I am doing something wrong. Can someone help me fix it?

[ndnguy85]

this is my 3rd attempt at a bulk.

1st one: max-ot, gained incredible amount of strength but no size at all. (my bench went from 135x6 to like 200x4).

2nd: HST. nothing. no size. no strength.

currently i doing an upper-lower split.

day 1: upper (4-6reps, 2 sets)
day 2: lower (4-6reps, 2 sets)
day 3: off
day 4: upper (8-12reps, 2 sets)
day 5: lower (8-12reps, 2 sets)
day 6: off
day 7: off


***i have a herniated disc in my lower back and i have to stay away from squats, deadlifts and exercises that puts a lot of downward pressure on my back like military press***

upper:
Chest - dumbbell press
Back - dumbbell row
Chest - hammer strength incline
Back - lat pulldown
Deltoid - upright row
Triceps - close grip bench
Biceps - ez bar curls
Trapezius - shrugs

lower:
Leg press
lying leg curl
seated curl (quads)
Calves
Abdominal
Lower Back


supplements:

whey
xtend during
green mag
fish oil/multi

diet:

35p, 35c, 30f

i eat so clean i would have to go organic to eat better. haha.

i eat around 150-200 calories over my daily need and weight gain has been consistent with that. (~1lb every 2 weeks).

body type: gains fat very easily (mom's side). dad's side is the lean, scrony type.

i been on this routine for about 3 weeks now and my strength has gone up (don't know if it's because i added green magnitude) but nothing size wise.

why is it so hard for me to gain size but easy to gain strength? what am i doing wrong? do i need to do more sets? i am not sore at all these days.

any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[dommer]

try moving to a 3 day split

day 1 bis' back
day 2 tri's chest shoulders
day 3 legs

and shoot for 1.5 grams of protein per lbs of lbm are you using a diet tracker to track every thing you eat/drink all day long or are you just estimating your portions and cal's

try incorporating drop sets 6 reps may be to little for your body i know it doesnt do **** for me i see my best gains doing between 12-15 reps for 4-6 sets

 

[ndnguy85]

try moving to a 3 day split

day 1 bis' back
day 2 tri's chest shoulders
day 3 legs

and shoot for 1.5 grams of protein per lbs of lbm are you using a diet tracker to track every thing you eat/drink all day long or are you just estimating your portions and cal's

try incorporating drop sets 6 reps may be to little for your body i know it doesnt do **** for me i see my best gains doing between 12-15 reps for 4-6 sets

ya i track everything..EVERYTHING.

my food sources are below. I RARELY eat anything other than something below.

chicken breasts
fish
tuna
shrimp
turkey
milk
cottage cheese
champion whey
ultra peptide

oatmeal
ezekial organic whole wheat bread
raisins
grapefruit
broccoli
mushrooms

peanut butter
almonds
milled flax seed

to maintain i need 2000 on nonworkout days and around 2200 on workout days. so it eat around 200 cals more than that.

35% of my daily calories come out to 180-200g of protein. considering i only weigh 140 @ 14% ..i am guessing thats good. i divide that over 5-6meals.

i doubt it's my nutrition. i am just not training right. and i dont have that much experience to figure out what all will work for me.

 

[ndnguy85]

one thing i should mention is my endurance level.

after around 12 reps my strength goes down dramatically. so musclular endurance and also cardiac wise..very low.

i dont know if that affects how many reps i should do.

 

[Chub]

You only eat 200 cals over maintenance? I'd say thats your problem there. Your bulking, eat like a machine.

 

[dommer]

one thing i should mention is my endurance level.

after around 12 reps my strength goes down dramatically. so musclular endurance and also cardiac wise..very low.

i dont know if that affects how many reps i should do.

only way to get endurance better is to push your self squeeze those last reps out even though it hurts thats when your working the hardest

for buliking i would eat constantly 500cals over maintenance for workout days and dont forget on off days you body is still trying to repair itself so keep the cals up

i think your changing to a 2 day split and hitting each muscle group with 2-3 different movements and keeping your cals nice and high should yeild really good results

and try to get the reps up and as far as cardio endurance goes try something similar to hiit i got my endurance up by running at 8mph for as long as i could and then walking till i caught my breath at 3.5-4mph and then once i had my breath back run again and repeat until you cant feel your legs any more

 

[ndnguy85]

i eat only a little bit over because anything more and i am gaining fat. ya it sucks.

so yall think i should switch to something else? any way i can tweak what i am doing right now?

 

[dommer]

i eat only a little bit over because anything more and i am gaining fat. ya it sucks.

so yall think i should switch to something else? any way i can tweak what i am doing right now?

you need more cals to put muscle on you can always drop the fat off after you bulk up a bit

istead of a 35/35/30 split of cals shoot for 40% from protein 40% from good carbs and 205 from fats

also try tapering carbs off towards the end of the day so dinner only contains carbs from veggies

 

[Pemmican]

try moving to a 3 day split

day 1 bis' back
day 2 tri's chest shoulders
day 3 legs

and shoot for 1.5 grams of protein per lbs of lbm are you using a diet tracker to track every thing you eat/drink all day long or are you just estimating your portions and cal's

try incorporating drop sets 6 reps may be to little for your body i know it doesnt do **** for me i see my best gains doing between 12-15 reps for 4-6 sets

i like the three day split, but i would do it twice a week (if your body can handle it). also, i like to do shoulders with my legs days, just personal preferance, but it has been pretty good for me. i like the sets here too, 12-15 reps.... this should definitely help put on some size. give it a shot

 

[ndnguy85]

i like the three day split, but i would do it twice a week (if your body can handle it). also, i like to do shoulders with my legs days, just personal preferance, but it has been pretty good for me. i like the sets here too, 12-15 reps.... this should definitely help put on some size. give it a shot

would it be ok if i move it around like this? schedule is a little tight for anything more than 4 days a week.

chest/shoulder/tri
back/bi/legs
off
chest/shoulder/tri
back/bi/legs
off
off

how many sets per workout should i do for big muscle groups like chest & back? currently doing 4 (2 exercises).

what do you guys think of straight sets vs. pyramids?

sorry about all the questions. i just want to see some progress for once in terms of size, not just strength.

