Not seeing Muscle gain

Options
NoahSpillman
NoahSpillman Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi! So my New Years resolution back in January was to go to the gym a lot more and loose the crazy amount of body fat I still had on my body and gain some muscle. So now I've lost a lot of body fat, I've been trying to gain muscle for the past month and a half. I work out pretty hard, for about an hour 4-5 times a week (focusing on different regions of muscles) and obviously when I started I would get very sore. And I feel like I've definetly improved, muscle-wise since January ("newbie gains"); but up to two and a half or so months ago, I stopped getting sore, I've tried to do more weight, I've tried to increase the overall volume, but I feel as thought if I can't feel my body getting sore, muscle hypertrophy isn't even taking place, and I'm wasting time. I know this may seem weird, but every workout I simply strive for being sore the next day, but never achieve it for my upper body muscles. Help?

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Options
    NoahSpillman wrote: »
    I feel as thought if I can't feel my body getting sore, muscle hypertrophy isn't even taking place, and I'm wasting time. I know this may seem weird, but every workout I simply strive for being sore the next day, but never achieve it for my upper body muscles. Help?

    Feelings are not facts. Getting sore doesn't mean that you are building muscle and not getting sore doesn't mean that you aren't building muscle. Follow a sensible program and eat appropriately and you will be fine.

  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
    Options
    First, muscle gain is slooow. You've only been focusing on muscle gain for 1.5 months, which is just a drop in the bucket.
    Soreness doesn't always indicate a good workout. Some people don't get very sore. Some muscles don't get as sore as others. It's not a good indicator of progress.

    Are you following a program?
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    Options
    6 weeks. Ah if only it were that easy. Make sure you're on a structured progressive overload program and decide whether you want to go reeeallly slowly by recomp or do the whole bulk and cut thing. Regardless, it takes years to get where you want to be, if ever really. You're going to have to develop some patience.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    Options
    get on a muscle building program, and eat what you are supposed to and do this for many years.
  • Okiludy
    Okiludy Posts: 558 Member
    edited June 2017
    Options
    How are your gains on strength in those 6 weeks? Are you in a calorie surplus? How much protein are you eating? Are you following a training program or are you just lifting different weight you see other people doing? Have you seen a coach to teach you lifts properly?


    I ask this because I have seen pretty good gains in strength in 4 weeks I have been lifting but my muscle growth is not obvious to me. What is are strength gains. I add 10 lbs every workout to squat/deadlift and 5 lbs to press/bench. I even put in some larger jumps at beginning as I did lift a long time ago and still have fairly strong legs.

    If you are lifting in a calorie deficit and are less than around 15% body fat you will not build muscle very fast. It can happen but it will be slow. This is why many body centered lifters do bulk/cutting cycles.

    Protein is required for muscle growth. I have read some outlandish amounts some recommend but .8 to 1 gram of protein per lbs of lean body mass is recommended by Michael Matthews in "Bigger, Leaner, Stronger" and I think his reasoning is sound. I am not a nutritionist but he does site research that shows why. It's working for me and I am at a calorie deficit. I put my macros to 30/30/40 (C/F/P) based on his recommendations and am gaining strength with 26 lbs of body weight I have lost so far.

    A proper program is designed to stress your body in areas and then give them rest days to rebuild. You do not build muscle or strength on workout days. You give it stress then and it builds on rest days. I am following Mark Rippetoe's "Starting Strength". I started with Stronglifts 5x5 until I realized it's basically a rip off. This may not be the best program for you as it is a very limited amount of exercises and is centered around heavy barbell lifting. I am using it as a starting point (as it's name suggests) and will move on to something else later. It's working as I am now deadlifting 300lbs for one rep. (Ya I shouldn't have done a 1 rep work but full of energy during session this week) I also am at body weight for squats 3x5 and am getting close to that magic 45lbs plate on both sides for bench.

    Coaching is also important when starting out. Learn the lifts and have someone check your form. Why so important? Injury and cheating. People want to lift heavy if they lift. They want that ego boost. So they cheat the exercise and go to heavy. This prevents the correct stresses that will be a catalyst for growth. Injury is also pretty important. I see dudes using a suicide grip on bench and moving the bar over face without arms in lockout. Same guys also doing some dumb *kitten* quarter bench thing that isn't activating the whole range of motion. Sure they can bench 3x my lift but it's dumb, dangerous, and not as effective. Coaching will stop this.

    Edit on coaching: Oh by the way ask if your coach can teach you the Olympic Lifts. If they show hesitation or say no get another coach. These lift are not hard to learn and if you are reasonably healthy there is no reason not to learn them. It shows a lack of skill or confidence in the coach on their own abilities. This is a big indicator for me on their overall lack of skill.

