Muscle and weight gain - I seem to be stuck

[DeaconFrost]

I've been having pt sessions for 22 weeks now, for the first 18 weeks I followed a home exercise plan the pt produced for me and for the last four weeks I've been following a gym training programme the pt produced (although the past two weeks have been with a fractured wrist and so have been confined to cardio/legs/abs). The home sessions were around an hour four times a week and the gym sessions have been an hour / hour and a half five days a week (with one hour pt session replacing one of the four or five day scheduled sessions).

Along with the extra exercise I've increased my calorie intake to around 3300 calories a day (measured with my fitness pal) and have tried to keep my diet pretty good (although it hasn't been perfect). I've focused on getting a decent amount of protein in a day and have usually managed between 150-250g of protein a day (again, according to MFP).

I'm 34, 5'11.5" and started off weighing approximately 158lbs. My target weight is 175lbs with around 10% body fat.

For about the last two months or so my weight seems to have got stuck around 164lbs and according to the scales at the gym my body fat is hovering around the 16.5-17.5% range.

I've increased the weights I've been lifting as I've gone along but seem to be stuck at this point not gaining any more weight or muscle. Any thoughts or suggestions as to what I'm doing wrong or what I should be doing to get me moving again?

[didelydoo]

Work harder and/or eat more- eating more being the more important of the two.

[Ordinary_Chap]

If you can post your exercise and diet plan in more detail i.e. what you eat through the week and also what exercise you do on different days we may be able to give you some more accurate advice.

Lee

[DeaconFrost]

The home plan I was following was (dumbbell weights were up to the maximum I had at home after the first few weeks which was 8kg per dumbbell). All days were started and ended with a five minute treadmill walk at 4mph:-

Monday (all 3x15)
Dumbbell squat to press
Swiss ball dumbbell lateral raise
Swiss ball dumbbell shoulder press
Swiss ball Arnie press
Swiss ball bicep curl

Wednesday (all 3x15)
Assisted pull up (3x12)
Swiss ball incline dumbbell press
Bent over row
Swiss ball dumbbell fly
Swiss ball pull over

Friday (all 3x15)
Goblet squat
Dumbbell step up
Alternate leg lunges

Sunday
Treadmill 20 mins 1 min at 8.5mph / 1 min rest
Plank 5x45 seconds
T-bridge 5x30
Dumbbell Russian twist 3x15


The gym plan I've been following is (all days are started and ended with 5 mins on the cross trainer level 8, 11km+):-

Monday
Dumbbell press 3x12 (8kg)
Dumbbell lateral raise 3x12 (8kg)
Cable rear fly 3x12 (? - Cant remember the weight without seeing the machine in front of me!)
Dumbbell bicep curl to shoulder press 1x100 (per arm) (10kg decreasing as fatigued until 100 completed)
Cable tricep extension 3x12 (?)
Cable bicep curl 3x12 (?)

Tuesday
Rowing machine 3x1km
Stairmaster at level 10 for five minutes
Abs crunches 5x20

Thursday (all 3x12)
Assisted pull up (50kg)
Incline dumbbell press (12kg)
Low row (35kg)
Dumbbell fly (8kg)
Lat pull down (35kg)

Friday
Cross trainer 20 mins at level 8 speed 11km+
Cable Swiss ball Russian twist 5x20 either side (?)
Cable Swiss ball woodchop 5x20 either side (?)
Plank 4x2min

Saturday (all 3x12)
Leg press (130kg)
Leg ext (50kg)
Leg curl (50kg)
Dumbbell step up (14kg)


For the past two weeks due to the fractured wrist I have done the following:-

5 minutes warm up on the cross trainer level 8, 11km+
1.5km on rowing machine
5 mins on stairmaster level 10
10 minutes on cross trainer level 8, 11km+
1.5km row
5 mins stairmaster
10 mins cross trainer
5x20 abs crunches
5 minutes warm down on the cross trainer

I've also been adding in the Saturday Gym plan leg exercises sometimes with the above, sometimes instead of the above. I've followed the same routine as the gym plan (five days on, two days off)

There has also been my weekly pt session which has replaced one of the days programme. I've tried to alternate the days it replaces so that one series of exercises hasn't always been hit