 

[dommer]

i like the three day split, but i would do it twice a week (if your body can handle it). also, i like to do shoulders with my legs days, just personal preferance, but it has been pretty good for me. i like the sets here too, 12-15 reps.... this should definitely help put on some size. give it a shot

im a fan of the three ay split also

i hit everything twice a week and make sure to always swith up what lifts i do and what order i do them in

also if gaining fat is a big worry do some light cardio like hitting the back or walking on a incline but personally i would worry about cutting the fat after you bulk up takeing fat off later while keeping muscle is alot easier then trying to bulk and not gain any fat

 

[dommer]

would it be ok if i move it around like this? schedule is a little tight for anything more than 4 days a week.

chest/shoulder/tri
back/bi/legs
off
chest/shoulder/tri
back/bi/legs
off
off

how many sets per workout should i do for big muscle groups like chest & back? currently doing 4 (2 exercises).

what do you guys think of straight sets vs. pyramids?

sorry about all the questions. i just want to see some progress for once in terms of size, not just strength.

i would really take back and bi's on a separate day then legs thats to much in a day you working 2 of your biggest muscle groups in 1 day

monday:back/bis abs cardio
tuesday:chest shoulder tris cardio
wednesday: legs abs cardio
thursday:back and bis cardio
friday:chest shoulders tris abs cardio
saturday: legs cardio
sunday: abs cardio

i also do every lift for 4-5 sets of 12-15 and every other week i end each lift with drop sets

switch your cardio up to alternate between bike, treadmill, elliptical and some bag work so you dont get sick of one thing

if you dont push your self past your limits your body has no reason to put muscle on and grow


as far as set types go i alternate between drop sets, straight sets and pyramid sets to keep mybody guessing and if your having trouble squeezing reps out at the higher weight drop some weight and make sure your form is perfect for more reps i guarantee that you will see decent growth if you do it

 

[ndnguy85]

alright little update:

i dropped the heavy days and just replaced them with hypertrophy work.

and i moved arms with lower body.

chest/back/shoulders/traps
arms/legs
off
chest/back/shoulders/traps
arms/legs
off
off

i also increased the volume from 4 sets each for chest and back to 5 sets each.

i kind of have long arms and i been having some trouble hittin the chest. bench is not bad but there's no one around to spot. so i been using dumbbell for 3 weeks but i feel way too much shoulder/arms. for some reason i find it hard to keep my shoulders down during the pressing part. i tend to cave my chest in.

oddly enough i got a much better chest workout today using the hammer strength machines.

side note: try finding a dress shirt for someone with a wide upper back (it's like 46" if you measure around shoulders) and narrow waist (28") AND long arms (35"). sucks big time.

 

[dommer]

why are you so hell bent on having 3 rest days and packin something from uper body in with legs

 

[ndnguy85]

school and clinicals bro.

it's really hard for me to get to the gym 6 days a week like you suggested.

mon - clinicals -- --------off
tues - class all day -------off
wed - class --------------day 1 of routine
thur - clincals ------------day 2
friday - clinicals-----------off
sat - off-------------------day 3
sun - off-------------------day 4

factor in studying and social life..and it's tough.

 

[dommer]

school and clinicals bro.

it's really hard for me to get to the gym 6 days a week like you suggested.

mon - clinicals -- --------off
tues - class all day -------off
wed - class --------------day 1 of routine
thur - clincals ------------day 2
friday - clinicals-----------off
sat - off-------------------day 3
sun - off-------------------day 4

factor in studying and social life..and it's tough.

excuses i work anywhere from 50-58 hours a week and make enough time to get in th gym atleast for 1.5 hours a day and get home and cook diner

make the time

class all day means go to the gym after class or wake up a little earlier and go before you start your day

if i can find time to work 12 hours a day drive 45 mins each way to an from work and still get in the gym and cook diner for my self you can find time to do it your just need to get into the routine and then its second nature

 

[ndnguy85]

if i was working i would probably be able to do it but it's the studying that kills me. i just dont want my focus shifting too much towards working out and it be detrimental to my studies.

props to you though..you have good dedication.

 

[dommer]

not trying to sound like a **** but i find when you want something bad enough you find a way to obtain it. whether that be getting big and lean or getting to a point in your life that you want to be at you only get there when you want it bad enough to push your self past what you think you can do

i noticed you work on your wednesday clinical day why not wrok out on your clinical/off days and make your class days your off day(s) from the gym

even if you can only get to the gym for a 30-40mins on those days taylor your routine around those days and make them days where you can get in and out real quick just do some heavy compound movements like dead lifts and squats

mon - clinicals -- --------deadlifts, lat pull down, bent over row, low row
tues - class all day -------off
wed - class --------------off
thur - clincals ------------chest, tris, bis, shoulders
friday - clinicals-----------legs
sat - off-------------------repeat back workouts add bi's an abs and light cardio
sun - off-------------------repeat chest work out and tri work out add cardio

and then the next wek would start with monday just a thought im assuming all you clinical days are the same duration if you keep rest between sets to a minimum you would be amazed at how fast you can get in and out of the gym