# Bulking and exercise help



## danstine (Jan 7, 2011)

Hi there,

Im hoping someone can help me with my workout plan or diet regime.

I am a 23 year male, 6ft1 and currently weigh 14st2Lbs, muscular build with 14% body fat. I have been bulking for 3 months, not to a saints standard but 80% effort when it comes to eating.

I do 3 x full body workouts a week which consists of the following,



3 x 10 squats @ 40kg


3 x 10 bench press @ 40kg


3 x 10 military press @ 20kg


3 x 10 seated cable row @ 50kg


3 x 10 tricep dips @ full body weight


3 x 10 bicep curls (alternate) @ 20 kg


3 x 10 concentration curls @ 15kg


2 x 10 skullcrushers @ 20kg


When im on the ball, I will do my legs (leg extension/calf raises/ leg press) to the same rep and weight set.

My diet is 6 to 8 meals a day, high in protein from lean meats to rice etc and protein shakes.

My problem is, my gains are slow, they are happening but barely noticeable. I might notice it every 2 months and the only way I notice it is the definition, not exactly mass. Am I doing anything wrong or missing anything that could be killing my gains. TBH I do struggle to keep up with my diet, and I think the inconsistent diet makes me feel lethargic. Plus you can tell by my workout that my chest is quite weak although 'nicely' defined.

So basically,

· Is my routine helping me get the best results possible?

· Does my diet sound okay or missing anything?

· And why do I seem to get definition over mass?

After all I am bulking&#8230;..

Thanks to all and happy gyming&#8230;

Dan


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## Syko (May 18, 2010)

Have you been doing this full body workout three times a week for three months?

Try to work out how many grams of protein you are eating a day, also work out the calories

Write out your diet meal for meal. What did you eat yesterday?

As you have not been training long definition will come before the mass as muscle mass building takes time

You wont wake up one day with alot of mass

Maybe you should think about doing a 3 - 4 day split and start training each muscle once a week intense?


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## Greenspin (Dec 27, 2010)

Are you eating a calorie surplus? More info on diet needed.


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## danstine (Jan 7, 2011)

Thanks for your replies so soon,

I have been training for 2 years, last year (2010) was my 1st full year at the gym, i started by doing split training but didnt have the time in the week to stick to it due to certain things happening at home and events. but most of the time a general week would of hit each muscle group.

I have been doing full body for about 3 months now, 3 x a week with at least one or two days rest in between (depending on the day) and i have seen FAR better results than i did in the split.

an average day of eating would be -

meal one - protein shake smoothie with fruit and milk (and 16g protein in the powder)

meal two - salmon and cream cheese bagel

meal three - " "

meal four - 4 boiled egg whites

meal five - a portion of rice with tuna

meal six - dinner (consists of lean meat and side)

meal seven - protein shake or handful of nuts

to be honest i dont keep great trak of calories, only protein. Does this help?


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## Rob111 (Jul 1, 2009)

I'm quite sure that is your problem. I am 5ft10 11.5 stone bulking and I have 40g protein in each protein shake, along with oats for carbs. I would also change your meal 2 and 3 to something higher in protein like chicken or turkey along with wholegrain rice, or possibly tuna on wholewheat bread. I also like to eat before bed to give my muscles a slow release protein e.g. Cottage cheese.


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## Ninja (Apr 28, 2010)

First thing is your diet-eat more (protein and good fats),second stick to compound movements.I don't see deadlift in your routine? It's a real mass builder. I would do split :1. Back and bicep (deadlift and pull ups are a must), 2.Legs and shoulders (squats and military press for a mass) ,3.Chest and triceps (Bench press and dips)

Hope this helps

Ninja


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## d4ead (Nov 3, 2008)

My only comment is to many reps not enough weight...

Do you actually do a full ten in your last set?

Imo, if you finish a full set you didn't use enough weight.

Good luck...


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## danstine (Jan 7, 2011)

Okay thanks guys... ill try all this out. I had a major knock in confidence last night, i was working on Chest last week, doing the bench press with dumbells. I was pressing 60kg in total without too much hassle, 30kg db's are the heaviest in my gym, so obviously i need to shift to barbell. i tried this last night, and i could just about press 40kg in all!!! 

the guy in front was pressing 210Lbs, fair enough he is huge, but to fail at a weight less than my dumbell 'norm' is pretty humiliating for myself.

any ideas why i suck barbell?

Many Thanks to all


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## danstine (Jan 7, 2011)

in my original post i wrote my (at that time) current routine. The 40kg was bench press (bar), but my gyms bench is assisted so switched to dumbell to hit the stabilzors.

realised i could do alot more in dumbells than i could barbell. except 30kg DB is the heaviest in my gym, so obviously i need to switch back to barbell bench press to progress in weight. Except i at 40kg i suffer for some very strange reason, i suffer but i make it.

i thought it was strange myself, hence the question. im simply asking can people bench more with DB than BB. do stabilizing muscles help u push more when not assisted (H Rack)


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## Wevans2303 (Feb 18, 2010)

*Is my routine helping me get the best results possible?*

In my opinion it isn't, most people will do great on a simple power based routine like the one below, *Iron Addict* wrote this before he passed away and 90% of guys will gain great on this. The emphasis should always be placed on recovery over the training itself, so many guys over train and don't realize it's killing their progress. I am all for low volume routines based on compound movements, compounds such as bench, squat and deadlift work roughly 90% of your musculature, a bicep curl works what?...... 5%? What's going to get you bigger? Aim for small and conservative increases in weight EVERY WEEK, even if it's 1-2kg, imagine if you did that over the 52 weeks of the year, you would be adding 50-100kg on each your big 3 lifts and 150-300kg onto your total, that is MASSIVE progress.



> Monday
> 
> Squat or box squat 2 x 5
> 
> ...


*Does my diet sound okay or missing anything?*

You have not told us what it is that you eat exactly, nor have you provided even some rough macro nutrient totals on a daily basis, so I can't really answer this question, however I can try and advise you. Gaining LBM naturally is a long process so you need to be regularly setting short term weight targets and permanently monitoring your weight and how it's progressing (or not). Is your weight going up, down or staying level? If you are not gaining weight you need to eat more, simple as that. If your weight is holding constant, add another 200-300 calorie meal into your daily plan so you start gaining half a pound a week or so and keep this trend going by increasing calorie consumption as you get heavier. On off days lower calories by about 500 and lower carbohydrates to achieve this. We want the weight gain to be slow and regular, if you are gaining over a pound a week, rest assured at least 50% of that is going to be fat unless you've got decent genetics and/or are on gear.

*Why do I seem to get definition over mass?*

Because you are not eating enough food and/or are not getting enough protein in your diet, thinking you are eating enough is one thing but once you've sat down and done the maths you will probably have a different opinion of your diet and what you need to grow.

It sounds to me like you have been eating under your maintenance and have lost a little bit of fat and water weight.

You have a BMR of approximately 2000 calories a day, do the necessary calculations to find out what you burn in a day factoring in daily activities, and then add 200-400 calories onto that total, my guess is that you will need approximately 3200-3400 calories per day (that's conservative). As for macro ratios, go for 40/40/20 or 50/30/20 P/C/F, keep meals simple and stick to the tried and tested basics and I am sure your gains will shoot right up.

Will.


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