[DeaconFrost]

I record all my food with MFP and it's generally been along these lines:-

Breakfast - Porridge, skimmed milk, honey, banana, cinamon. Two mugs of tea with skimmed milk
Snack - Flapjack / Men's Health Oat snack bar recipe / Mixed nuts
Lunch - For the past month - Omelette with cheese, broccolli, 3 eggs and sometimes bacon, before that 4 slices of wholemeal bread with cheese and beef on
Snack - Protein shake, Banana (after training on training days)
Dinner - Usually chicken, veg, potato / sweet potato or chicken with pasta, etc
Snack - 250ml of yoghurt with a chopped up apple
Before bed - Protein shake
At least 1.5L of water a day

I've added things in as needed to try an ensure I've kept as close as possible to the 3300 calorie target I was aiming for.

[bonkbonk]

Assuming your diet is reasonable (enough protein for growth and enough carbohydrate to keep your muscles fuelled). You'll probably want to simplify things a bit. There's a lot of fluff in there that isn't really conducive to becoming strong; isolation lifts shouldn't really be high on your list of priorities early in your lifting career (if at all!).

If you stick to a program containing big compound lifts (presses, deadlifts, pullups et al) and make sure you get a day's rest minimum between each workout you should see better progress than what you're making on this routine. Once you've got a good base of strength you can start worrying about bicep curls and lateral raises.

[steve_bmw]

If you want to grow, try this

Normal breakfast, dinner and tea plus 7/ 8 pints of full fat milk a day for a month, do heavy squats, deadlifts and bench press.

You will see a stone in 4 weeks.

[didelydoo]

steve_bmw said:

If you want to grow, try this

Normal breakfast, dinner and tea plus 7/ 8 pints of full fat milk a day for a month, do heavy squats, deadlifts and bench press.

You will see a stone in 4 weeks.

...and have to loose 80/90% of it as it'll be fat...

[Ordinary_Chap]

bonkbonk said:

Assuming your diet is reasonable (enough protein for growth and enough carbohydrate to keep your muscles fuelled). You'll probably want to simplify things a bit. There's a lot of fluff in there that isn't really conducive to becoming strong; isolation lifts shouldn't really be high on your list of priorities early in your lifting career (if at all!).

If you stick to a program containing big compound lifts (presses, deadlifts, pullups et al) and make sure you get a day's rest minimum between each workout you should see better progress than what you're making on this routine. Once you've got a good base of strength you can start worrying about bicep curls and lateral raises.

Great advice

Dump all of the ancillary exercises and focus on the squat, deadlift and bench to start with.

That program has far too many unnecessary exercises in it in my view for your muscle gaining goals.

I'd also add if you're hitting your back hard then bicep exercises aren't really required in the early days.

To be honest it looks like a typical half arsed PT program randomly created. If you've not got it yet, most PT's are useless however there are some very knowledgeable ones that post on here like Goldblum.

I know its been done to death but the stronglift program is a good one either that or a traditional bodybuilding 4 day split.

[Republik]

Ordinary_Chap said:

bonkbonk said:

Assuming your diet is reasonable (enough protein for growth and enough carbohydrate to keep your muscles fuelled). You'll probably want to simplify things a bit. There's a lot of fluff in there that isn't really conducive to becoming strong; isolation lifts shouldn't really be high on your list of priorities early in your lifting career (if at all!).

If you stick to a program containing big compound lifts (presses, deadlifts, pullups et al) and make sure you get a day's rest minimum between each workout you should see better progress than what you're making on this routine. Once you've got a good base of strength you can start worrying about bicep curls and lateral raises.

Great advice

Dump all of the ancillary exercises and focus on the squat, deadlift and bench to start with.

That program has far too many unnecessary exercises in it in my view for your muscle gaining goals.

I'd also add if you're hitting your back hard then bicep exercises aren't really required in the early days.

To be honest it looks like a typical half arsed PT program randomly created. If you've not got it yet, most PT's are useless however there are some very knowledgeable ones that post on here like Goldblum.

I know its been done to death but the stronglift program is a good one either that or a traditional bodybuilding 4 day split.

Try compounds with super sets. Literally two exercises a day with heavy heavy weights until exhaustion.

