Help me out of my slump!!

flw

flw

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Greetings all, I don’t post on here much but do a ton of reading! I was hoping for some advice/input. I’ve been in a bad slump lately, sex drive is lower, strength is lower and bodyfat is up, in that horrible stage where I’m both heavy and skinny at the same time, and neither of those things are what I want!
Anyway, I’ve changed up my routine a couple times as well as diet. I’ve had good success with CKD diet in the past but this time around I had horrible results, weight stayed the same as well as bodyfat over a 6 week period and my workouts were awful. I felt like complete **** ( I normally feel great on CKD). I went into Keytosis but never very deep.

Now I’m drying to eat clean, I’ve lowered my sets and reps and raised my weights in an effort to shock my body a bit but not over train (I thought I might have been overtraining before). Workouts are a little better but still not great, testosterone levels still feel low. Cardio is a couple decently intense 5 to 7 mile bike rides a week, takes me about 20 to 30 minutes on mixed grades. Also do uphill walking or jogging 4 or 5 days a week, 1 to 2 miles each time. I try and do a variety of exercises including squats, deads, clean and press, Arnold press etc. I mostly do one bodypart a day focus on form and work to failure as best I can without a workout partner.

Squats are only 225 (previous max was 375)

Deads are around 335 (previous max was 445)

Bench Press is 90 lb dumbbells or or about 245 standard press (previous max was 325)

Curls are 55 lb dumbbells individually or 45’s together

Clean and press is about about 155 (previous max 185)

These are not one rep maxes, just standard max weights I use for 4 to 8 reps.

I’ve not had a good bulk or cut in quite some time. My heaviest was 220 @ about 12% bf about 2 years ago, leanest was about 189 at 9% bf. The latter was about 6 months ago. I’m torn between cutting or bulking, I’m really too damn fat to bulk I feel so I’ve been trying to cut.

BTW, I’m 29, 6ft, 214lbs, about 15% bodyfat. Eating about 2300 calories, 180 to 200 grams protein fat in the 50 to 80 grams/day. Carbs I’m eating, mostly brown rice, some white rice and some pasta (mostly brown rice pasta). Only supplements I’m taking is a multi, C, Creatine Monohydrate and a post workout shake either ON gold standard 100% whey or Cytsport Protein +, both with milk and a TBSP of natural peanut butter.

I feel great below 200 lbs so my goal is 200 lbs and ripped.

Does anyone have any advice for me? A year ago I was about the same weight, more strength and my testosterone levels felt great. I’d watch an action movie and get all pumped up!  my wife thought it was ridiculous but loved the side benefits…..

I don’t know if it’s the cold weather or what but I’m just not loosing weight.

thanks in advance, I know this a long post and I appreciate the time reading it and giving input!
 

sub001

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Attitude has a lot to do with things as you might know from past experience. Try to get excited and confident again. If you feel you are too fat to bulk then cut down. I got decently fat during my bulk but I also jacked my strength up in the process, so no worries. If you want to bulk look for some good diets on here. I've seen shredded guys go into a bulk and all they lost was their bottom 2 abs and they gained a boatload of lean mass and cutting was a breeze for them once they were done.
 
flw

flw

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thanks for your help. I think attitude is key as well I just can't get past this low sex drive thing. I guess I should just buckle down and see if I can't get lean even if I loose some muscle in the process.
Attitude has a lot to do with things as you might know from past experience. Try to get excited and confident again. If you feel you are too fat to bulk then cut down. I got decently fat during my bulk but I also jacked my strength up in the process, so no worries. If you want to bulk look for some good diets on here. I've seen shredded guys go into a bulk and all they lost was their bottom 2 abs and they gained a boatload of lean mass and cutting was a breeze for them once they were done.
 

bigdognhb

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Like said. Keep a positive attitude. I just got back into training like I used to. About a year and a half ago I dropped almost 50lbs, got completely side tracked, started drinking alot of beer and eating like crap. Well after a move across the country. I have the benifit that the only person I have to take care of is me. first day back into the gym was a major shocker. my bench was down to almost half as much as it was. But I refuse to let myself have a negative attitude. The reason that everything went to hell was strictly my fault. But the positive is that it is also my decision to get it all back. After a while on CKD I started running into energy problems. I felt better doing TKD. Better energy for workouts with the same weightloss benifits as CKD (at least for me it was) This go around for weights is almost all compound movements, with a kettlebell workout once a week and ALOT of cardio. Just stick to it. If your test levels are a major concern you can always have your levels checked.
 
flw

flw

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Your story is motivating! I actually had a good workout this evening. I'll see how the next couple months go and if I'm still having low energy and test levels issues I'll go from there. It's not like my levels are debiliting so to speak, I'm just used to being a little more macho and agressive for lack of a better description. It's always been my workouts that gave me that extra umph and it's not been doing it lately.
Thanks again!
Like said. Keep a positive attitude. I just got back into training like I used to. About a year and a half ago I dropped almost 50lbs, got completely side tracked, started drinking alot of beer and eating like crap. Well after a move across the country. I have the benifit that the only person I have to take care of is me. first day back into the gym was a major shocker. my bench was down to almost half as much as it was. But I refuse to let myself have a negative attitude. The reason that everything went to hell was strictly my fault. But the positive is that it is also my decision to get it all back. After a while on CKD I started running into energy problems. I felt better doing TKD. Better energy for workouts with the same weightloss benifits as CKD (at least for me it was) This go around for weights is almost all compound movements, with a kettlebell workout once a week and ALOT of cardio. Just stick to it. If your test levels are a major concern you can always have your levels checked.
 

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