Hi all i have been training three times a week for 5 years now,im 32 years old now and when i started i weighed 9 stone, within the first year and a half i gaind mass and strength going up to 11 stone 4lb but five years on im still 11 stone 4 give or take a few lb and not a lot stronger, i love working out i always have since a young kid, ive come to terms of the fact that ill never be big but im still trying and will never give up but im getting very frustrated, my diet isnt great at the mo and im on a tight budget these days so getting the nutrition i need is hard but any advice would be much appreciated thanks Andy.
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advice please
- Thread starter Andy_E
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This is the problem. Simple answer, if you aren't eating good healthy nutritious food in large enough quantities you won't get any bigger no matter how hard you try in the gym. My advice, being a student on a typical student budget while training, is to buy in bulk. Take advantage of special offers, or get a few friends together and go to Cost-Co or some similar food wholesaler type store. Don't buy major brands either, frequently the budget brands are actually healthier anyway!
As for the training, how often in this last 5 years have you changed what you've been doing? And i mean really changed it - not just changing from 3x10 to 3x12, or adding a few lbs to the bar every now and again. Do you use periodization? Do you log your workouts? What is your training program right now?
buy the sounds of it then im not changing much at all i stick to the same things all the time just change the excercise a bit here and there and try to add weight now and again, i dont log my routine either.
ill sort of do chest and bicep on monday, back and tricep tuesday, legs and shoulders thursday, i stick to 3 sets of 6-8 on most things and ill do the odd drop set or super set.
ill sort of do chest and bicep on monday, back and tricep tuesday, legs and shoulders thursday, i stick to 3 sets of 6-8 on most things and ill do the odd drop set or super set.
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I've found that budget brands are more likely to use sugar than high fructose corn syrup. They're also less likely to use trans fats.
Aside from your diet, which is always the most important thing in gaining weight or cutting fat, it sounds like you have totally adapted to what you're doing in your training and thats another reason you aren't seeing gains you're happy with.
Have a look at these articles and see if they give you some idea of where you should be going with your training:
http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/training/60741-designing-training-routines-cowpimp.html
http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/training/100286-developing-your-training-program.html
http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/new-members-begin-here/97077-read-me-first-homework-1-newbies.html
getlifting.info » Introduction to Periodization
They give you a good basic overview of different styles of training, meeting your goals, and implementing some form of training periodization.
Have a look at these articles and see if they give you some idea of where you should be going with your training:
http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/training/60741-designing-training-routines-cowpimp.html
http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/training/100286-developing-your-training-program.html
http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/new-members-begin-here/97077-read-me-first-homework-1-newbies.html
getlifting.info » Introduction to Periodization
They give you a good basic overview of different styles of training, meeting your goals, and implementing some form of training periodization.
I found exactly the same thing, we even did a comparison in a nutrition lecture not so long back. On almost every comparison the budget brands had less trans and sat fat, less HFCS, less salt, and were at most 2/3 of the price, haha.
Your body reflects your lifestyle - the program and diet you've been using for all these years has produced exactly what you have as a result. I think you'll find if you modify you're diet to build you'll get a change in strength.
Whatever you're eating now, take a typical day's meal plan & put it into a food counts program like FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal. It will give you the REAL quantification of what you're eating in terms of total calories, and macronutrient breakdown - % and grams of protein, fat & carbs. Not that there's a "right" or "wrong" but rather just so you have an idea of what you're really eating. If you can post that, I'm sure we can make some easy adjustments to get you some changes. Generally if you want to grow, you have to eat. I spend a lot of time competition cutting so I'm on restricted calories, but when I increase my calories and carbs, I have significant increased in strength.
Also I don't know what you're following now in terms of lifting, but sounds like a change is due. I wanted to suggest something that has a long progression so you have a lot more than just a set of muscle group exercises that you flip around every now & then. 5x5 is a foundation program for strength & hypertrophy.
