Getting discouraged. Lean bulk or cut? What should I do?
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I don't know if this could help you or not but since I am living on a military post. They have this for free for soldiers, spouse's and retired military but on post they have this program called the Army Wellness Center. In there I go there monthly and they have this machine called the "Bod Pod". I know they have them at gyms or doctors off the military bases. But for the non military I heard you have to pay to use it and I am not sure how much they will charge. Try looking up Bod Pod in your area.
"BOD POD: A method for determining the lean body mass. The BOD POD is a computerized, egg-shaped chamber. Using the same whole-body measurement principle as underwater weighing, the BOD POD measures a subject's mass and volume, from which their whole-body density is determined. Using these data, body fat and lean muscle mass can then be calculated."
It only takes about 5 mins. No more then 10. You get your results as soon as you step out of the chamber. Once you get the results the person will go over your goals and set up your goals and see where your area's are having trouble. They can set up a custom workout just for you or they can find other idea's to help you. People tell me all the time do you actually believe what that machine tells you? Yes I do believe what that machine tells me because its actually taking measurements of my body. They set your gender, age, your height. I rather believe that machine over what a mag tells you. You can add me as a friend if you like and you can see my profile that shows my results from the bod Pod. But anyway I really don't have any other advice to tell you but to give you this info about the bod Pod. I hope this helps. If it doesn't I am sorry. Hopefully you can find what you are looking for. Good Luck!
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Hi all
I want to give an update (and maybe I can get some feedback).
Following the program, lifts have been going up (albeit slow, but still going up. There have been a few times I haven't hit PR's on a couple of lifts, but more on that in a bit).
I have been bulking at 4000 cal. Now, I was on track, but went on vacation for 2 weeks, so I kind of fell of the wagon (which I knew I would.) I'm back, began my Creatine again, etc.
I weighed myself 10 days ago vs today, and I went from 186.5 - 189.7 in about 10 days. That seems like a lot. I dont know if it's from the Creatine, or other small factors, or if I'm simply just eating too much.
How do you know how to gauge when it's too much? Should I just continue as-is, then in another week, if I gain too much, then I know to cut back? I have a hard time gaining any weight, so I want to make sure I go about this correctly.
As far as my lifting goes, like i said, I was making progress until my vacation. I have since come back, deloaded a bit, and I'm working my way up back to where I was, so continuing to make some progress.
My only complaints are my OHP and my curls/tri exentsions. Yes, I know these are relatively "small" lifts and you stall on them quicker than others, but I can't seem to figure out how to progress with them - especially my curls/tris, because I really feel like my arms are too small and that's a main part of my body I want to grow. It's hard to throw an extra 5 lbs on there, even after you have the 5 lbs less easily done. Does anyone have tips on how to progress with smaller lifts like these?
In other news, I went and got my T levels checked (I was worried I was low, for whatever reason.) the results came back, and my doctor called me in because my T levels are actually very high - quite a bit above average. Which was very surprising to me to say the least. She asked me if I was taking steroids - that's how high it is. Obviously I'm not. But my question is, does this give me any advantage, to having naturally higher testosterone levels?
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It's good to see that you are progressing well. You might be a little high on calories so you can always do minor adjustments and see how it goes. If you drop them 100 or 200 per day and your weight gain slows to where you want it to be then you know were you should be. If it stalls than you need to bring it back up. It's not easy but it's all part of a proper bulk/cut cycle.0
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I was doing an edited version of icf 5x5 but it basically turned into my own thing. An A/B Style workout 3x / week: (modified now and then. Switching between 5x5 and 8-10x3 for reps and sets every other week or so recently)
A:
Squat
Bench press
.....
B:
Deadlift (sometimes)
Overhead press
Last pull down
....
It's varied over the past few months. Again I triedto begin switching up reps and set schemes to get more variety. But it's ahed to gauge my progress that way
The movements don't seem terrible - my advice (and experience) is that the overall size doesn't matter as much as the composition, and comparative size (ie: my waist is 28 and my biceps are 14 inches) -
I would also say you are in a good place to add muscle through hypertrophy, and would recommend adding lots of DROP SETS to your routine to shake things up for the next few months - maybe a five day program (Sunday Legs, Monday Chest, Tuesday Back, Weds Rest, Thursday Shoulders, Friday Arms, Saturday Rest) This got me in pretty good physique.
For you if you're feeling like your BF is too high, add in some cardio each session (KB Swings, Cleans), or walking every other day 45 min.
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Sounds like you're making great progress. The 10 lb gain just sounds like a combination of getting back to surplus after your holiday, water weight from getting back into training and starting creatine again - I'd give it a few weeks to level off.
What about buying some fractional plates for OHP etc, there are other ways to progress but I think I remember you had some issues sticking to your programme originally (?) so I'd try the fractionals.0 -
AnthonyBarbaria wrote: »I was doing an edited version of icf 5x5 but it basically turned into my own thing. An A/B Style workout 3x / week: (modified now and then. Switching between 5x5 and 8-10x3 for reps and sets every other week or so recently)
A:
Squat
Bench press
.....