    Edit on soreness: It could be you are not resting enough and causing over training. Still lifting and a bit of discomfort kind of go together hand and hand. You need to create micro tears in muscle to promote hypertrophy. I lift day on, day off with a 2 day rest after every 3rd workout. I go heavy on the 3rd workout and really try to leave it all at gym. Those 2 days off leave me chomping on the bit for the next lift day.



    Edit: LOL sorry for wall of text. Just tried my first bulletproof coffee and a bit pumped up I guess :)
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    Options
    I'm basically just going to post a big fat "ditto" for all the previous posts because they've said everything I want to say too.

    -1.5 months is nothing when it comes to building muscle.
    - Eat your protein.
    - Eat at a slight bulk. (Unless you are doing recomp, then eat at maintenance).
    - Follow a proper hypertrophy program.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Options
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    I'm basically just going to post a big fat "ditto" for all the previous posts because they've said everything I want to say too.

    -1.5 months is nothing when it comes to building muscle.
    - Eat your protein.
    - Eat at a slight bulk. (Unless you are doing recomp, then eat at maintenance).
    - Follow a proper hypertrophy program.

    Well this and stop whining after 6 weeks. What have you done with you whole life prior to the last 6 weeks?? Hmmmm?
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    Options
    why so aggressive?

    to the op: if you made up your own workouts, maybe look for a programme of progressive lifting that will take the guesswork out of it for you. and then instead of chasing soreness for its own sake, try trusting whatever programme you picked for three or four months.

    strength happens independently of how sore you get, as people have said. i'm not going to get into muscle stuff itself since i'm a woman and 52 so my experience would be pretty irrelevant to yours. but you might actually be progressing very-nicely-thank-you, while you're looking at the wrong thing to assess whether or not you are making progress.

    if you enjoy lifting and you like feeling strong, then that's a reason in itself to keep doing it. you could try mentally transitioning yourself away from your original expectations and see how you feel about it after that.
  • teebeegeebee
    teebeegeebee Posts: 218 Member
    Options
    Nutrition nutrition nutrition - speak to a coach

    I have been in the gym 5 days a week since November and dropped 10kg then over the last 2months almost 4kg has gone back on with muscle growth
    go find a gym that offers body scanners that analyse your muscle and fat body distribution by area, arms legs neck trunk hips etc, then monitor this monthly. at my gym this takes 5 minutes and the coaches always look at it with me and we work out a plan to make progress.
    at the moment i am still losing fat and gaining muscle and my weight is going up. no 2 people are the same so you will see change you just need to take a consistent approach to it.
    My waistline has decreased, my neck has decreased, my arms and chest have increased. so whilst i am currently 'standing still on weightloss' progress is happening .
    Try a HIIT workout with weights instead of just lifting. get the heart really pumping along....for months i found this hard and lately i seem to be hitting the groove where things are coming together. I may change the style and go for heavier weights for a month to see if that changes things.....
    test and measure and nutrition nutrition nutrition - speak to your coach and if you dont have one find one....

  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    edited July 2017
    Options
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    teebeegeebee wrote: »
    Nutrition nutrition nutrition - speak to a coach

    I have been in the gym 5 days a week since November and dropped 10kg then over the last 2months almost 4kg has gone back on with muscle growth

    Sorry but there is no way you have gained 4kg of muscle in 2 months

    This.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html/

    Nobody is gaining that much muscle. Looking at @teebeegeebee profile he's 54 so building muscle will be slower
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    edited July 2017
    Options
    Okiludy wrote: »

    Edit on coaching: Oh by the way ask if your coach can teach you the Olympic Lifts. If they show hesitation or say no get another coach. These lift are not hard to learn and if you are reasonably healthy there is no reason not to learn them. It shows a lack of skill or confidence in the coach on their own abilities. This is a big indicator for me on their overall lack of skill.

    The Olympic lifts are great, but one needs better mobility than you typically see in the gym. A trainer telling someone they can't teach them does not necessarily make them a bad trainer. They are acknowledging this is outside their scope of practice, which is a good thing. Bill Belichick would probably not make a real good basketball coach.

    This is a pretty decent article IMO discussing the "foundation moves" one should be able to do before attempting to Olympic lift
    https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/learn-olympic-lifts-snatch-and-clean-and-jerk-progression-lifts.html
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    Options
    In 4 months you could expect maybe a couple pounds of muscle gain IN a calorie surplus, with proper training. Give it time. Like...years.
  • Okiludy
    Okiludy Posts: 558 Member
    Options
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    Okiludy wrote: »

    Edit on coaching: Oh by the way ask if your coach can teach you the Olympic Lifts. If they show hesitation or say no get another coach. These lift are not hard to learn and if you are reasonably healthy there is no reason not to learn them. It shows a lack of skill or confidence in the coach on their own abilities. This is a big indicator for me on their overall lack of skill.

