OK, I've been following this basic routine and diet for about 4 months and I've made some decent gains, but it seems to be tailing off..
I'll try to sum them up here. Hopefully you guys can pick out the obvious mistakes that just haven't occured to me yet.
I'm 6'2, 175 lbs (tiny, but that's up from 140) and with single digit bf %. (The caliper I bought says 3% but I doubt it's accuracy or my measuring technique)
Training:
Instead of a weekly split, I do 3 day splits, trying to hit the whole body.
Day 1 - Chest and Tris
- 5 sets of 8-12 reps on incline, decline and flat bench, alternating weekly between presses and fly movements.
- 5 sets of Cable Cross-Overs (8-12 reps)
- 5 sets of Dips (10 reps)
- 5 sets of Cable Pulldowns (start at maybe 15 reps.. by the end I'm squeezing out maybe 4 or 5 at a time)
(I can usually get this done in an hour to an hour and a half)
Day 2 - Back and Biceps
- 5 sets of Bent over Rows (8-12 reps)
- 5 sets of either Chin Ups or Pulldowns (8-12)
- 5 sets of seated Rows (8-12)
- 5 sets on another pull-down like machine (8-12)
- 10 sets of different Curl movements (maybe 3 standing, 3 on a preacher bench, etc..) (as usual.. 8-12 reps)
Day 3 - Legs and Shoulders
- 5x10 on the Squat Rack (Ouch, =) )
- 5x10 Leg Presses
- 7x(15-20) Calf Raises
- 5x10 Hamstring Curls
- 5x10 Leg Extensions
(at this point I'm very often too tired for shoulders and end up squeezing them in on other days.. but this is what I try)
- 5x10 Military Presses
- 5x10 side raises (usually focusing on the rear delts, it's a weakness of mine)
Day 4
Rest
Day 5
Repeat
OK, and as for my diet:
Mornings
I pour a shake over some Corn Flakes or Bran Flakes (yummy!).. The shake consists of: 1 tsp flax, 30g Whey, Skim Milk and Glutamine.
- 40g protein, 10g of fat (I think?), and 60g Carbs
10:00am
Whey and some oatmeal
- 20g Protein, 20g of Carbs
12:30pm
Chicken Breast and a Bagel w/ PB
- 20g protein, 10g fat, 45g Carbs
2:30pm
2nd Chicken Breast and Bagel (maybe PB). 5g Creatine.
- 20g protein, 45g Carbs
4:30pm
3rd Chicken Breast and Bagel
- 20g protein, 45g Carbs
10:30 (before Bed)
Myoplex with flax and a banana
- 42g protein, 5g fat, 54g Carbs
So to sum it up, that's about 200g of protein, 350g of Carbs, 40g of fat, 10g of Glutamine, and 10g of Creatine.
OK, this was a pretty long post and I doubt most people would have time to read over the whole thing. But if in skimming over it, some obvious flaws stand out to you, I'd appreciate some tips.
i agree... if youre doin 5 sets of 8-12 increase the weight so that you can only do three sets or something...also drop 1 or 2 of your backworkouts if youre going to continue on a 5 set schedule... drop about 4 curl movements... it was a pretty good workout besides that or at least for me personally
Yeah, just lower the sets. There's nothing wrong with your diet. It's really good. You get more than 1 gm of protein per lb. which is really impressive. Sounds expensive though.
Sam
1- way too many sets
2- not enough rest
3- not enough fat in your diet
Here's my take- drop your volume a ton (instead of 5, I'd say 2 working sets should be your max). You are a skinny guy and need time to recover and build muscle. So, 2 working sets per exercise, focus on compound movements like deadlifts, squats, dips, presses, rows.
Add fats to your diet, 40 grams is not nearly enough (I would say 60-70 should be the minimum- and if so they should be a majority EFAs). A tbsp of PB and residual chicken fat aren't going to cut it. Eat eggs, oil, cream, fish, steak, etc. Whatever you like as long as it's from a natural source!
Also- you may find that overall calories will be too high by adding this much fat. If so, drop carbs a tad to compensate for the added fat cals.
Smoke, Trizzle & PVB -
Thanks guys. Yeah, you're not the first ones to tell me that's too many sets. The first one is really a light warmup so maybe I shouldn't count that. And I could try dropping the last one. 3 working sets could get the job done.. and that WOULD let me up the weight.
mama's boy-
Aren't egg yolks and steak high in saturated fat? The kind I should avoid? And as for upping the EFAs, sounds like a good idea. I'll do some shopping this weekend.
2 working sets??? naw it depends on what ur doing... sayin 5 is "WAY" too many is a bit exagerated i think you can get away with 3 or 4 including the warmup...
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