Thread: Finally breaking down for help...(long)

Standing a bit over 6 foot and weighing only 175lbs your going to have to choose which one you want. You want to gain mass or lose your gut. I am sure that seems to be a problem from time to time. I used to go through sort of the same thing. I would see my belly increasing in size over a 6 month period, but after I got over it I decided hey, so I want to be big and strong, or do I want to keep with this incredibly dumb cycle of eating high cals for 3 days then rethinking it and eating low cals for 2-3 days. As they say cant have your cake and eat it to.

As for training, if something is not working its probably not your routine itself, but more like the vairables you have in your routine. Maybe your not switching things up often enough (using periodzation), maybe your not progressing enough, maybe your not using enough intensity or maybe to much volume, its hard to say if you havent posted your routine.

Recently I started doing this:

3x10 for all except calf raises and abs. I was trying to run on at least one of the off days, but my back has started killing me so I've resorted to just walking the dog for a couple of miles.

Monday-Push
Inc Bench
Flat Bench
Mil Press
Dips
Pull Overs or Flys
*Ab work in between sets

Tues-Pull
Wide Grip Chins
BO Rows
Cleans or Deadlifts
DB Rows
*Calves in between sets

Wed-Off

Thurs-Legs
Squats
Lunges
Curls
*Ab work in between sets

Fri/Sat-Off

Sun-Repeat.

So how long have you been doing 3x10? Do you ever vary that? If not thats your number one problem

I used to do 1 week of 3x8-10 then 1 week of 3x12-15 then 1 week of 4x4-6. I tried that for 16 weeks (oops- didn't realize it was that long). Before that I did 3x10 forever...and when I started I was doing 15/12/9/6. (I'm going backwards through my journal)
I switched up my routines...but I guess I never really paid much attention to my reps. I figured I was still varying enough with the other stuff...guess not.

Try doing it with cycles of 2-3 weeks. Instead of switching it each week. Really set up proper loading patterns and it leaves little room to fail

Will do- thank you very much. I'll try and get some pics on here later this week.

Now once I have said that also give a thought about your nutrition. Eat for primarly one thing. Dont for a week eat for size then the next week eat for weight loss if your main goal is mass.

...well noted. The last two girls in the last two years to break up with me have stated that they didn't find me sexually attractive anymore. For some reason,I place alot of that on not having super ripped abs (I know stupid, right?). I just need to get over that mental road block and work on getting huge so I can shake them when they try to leave me...just kidding. Or just find some supportive people to surround myself with. I never knew that this was going to be such an psychological ride when I started.

As long as your busting your ass in the gym and most of the foods you eat are clean then you really cant go wrong

Originally Posted by Soapboy

...well noted. The last two girls in the last two years to break up with me have stated that they didn't find me sexually attractive anymore. For some reason,I place alot of that on not having super ripped abs (I know stupid, right?).

I don't think this is stupid at all, in fact, I totally know where you are coming from since we have similar stats (I am 6'1" around 175 lb right now looking to cut down a few pounds then bulk up). I don't know if we have similiar body types, but I have the type that gets looks only when my shirt is off (or when wearing fitted clothing), which is why I feel the need to stay relatively lean. I actually get what some may think is a surprising amount of compliments on my physique. You have to remember, not every girl digs the stereotypical bodybuilder look. Hell, how many times have you heard a girl say how hot Orlando Bloom is? Granted, I'm not telling you to stop working out and starve yourself to look like him, but you can be a bodybuilder and maintain weight at 170-185, which is what I plan on doing.

I swear to f'ing god...my ex was in love with Orlando Bloom! Ha! I was stupid when I was younger and did a crash diet and lost 65 pounds one summer 210-145 because I thought I would look better...little did I know. I can't tell if I have tummy fat or just hella loose skin now...it's been 10 years. So I'm hoping If I can just put on a good amount solid weight, maybe it will fill in that skin? I really need to get some pictures up so you can see what I'm talking about.

Just really quickly, I wanted to say that I myself had a saggy gut thing going on for a while after I had my one and only kid...and I was only 19 ( now 32) so I gett how that feels.
These days I'm probably a little more apathetic or accepting of guts on men who cycle or build or just have whole other more important things going on in life than looking like a supermodel 24/7 month in month out to the exclusion of other stuff that comes up and matters and needs to be sorted and so on, but that sag wiill go if you 're legitimately honest in chipping away at it and your intention of getting there. It takes a long time sometimes to reshape your body and change your physique but if you keep being honest .. as in evvery day as much as you can practically, and keep working it, you get there.
I'm not going to advise on anything else I think would work for you because I think the boys here 'll have you covered, but just keep going.. and don't feel tooo much of a loss at women who don't stick around because you're not pretty enough.. every one looks good when they care of themselves and then beyond that there's sometimes other shit to do in life. If a partner can't come to grips with that and love thaat about you and be generous and doesn't appreciate that you caan deal with the reality of what's behind setting up a good life and can get that done, and a life that they would otherwise be able to share with you if they didn't have their head up their ass about it and couldn't see the reality of what they're looking at , then there's plenty of other women who probably deservve to share it with you more than that woman does anyway. Just know where you're going and keep working to get there... the rest'll just fall into place when it does...and be worth having .. for both of you.
I used to model and train up to 12 hrs a day so I looked pretty godammed hot most of the time.. if men Only like me if I look like that though, knowing what looking like that is to the exculsion of and how hard it iis to get into that state .... and what everyone else around me usually does comparitvely,.. if that's alll they want in a woman.. and if I don't look like that I'm not good enough.. then I'm going to see through that want more personality to like in them and think "good fucking luck to you hunny but i don't think so"...
Don't get mad or bummed out.. get fussy and sort it out.

Blooming tianshi lotus.

Do you do any cardiovascular exercise? Do you count calories?

I was running 1-3 times a week. The only change I saw was in my blood pressure...which was dramatic. Recently, my back has been killing me after I run...so I have cut back to once a week if that. I have a heavy bag and thought about doing that with jumping rope...but I'm not sure if its counter-productive or not.
I recently stopped counting calories as well because I was pretty much eating the same things over and over. I went through and did the whole calc thing to see what theoretically I should be eating to get a baseline.

Now that I read this reply, it seems like I've pretty much let everything just kind of go to shit. I do appreciate all the support though.

*EDIT*
I just took some real quick photos...I'll upload them here in a sec. Don't laugh -ha just kidding...no really.