Squats and dead lifts

Bench press and bent over rows

Barbell curls and weighted dips

Military press and chin ups

For abs do side bends, Russian twists and twisting sit ups.

For weight gain, get a decent weight gainer with whole milk and aim for 3500 cals a day of good clean food. st loads of red meat and chicken but don't forget your complex carbs and leafy greens too. That should get you going. Remember to shock your muscles too and mix up your routines, amount of reps etc.

[Lost_BMW]

Ordinary_Chap said:

bonkbonk said:

Assuming your diet is reasonable (enough protein for growth and enough carbohydrate to keep your muscles fuelled). You'll probably want to simplify things a bit. There's a lot of fluff in there that isn't really conducive to becoming strong; isolation lifts shouldn't really be high on your list of priorities early in your lifting career (if at all!).

If you stick to a program containing big compound lifts (presses, deadlifts, pullups et al) and make sure you get a day's rest minimum between each workout you should see better progress than what you're making on this routine. Once you've got a good base of strength you can start worrying about bicep curls and lateral raises.

Great advice

Dump all of the ancillary exercises and focus on the squat, deadlift and bench to start with.

That program has far too many unnecessary exercises in it in my view for your muscle gaining goals.

I'd also add if you're hitting your back hard then bicep exercises aren't really required in the early days.

To be honest it looks like a typical half arsed PT program randomly created. If you've not got it yet, most PT's are useless however there are some very knowledgeable ones that post on here like Goldblum.

I know its been done to death but the stronglift program is a good one either that or a traditional bodybuilding 4 day split.

Have to agree - only trying to be helpful here, not having a pop, and don't like having to knock a professional but did he know what you wanted to achieve, especially when writing the gym plan? If so, I'd get rid of him frankly. It looks far more like a conditioning/health and fitness plan than a weight/muscle size gain plan.

Far too many exercises esp the ancillary ones like the stability ball versions and the cables (reminds me of stuff I've read about actors being trained by a particular 'guru' - wonder if he was inspired by that?), few of the really important 'big' compound movements in their place and with the amount of cardio relative to the weights lifted I'm surprised you are even up to 164lb tbh.

Now you're in a gym have a good look at the way the big/strong guys are training and see if it looks anything like what you've been encouraged to do, though there may well be folk doing lots of sets but could be getting away with it as they are on PEDS or juts gifted.

[Onemcs]

As soon as I plateau i either

Up the food intake
Change my training
add in supersets
add in dropsets

Do anything to get through. Usually diet is key here.
Good Luck with your training

[gobshite]

I have found that following works for me:

Gym session three time per week focusing on squats, 5 rep 5 times adding weight each time to fail,

Then a mixture of the following exercises following the same reps, overhead press, bent over row, bench press ( I use barbells,) clean and jerk, dips and pull ups. I skip to warm up then swim to cool down.

If the punch bag is free I will do One min rounds with thirty seconds rest alternating between light and heavy punches and kicks for five sets.

This has resulted in weight reduction from thirteen stone to 12,6 and a body fat from 27% to 22% over eight weeks. My form when lifting is much improved and my strength is increasing each week.

My above routine from walking in to the gym to leaving after an shower takes one hour.

Your Plan that has been provided will not allow you to increase in size, free weights and diet contribute mostly to that.

If your using myfitnes pal there is a strongman app that is usefull As a guide as you can use it to track your progress.

If you want any training plans etc, drop me an email and I'll send you a few different ones to try.

The best method is to try And keep it to 4 or 5 compound exercises at a high weight that you can control and have good form. And talk to people I. Your gym that have the body shape your after.

I'm typing this jet lagged on my iPhone do apologies if it's a bit wishy washy

Kind regards

Angelo

[DeaconFrost]

Thanks for the replies - apologies it's taken me a few days to acknowledge them - I've not had much 'net access.

As soon as my wrist is sorted I'll give your suggestions a go and try to stick to a couple of exercises per gym session focusing on as high a weight as I can manage while still keeping good form and I'll reduce the cardio to one session per week.

I'll also try to keep the diet as clean as possible and up my intake a little to around 3.5k calories a day.

If anyone has any further suggestions I'd be more than grateful to hear them as I'm a complete newbie to all this!