Thread: How long does it take you to see muscle development?

gains in strength for newbies mainly comes from an increase in neuromuscular efficiency initially and increases in the "size" of the muscles comes as the result of increased levels of cellular hydration and nutrient levels in skeletal muscle. it take a lot of heavy, heavy training at loads around 85% of the 1RM to cause an actual increase in the size of cross bridges, etc. in the muscle cell.

It takes awhile even if you are doing everything you can to gain size and strength. Be patient, and you will likely see results if you are training correctly.

Originally Posted by MDR

It takes awhile even if you are doing everything you can to gain size and strength. Be patient, and you will likely see results if you are training correctly.

+1
Patience is key, if muscle&strength came easy, everyone would be a monster.

Originally Posted by LAM

heavy training at loads around 85% of the 1RM to cause an actual increase in the size of cross bridges, etc. in the muscle cell.

This is solid advice. Do not forget it.

As the saying goes though, "everything works for 6 weeks".

the thing is the last 4 and a half months or so i have just plautaued. defo overeached during my first routine in this 4 month peroid which lasted 5 weeks, saw no improvement felt tired and lost some strength so took 5 days off

came back started another routine lasted 5 weeks didnt feel tired or anything just did not see any improvement so i thought that i might of not taken enough time off last time so then took 2 weeks off, while going back to the gym twice in the second week just to work out a few rep maxes

then came back and set a full body routine thanks to the helpfull Gaz ( no sarcasim by the way, its hard to get your tone over the internet lol). Was realy enjoying it and entered the 4th week this week on a monday, felt larthargic and was not enjoying doing squats which is one of my favourite exercies. felt larthargic again today while feeling slightly tired now which did not occure before (fear i might be starting to overeach), i started eating honey on monday with my oatmeal so do not no if thats setting me up for a sugar crash during training lol and once again have not seen any muscular development. funny thing is i thought i was geting stronger


im not a hard gainer for sure i have a naturally slow motabilism and used to be quite fat, im not built in a shape of a skinny guy and put on weight easily

i eat shitloads of food and all the right kind of foods at the right time

its so demotivating and it fuking gets to me when i sacrifice everything and put in so much hard work and spend money and not get the results i feel i should

i just do not really no what to do anymore i suppose i should carry on untill friday then it would of been a full 4 weeks so i suppose i could judge it then.

maybe i should do an established program that been proven like westside or something?

any suggestions people?

again it could be all in my head i started off this week thinking i see no improvments its all going to happen again in terms of geting bigger and mayeb thats demotivated me, maybe i should leave it 5 weeks not realy sure..

How many grams of protein, fat, carbs do you eat each day?

i cant say the exact amount but i eat over 2 grams per pound of bodyweight in protein

over 2.5 grams worth of carbs

and again not sure on the amount of fat i get but im pretty sure i get enough through my diet on workout days, i eat omega 3 eggs, salmon, nuts, trout or makeral, olive oil, natural fat from steak and a good amount of peanut butter before i go to sleep along my cottage cheese

and i get in about 3700 calories give or take a 100 calories

Quantitatively, how has your strength progressed on the major lifts?

Also, what are your stats? Age, weight, estimated body fat percentage, training experience.

well this friday will be a full months worth of training, so i tried not to add on any weight as i was planning to trainuntil week 6 take a week off then add a small amount onto the lifts

the main difference was bentover rows i seem to have got stronger on them by a couple of kilos and deadlifts, however the first week i started consersatively so maybe i was underestimating the amount of of weight i could use

19
160 pounds
about 14% body fat
and about 8 months worth of training

maybe i should carry on training on friday and see how i feel then, if i feel fine on that day do you think i should give it another weeks worth of training before deciding if its making a difference

Sounds like you are on the right track -- you are eating and you are deadlifting. I presume you are squatting and benching as well. Regarding your eating, perhaps it would serve you well to actually track everything you eat for a day or two to ensure that you're estimates are reasonably accurate. Fitday.com is a good resource for doing so.

Regarding your next course of action, I recommend the book "Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe. It'll positively affect your technique on the major lifts as well as organize your programming.

i have read on starting strenght before but the program not the book so il order it,

what do you think i should do regarding current training, i am going tomorow to train to see how i feel but should i leave it another week or if i havent noticed a difference shouldi take a week off and start with an established program?

Originally Posted by gymforlife

i have read on starting strenght before but the program not the book so il order it,

what do you think i should do regarding current training, i am going tomorow to train to see how i feel but should i leave it another week or if i havent noticed a difference shouldi take a week off and start with an established program?

post up your routine