    The Olympic lifts are great, but one needs better mobility than you typically see in the gym. A trainer telling someone they can't teach them does not necessarily make them a bad trainer. They are acknowledging this is outside their scope of practice, which is a good thing. Bill Belichick would probably not make a real good basketball coach.

    This is a pretty decent article IMO discussing the "foundation moves" one should be able to do before attempting to Olympic lift
    https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/learn-olympic-lifts-snatch-and-clean-and-jerk-progression-lifts.html

    Nice link!

    I disagree on the Belichick part tho. I am not asking a coach from other sport to teach me lifts. I would be asking an expert on lifting to teach me a type of lift. I am not asking a personal trainer this as it is a different field of expertise. It would be like asking Belichick how to cheat...I kid :open_mouth:
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    Options
    Okiludy wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    Okiludy wrote: »

    Edit on coaching: Oh by the way ask if your coach can teach you the Olympic Lifts. If they show hesitation or say no get another coach. These lift are not hard to learn and if you are reasonably healthy there is no reason not to learn them. It shows a lack of skill or confidence in the coach on their own abilities. This is a big indicator for me on their overall lack of skill.

    The Olympic lifts are great, but one needs better mobility than you typically see in the gym. A trainer telling someone they can't teach them does not necessarily make them a bad trainer. They are acknowledging this is outside their scope of practice, which is a good thing. Bill Belichick would probably not make a real good basketball coach.

    This is a pretty decent article IMO discussing the "foundation moves" one should be able to do before attempting to Olympic lift
    https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/learn-olympic-lifts-snatch-and-clean-and-jerk-progression-lifts.html

    Nice link!

    I disagree on the Belichick part tho. I am not asking a coach from other sport to teach me lifts. I would be asking an expert on lifting to teach me a type of lift. I am not asking a personal trainer this as it is a different field of expertise. It would be like asking Belichick how to cheat...I kid :open_mouth:

    Got it. Someone that would be considered an expert in lifting, sure. I was thinking you were referring to most personal trainers as a "coach". Someone can be a great trainer and not have the capability to teach Oly lifts. Acknowledging not having the expertise in an area is something that makes a professional good.

  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    edited July 2017
    Options
    Okiludy wrote: »
    I am not asking a coach from other sport to teach me lifts. I would be asking an expert on lifting to teach me a type of lift.

    'lifting' is a broad-spectrum term though. there's nothing wrong with a trainer saying they're not qualified to teach it effectively. or not interested in teaching it effectively. personally, i'd rather have that than someone who thought they could teach me to do something so complicated without instilling habits in me that might be harmful.

    sidebar, but i told my own trainer once how i've always had kind of a yen to learn them because they're so cool. he does teach them and was willing to go there with me if i wanted to. but he mentioned that in his opinion, if plain strength is your main focus then there are faster and more 'efficient' ways of developing it. basically, it takes most people so long just to learn the form properly that htey have to be willing to keep their 'tons of muscle' goals in their back pocket for a long time. i decided it wasn't for me (cuz greedy and uncoordinated). but i've spent several months watching him teach someone else in the club to do clean and jerks, and i totally see what he means. the number of teeny-tiny subtleties in just that one lift is incredible.

    sure is fun to watch her doing them though. i still really like that.
  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
    Options
    NoahSpillman wrote: »
    Hi! So my New Years resolution back in January was to go to the gym a lot more and loose the crazy amount of body fat I still had on my body and gain some muscle. So now I've lost a lot of body fat, I've been trying to gain muscle for the past month and a half. I work out pretty hard, for about an hour 4-5 times a week (focusing on different regions of muscles) and obviously when I started I would get very sore. And I feel like I've definetly improved, muscle-wise since January ("newbie gains"); but up to two and a half or so months ago, I stopped getting sore, I've tried to do more weight, I've tried to increase the overall volume, but I feel as thought if I can't feel my body getting sore, muscle hypertrophy isn't even taking place, and I'm wasting time. I know this may seem weird, but every workout I simply strive for being sore the next day, but never achieve it for my upper body muscles. Help?


    It's probably your diet. You are probably not eating enough! I eat 6 meals a day to gain muscle!!! Granted, I eliminated alcohol, sugar, junk food, fast food, processed food. But yeah, nutrition is key!

Categories