Hit a Plateau (Critique my diet and routine)

fatherenis

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Hey I 5'7 and started bulking up in September and went from 140 Lbs up to 170lbs and then dropped back slightly to 168lbs while travelling during Christmas (I also injured my shoulder and had to take a week off lifting) I'd like to get to 185lbs but since I started lifting hard again 2 weeks ago I havn't been able to gain nothing. Now I know these things take time but being able to gain 30lbs in a few months and now seeing absolutely nothing makes me think I'm at a plateau. Could someone give me some advice for busting through here.

My normal eating looks something like this

Breakfast
- Large Bowl of Oatmeal
- Glass of Water with Animal Pak
- 600 Cal Protein Shake with two servings of eggwhites

Lunch
- Rice and a Can of Tuna

Snack
- Some sort of protein bar or cereal or something

Dinner
- Chicken and Potatoes

Before Bed
- 600 Cal protein shake with two servings of eggwhites


- I'm currently using an FST-7 workout that I found on FST7.com, and working out 4 days a week. 20 mins cardio 3 days a week (just to hit target heart rate and keep the heart in good health)

-I'm getting 8 hours of sleep a night or more and drinking 3/4 - 1 gallon of water a day.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
JudoJosh

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whats your total daily calories? I know scivation has a free ebook called bulking for ectomorphs.. might be helpfull
 

permanabol

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A Pre and Post workout meal unless you just didn't include it
 

fatherenis

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My workout is usually after dinner so my dinner acts as my pre workout meal and the protein shake acts as a post workout meal
 

permanabol

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If you go right to bed after your workout then i would suggest adding two more meals. You should be eating ever 2-3 hours and an hour post your post workout meal. I personally eat 2 servings cottage cheese and some almonds pre bed. Some cold cuts as well would be good to add to that. I'm sorta a beginner but I'm sure i got all this right :01:
 
Cooky32

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Bro, up the tuna meal to TWO cans, and add pasta instead of rice. DREAMFIELDS pasta is whole grain and tastes good IMO. In addition, add in a post workout meal after the shake of 6-8 oz ground sirloin, onions, peppers, and 1 cup rice, brown or white, but prefferably brown since its evening. Its good. Add some sea salt and pepper to it. You will recover better and grow through the night. If you wake up at night have some cottage cheese handy in the fridge, or pop a few grams BCAA's and go back to sleep. Good luck
 

ianm4208

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eat, eat, eat, eat. looks like you know what to eat, just eat more of it. change up your exercise routine every 1-2 months. If that does work, (I hate to say this) but less cardio may help. add some creatine in the mix maybe, so you can brake some plateaus.
Keep some fruit, protein bar, chix breasts, milk, legumes, ect on you at all times. never feel the need to eat through out the day haha
 
urbanski

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probably close to 3,000 calories a day
i am your height and hit similar "plateaus" on my way to 186...where i also now seem to be stuck. however i do know the fix and its calories!
i can tell you one thing. i lose weight quickly at only 3K cals a day.
i need over 4300 to gain.

i read your diet. how about a shotglass of extra light olive oil with each shake? each shot is 400 cals. how about huge scoops of mayo on the tuna? how about some nuts or ....heaven forbid....poptarts for snacks?
you can easily add 2K cals a day with these. i'm going to bust through my 186 by throwing 2 shots of OO in my shakes and hitting burger king more often :D
 
MK9

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All joking aside.. Pizza will bulk you up, and I believe each slice is 400 calories , so a couple of slices at least *once a week*. Or eat a whole one, and make it your cheat meal.
MK9
 
urbanski

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dave tate once wrote an article about breaking his plateau. his coach said here's what you do:
eat 4 fast food breakfast sandwiches every morning
for lunch order a large pizza and pour olive oil on it. eat the whole thing
supper is a pound of meat and potatoes, each.
oh and dont forget the daily gallon of milk.

worked for him :D
 

fatherenis

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This sounds good I'm workin on upping the cals. I moved the morning protein shake to inbetween breakfast and lunch and I'm adding fruit and a protein like sausage or something to breakfast.
 
kmk25

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You dont eat enough... **** the pizza... only as a cheat meal.. here is wat a good diet looks like if ur tryin to gain lbm.

