• Hello, this board in now turned off and no new posting.
    Please REGISTER at Anabolic Steroid Forums, and become a member of our NEW community!
  • Check Out IronMag Labs® KSM-66 Max - Recovery and Anabolic Growth Complex

Gaining strength but not size

M

mattskaien

Registered
Joined
Feb 9, 2010
Messages
29
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Canada
I first posted this in the newbie forum but didn't get any response. So ill try here as i'm speculating but not all together sure that its both how i'm training and my diet.


Hey guys so im new to the forum my name is Matt and yes im from Canada. Id say im pretty new to the gym scene aswell. Only been going for about a year now. Im 21 years old and currently go to school fulltime. School is also where I go to train.

Ive been trolling around this site for about a week now and have posted a couple times and after reading a little bit I went over to fitday and started looking up the nutritional info for all the food I eat. My results were on average in a day I consume

3,857 Calories (Almost 2000 from Gainer+Protein I take twice daily)
100grams of Fat
545grams of Carbs
211grams of Protein

My training is

Day 1: Shoulders and Back
Shoulder Press
Wide Grip Pull up
Upright Rows (Bar to chin)
Machine Lat Pulldowns
Seated Laterals Raises
Seated Rows
Bent over (seated) Lateral Raises
Olympic bar Rows
Shrugs

Day 2: Chest

Incline/Decline/Flat Bench
Flat Dumbbell Fys
Flat Dumbbell Press
Cable Flys (Lower Chest)
Cable Flys (Upper Chest)
Machine Press
Machine Flys

Day 3: Arms

Incline/Decline/Flate Close grip benchpress
Hammer Curl
Skull Crushers
Preacher Curl Dumbbells
Machine Tricept pushdowns
Olympic Bar Bicep curl
Dips
EZ Bar Curls
Seated behind head tricep extention

Day 4: Legs+ Abs

Squats
Leg Press
Leg Extentions
Calf Raises
Decline Situps
Ab/core Machine
Bike 30 min

Day 5: Rest

Day 6: Do it again

Oh and also after every set I pick up something 2/3 the weight and do the same movement untill failure. (Drop sets)

So im 5'9 150lbs and cant put on size. Im pretty strong for my size but training seems to be going to strength rather then mass. So what is it? More food? (Cal) Different way of training??
 
Eat=grow.
 
^ what he said.

Furthermore your routine looks like too much volume, you should read the stickies in the training section.
 
Hmm I have alot of volume in my workouts because I want to make sure im pumped up good before I leave. I just dont get tired so I just do more sets or more exercises. The caffeine in the black powder doesnt help. Maybe I should just go heavier till im tired right out.
 
Maybe I should just go heavier till im tired right out.
Click to expand...

Good advice. Don't make the mistake of "more is better" or confuse a good pump/burn for a good workout.
 
looks like your overtraining. Add deadlifts to your routing.
 
add the weights to the workout brother !!!!:roflmao:
 
Like go heavy for like 4-5 reps? Should I still drop set? I have for so long its a habbit
 
rahaas said:
Ditto. All of that volume is burning up calories that should be adding mass.
Click to expand...

Is this true? Im not in the gym that long, probably like 1h15min to 1h30min. How long should I be resting in between sets? Im currently average about 1min to 1min30sec
 
Limit your workouts to no more than 6 exercises per (and even that is kind of a lot). I would be very surprised if you were only in the gym for an hour and 15 minutes while doing 9 different exercises. That would indicate to me that you aren't hitting each one as hard as you could.

Do fewer exercises, focus on no nonsense compound movements and hit them hard. I would consider splitting your chest workout in two and replacing the arms workout with it. Dedicating a whole day to arms and doing 3-4 bicep exercises and 3-4 tricep exercises seems silly to me. Create two chest workouts with 4-6 exercises in each, have one of those workouts have one tricep specific exercise and the other have one bicep specific exercise (perhaps dips and pull-ups), the other exercises should be "big" compound chest movements. Don't mess around with flys and machine press, hit bb bench, db bench, bb incline, db incline, decline, close-grip, widegrip etc. Those workouts will not only hit your chest but your bis and tris as well. Don't repeat exercises on the two chest days, if you do bb bench, bb incline and bb widegrip one day, do db bench, close-grip and decline bench the other.

