Trouble gaining weight...possible plateau HELP

greg88rosen
greg88rosen Posts: 49 Member
Height: 6ft 1
Weight: 224
Calories daily: 4500 (increased by 1000)
Routine: 8 day split (1hour daily)

I think I've hit a plateau and can't possibly eat any more than I already do but maybe I can eat something different that would help?
Trying to get to 235 before leaning out again
Open to suggestions of what to eat, how to train etc..
Thanks :)ubue9z9e5xkn.jpg

Greg
«1

Replies

  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Try adding calories in small ways. Cook with oil. Peanut butter and Nutella are both 100 cals per tbs, so you can get lots of calories for not much volume. Add butter (also 100 cals per tbs) to your veggies.
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    edited August 2015
    Try adding calories in small ways. Cook with oil. Peanut butter and Nutella are both 100 cals per tbs, so you can get lots of calories for not much volume. Add butter (also 100 cals per tbs) to your veggies.

    +1

    Getting a hand full of nuts, trail mix or similar is going to add a lot of calories and not really fill you up all that much...

    If you wanna be a hardcore guy.... shots of olive oil with orange juice as a chaser :D
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Try adding calories in small ways. Cook with oil. Peanut butter and Nutella are both 100 cals per tbs, so you can get lots of calories for not much volume. Add butter (also 100 cals per tbs) to your veggies.

    +1

    Getting a hand full of nuts, trail mix or similar is going to add a lot of calories and not really fill you up all that much...

    If you wanna be a hardcore guy.... shots of olive oil with orange juice as a chaser :D

    +2

    you could add an extra serving of ice cream a day which would give you an extra 250 calories, and everyone wants more ice cream, right?
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Also, liquid calories can help without filling you up. Fruit juice, coffee/tea with sugar and cream, milk, even soda.
  • RedWolf09
    RedWolf09 Posts: 90 Member
    Try eating a higher % of carbs. You're probably consuming too much protein and not carbs. And if 4500 isn't cutting it, do 6000. At your level you're going to need to shock your body somehow.
  • greg88rosen
    greg88rosen Posts: 49 Member
    Yeah I think more good fats from nuts will help
    You don't think liquid calories are "empty calories"?
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Yeah I think more good fats from nuts will help
    You don't think liquid calories are "empty calories"?

    No such thing as empty calories
  • RedWolf09
    RedWolf09 Posts: 90 Member
    Agreed. Calories are calories. You're probably thinking they have less or no nutrients maybe? But with such a high calorie diet you will have no deficiencies.
  • RedWolf09
    RedWolf09 Posts: 90 Member
    To gain weight you need excess energy, period.
  • Giolis
    Giolis Posts: 1,204 Member
    Avocados
    Use heavy cream for your protein shake - 8 ounces with protein powder is about 1000 calories
  • catt952
    catt952 Posts: 190 Member
    what's the toilet situation like with eating all these calories may i ask?
  • catt952
    catt952 Posts: 190 Member
    I have a great idea. https://zuzkalight.com/nutrition/power-balls-wem/

    You need recipes for like a slice or something with tonnes of healthy ingredients.

    http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/
  • greg88rosen
    greg88rosen Posts: 49 Member
    Haha the toilet situation is fine
    I think my body is used to the consumption amount
    I heard today that I should increase my amount of repetitions in the gym to help with weight gain
    This contradicts what I originally thought being more reps = more calories burned but who knows
    Anyone have thoughts on this?
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    wow you look great! (sorry no tips ha)
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Haha the toilet situation is fine
    I think my body is used to the consumption amount
    I heard today that I should increase my amount of repetitions in the gym to help with weight gain
    This contradicts what I originally thought being more reps = more calories burned but who knows
    Anyone have thoughts on this?

    your lifting regimen has absolutely nothing to do with how much weight you will gain. Whoever told you that is badly mistaken or they did not say what they meant to say.
  • _Bropollo_
    _Bropollo_ Posts: 168 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Haha the toilet situation is fine
    I think my body is used to the consumption amount
    I heard today that I should increase my amount of repetitions in the gym to help with weight gain
    This contradicts what I originally thought being more reps = more calories burned but who knows
    Anyone have thoughts on this?

    your lifting regimen has absolutely nothing to do with how much weight you will gain. Whoever told you that is badly mistaken or they did not say what they meant to say.

