trying to bulk up, but weight goes to belly, butt, and chest

halflife3

halflife3

New member
Hello,

I'm 5'9" and about 148 lbs. now. I started working out about a year and a half ago. I changed my diet by cutting down on junk food, pizza, and soda, and started eating healthier. I also jogged 1 or 2 miles a week during nicer weather, but the winter here is too harsh for any outdoor activities. I used to lift weights 4 days a week, but now I do 3 days a week.

Anyway, after my diet change and exercise, I actually lost about 20 lbs.!! I was down to about 140. Now I'm trying to eat a bigger breakfast and continue my lifting program. I've been taking protein shakes for over a year, but I just recently started taking creatine. I have already put on several lbs.

Well, here's my problem...

The weight I gain seems to go to my belly, butt, and chest. Yet, my arms and legs stay skinny! :yikes: I hate looking in the mirror at the sideview of my body. Why won't my arms and legs take on any weight? My bone structure is skinny, but isn't there any way to still gain a muscular look? I don't want to be too huge, but hopefully 160 lbs and somewhat muscular.

Any advice would be appreciated.

My diet and workout routines are posted in the Nutrition Forum and Training Forum, respectively. Sorry, I'm not allowed to post links.
 
well all i can really say is to just eat right and lift heavy man. if ur gainin in all areas but arms start to concentrate more on those parts then. do standard lifts and not so much isolation lifts with the arms. for tris do dips, close grip bench, overhead tricep ext with dumbells and for bis do dumbell and barbell curls and incline curls also. do no more then 8 reps man and just eat big man. take protein shakes beofre and after and creatine before. u might wannna look into no products maybe give ya a boost also.
 
Do you mean you are gaining fat or muscle?

It's probably an illusion. Your body will grow proportionately. Your butt will not outgrow your legs, your arms won't outgrow your butt..... nothing will outgrow anything else, it just doesn't happen.

The reason your belly looks big could possibly be due to bloating from the creatine. That might throw off the appearance of the proportion of the rest of your body.
 
Well, I feel like it's fat. And I also feel like my back arches in too much, further giving the appearance that my belly and butt protrude further than they should. Who knows, maybe I'll post a pic later.

Although my biceps/triceps have improved since I've been lifting, my arms have always been skinny. I mean, you'd be surprised at how skinny my wrists are.

Thx.
 
halflife3 said:
Hello, eat alot of proteins and good fats and just eat right and take good suppliments like ur bcaas protein shakes glutamine creatine ect on and on and ull grow it just takes time

I'm 5'9" and about 148 lbs. now. I started working out about a year and a half ago. I changed my diet by cutting down on junk food, pizza, and soda, and started eating healthier. I also jogged 1 or 2 miles a week during nicer weather, but the winter here is too harsh for any outdoor activities. I used to lift weights 4 days a week, but now I do 3 days a week.

Anyway, after my diet change and exercise, I actually lost about 20 lbs.!! I was down to about 140. Now I'm trying to eat a bigger breakfast and continue my lifting program. I've been taking protein shakes for over a year, but I just recently started taking creatine. I have already put on several lbs.

Well, here's my problem...

The weight I gain seems to go to my belly, butt, and chest. Yet, my arms and legs stay skinny! :yikes: I hate looking in the mirror at the sideview of my body. Why won't my arms and legs take on any weight? My bone structure is skinny, but isn't there any way to still gain a muscular look? I don't want to be too huge, but hopefully 160 lbs and somewhat muscular.

Any advice would be appreciated.

My diet and workout routines are posted in the Nutrition Forum and Training Forum, respectively. Sorry, I'm not allowed to post links.
Click to expand...