I do six exercises on my upper body days, with pretty long rest intervals (two minutes for bigger movements, alittle over a minute for smaller movements) and I get done in about 1-1.5 hours. The real rigid people here will tell you not to be in the gym for more than 45-60 minutes. I find that impossible sometimes, and I get great results by being in there slightly longer, but for alot of people shortening workouts probably works for them, and if you are having trouble gaining weight it will likely be beneficial.

Honestly eating more would fix your problems regardless probably. Get close to 4,500 calories a day and I do not see how you could not gain size.
 
Last edited:
Post your diet. I'll bet you're eating less than you think.
 
Ok update. I changed a few things in my workout and now incorporate dead lifts on the appropriate day.

Day 1: Shoulders and Back

Shoulder Press or Military press
Wide Grip Pull up
Upright Rows (Bar to chin)
Lat Pulldowns
Seated Laterals Raises
Deadlifts
Olympic bar Rows
Shrugs

Day 2: Chest

Flat/Incline/Decline Bench
Flat/Incline/Decline Dumbbell Fys
Flat/Incline/Decline Dumbbell Press
Machine Flys

Day 3: Arms

Incline/Decline/Flate Close grip benchpress
Hammer Curl
Skull Crushers
Preacher Curl Dumbbells
Machine Tricept pushdowns
Olympic Bar Bicep curl
Dips (weighted)

Day 4: Legs+ Abs

Squats
Leg Press
Leg Extentions
Calf Raises
Decline Situps
Ab/core Machine
Bike 30 min


Also looked at my diet and as expected it is lower then I thought

Yesterday I ate

Granola with rasberries and 2% milk
Chicken Quesidilla
Fruit smoothie with a scoop a whey
3 pieces of pizza
Protein shake with a shot of EVOO
3table spoons of peanut butter
Glass of 2% chocolate milk

for a total of
4,092 Cals
160.8gr of fat
511gr Carbs
175.8gr protein

I am speculating that I need to add more food to make up for the almost 1400 cal from the gainer/protein/EVOO shake. I do tend to pack alot of Cal right before I go to bed so i dont starve so bad throughout the night. But its usually the protein shake/peanut butter. Should I try something more solid before bed?
 
Last edited:
Okay, let me get this straight....you're trying to GAIN MASS?:hmmm:

Dude, listen to the previous posts. More is NOT always better, unless more=eating, as in your case. Drop all of that stuff. Get with Gaz or Cowpimp or Built...Hell, ANYBODY to get you started on basic, heavy, compound movements....split those routines up so you can recover and GROW in between, and eat Boy..EAT.

You must be a freakin' gym rabbit or something, lol! :lol:


Why don't these children listen?:no:
 
:clapping:
DaMayor said:
Okay, let me get this straight....you're trying to GAIN MASS?:hmmm:

Dude, listen to the previous posts. More is NOT always better, unless more=eating, as in your case. Drop all of that stuff. Get with Gaz or Cowpimp or Built...Hell, ANYBODY to get you started on basic, heavy, compound movements....split those routines up so you can recover and GROW in between, and eat Boy..EAT.

You must be a freakin' gym rabbit or something, lol! :lol:


Why don't these children listen?:no:
Click to expand...
:kissu::clapping::clapping:
 
Ok so 3 exercises per muscle group is to much? I cant go any heavier. Im not trying to be rude or anything but I just cant believe im gonna unlock the door to my size gains by lowering my volume in my workouts further. I am preforming major compound movements...
 
Lower your training volume and lift heavier shit in lower rep ranges.

You need a big muscle to lift a heavy weight a few times. You need arms like a twelve year old girl to lift light weights over and over again.

I'm glad you're here.
 