    Well that may not entirely be true. OP, when you say 8-day split, what exactly does that entail? Reps are not the important part so much as frequency during the week. When you say 8-day split, it makes me think you are doing a single body part, for 1 hour, each day. This might be why you are stuck. This kind of training only works if you are on gear. Steroids keep your body peaked for building new muscle fiber days after being stimulated. The natural human body ramps down pretty quickly, in contrast, and is down to normal levels after 48 hours or less.

    You should be hitting the same muscle group multiple times per week, but doing a moderate amount of training for each muscle on those days, maybe 2 major lifts per muscle group. Absolutely blasting a muscle with many isolation exercises for one workout, then waiting a whole week to train it again, is not ideal. Your goal is to provide stimulus, not destroy your muscles. In general, 48 hours recovery is where your body ramps down new fiber synthesis, and it's time to hit the muscles again. Have you looked into full body every other day, or at least upper/lower splits? I personally don't have time to do full body (will require about 2 hours per session), so I have to settle for an upper/lower/upper/lower/rest pattern, but this still allows for high frequency of stimulus during the week.

    Good video on the subject by Steve Shaw: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4rr0dNcBfOg

    Good luck on your bulk!
  • richln
    richln Posts: 809 Member
    Yeah I think more good fats from nuts will help
    You don't think liquid calories are "empty calories"?

    From this statement I infer you may be trying to eat too "clean." Do you mainly eat the typical bodybuilder foods like chicken breasts and asparagus all the time? Eating 4500+ calories of that stuff is going to be really difficult, you may have to add some more calorie-dense food to hit your numbers.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    _Bropollo_ wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Haha the toilet situation is fine
    I think my body is used to the consumption amount
    I heard today that I should increase my amount of repetitions in the gym to help with weight gain
    This contradicts what I originally thought being more reps = more calories burned but who knows
    Anyone have thoughts on this?

    your lifting regimen has absolutely nothing to do with how much weight you will gain. Whoever told you that is badly mistaken or they did not say what they meant to say.

    Well that may not entirely be true. OP, when you say 8-day split, what exactly does that entail? Reps are not the important part so much as frequency during the week. When you say 8-day split, it makes me think you are doing a single body part, for 1 hour, each day. This might be why you are stuck. This kind of training only works if you are on gear. Steroids keep your body peaked for building new muscle fiber days after being stimulated. The natural human body ramps down pretty quickly, in contrast, and is down to normal levels after 48 hours or less.

    You should be hitting the same muscle group multiple times per week, but doing a moderate amount of training for each muscle on those days, maybe 2 major lifts per muscle group. Absolutely blasting a muscle with many isolation exercises for one workout, then waiting a whole week to train it again, is not ideal. Your goal is to provide stimulus, not destroy your muscles. In general, 48 hours recovery is where your body ramps down new fiber synthesis, and it's time to hit the muscles again. Have you looked into full body every other day, or at least upper/lower splits? I personally don't have time to do full body (will require about 2 hours per session), so I have to settle for an upper/lower/upper/lower/rest pattern, but this still allows for high frequency of stimulus during the week.

    Good video on the subject by Steve Shaw: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4rr0dNcBfOg

    Good luck on your bulk!

    wait, so if I eat in a calorie deficit and lift weights at the right reps, I will gain weight, really???

    you got a peer reviewed study on that...?

  • _Bropollo_
    _Bropollo_ Posts: 168 Member
    edited August 2015
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    _Bropollo_ wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Haha the toilet situation is fine
    I think my body is used to the consumption amount
    I heard today that I should increase my amount of repetitions in the gym to help with weight gain
    This contradicts what I originally thought being more reps = more calories burned but who knows
    Anyone have thoughts on this?

    your lifting regimen has absolutely nothing to do with how much weight you will gain. Whoever told you that is badly mistaken or they did not say what they meant to say.

    Well that may not entirely be true. OP, when you say 8-day split, what exactly does that entail? Reps are not the important part so much as frequency during the week. When you say 8-day split, it makes me think you are doing a single body part, for 1 hour, each day. This might be why you are stuck. This kind of training only works if you are on gear. Steroids keep your body peaked for building new muscle fiber days after being stimulated. The natural human body ramps down pretty quickly, in contrast, and is down to normal levels after 48 hours or less.