The Bill Starr/Pendlay/Rippetoe 5x5
Madcow's Geocities Site - A great resource for anyone interested in training for functional strength. Read as much of this as you can digest.
Madcow's Site on Stronglifts.com
Whatever you're eating now, take a typical day's meal plan & put it into a food counts program like FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal. It will give you the REAL quantification of what you're eating in terms of total calories, and macronutrient breakdown - % and grams of protein, fat & carbs. Not that there's a "right" or "wrong" but rather just so you have an idea of what you're really eating. If you can post that, I'm sure we can make some easy adjustments to get you some changes. Generally if you want to grow, you have to eat. I spend a lot of time competition cutting so I'm on restricted calories, but when I increase my calories and carbs, I have significant increased in strength.
Also I don't know what you're following now in terms of lifting, but sounds like a change is due. I wanted to suggest something that has a long progression so you have a lot more than just a set of muscle group exercises that you flip around every now & then. 5x5 is a foundation program for strength & hypertrophy.
The Bill Starr/Pendlay/Rippetoe 5x5
Madcow's Geocities Site - A great resource for anyone interested in training for functional strength. Read as much of this as you can digest.
Madcow's Site on Stronglifts.com
Last edited:
The Bill Starr/Pendlay/Rippetoe 5x5
Madcow's Geocities Site - A great resource for anyone interested in training for functional strength. Read as much of this as you can digest.
Madcow's Site on Stronglifts.com
My reading list for the weekend. Thanks Sassy.
Last edited by a moderator:
My reading list for the weekend. Thanks Sassy.
Ditto, lol!
My reading list for the weekend. Thanks Sassy.
These is a fantastic foundation program and gives you a great variety of progression and also incorporates periodization so you're not just forever lifting thru the same sequence of exercises and getting bored.
So i set it up like this what do you think?
workout A
5x5 squats
5x5 bench press
3x5 deadlifts
3x8 dips
workout B
5x5 squats
5x5 military press
5x5 bent over rows or power cleans
ill alternate A and B from one workout to another.
but there still seems to be something missing?
???
workout A
5x5 squats
5x5 bench press
3x5 deadlifts
3x8 dips
workout B
5x5 squats
5x5 military press
5x5 bent over rows or power cleans
ill alternate A and B from one workout to another.
but there still seems to be something missing?
???
jessiefoude
Registered
You should balance your gym activities and eating the right amount of food needed to ensure that you get the desire results in body building. I guess even without saying a word, you know what the real problem is. I hope you can find the needed money to nourish yourself with the right quantity of food. Anyway, you are not far from it, and you can achieve it in no time.
Goodluck.
Goodluck.
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Personally, I would add or replace the bent over rows/power cleans with pull-ups or some variation of the pull-up.
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I would say fail on the last set.
last set or last rep?
Got rid of some of the dead links - it doesn't matter - its all on the stronglifts link.
gracias
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Last set. In others words if you're getting 5 on the last set, move the weight up. I wouldn't get too concerned with making sure you get 4 full sets of 5 either. Suppose you move up weight and can only get 3x5 and say 4 and 2. That would be fine with me, gives me room to improve and challenges me to do better next time. The goal is to use heavy weight and challange yourself, not to get an exact amount of sets and reps.
Exactly.
ok thanks for the advice ill put it all in to action tonight, im actually realy looking forward to the gym tonight more than usual as there is something new for me to do with this new workout which is realy different than what im used to. thanks Andy.
aja44
Registered
So this is where the 5x5 program does get a bit confusing for me at least, so maybe PushPull and Built could help me out. Is the goal of a 5x5 routine to start high getting 5 rep set and move the weight down in order to continue to get your 5 reps or to build up the weight and not really worry about getting the a full 5 reps in sets 4 and 5? Example I have is what I have been doing:
1 x 135 WU
1 x 225 WU
2 x 385 x 5
2 x 365 x 5
1 x 345 x 5
or should I change this to:
1 x 135 WU
1 x 225 WU
1 x 345 x 5
1 x 365 x 5
1 x 385 x 5
1 x 395 x ?