Carbs 380+
Protein 416

Meal 1: 4 whole eggs
8 whites
4 oz beef 1.5 cups oats

Meal 2: 2 cans tuna
4 pieces whole wheat
1 piece fruit

Meal 3: Weight gainer scoop with whey

Meal 4: 10 oz chicken breast
Large sweet potato

Meal 5: Weight gainer scoop with whey scoop

Meal 6: 10 oz beef
1 cup brocc
Meal 7: 2 scoop whey iso w/ 2 tbs of natty peanut butter
 
Cooky32

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Nice meal plan. The night time nutrition is vital. Its when you grow. Bro, you have to keep feeding yourself. Even a shake with a bowl of instant oatmeal is good. Add in some fats to the shake, and youre golden. Use a whole grain, or high fiber bread to make sandwiches with for snacks.
 
urbanski

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You dont eat enough... **** the pizza... only as a cheat meal.. here is wat a good diet looks like if ur tryin to gain lbm.

Carbs 380+
Protein 416

Meal 1: 4 whole eggs
8 whites
4 oz beef 1.5 cups oats

Meal 2: 2 cans tuna
4 pieces whole wheat
1 piece fruit

Meal 3: Weight gainer scoop with whey

Meal 4: 10 oz chicken breast
Large sweet potato

Meal 5: Weight gainer scoop with whey scoop

Meal 6: 10 oz beef
1 cup brocc
Meal 7: 2 scoop whey iso w/ 2 tbs of natty peanut butter
that's great, for you. is it working? I dont see your stats.
I simply cannot fit that much volume in my stomach, i mean 12 eggs plus oats and beef? For me i need my fats to make up for my lack of capacity. Pizza, olive oil, burger king, gets me to where i need to be. The OP can decide what works for him be it high volume like you or high caloric density like me.
416 protein is a bit overkill too unless you're a 300 pound strongman.
 
Cooky32

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Start smaller, and let your metabolism speed up by eating more and training harder. Then week by week, up the calories, and amounts till, surprise, you are eating that much. You would be shocked. It will take some work on your part, but its part of the dedication to get bigger.
 

Ricky5145

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You dont eat enough... **** the pizza... only as a cheat meal.. here is wat a good diet looks like if ur tryin to gain lbm.

Carbs 380+
Protein 416

Meal 1: 4 whole eggs
8 whites
4 oz beef 1.5 cups oats

Meal 2: 2 cans tuna
4 pieces whole wheat
1 piece fruit

Meal 3: Weight gainer scoop with whey

Meal 4: 10 oz chicken breast
Large sweet potato

Meal 5: Weight gainer scoop with whey scoop

Meal 6: 10 oz beef
1 cup brocc
Meal 7: 2 scoop whey iso w/ 2 tbs of natty peanut butter

yeah... about that... your funny. he's hit a plateau and hes trying to gain, this is good for keeping mass with low BF but garbage for a gain. i dont see your stats either so im voiding this meal plan. Also this looks like something you copied from "flex" magazine and if you think thats what the pros follow im sorry to be the one to tell you, they dont.

keep the pizza. dorian yates ate 3 whole pizzas a week on his offseason not to mention burgers and ice cream.Ronnie ate cornbread chile and french fries and cutler eats burgers. Plus when you eat that much, its hard to keep motivated when your food taste like crap i.e. chicken and a sweet potato. through in some tastey food. your on a bulk so bulk up. people dont understand that bulking and cutting are two different things.

heres what works for me. i have gained 50 quality, and i mean quality pounds in the past five months and i average a couple pounds a week. i used to be 170 like you but over time ive worked my way up to 250 now and aim to get to 280 by may. check out my album in my profile if you want.

meal 1: 4-6 whole eggs mixed with 4 peices whole grain toast, 4 os sausage in a bowl. 25 oz OJ. animal pak, animal omega

Meal2: 2 scoops whey, 1 cup ground up oats, 2 tbs mack oil

Meal 3" 8 0z steak, 1 cup baked beans, ceaser salad dressing, 20 oz whole milk, animal flex

meal 4: same as meal 3 but with rice instead and BBQ sauce on my steak

Meal 5: pre workout: 2 scoops whey, PBJ sandwhich or two if i am hungry, if not skip it. 2 grams Beta alanine.

during workout: animal nitro

Meal 6: post workout: 1 scoop waxy maize, 1 scoop creatine, 2 grams beta alanine, 2 scoops whey, 1 scoop glutamine with 16 oz gatoraid.

meal 7: 6 pancakes with syrup, 25 oz skim milk

meal 8: 3.5 scoop real gaines with 20 oz whole milk

If its a rest day ill got to mcdonalds, burger king or five guys and eat whater, i also try to have a pizza or two a week. getting big isnt easy and i understand this looks like a lot of food but you wont be getting bigger eating 3000 cals. I feel like im gonna puke all day but you gotta eat to get big. you grow at home not at the gym. so my suggestion to you is to not copy what i do but look at how much i eat a day and just add more to your diet.
 