Posted from an iPod
 
if you're an ecto, or not an advanced lifter, doing 3 days per week, i have a workout you might like.

http://anabolicminds.com/forum/training-forum/109366-ectomorph-workout.html

i think what's getting to you personally, is you need more protein for breakfast. your workout would be the other culprit. you're not really eating enough calories to bulk successfully, so i don't know why you'd be gaining fat. most likely as stated above it is bloat, though with taking CEE i don't know how much bloat is possible. not a whole lot would be my guess.

i've posted your two other links, and hopefully someone else will have a great answer for you - my mind is a little slow right now.
Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed
 
It takes time. You need to have someone else look at you as well, because you are always going to be your biggest critic.
 
after looking at your workout routine i personally believe you are not doing enough work to the muscle to make it grow, maybe you do more intense work on your chest than you do your arms idk how you lift man only you do, concentrate on the form not the weight and do no less than 8 reps i would start doing 10 reps, concentrate on the compound lifts bench, squats, deadlifts, close grip bench, barbell curls, military press etc, you probably need to find a new workout program, try split days per muscle group thats the routine i used and have never been more happier. your workout routine could look something like this
monday-legs
tuesday-off
wednesday-chest
thursday-back
friday-off
saturday-arms
sunday-shoulders
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO THE WORKOUT I SUGGESTED!!! there are many types of workouts. i just finished my bulk up cycle gained 20lbs. you gotta eat the right clean foods that are loaded with protein i actualy have a thread in the recipe section dont remember what its called something like bulk up foods, and there are so many lists of foods, start eating the foods listed to help pack on weight and remember its fun putting on the weight and eating all the time, just suxs when it comes time to cut it all off. hopefully this has helped good luck
 
Hmm, I'm not really sure what u're diett consists of, but if u combine creatine with alot of oatmeal (don't know if i've spelled that reight) U will get really bloated after my experience.
And also, don't worry about the fat, If u are lean, just eat, eat and eat some more, just make sure u are eating the right stuff... don't think pizza is healty just because it's alot of meat on it... ;)

I sort of have the same problem as you... I'm very defined at body, but I can hardly gain ANY weight... My arms has gone from 34 cm to 37/38 in 3 years... so hang in there mate. we'll get there some day! :D

Good luck man.
 
You likely have a diet that may be to high in carbohydrates which will cause you to hold water weight. Creatine will also do that.
I'm 5'9" and about 148 lbs. now.
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You seriously need to get a grip on this "I'm fat" isssue. You are skinny - tiny - at your size and weight. Eat lots of protein and stay away from sugar and starches.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFbYW6bNViw"]YouTube - Anorexia Bulimia Contact[/ame]
 
I am thinking that you already do not have enough weight, even before the diet...not sure why you did the diet.
What types of lower body exercises are you doing? Also, what are you doing for your back? If deads and squats are not in there then you have most of the answer...

ummm, someone said that the body can't grow out of proportion muscle wise...huh? wtf?

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Cut down on carbs and increase your protein intake to 1.5 - 2gs of protein per lb of bodyweight for you that would be between 222 and 296gs of protein a day. Try and have most of your protein from food. Make sure you eat a large amount of protein as soon as you wake up, eat protein immediately after working out, and have some right before bed, just make sure you do not have any carbs before bed. You could also try some digestive enzymes with your meals. Oh and eating whole eggs each day (that means the yolk too) can increase your testosterone. Other than that SunCloud's Ectomorph workout is top notch, def check it out.
 
halflife3 said:
Well, I feel like it's fat. And I also feel like my back arches in too much, further giving the appearance that my belly and butt protrude further than they should. Who knows, maybe I'll post a pic later.
Thx.
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I know the feeling, I too have the pregnant look, but I was told it might be VAT, and to use viscerate to rectify it. Does yours look like this?: Invalid Link Removed I plan on trying eviscerate, then running LR/DCP stack once I am done with my pct. I am currently on an Epi cycle.
 
ABNRanger said:
I know the feeling, I too have the pregnant look, but I was told it might be VAT, and to use viscerate to rectify it. Does yours look like this?: Invalid Link Removed I plan on trying eviscerate, then running LR/DCP stack once I am done with my pct. I am currently on an Epi cycle.
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what's VAT?
 
