HELP PLEASE

[mhockey]

I am a soon to be 23 year old male.184 pounds around 16bf. only been lifting seriously for the past 6 months. on and off prior you know work, school, lack of time, and lack of money. for some reason i have high blood pressure. i dont take any meds for it but its 135 to 145 over 75 and heart rate around 80. I am not growing like i want to.I am drinking protein and taking creatine thats all. i really want a boost in growth and strength. i am hesitant about any test booster cause the blood pressure thing, and i also have some pubertal gyno. basicly i am just looking for some general advice on supps. i want something that is going to make me grow. i took anabolic pump back in the day but did not really get anything out of it just a few extra lbs of fat from the carbs i had to eat. open to suggestions NEED TO GROW. and my diet is pretty good i eat 4-7 chicken legs a day and 3 shakes around 40g protein a piece. right now epstine is looking like the best idea cause of the gyno thing and have not seen anything about blood pressure being a issue.

 

[snowbird]

Supplements are not what make you grow my friend. If your not growing at all there is something off in your diet or your training. You really need to assess what you are eating in a day. There are tons of good calorie trackers out there. I like fitday.com's tracker. Please also give an idea of what your weekly workout routine is. There are good supplements that will help you progress but only if you are already progressing. Give us a little more in depth of what it is you do with training and diet.

 

[mhockey]

my routine consist if 10 min cardio mon through fri. tris, bis, abs day one- day two shoulders, back day 3 legs. one day off then back at it. i do tree exercises for each group and sets of three. my diet is wake up eat a shake take a multi vit and creatine( kre alkaline) go to the gym come home shake and couple chicken legs and a can of soup. about 2 3 hous later another shake and turkey or chicken sandwhich dinner shake and 3 or 4 chicken legs or the occasional steak some corn and a potato. also i am getting stronger and leaning out but i am not gaining like i think i should be able to.

 

[lennoxchi]

my routine consist if 10 min cardio mon through fri. tris, bis, abs day one- day two shoulders, back day 3 legs. one day off then back at it. i do tree exercises for each group and sets of three. my diet is wake up eat a shake take a multi vit and creatine( kre alkaline) go to the gym come home shake and couple chicken legs and a can of soup. about 2 3 hous later another shake and turkey or chicken sandwhich dinner shake and 3 or 4 chicken legs or the occasional steak some corn and a potato. also i am getting stronger and leaning out but i am not gaining like i think i should be able to.

what's your age and occupation? how other are you lifting and such while you working? or are you seated?

 

[mhockey]

i am 22 i work evenings at a grocery store and am still a college student. i also dont understand your question i bring my shakes-food to work with me i ahave an office to eat in and am home all morning.

 

[mhockey]

i work out at lifestyles in the mornings

 

[Zero V]

i am 22 i work evenings at a grocery store and am still a college student. i also dont understand your question i bring my shakes-food to work with me i ahave an office to eat in and am home all morning.

make a complete sample of a daily diet. i was surprised the amount of healthy food it takes to make a good diet back when I started.

Try changing you workouts up. Do the classic 3 day a week, bi/back, tri/chest, legs setup with a day in between each. Also alter your workouts, such as if you have always flat benched, drop that for awhile, switch up to different excersizes.

And get plenty of sleep. 7 hours is my perfect mark.

 

[lennoxchi]

22, 184lbs w/o 3 to 5 times a week? if so your maintenence cals are around 3000. that means if your not eating above that you are not going to gain. now, don't make the jump from where ever your at (check fitday.com like already mentioned by snowbird) to 3000, you will gain but it will likely be fat. add 200 cals a day for 2 weeks and see where your at. make sense?

 

[mhockey]

ya that does make sense so you guys think i just need to figure out my diet a little better and and up the cal intake slowly?

 

[Necroticism]

yes, and on top of that make sure your getting adequate rest.

 

[mhockey]

this is where i am at for the day can you guys see anything that should be adjusted from here this typical for me

Total
1,376
58.3 fat
73.4 carbs
140.8 protein

and the end of the day would look about like this
Total
2,514
121.5 fat
95.1 carbs
214.6 protein

 

[lennoxchi]

this is where i am at for the day can you guys see anything that should be adjusted from here this typical for me

Total
1,376
58.3 fat
73.4 carbs
140.8 protein

and the end of the day would look about like this
Total
2,514
121.5 fat
95.1 carbs
214.6 protein

protein looks awesome, as long as most of it comes from food not shakes. fat can come down and carbs can go up unless your carb sensitive. a nice 40/40/20 split is good or 50/30/20 is good too....meaning 40% protein 40%carbs and well you know.

