Building muscle and size

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alisonstory
alisonstory Posts: 39 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Iv been training for 45 weeks and built up a reasonable amount of muscle but now my newbie gains are behind me and progression has slowed . Would anyone like to share any tips?
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  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Eat a calorie surplus and lift heavy things? That's about it.

    Or get on gear.
  • jasonp_ritzert
    jasonp_ritzert Posts: 357 Member
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    Have you varied your training schedule? Varied your reps/weight? Changed up to new exercises? Tried dropsets/superset/etc.?
  • JohnRHII
    JohnRHII Posts: 9
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    Lift more weight, always have to increase weight or you will lose or at least see no gains. Check diet, more calories ...protein ? It is hard to stay lean and make gains. You might have to increase calories dramatically and bulk up then diet down.
  • joan23_us
    joan23_us Posts: 263 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Hornsby wrote: »
    Eat a calorie surplus and lift heavy things? That's about it.

    Or get on gear.
    He's ON POINT here... ;) slow progression is key from here on in, eat on a slight calorie surplus as suggested & MONITOR PROGRESS in the weightroom, progressive overload, focus on increasing strength on your compound lifts ie squats, deadlifts, Bench press, OHP etc. with strength coupled with a slight surplus slowly increasing overtime = muscle gain.

    Also judging on your profile pic you are lean.... it seems you want to stay that way thats why progression stalls.... ditch the idea of getting lean all year round and embrace " a little fat gain ". What I mean here is if you want to increase size you will have to eat in a surplus which will mean " gaining muscle + fat ", switch your " goal " to strength gain.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    Yup. Time to bulk.
  • alisonstory
    alisonstory Posts: 39 Member
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    Yep to some it up I have to lift heavier and eat more - I've got to get to it!
    I'm definitely a hard gainer weight wise and have upped my calories but obviously need to add a couple more hundred and see how that goes . looking for a training partner in the gym to push it harder.thanks for all your comments .
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
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    Are you doing powerlifting or body building or some combination? We could offer better suggestions if we knew your goals and program.
  • zipa78
    zipa78 Posts: 354 Member
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    joan23_us wrote: »
    Also judging on your profile pic you are lean

    This could be an issue, since women need to stay at around 20 % body fat (give or take a few percent) in order to keep their hormonal balance the right way up. If you get too lean, you'll start messing up that balance and then it will become really, really hard to make any gains what so ever.

    TL;DR: Eat more, lift more.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    are you following a structured program or a homemade one..?
  • Elizabeth_qtr
    Elizabeth_qtr Posts: 4
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    I'm also trying to gain healthy weight even though my BMI is in the lower mid range. At the moment I'm trying to eat surplus calories per day but does that mean if I reach my goal for that day and end up excersising then must I eat more to compensate? And tips re: food/snacks/meals for gaining?
  • KingRat79
    KingRat79 Posts: 125 Member
    edited January 2015
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    alisonstory wrote: »
    Iv been training for 45 weeks and built up a reasonable amount of muscle but now my newbie gains are behind me and progression has slowed . Would anyone like to share any tips?

    1) get on a good program, that reflects your experience level, if your an intermediate lifter find a good intermediate program.

    2) Eat

    3) be patient, once your out of the noob gains things take time.
  • alisonstory
    alisonstory Posts: 39 Member
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    Wheelhouse15 wrote: »
    Are you doing powerlifting or body building or some combination? We could offer better suggestions if we knew your goals and program.

    Iv been training in the 4-6 rep range for hypertrophy - 3 sets for most exercises which has allowed me to gain muscle and size but seemed to plateau at around 35 wks. Switched to pyramid training to see if that helped break the lull but has ended up with my final weight on set 4 being less than my programm before. My goal is to add size and muscle.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Time to bulk :)

    I managed about 6 months at deficit, before my lifts stalled out - no need to change programmes just get more calories in.
  • alisonstory
    alisonstory Posts: 39 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    are you following a structured program or a homemade one..?

    I've been following mike matthews bls and its worked a treat but struggling to lift heavier now without my posture or full range of motion suffering. Switched to pyramid training to see if that helped , prob has with regards to proper execution of excercises but not with weight.
  • alisonstory
    alisonstory Posts: 39 Member
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    joan23_us wrote: »
    Hornsby wrote: »
    Eat a calorie surplus and lift heavy things? That's about it.

    Or get on gear.
    He's ON POINT here... ;) slow progression is key from here on in, eat on a slight calorie surplus as suggested & MONITOR PROGRESS in the weightroom, progressive overload, focus on increasing strength on your compound lifts ie squats, deadlifts, Bench press, OHP etc. with strength coupled with a slight surplus slowly increasing overtime = muscle gain.

    Also judging on your profile pic you are lean.... it seems you want to stay that way thats why progression stalls.... ditch the idea of getting lean all year round and embrace " a little fat gain ". What I mean here is if you want to increase size you will have to eat in a surplus which will mean " gaining muscle + fat ", switch your " goal " to strength gain.

    I agree , must admit I don't like it when my abs disappear but that's what cutting is for I suppose . I need to give a proper bulk a good shot.
  • alisonstory
    alisonstory Posts: 39 Member
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    3laine75 wrote: »
    Time to bulk :)

    I managed about 6 months at deficit, before my lifts stalled out - no need to change programmes just get more calories in.

    Going to give it a good shot and hopefully my strength will increase
  • alisonstory
    alisonstory Posts: 39 Member
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    KingRat79 wrote: »
    alisonstory wrote: »
    Iv been training for 45 weeks and built up a reasonable amount of muscle but now my newbie gains are behind me and progression has slowed . Would anyone like to share any tips?

    1) get on a good program, that reflects your experience level, if your an intermediate lifter find a good intermediate program.

    2) Eat

    3) be patient, once your out of the noob gains things take time.

    It's been said I'm impatient and it's true! Just want to make sure I use my time in the gym wisely , thanks for your reply
  • alisonstory
    alisonstory Posts: 39 Member
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    JohnRHII wrote: »
    Lift more weight, always have to increase weight or you will lose or at least see no gains. Check diet, more calories ...protein ? It is hard to stay lean and make gains. You might have to increase calories dramatically and bulk up then diet down.

    Think iv got to really bulk and stick with it for a while hopefully strength will increase , thanks
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
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    Sounds like you have hit the novice lifter wall where you were doing linear progression but now you are an intermediate lifter and need a program with periodization and slower progression. You might want to try looking at Texas Method, Wendler 531, or West Side and give those a try. Your overall progress will be slower but it should help get you past your current stick point.
  • AKDonF
    AKDonF Posts: 235 Member
    edited January 2015
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    It sounds as though you are at a point where you need to periodize your training. One way to do that is with reverse pyramid training although there are many other strategies. Basically, at your current level, you need to work in more rep ranges. The reasons are many and it is probably too complex an issue to discuss in this thread. With Mike Matthews, he has a BBLS program that is structured this way. Layne Norton's PHAT system is also undulating.

    (edit): Yeah, you are going to need to bulk too

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