1 x 405+ x ?
Thanks,
1 x 135 WU
1 x 225 WU
2 x 385 x 5
2 x 365 x 5
1 x 345 x 5
or should I change this to:
1 x 135 WU
1 x 225 WU
1 x 345 x 5
1 x 365 x 5
1 x 385 x 5
1 x 395 x ?
1 x 405+ x ?
Thanks,
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Those are really big numbers. Looking at your journal, i'm having a really hard time figuring out what lift you're referring too?
aja44
Registered
I'm asking about the 5x5 method in general. How it was taught to me is that you warm up and go right to your 5RM number and decrease the weight as needed to continue to maintain 5 reps. What I took from your earlier reply was that you set the weight and do all 5 sets with that weight even if your 4th and 5th sets are not 5 reps. Once you can do 5 sets of 5 reps you move the weight up and continue to challenge yourself.
I was running a journal back in January when I was doing a PRRS routine and had great gains off that. I wanted to change things so after a week off I went to a 8 week 5x5 which I just completed. I felt I had better gains with the PRRS overall and had less join pain and fatigue. The 80% RR week and 70% S weeks I felt helped more than just going 90-95% every 5th day. In my last week of bench, those are the numbers I was able to do with 4th set at 395 for 4 and then 405 for 3.
I was running a journal back in January when I was doing a PRRS routine and had great gains off that. I wanted to change things so after a week off I went to a 8 week 5x5 which I just completed. I felt I had better gains with the PRRS overall and had less join pain and fatigue. The 80% RR week and 70% S weeks I felt helped more than just going 90-95% every 5th day. In my last week of bench, those are the numbers I was able to do with 4th set at 395 for 4 and then 405 for 3.
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As far as the 5x5 method that's on that website goes, I haven't read it. Personally, when i did a 5x5 scheme I stuck with the same weight ( no pyramid ) Nothing is set in stone, even the 5 sets of 5 before you move up. If you're making good gains and say you get 4 sets of 5 and one set of 4, IMO, that's good enough and you need to increase the weight. You should be able to get that one more rep the next time without much of a challenge, so why not move up? Even worse, you could have a bad day, not get that last rep and that could fuck with your head, leading you to lift that same weight again the next time. Bad progression.
From Jan to now you gained approx what, a 100 pounds to your bench? Since you're 39 I take it that was alot of muscle memory? Either way, with those kind of gains, I wouldn't have stopped/switched nothing.
aja44
Registered
Yes, I had been out of the gym for years, but my max bench back when I was 27 was 535 for a single. What took me out of the gym for 12 years was a back injury from a work accident componded a year later with a car accident to L5/S1. I still wont squat over 405 and am afraid to DL over the 315 i've done so far because its really not worth it. I'm no pro or plan to be. I do this for me and me only and if another competition 13 years later happens because of good diet and dedication, I'll get on stage.
I switched the routine because I have always done so way back when. Not much in the way of a philosophy like PRRS to 5x5, but really more along the lines of 6-8 weeks heavy and eating EVERYTHING, a week off, and then 8-12 weeks of alternating mid to high reps and supersets with good diet. After reading about PRRS and doing some research and gathering info on this forum, I tried it out and had good results but still felt I should switch it up after my down week. I'm going back to the PRRS later this week after my down week for another 9 weeks. I dont expect the gains I made to this point to happen again, but I should grow this time around.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply.
I switched the routine because I have always done so way back when. Not much in the way of a philosophy like PRRS to 5x5, but really more along the lines of 6-8 weeks heavy and eating EVERYTHING, a week off, and then 8-12 weeks of alternating mid to high reps and supersets with good diet. After reading about PRRS and doing some research and gathering info on this forum, I tried it out and had good results but still felt I should switch it up after my down week. I'm going back to the PRRS later this week after my down week for another 9 weeks. I dont expect the gains I made to this point to happen again, but I should grow this time around.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply.