B:
Deadlift (sometimes)
Overhead press
Last pull down
....
It's varied over the past few months. Again I triedto begin switching up reps and set schemes to get more variety. But it's ahed to gauge my progress that way
The movements don't seem terrible - my advice (and experience) is that the overall size doesn't matter as much as the composition, and comparative size (ie: my waist is 28 and my biceps are 14 inches) -
I would also say you are in a good place to add muscle through hypertrophy, and would recommend adding lots of DROP SETS to your routine to shake things up for the next few months - maybe a five day program (Sunday Legs, Monday Chest, Tuesday Back, Weds Rest, Thursday Shoulders, Friday Arms, Saturday Rest) This got me in pretty good physique.
For you if you're feeling like your BF is too high, add in some cardio each session (KB Swings, Cleans), or walking every other day 45 min.
If he is progressing via the current routine, why change?0 -
Welp, after weighing myself again a week later, I've gone up from 189.7 to 193.7.
That is SO MUCH WEIGHT. How am I gaining so fast??? I need to cut the cals. My waist might be going up too? It fluctuates weekly between 1/4-1 inch. It's also hard for me to determine how "relaxed" I am when I measure it from week to week. With such small increments, it's hard to tell exact progress on a weekly basis. I'm starting freak out.
If I lower the cals (but still have enough surplus to gain .5 lb/week) would some of this "fat" i've gained reverse itself? Visibly, I don't look like I gained any fat, but the scale / tape measure doesn't lie.
Could this be continued carb loading? (I've started a new protein powder that has a lot of carbs in it, so my carb levels and increased a lot)
Help!0 -
[. . . snip . . .]
My waist might be going up too? It fluctuates weekly between 1/4-1 inch. It's also hard for me to determine how "relaxed" I am when I measure it from week to week. With such small increments, it's hard to tell exact progress on a weekly basis. I'm starting freak out.
[. . . snip . . .]
I'm not terribly focused on measuring - I tend to go by sight and feel. However, I remember reading a good tip from Waldo. When you measure, suck in, cheat like hell, try to make your waist as skinny as you can -- you're not trying for an accurate measure of your waist -- you're trying to gauge whether you're actually adding fat. By cheating as much as you can (especially if you're good at it), you'll likely get more consistent readings allowing you to see a trend. Compared to trying to get the same "relaxed, natural" posture each time.
As I said, never really played with it myself, but the advice stuck in my memory because it seemed to make sense to me when I at one time was trying to be more circumspect about tracking measurements.
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Welp, after weighing myself again a week later, I've gone up from 189.7 to 193.7.
That is SO MUCH WEIGHT. How am I gaining so fast??? I need to cut the cals. My waist might be going up too? It fluctuates weekly between 1/4-1 inch. It's also hard for me to determine how "relaxed" I am when I measure it from week to week. With such small increments, it's hard to tell exact progress on a weekly basis. I'm starting freak out.
If I lower the cals (but still have enough surplus to gain .5 lb/week) would some of this "fat" i've gained reverse itself? Visibly, I don't look like I gained any fat, but the scale / tape measure doesn't lie.
Could this be continued carb loading? (I've started a new protein powder that has a lot of carbs in it, so my carb levels and increased a lot)
Help!
First thing to do is just relax and stop winding yourself up, stress increases cortisol levels and that's anathema for you. Bulking, like losing, has it's share of dips and spikes that have nothing to do with actual fat or muscle gains or losses. You have not gained 4 pounds in a week, no way you've eaten that much unless you were 2000 cals over each day and I feel safe in saying that you are nowhere close to that. Also, you are getting bloating since your measurements are fluctuating like that.
What is your current surplus? If you are over 500 you might want to cut back to 500 a day and continue on. If you are below 500 then just keep moving forward for now and monitor your weight. 250 cals per day is the .5lb/week but you can do better than that given your situation, but if you are really stressed than drop to that for a week and watch what happens.
I'm currently bulking and going through the same issues, you just have to trust the numbers and the system. Bulking is a real head game so be prepared. You will always be able to cut later so don't stress too much. Just push the weights hard and log accurately.0 -
Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Welp, after weighing myself again a week later, I've gone up from 189.7 to 193.7.
That is SO MUCH WEIGHT. How am I gaining so fast??? I need to cut the cals. My waist might be going up too? It fluctuates weekly between 1/4-1 inch. It's also hard for me to determine how "relaxed" I am when I measure it from week to week. With such small increments, it's hard to tell exact progress on a weekly basis. I'm starting freak out.
If I lower the cals (but still have enough surplus to gain .5 lb/week) would some of this "fat" i've gained reverse itself? Visibly, I don't look like I gained any fat, but the scale / tape measure doesn't lie.
Could this be continued carb loading? (I've started a new protein powder that has a lot of carbs in it, so my carb levels and increased a lot)
Help!
First thing to do is just relax and stop winding yourself up, stress increases cortisol levels and that's anathema for you. Bulking, like losing, has it's share of dips and spikes that have nothing to do with actual fat or muscle gains or losses. You have not gained 4 pounds in a week, no way you've eaten that much unless you were 2000 cals over each day and I feel safe in saying that you are nowhere close to that. Also, you are getting bloating since your measurements are fluctuating like that.