    You should be hitting the same muscle group multiple times per week, but doing a moderate amount of training for each muscle on those days, maybe 2 major lifts per muscle group. Absolutely blasting a muscle with many isolation exercises for one workout, then waiting a whole week to train it again, is not ideal. Your goal is to provide stimulus, not destroy your muscles. In general, 48 hours recovery is where your body ramps down new fiber synthesis, and it's time to hit the muscles again. Have you looked into full body every other day, or at least upper/lower splits? I personally don't have time to do full body (will require about 2 hours per session), so I have to settle for an upper/lower/upper/lower/rest pattern, but this still allows for high frequency of stimulus during the week.

    Good video on the subject by Steve Shaw: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4rr0dNcBfOg

    Good luck on your bulk!

    wait, so if I eat in a calorie deficit and lift weights at the right reps, I will gain weight, really???

    you got a peer reviewed study on that...?

    Um. The word "calorie" or "deficit" are not even in my response lol. I didn't even mention it. Seriously, Ctrl+F and check my statement. Not a word in there. I was asking about his training routine. Did you respond to the right person?
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    _Bropollo_ wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    _Bropollo_ wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Haha the toilet situation is fine
    I think my body is used to the consumption amount
    I heard today that I should increase my amount of repetitions in the gym to help with weight gain
    This contradicts what I originally thought being more reps = more calories burned but who knows
    Anyone have thoughts on this?

    your lifting regimen has absolutely nothing to do with how much weight you will gain. Whoever told you that is badly mistaken or they did not say what they meant to say.

    Well that may not entirely be true. OP, when you say 8-day split, what exactly does that entail? Reps are not the important part so much as frequency during the week. When you say 8-day split, it makes me think you are doing a single body part, for 1 hour, each day. This might be why you are stuck. This kind of training only works if you are on gear. Steroids keep your body peaked for building new muscle fiber days after being stimulated. The natural human body ramps down pretty quickly, in contrast, and is down to normal levels after 48 hours or less.

    You should be hitting the same muscle group multiple times per week, but doing a moderate amount of training for each muscle on those days, maybe 2 major lifts per muscle group. Absolutely blasting a muscle with many isolation exercises for one workout, then waiting a whole week to train it again, is not ideal. Your goal is to provide stimulus, not destroy your muscles. In general, 48 hours recovery is where your body ramps down new fiber synthesis, and it's time to hit the muscles again. Have you looked into full body every other day, or at least upper/lower splits? I personally don't have time to do full body (will require about 2 hours per session), so I have to settle for an upper/lower/upper/lower/rest pattern, but this still allows for high frequency of stimulus during the week.

    Good video on the subject by Steve Shaw: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4rr0dNcBfOg

    Good luck on your bulk!

    wait, so if I eat in a calorie deficit and lift weights at the right reps, I will gain weight, really???

    you got a peer reviewed study on that...?

    Um. The word "calorie" or "deficit" are not even in my response lol. I didn't even mention it. Seriously, Ctrl+F and check my statement. Not a word in there. I was asking about his training routine. Did you respond to the right person?

    did you even read what OP's question was...??

    "I heard today that I should increase my amount of repetitions in the gym to help with weight gain"

    I replied to that and said that your lifting regimen has nothing to do with how much weight you will gain, that is a function of calories. To which you responded that is not necessarily true.

    Maybe you need to go back and re-read the sequence and your responses; as your response indicates that lifting regimen would some impact weight gain.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
    edited August 2015
    _Bropollo_ wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Haha the toilet situation is fine
    I think my body is used to the consumption amount
    I heard today that I should increase my amount of repetitions in the gym to help with weight gain
    This contradicts what I originally thought being more reps = more calories burned but who knows
    Anyone have thoughts on this?

    your lifting regimen has absolutely nothing to do with how much weight you will gain. Whoever told you that is badly mistaken or they did not say what they meant to say.

    Well that may not entirely be true. OP, when you say 8-day split, what exactly does that entail? Reps are not the important part so much as frequency during the week. When you say 8-day split, it makes me think you are doing a single body part, for 1 hour, each day. This might be why you are stuck. This kind of training only works if you are on gear. Steroids keep your body peaked for building new muscle fiber days after being stimulated. The natural human body ramps down pretty quickly, in contrast, and is down to normal levels after 48 hours or less.