Ricky5145

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Start smaller, and let your metabolism speed up by eating more and training harder. Then week by week, up the calories, and amounts till, surprise, you are eating that much. You would be shocked. It will take some work on your part, but its part of the dedication to get bigger.
i also 100% agree with this man. dont try to each alot all of a sudden. build up to it. great advice man
 
Cooky32

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Just trying to keep it real bro. You have to keep shoveling it in to grow. Off season I am also doing heavy hard training and need the calories. STAY HUNGRY FELLAS
 
urbanski

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If its a rest day ill got to mcdonalds, burger king or five guys and eat whater, i also try to have a pizza or two a week. getting big isnt easy and i understand this looks like a lot of food but you wont be getting bigger eating 3000 cals. I feel like im gonna puke all day but you gotta eat to get big. you grow at home not at the gym. so my suggestion to you is to not copy what i do but look at how much i eat a day and just add more to your diet.
props man, i love this post.
i too eat until i am in pain and have an uncomfortable fullness all day, even when i wake up at 3am to pee (from my night casein shake). but i dont have your capacity (OMG 6 pancakes?) so i wont ever be 280 but i do pack in as much as i can strategically using fats.
 
EasyEJL

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I don't see quite enough healthy fats in any of these diets. buy natural peanut butter (no sugar added, non-roasted, no salt added) and at 2tbsp at each meal, whether in the shakes or just eating it. every 2 tbsp is around 150-200 cals, so it will add a significant amount of calories easily, and useful ones
 

Ricky5145

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I don't see quite enough healthy fats in any of these diets. buy natural peanut butter (no sugar added, non-roasted, no salt added) and at 2tbsp at each meal, whether in the shakes or just eating it. every 2 tbsp is around 150-200 cals, so it will add a significant amount of calories easily, and useful ones
I believe i said 4-6 whole eggs, mack oil, animal omega, whole milk- all good sources of fat. Just because we didnt add peanut butter (god forbid) doesnt mean were not getting enough good fats. oh wait, i did include peanut butter...silly me thats more good fats for me. Plus i cook all my food in either mack oil or peanut oil which helps with the sat. fats i get from my other foods like steak. and if you catn afford natural peanut butter, jif and peter pan work just as well.
 

Ricky5145

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props man, i love this post.
i too eat until i am in pain and have an uncomfortable fullness all day, even when i wake up at 3am to pee (from my night casein shake). but i dont have your capacity (OMG 6 pancakes?) so i wont ever be 280 but i do pack in as much as i can strategically using fats.

props to you man for eating during that 3:00 am pee.

also, if you saw how good my pancakes were you could get down 6 easy.
 
Cooky32

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Well, I know I saw plenty of fats in there Bro. I dont see why he buys no salt peanut butter. Laura scudders with salt has a minimal amount of sodium in it. I never held water from it, and could eat it out of the jar. Skippy natural is great for sandwhiches, and just uses palm oil instead of hydrogenated fats. Macadamia nut oil is good too, according to dave palumbo. I just have to find it.
 

Ricky5145

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Well, I know I saw plenty of fats in there Bro. I dont see why he buys no salt peanut butter. Laura scudders with salt has a minimal amount of sodium in it. I never held water from it, and could eat it out of the jar. Skippy natural is great for sandwhiches, and just uses palm oil instead of hydrogenated fats. Macadamia nut oil is good too, according to dave palumbo. I just have to find it.
Ill tell you where my friend. My organic market has it or any other organic store. i know its sucks but the stuff is impossible to find at local grocery stores. i use mack oil in my shakes and cook with it. i love the stuff.
 
Cooky32

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I understand, but its all good. I am not broke. thanks a lot man
 

Ricky5145

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not saying your broke. Im in college so its expensive to me.
 
Cooky32

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Its all good bro. It sucks this week I will maybe get to train on the ship 3 times. I worked the FIT EXPO yesterday, which was great. I just hardly got time to eat. Good show, except the cancelling of the IRONMAN. Ronnie was there and says he in doing the olympia this year, and he is still huge.
 

Ricky5145

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i've been hearing he was going to be on stage in 2010. I am rediculously excited for this. call me what you will but i will always be routin for ronnie.
 