What is your current surplus? If you are over 500 you might want to cut back to 500 a day and continue on. If you are below 500 then just keep moving forward for now and monitor your weight. 250 cals per day is the .5lb/week but you can do better than that given your situation, but if you are really stressed than drop to that for a week and watch what happens.
I'm currently bulking and going through the same issues, you just have to trust the numbers and the system. Bulking is a real head game so be prepared. You will always be able to cut later so don't stress too much. Just push the weights hard and log accurately.
This makes me feel a bit better, but when I measured my weight last week, i had gained roughly 3 lbs over that past 10 days as well.
My current surplus is roughly 500-700. To be honest I'm not super detailed about it. I eat the same thing every day, so I roughly know i'm getting in 4000-4300 cals a day. I believe my maintence is anywhere from 3500-3700 cals.
It's always been hard for me to figure out and get it super exact.
What do you mean when you say I can "do better than that" .. does that mean I can afford to gain more?0 -
Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Welp, after weighing myself again a week later, I've gone up from 189.7 to 193.7.
That is SO MUCH WEIGHT. How am I gaining so fast??? I need to cut the cals. My waist might be going up too? It fluctuates weekly between 1/4-1 inch. It's also hard for me to determine how "relaxed" I am when I measure it from week to week. With such small increments, it's hard to tell exact progress on a weekly basis. I'm starting freak out.
If I lower the cals (but still have enough surplus to gain .5 lb/week) would some of this "fat" i've gained reverse itself? Visibly, I don't look like I gained any fat, but the scale / tape measure doesn't lie.
Could this be continued carb loading? (I've started a new protein powder that has a lot of carbs in it, so my carb levels and increased a lot)
Help!
First thing to do is just relax and stop winding yourself up, stress increases cortisol levels and that's anathema for you. Bulking, like losing, has it's share of dips and spikes that have nothing to do with actual fat or muscle gains or losses. You have not gained 4 pounds in a week, no way you've eaten that much unless you were 2000 cals over each day and I feel safe in saying that you are nowhere close to that. Also, you are getting bloating since your measurements are fluctuating like that.
What is your current surplus? If you are over 500 you might want to cut back to 500 a day and continue on. If you are below 500 then just keep moving forward for now and monitor your weight. 250 cals per day is the .5lb/week but you can do better than that given your situation, but if you are really stressed than drop to that for a week and watch what happens.
I'm currently bulking and going through the same issues, you just have to trust the numbers and the system. Bulking is a real head game so be prepared. You will always be able to cut later so don't stress too much. Just push the weights hard and log accurately.
This makes me feel a bit better, but when I measured my weight last week, i had gained roughly 3 lbs over that past 10 days as well.
My current surplus is roughly 500-700. To be honest I'm not super detailed about it. I eat the same thing every day, so I roughly know i'm getting in 4000-4300 cals a day. I believe my maintence is anywhere from 3500-3700 cals.
It's always been hard for me to figure out and get it super exact.
What do you mean when you say I can "do better than that" .. does that mean I can afford to gain more?
When I say you can do better I mean you have potential to gain more than 1/4lb of muscle per week, which is what you are roughly doing at a 500 cal surplus. However, if you feel that you are unable to handle the fat gains you can drop your surplus a bit and have a cleaner bulk but you will need to bulk longer to get the same results. It's up to you since it's your bulk but just realize the trade offs you will be making. A 500 surplus is not a fast bulk and should be about as clean as you can get.
ETA BTW, who are you estimating your maintenance? You should probably start logging more accurately to determine where you actual maintenance is or else you are just feeling around in the dark.0 -
Are you weighing daily? Did you eat a meal with a lot of salt or a lot of carbs? It could just be water weight, and you may get a better idea of your weight if you weigh daily and take a 7 day average.0
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Guys
I'm really discouraged. I am not making any progress. I keep stalling on my lifts, and my body looks no better than it did a few months ago
Is 5x5 just not for me? Should I switch to a more bodybuilding - stylized split? Should I contiune to bulk, or cut? I'm really disappointed in myself and hate my body. I don't know what else to do.0 -
Guys
I'm really discouraged. I am not making any progress. I keep stalling on my lifts, and my body looks no better than it did a few months ago
Is 5x5 just not for me? Should I switch to a more bodybuilding - stylized split? Should I contiune to bulk, or cut? I'm really disappointed in myself and hate my body. I don't know what else to do.
What program are you actually on?
How long have you been on the program?
How have your lifts progressed during that time?
How many pounds have you gained?
ICF 5x5
A long time - at least 6 months
Lifts have gone up, but not as much as I feel they should have. I still squat very light and can't even bench my body weight
My weight was going up, but I have to eat 4000 cal a day just to gain any weight. I have not kept up with my bulk due to my stomach gut. I feel like I shluld cut but I have no muscle anywhere else. It's so frustrating. I'm 190 @ 6'20
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