    You should be hitting the same muscle group multiple times per week, but doing a moderate amount of training for each muscle on those days, maybe 2 major lifts per muscle group. Absolutely blasting a muscle with many isolation exercises for one workout, then waiting a whole week to train it again, is not ideal. Your goal is to provide stimulus, not destroy your muscles. In general, 48 hours recovery is where your body ramps down new fiber synthesis, and it's time to hit the muscles again. Have you looked into full body every other day, or at least upper/lower splits? I personally don't have time to do full body (will require about 2 hours per session), so I have to settle for an upper/lower/upper/lower/rest pattern, but this still allows for high frequency of stimulus during the week.

    Good video on the subject by Steve Shaw: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4rr0dNcBfOg

    Good luck on your bulk!

    Big fan of higher frequency training, but to say you cannot gain on 1x per week is ridiculous. 5/3/1 has the frequency of lifts at 1x per week on some of the templates and has been efficient for increasing size and strength, especially with the BBB template. It might not be most optimal, but to say you can only do so with gear is entirely false.
  • _Bropollo_
    _Bropollo_ Posts: 168 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »

    did you even read what OP's question was...??

    "I heard today that I should increase my amount of repetitions in the gym to help with weight gain"

    I replied to that and said that your lifting regimen has nothing to do with how much weight you will gain, that is a function of calories. To which you responded that is not necessarily true.

    Maybe you need to go back and re-read the sequence and your responses; as your response indicates that lifting regimen would some impact weight gain.

    What I was implying was muscle gain. I see how that would be confusing, yes, as you are going to put on weight regardless if you are eating in a surplus. A good training program would help it be the more desired kind of weight.
    Big fan of higher frequency training, but to say you cannot gain on 1x per week is ridiculous. 5/3/1 has the frequency of lifts at 1x per week on some of the templates and has been efficient for increasing size and strength, especially with the BBB template. It might not be most optimal, but to say you can only do so with gear is entirely false.
    _Bropollo_ wrote: »
    This kind of training only works well if you are on gear. Steroids keep your body peaked for building new muscle fiber days after being stimulated. The natural human body ramps down pretty quickly, in contrast, and is down to normal levels after 48 hours or less.

    There. Fixed. But I stand by my statement that 1x per week training on a muscle group is not ideal. You can gain on 1x per week, but not ideal by any standards.
  • greg88rosen
    greg88rosen Posts: 49 Member
    My body fat is around 12 and I weigh 224 without steroids

    My 8 day split is as follows:

    Monday - chest and back
    Tuesday - legs
    Wednesday - shoulder and arms
    Thursday - off
    Friday - chest, shoulder and tri
    Saturday - back and Bi
    Sunday - legs

    This continues with Monday being the next off day and so on

    Before my previous advice I was found 5x5 for the first workouts and the rest had rep ranges of 6-10

    I might be eating too clean, I try and throw some extra stuff like cookies and pizza or burgers into the mix but I guess I can go hardcore and down some ice cream lol

    I appreciate everyone's advice and am actually getting some good ideas so thanks !!
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Yeah I think more good fats from nuts will help
    You don't think liquid calories are "empty calories"?

    that's exactly what you need are these so called "empty calories"

    trying to eat 5000 calories of chicken broccoli and rice is going to make you sick.
    Open the ice cream- drink the beer- and eat the pizza.
  • greg88rosen
    greg88rosen Posts: 49 Member
    That's my kind of diet!
    I'll start as soon as I get home
    ..this could go either way haha
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
    That's my kind of diet!
    I'll start as soon as I get home
    ..this could go either way haha

    Do you track your calories...?
  • greg88rosen
    greg88rosen Posts: 49 Member
    Yes, daily
    I aim for about 4500+
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
    Yes, daily
    I aim for about 4500+

    Can you open your diary or make it public?
  • greg88rosen
    greg88rosen Posts: 49 Member
    Done, let me know if you can see it
    Didn't know it was private
  • akdobbin
    akdobbin Posts: 2 Member
    People have already suggested this, but I checked out your diary, and it looks like you could definitely be adding fats to your cooking methods! Try cooking your food in olive oil or coconut oil and topping your cooked veggies and meat with butter. Not only will these additions add calories without adding volume, you might also find that they make your food a heck of a lot better tasting. Fat = flavor!

    Do you like nut butters? You could add peanut butter to your protein shakes, too.
This discussion has been closed.