Cooky32

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he is diesel. Nice guy too. You aint crazy. LIGHTWEIGHT BABY
 
kmk25

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Its actually a meal plan my buddy gave me to try and get ready for a show.... I havent been able to get down all that food yet either. I just started. So, im starting with all the whole food and then when i think im ready for some more add in the shakes... i didnt post my stats... im at 195 right now low bf but tryin to hit about 230 before summer
 
kmk25

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And by the way.... Dorian yates and ronnie coleman were gassed!!! to the gills bro.. wat they eat would not be the same results for people who dont shoot 5g of test and who knows wat else a week
 

Ricky5145

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yeah man, take your time getting used to eating that much. i know its hard. i have to keep eating more the bigger i get to even just maintain my growth. drinking alot of liquid calories on top of your meals for a week will help expand your stomach a little. dont continue this, just for a boost.
 
SimplyDraven

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@Ricky:

Just out of curiosity, what is your weekly routine like on a bulk? Your story is impressive and just peaked my interest.

Also, when it is time to cut for you, what do you bring you caloric intake down to?
 

Ricky5145

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@Ricky:

Just out of curiosity, what is your weekly routine like on a bulk? Your story is impressive and just peaked my interest.

Also, when it is time to cut for you, what do you bring you caloric intake down to?
thanks for the interest man.
well ive crafted my routine off many years of figureing out what works and what doesnt for me.

This may sound rediculous, and i thought so too at first a few years ago but i only do one set per exercise. i based my routine off a dorian yates style of training or HIT as its called, (high intensity training). i used to train 4-5 sets and alot of different exercises and was tired all day everyday. i was demanding too much of myself. I then swithced to 3 sets and still found myself lagging. I came across and article by dorian and was interested. I then looked it up and read about mike mentzer and HIT and HEAVY DUTY. the more i read the more i liked it. the whole system is about priming your body for OPTIMAL growth by hiting the muscle enough to put it in an anabolic state but not too much to where your in a catobolic state. when you exercise too much you break down you central nervous sytmes and immune system and your body has to recover. recovery and growth are two very different things. this style of training lets me grow more and recover less. as soon as i swithced to this sytle of training my max incline bench went up 39 lbs in 2 weeks not to mention my other lifts. i have honestly not had a week where i didnt go up or in weight since i switched. it is the best/smartest thing i have ever done when i comes to training. I have atleast 10 guys up here at school swithcing to HIT aswell because of seeing my results. i only do 4 exercises at max for chest and back and only 3 for arms. rest is the most important thing, you grow at home, not in the gym.

as for your second question i have to start cutting up in may. ive been on a bulk for almost a year and wouldnt suggest going further than that on a bulk without cutting up. when your on a bulk too long you start to accumulate too much intramuscular fat which is harder to get rid of. im not worried as my BF is not high but i want to cut up to start from a primed canvas again next fall. my diet will change alot, and ill start cardio. the first week ill do 2 20 min sessions, the next 3, the next 4 and the next 5 until im at 5 30-40 min sessions a week. i bring it on gradually because im 21 and dont have too much muscle maturity yet so its easy for me to loose the mass i worked so hard for. Ill still be eating alot but ill cut the crap out. Ill switch all my bread to ezekeal bread and mana bread. ill eat about 4 times as much fruit. its actually funny, i eat more carbs when i cut up then i do when i bulk. the reason i do this is because im trying to get an insane amount of natural fibers from fruits and mana bread. its easy on the stomach to digest and helps shred the pounds. i keep this high crab/fruit diet til i get about 5% bf and then i have to start carb cycleing to get lower. the lowest ive had it was at 3% but i felt like i was loosing too much mass so i had to stop. i can post my diet and training routine if you like.
 
SimplyDraven

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Thanks for the detailed response. Very interesting.

i can post my diet and training routine if you like.
If you have the time, that would be great. I'd love to hear more about your routine. I know what you mean in regards to always feeling fatigued and never feeling completely recovered. I think I am currently over-training but I enjoy the gym so much, I have a hard time with forcing myself to stay away long enough. But I suppose I would enjoy faster progress even more...
 