 

[mhockey]

ya alot of it is shakes i drink about 3 sometimes 4 a day. maybe i should cut back and try to get some more food in there. there is nothing in there tat you can see as slowing growth? so you would not recommend any supps for me they would not benifit me?

 

[Necroticism]

keep the shakes where they are at, but add more protein in addition to the shakes. some of my favorite meals for protein are cottage cheese, or egg salad. 5 eggs, a spoonful of mayo and some colemans mustard powder. its delicious.

 

[snowbird]

Well I came back and it looks like everybody has got you covered. I definitely say first step is get your diet in check. You may find youd do better on a 3 day a week routine as well. A lot of these 5-6 day a week splits are what can hold people back. Not everybody has the recovery ability to utilize that much training. Remember just cause the pro's do it doesn't mean you should. Lastly make sure you are consistent and have a main goal. If you miss gym days frequently you results will be dampened. If you want to lose fat one week and gain muscle the next its not going to do you much good. You need to pick one. I wont get into recomping. Good luck with your training.

 

[EasyEJL]

plus look at your sodium vs water intake. chicken legs + soup sounds like a crappy combination health wise anyhow, lots of the wrong kind of fats, lots of sodium. How much water you drink a day?

 

[mhockey]

probably between 60 and 80 onces. maybe you could give me a better example of a healthy meal.

 

[dra05ke]

if you want to grow ..up the carbs ...a good way to put it...trying to build muscle is simliar trying to build a house.. the protein, (amino acids) are like the bricks ...and the carbs are the workers who assemble the bricks into a house...if it wasnt for the carbs (workers) then the protein would just be a pile of bricks laying there. so up the carbs my friend, and 121.5 grams of fat? what kind of fats are you taking in, only about 20-30 grams should be saturated ..thats a little on the high for me at least ...even so ..you can bring the 121.5 down to about 90-100 grams a day

 

[EasyEJL]

probably between 60 and 80 onces. maybe you could give me a better example of a healthy meal.

ok, so thats about half as much water as you should be drinking, so you need to increase that significantly.

As far as healthier meal choices there are so many its hard to say. but a good idea for breakfast would be 2 whole eggs with 4 whites plus a cup of oatmeal and a banana. for lunch a nice one would be a decent sized chicken breast/lean piece of top round steak/fish of any kind(5-6oz) plus broccoli and brown rice. Or canned tuna made with either a lowfat or an omega fats mayo on whole grain bread, plus some veggies on the side.

Most soups are fairly terrible, chicken legs have a ton of fat.

 

[Necroticism]

if you want to grow ..up the carbs ...a good way to put it...trying to build muscle is simliar trying to build a house.. the protein, (amino acids) are like the bricks ...and the carbs are the workers who assemble the bricks into a house...if it wasnt for the carbs (workers) then the protein would just be a pile of bricks laying there. so up the carbs my friend, and 121.5 grams of fat? what kind of fats are you taking in, only about 20-30 grams should be saturated ..thats a little on the high for me at least ...even so ..you can bring the 121.5 down to about 90-100 grams a day

i disagree with this. while carbs might be essential for some, they are devastating for others. if my carbs go above 100-150g (not counting fruits though) a day i pile fat on, and the extra amount of muscle i gain from it would be insignificant. i do have days here and there where i do go high, but for some maintaining that isnt a good idea. also, for me 20-30g of saturated fat is extremely low. the vast majority of my fats are saturated, healthy saturated of course, and my cholesterol levels and triglycerides are very good. if your saturated fats are coming from twinkies and ding dongs though nothing can help you. this IMO is a touchy topic to speak on as everybody is different.

