build some strength and a better base. However i value people's opinions on here so i want your input, what do you think?

[RipOwens]

Any chance you could post up a pic? I only ask because we are not always the best judge of progress on ourselves.

[Gibbo997]

I didn't really want to lol but I know you're right. I'll take one now and upload it in the next post

[Gibbo997]

here you are, one relaxed and one tensed. Right before bed so look even worse than normal haha.

[RipOwens]

Ok, so if you have been lifting for two years consistently, and putting out good effort and hard work, then I would agree that something is missing. (I'd hardly call that a gut btw). How many calories are you taking in a day? What do your macros look like?

[Gibbo997]

yeah, sucks I was actually a lot smaller than that a couple of years ago, believe it or not. Trying to hit around 3000 calories a day with 250 protein, 350 carbs and 50-80 fats, divided up in 6-7 meals

[RipOwens]

Honestly, I can see work happening in your arms, traps, shoulders even but ur chest is lagging. Which I totally identify with btw. Ur legs seem like one of ur best parts at the moment from what I see which speaks to ur big compound lifts. I'm hoping some of the other guys will chime in as we seem very similar in many ways....

[Gibbo997]

thanks, yeah i got given legs genetically. And i hear you on chest, doesn't respond to anything i do for it haha. Tried training it once a week, twice a week, high reps, low reps, you name it. Yeah that would be cool, i appreciate your input though!

[Gibbo997]

Anyone??

[alex.mitev]

Well, do you have a particular question? Or just would like to hear members` opinion on what you`d be better to do?

[Gibbo997]

Just opinions would be helpful

[Gaspaco]

What is your workout routine?

[Gibbo997]

Monday - chest and tris:
4 x flat or decline bench, 6-8 reps with drop set
4 x weighted dips, 6-8 reps with drop set
4 x dumbbell flyes or cable crossovers, 8-10 reps

3 x incline skull crushers, 6-8 reps
3 x dumbell overhead extension, 6-8 reps
3 x reverse grip pressdowns, 8-10 reps
1 x flat bar press down drop set to failure

Tuesday - Back and rear delts:
5 x deadlifts, 5-8 reps (i try to go for the 1-3 rep max on the last set)
3 x pull ups, 8-10 reps
3 x T-bar rows, 6-8 reps
3 x seated cable rows, 10-12 reps

3 x rear delt cable fly, 10-12 reps
3 x rear delt one arm dumbbell row, 8-10 reps

Wednesday - Front and side delts + cardio
3 x overhead press, 6-8 reps
3 x arnold dumbbell press, 10-12 reps
(i may ditch these two, as i think i get enough pressing with monday and friday)
4 x cable upright row, 8-10 reps
3 x lateral raise (cable or dumbbell) 10-12 reps

Thursday - Legs+Abs
5 x Barbell squats, 5-10 reps
3 x leg press, 10-12 reps
3 x leg extension, 12-15 reps
4 x lying leg curl, 10-12 reps

assorted ab work, weighted crunches, cable crunches, leg raises etc, 10-20 reps

Friday - Chest and Biceps
4 x incline bench, 6-8 reps
4 x incline dumbbell, 8-10 reps
4 x incline flyes, 8-10 reps

3 x barbell curls, 6-8 reps
3 x hammer curls, 6-8 reps
3 x ez bar cable 21's
1 x cable straight bar curls, drop set to failure

Saturday - rest

Sunday - cardio or rest

Looking back at the pictures i posted, i do look especially bad and they don't do me much justice, i may post some more later

[alex.mitev]

Ok. Here`s what I would change if were you.

1. Chest - obviously lacking development and you want to put extra work on it. Focus on DUMBELL work, it`s got huge advantage over the dips, flyes. On Monday I would do - Bench press 3 sets 6-8 (to maintain strength), DB press 10% incline 4 sets 12,10,10,8 (focus on hypertrophy. Starts with higher reps to establish muscle-mind connection), flyes 2 sets 10-12, 2-3 sets push ups (maintain anatomically correct position of the body. Do 3 sec eccentric, 2 seconds concentric, 1 second pause on top and bottom.
2. Cut those dead lifts back! 3 sets at the end of the workout will do. Starting with 5 heavy sets will only overwhelm your CNS and the remainder of the workout will be barely efficient. Do bodyweight exercises, free weights , cables. Don`t misunderstand me - 5x deadlifts is good but in totally different type of routine like upper/lower split.
3. You do not need 2 pressing movements for shoulders! Rather focus on two lateral raises. One seated (maximum tension in the middle of the range of motion), one cable - constant tension throughout the complete range of motion.
4. 5 sets squat - the same as for the deadlift thing mentioned above. Moreover, focus on hamstrings because with routine like that they will draw you back seriously later on. To get the benefits of both worlds - start with squats, then do 4 sets leg press - 2 neutral feet position, 2 with wide feet position toes pointing OUT - this will emphasis the hams. Then move to lying curls for 4 sets of 6-8> never exceed 8 for hamstrings as they are composed primarily of fast twitch muscle fibers. Where`s calves?
5.Second chest training session which is great but you need to apply different stimulus. I`m not a fan of pre-exhaustion but could be useful tool in your case if coupled with right nutrition to support growth. Start with cable flyes 3 sets horizontal or 10% decline position, then do db presses, finish off with incline (not more than 20%) bench or even hammer strength machine if you have one.
Biceps wise do one 6-8 movement, one db movement 10-12, and one cable exercise.

That`s for training which is important and yet irrelevant without presence of proper nutrition