Day 1: Shoulders and Back

Shoulder Press or Military press
Wide Grip Pullups (weighted)
Upright Rows (Bar to chin)
Lat Pulldowns
Seated Laterals Raises
Deadlifts
Shrugs

Day 2: Chest

Flat/Incline/Decline Bench -choose one
Flat/Incline/Decline Dumbbell Fys -choose one
Flat/Incline/Decline Dumbbell Press -choose one

Day 3: Arms

Incline/Decline/Flate Close grip benchpress
Hammer Curl
Preacher Curl Dumbbells
Machine Tricept pushdowns
Dips (weighted)

Day 4: Legs+ Abs

Squats
Leg Press
Leg Extentions
Calf Raises
Decline Situps
Ab/core Machine

Is this better??? Honestly even this doesnt feel like its enough.

All my exercises my reps are no more than 6 and doing 3 sets. Tomorrow I have a chest day Im gonna try

Decline Bench
225x2
205x5
205x5

Incline Fly
35x6
40x4
40x4

Flat DB press
140x5
135x5
135x5

Should I work up in weight in an exercise or down? Also should I be doing 3 sets or 4?? Also should I bench twice in the same day? ie. Incline and flat bench vs incline fly and flat bench?
 
Last edited:
For which type of pressing do you feel the most pec activation - flat or incline?
Also, what is your heaviest deadlift, and what is your heaviest below-parallel barbell squat for 5-rep sets?

How is your symmetry - are your legs bigger than your upper, or the other way around?
 
For which type of pressing do you feel the most pec activation - flat or incline?
Also, what is your heaviest deadlift, and what is your heaviest below-parallel barbell squat for 5-rep sets?

How is your symmetry - are your legs bigger than your upper, or the other way around?
 
mattskaien said:
Yesterday I ate

Granola with rasberries and 2% milk
Chicken Quesidilla
Fruit smoothie with a scoop a whey
3 pieces of pizza
Protein shake with a shot of EVOO
3table spoons of peanut butter
Glass of 2% chocolate milk

for a total of
4,092 Cals
160.8gr of fat
511gr Carbs
175.8gr protein

I am speculating that I need to add more food to make up for the almost 1400 cal from the gainer/protein/EVOO shake. I do tend to pack alot of Cal right before I go to bed so i dont starve so bad throughout the night. But its usually the protein shake/peanut butter. Should I try something more solid before bed?
Click to expand...

Where did 511 grams of carbs come from?? I honestly cant see.

I'll give you a sample workout (mine) that you can maybe get some exercises from and see what sort of things you might want to do:

Monday: Upper push
Bench/Incline bench alternating - 3 x 6-8
Weighted Dips - 3 x 6-8
Cable crossovers/Scoops alternating - 3 x 8-10
Military Press/Arnold press alternating - 3 x 6-8

Tuesday: Quad dominant
Squats/Box squats alternating - 3 x 6
Hack Squats/Leg Press alternating - 3 x 8
Wide stance Front squat/Lunges alternating - 3 x 8
Calf raises - 3 x 8-failure followed by bodyweight calf raises to failure

Wednesday : Rest

Thursday: Upper Pull
Rack Pull/Deadlift alternating - 3 x 6-8
Pullups 3 x 7-failure
T-bar rows/Seated rows alternating - 3 x 6-8
Hang Clean - 3 x 6

Friday: Ham dominant
Glute Ham raises - 3 x 6-8
Stiff-leg deadlift/Wide stance sumo deadlift alternating - 3 x 6
Leg Curls - 3 x 8-10
Calf Raises - 3 x 8-failure heavy followed by bodyweight calf raises to failure
 
Hey Built,

For the pressing movements I definitely feel more activation during flat or decline.
As far as my squats and deadlifts go, strengthwise I cant lift a ton but Im making progress

Squats
155x5
155x5
145x5

Deadlifts (straightleg)

140x5
140x5
135x5

As for symmetry Im pretty even, My upper body maybe slightly bigger.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Arnold
10 Best Food For Gaining Size and Strength
Replies
0
Views
2K
Arnold
Arnold
J
pro/carbs/fat/overall cals matter as much with gaining strength compared to mass?
Replies
3
Views
1K
VanessaNicole
VanessaNicole
Arnold
How to Optimize Meal Timing for Gaining or Cutting
Replies
0
Views
797
Arnold
Arnold
Back
Top