Nightwanderer said:
what's VAT?[/QUOTE]
Quick guideline:

VAT = visceral adipose tissue - a deadly type of fat stored UNDER the abdominal muscles and surrounds internal organs. Contributes to heart disease, insulin resistance, etc. Stomach will be firm to the touch, but distended. Think Sumo Wrestler or powerlifter

Talk to dsade, he is more knowledgeable about this than I am. I just bought some eviscerate to take care of mine. I will let you know how it worked out.
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At your size I agree just eat. Your pretty small. If your that concerned check out biosignature modulation:


By knowing a persons Biosignature, we can possibly optimize their body composition, following site-characteristic protocols. Here are four examples:

1. High - lower body (upper thigh skin fold and gluteal fold) fat measurements; indicate high amounts of so-called Alpha-2-receptors, (more common in women) plus high levels of estrogens. The recommended treatment for this would be yohimbine, which is available at any health food shop. Yohimbine is extracted from the bark of yohimbe trees and it's a selective alpha-2 antagonist. By locally blocking alpha-2 receptors we maximize fat loss, and minimize fat accumulation. Yohimbine cream is definitely a better choice because oral delivery of yohimbine could result in systematically high blood levels that could have dangerous side effects on the heart and the CNS (central nervous system). Yohimbine cream would also increase peripheral blood flow, (adipose tissue has very poor vascularity) which would greatly increase lipolysis (mobilization of fatty acids causing fat loss). I used this cream very successfully on Kris Dim for this years NPC Nationals. Charles also suggested the supplement indole-3-carbinol, (found in Broccoli type vegetables) as an estrogen detoxifier, as well as isoflavones (diadzein and genistein) found in soybeans. Even though these isoflavones show estrogenic properties, (therefore classified as phytoestrogens) in this instance they would act as anti-estrogens. It is somewhat confusing, but simply put, if there is not enough estrogens in the tissues, diadzein and genistein would bind to estrogen receptors producing an estrogen-like response (not good!). However, if there is a presence of excess estrogens, (a known characteristic for this group) they would bind to its receptors, creating an anti-estrogenic effect.

2. High umbilical (abdominal) skin fold measurements alarmed health care professionals because one study consisting of 30,000 women over a period of 12 years discovered that women with higher umbilical fat measurements, (abdominal fat accumulation) were more likely to develop heart disease than other ordinary overweight women. As I mentioned before, this group had to deal with high stress and chronically elevated cortisol. The popular supplement phosphatydylserine has shown a dramatic reduction of circulating cortisol, (as well as improved mood, memory, and motivation to fight stress and depression). Charles also recommends fish oils rich in essential omega-3 oils and Licorice Root, which helps the regulation of cortisol production. Glycerrhizin is a component of licorice, which is capable of inactivating cortisol. Another good idea for any person belonging to this particular group is to limit (reduce) their caffeine and simple sugars consumption. These are factors that could impact (increase) their levels of cortisol in the body.

3. People with a high, mid-axillary (upper outer lat region) fat measurement, usually have some form of thyroid problem. This year during my contest preparation for the New York Night of the Champions, and Hungarian GP, I experienced certain thyroid problems myself which resulted in me turning up at these shows with a "softer looking back". The supplements that I recommend to treat this particular problem are: Guggulsterones (a compound of herb Guggul), which stimulates synthesis of T3, active form of thyroid hormone. Also a good choice would be a Bladerwrack a natural source of Iodine, Zinc and Selenenium, all responsible for thyroid hormone production..Finally, Ashwaganda and Coleus root(a member of the mint family) both used frequently to stimulate the thyroid gland.

4. If a supra iliac (love handles) skin fold is high, then the person could have a circulating insulin problem, so a low carbohydrate diet is recommended here. Take frequent smaller meals, consisting of essential fats and high fiber. Supplements such as fenugreek and flax seeds will control levels of blood sugar and insulin. So, there you have it. I hope you find some logic a and rationale behind all this, because I would be the first one to admit that I did not think much of Biosignature Modulation, until my own personal experiences, coincided with the theory.
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