Ricky5145

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Monday: 1 working set 1-3 warmup sets for most
chest:
Incline babrbell bench: 1 set 6-8 reps ( I do inclinces at a 15 degree angle instead of 45, I hit my chest more and shoulders less)

Hammer strength Inline: 1 set 6-8 reps
Flat Flys: 1 set 6-8 reps
Cable flys: 1 set 6-8 reps


Tuesday:
Back:
Reverse grip pulldowns: 1 set 6 reps
Reverse Grip BB rows: 1 set 6 reps
Old school T-Bar rows: 1 set 6 reps
Deadlifts: 1 set 6 reps


Wednesday:
rest day


Thursday:
Delts:
DB shoulder press: 1 set 6 reps
Cable lateral raises: 1 set 6 reps
bent cable rows: 1 set 6 reps
Wide grip upright rows: 1 set 6 reps

Traps:
Closegrip reverse BB shurgs: 1 set 6-10 reps
reverse grip Widegrip BB shrugs: 1 set 6-10 reps
DB shrugs: 1 set 6-10 reps

Friday:
Biceps:
BB curl: 1 set 6 reps
Incline DB curl 1 set 6 reps
Maching 1 arm preacher crul: 1 set 6 reps

Triceps:
Cable pushdowns: 1 set 6 reps
Decline french Press: 1 set 6 reps
1 arm Db extentions: 1 set 6 reps

Forearms:
Barbell wirst curls: 1 set 6-10 reps
Barbell reverse curls: 1 set 6-10 reps

Saturdat:
Legs:
Squat: 1 set 6 reps
Leg press: 1 set 6 reps
1 leg, Leg extention: 1 set 6 reps
1 leg, leg curl: 1 set 6 reps

Calves:
Standing calve raise: 1 set 6 reps
Seated calve raise: 1 set 6 reps

Sunday:
rest


thats basically it
 

Ricky5145

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some things may seem odd, like cables on a bulk i.e cable lateral raises but i have specific reasons for every exercise i do. if you have a question just ask.

as for the cable lateral and bent raises, i personally grow more with these than with DB's. less momentom and i have continuous stress on my delts.
 
SimplyDraven

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Thanks for taking the time to post. I will try to find more info to read up on the the Yates/Mentzer HIT style.
 

Ricky5145

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y do u only do one set???
i only do one set because anymore would wear your body down too much to the point to where your body is trying to recover from the damage you did to it instead of grow from exercise. the one set is no joke, its an all out complete muscle failure set. workouts are short (30-40 min) and gets my body primed for OPTIMAL growth. sure you could do more sets but you wont grow as fast because your body is trying to fix so many things. only one set is needed if you take it to complete failure. i personally think if your doing anymore, your overtraining. like i said there hasnt been a day when i havent gone up in weight or sets on every single exercise.

if you think one set isnt enough, then your not training hard enough. i can only do legs once every two weeks becasue i cant walk normal for atleast 8-10 days because my legs hurt so much. and thats from just 4 exercises of one set.

bottom line people dont understand how important rest is. you grow at home not in the gym. i find myself saying that an awful lot. yall should know this.


plus its not just me, im training some guys up here at school under this and they also have had gains that would look fake on paper.
 

Ricky5145

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Thanks for taking the time to post. I will try to find more info to read up on the the Yates/Mentzer HIT style.

go for it, but watch out for mentzer, in my eyes he takes it too far and goes a little nuts, stick with dorians info and go from there...
 
H8dook

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Obviously need to increase caloric intake.
I would definitely dropped the protein bar/cereal bar from a nutritional standpoint.
Most "bars" are processed garbage.Sub. w/almonds/banana or peanut/almond butter.
Drink a few glasses of milk throughout the day as well.1% is my choice.
Also eat some cow!!!
I would also avoid simple sugars.A slow clean bulk over a quickie bloated one.
Remember plateaus are when MOST people tend to quit due to frustration.
It's EASY to see quick/fast gains the first 2-3 months.They are EASY.Your body really has no other choice but to grow in this time span when weight training is introduced.
The real work and hard fought gains are yet to come.Obtained through perseverance and diet.

Patience grasshopper!
 
kmk25

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idk bra i get in more sets than just one and do usually four different exercises per muscle
 

Ricky5145

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idk bra i get in more sets than just one and do usually four different exercises per muscle
ok...youre obviously not listening to anything i just said. "i get in more sets than just one"???? what i said has nothing to do with "getting in sets"...geeze man...waste of my time.
 
kmk25

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haha ur a joke brother... oh so u count in your warm up sets haha.. and ur meal plan is trash
 
urbanski

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i think a 250 pounder's diet and workout plan, although different from others, has merit.
in fact far more merit than some troll who talks big but wont post stats.
 

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