 

[dra05ke]

i disagree with this. while carbs might be essential for some, they are devastating for others. if my carbs go above 100-150g (not counting fruits though) a day i pile fat on, and the extra amount of muscle i gain from it would be insignificant. i do have days here and there where i do go high, but for some maintaining that isnt a good idea. also, for me 20-30g of saturated fat is extremely low. the vast majority of my fats are saturated, healthy saturated of course, and my cholesterol levels and triglycerides are very good. if your saturated fats are coming from twinkies and ding dongs though nothing can help you. this IMO is a touchy topic to speak on as everybody is different.

there must be a misunderstanding here ..1.) no where in his post did he say anything about that he was worried about fat gain he just said he wants to grow and eating in surplus is the way to grow fast, and that is to which my response is ...fat gain out of the equation, then up the carbs obviously if fat gain is an issue then certainly do not want to match carbs with protein intake! ...and 2.) he said he was considering epistane which eats up carbs like crazy and he will in turn most likely want to increase to combat lethargy if there is any ..have you read the original post? ...i am in no way trying to be rude, and apologize if taken the wrong way.

 

[Necroticism]

there must be a misunderstanding here ..1.) no where in his post did he say anything about that he was worried about fat gain he just said he wants to grow and eating in surplus is the way to grow fast, and that is to which my response is ...fat gain out of the equation, then up the carbs obviously if fat gain is an issue then certainly do not want to match carbs with protein intake! ...and 2.) he said he was considering epistane which eats up carbs like crazy and he will in turn most likely want to increase to combat lethargy if there is any ..have you read the original post? ...i am in no way trying to be rude, and apologize if taken the wrong way.

the epi consideration must have been in a different thread as i didnt see it. my post was just in healthy discussion, not an attack. if he is willing to gain a considerable amount of fat then by all means eat a bunch of carbs, but i dont feel that he should go to that just yet. he had enough things that could be changed to where he wouldnt yet have to resort to a dirty bulk. this is just my opinion though...

 

[Necroticism]

i just saw the epistane part, he spelled it wrong so it didnt come up in my search. i also dont think he should resort to that.

 

[dra05ke]

and with that i would have to 100% completely agree with you, sir ...diet should be in check for a few months first

 

[dra05ke]

mhockey...first and foremost i would assess the blood pressure problem, and get on a set dedicated lifting regimine, then compile a diet that works for you, as necroticism stated, everyone is different. ...see if that doesnt help ...if then and only then after a few months you see no change and AFTER THOROUGHLY researching Epistane, then i would advise it is okay. However, you are you're own man and i can only give my opinion on the matter. i wish you the best of luck on whichever route you may take.

p.s. this forum is HIGHLY informative with very intelligent members, and questions you may have im sure have been answered, search around for a little.

 

[dra05ke]

my routine consist if 10 min cardio mon through fri. tris, bis, abs day one- day two shoulders, back day 3 legs. one day off then back at it. i do tree exercises for each group and sets of three. my diet is wake up eat a shake take a multi vit and creatine( kre alkaline) go to the gym come home shake and couple chicken legs and a can of soup. about 2 3 hous later another shake and turkey or chicken sandwhich dinner shake and 3 or 4 chicken legs or the occasional steak some corn and a potato. also i am getting stronger and leaning out but i am not gaining like i think i should be able to.

from the look of you're training regimine you currently have ...day 1 day 2 day 3 one day off and then repeat ...overtraining could be a very possible reason you are not growing ..

i personally like doing one body part a day during the week.


i.e. ...mon (day 1) - back
tues (day 2) - chest
wed (day 3) - legs
thurs (day 4) - tris and bis
friday (day 5) - off
saturday (day 6) - shoulders
sunday (day 7) - off/cardio

...repeat

again, this is just an outlined suggestion you can tweak to however it fits your schedule and keep your cardio 10 min before or after each session and then switch up your exercises and routines every 3 or 4 months.

 

[madds87]

If your a big fan of soups boss. Just make them by hand. There pretty quick. Plus the chicken broth is a alot better for yah. But dont get the canned crap. get the more expensive boxed stuff, high in antioxidant, omega's, and so on.
What i normally do when i make the soup is take a whole chicken through it in a pot and boil it. let it boil. drain. tare the chicken up place in another pot with chicken broth. chop up celery, carrots, etc. Add some brown rice depending on how thick the soup you want it to be. add the amount of water required for the rice and boil it up! really good meal. It always gets me feeling right for dinner. If you try it tell me what you think.

 

[mhockey]

thanks for all the help i am going to try to concentrate on my diet for now and hopefully my gains will come quicker. i am growing just wish i could sped up the process and my strength and definition keeps coming i just wish i was getting the size. thanks again and i am making your soup this after noon

 

[john123131]

good luck man, some great suggestions.....just be patient, if your diet is good, training is solid and you getting adequate rest, you WILL grow....just takes time bro.