Trouble gaining weight...possible plateau HELP

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  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
    edited August 2015
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    _Bropollo_ wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    greg88rosen 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
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    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.
    LolBroScience wrote: »
    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
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    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
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    greg88rosen wrote: »
    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
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    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
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    greg88rosen wrote: »
    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
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    Yes, daily
    I aim for about 4500+
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    greg88rosen wrote: »
    Yes, daily
    I aim for about 4500+

    Can you open your diary or make it public?
  • greg88rosen
    greg88rosen Posts: 49 Member
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    Done, let me know if you can see it
    Didn't know it was private
  • akdobbin
    akdobbin Posts: 2 Member
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    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.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I can see it. I mean, your macros are all over the place, but that wouldn't inherently prevent you from gaining.... At 4,000+ calories (assuming your logging is accurate in regards to portions), the only thing I can think of is try boosting your intake to 5,000+ and see if the scale moves. I was maintaining 200 lbs around 3900 and you seem to be larger than I am.

    If you're full, I'd try calorie dense foods - fatty cuts of meat, full fat dairy, nuts, oils, deserts, etc.
  • greg88rosen
    greg88rosen Posts: 49 Member
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    I'm extremely new to calorie counting
    Up until about a month ago I just ate what I thought I should and when I thought I should eat it
    Micro..macro.. Still learning

    I'm definitely game for adding peanut butter to shakes
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    greg88rosen wrote: »
    I'm extremely new to calorie counting
    Up until about a month ago I just ate what I thought I should and when I thought I should eat it
    Micro..macro.. Still learning

    I'm definitely game for adding peanut butter to shakes
    ultimately even if you aren't counting if you aren't gaining it's pretty self diagnosing- you're not eating enough.

    Honestly I find calorie counting significantly more important for bulking than for cutting- it's really easy to subconsciously not eat as much as you need. It's way easier to self sabotage over eating than under eating.

    If you're making shakes- blend some cheese cake in there- that'll go a long way :D
  • RedWolf09
    RedWolf09 Posts: 90 Member
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    JoRocka wrote: »
    greg88rosen wrote: »
    I'm extremely new to calorie counting
    Up until about a month ago I just ate what I thought I should and when I thought I should eat it
    Micro..macro.. Still learning

    I'm definitely game for adding peanut butter to shakes
    ultimately even if you aren't counting if you aren't gaining it's pretty self diagnosing- you're not eating enough.

    Honestly I find calorie counting significantly more important for bulking than for cutting- it's really easy to subconsciously not eat as much as you need. It's way easier to self sabotage over eating than under eating.

    If you're making shakes- blend some cheese cake in there- that'll go a long way :D

    I agree wholeheartedly
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Get some scales, weigh everything properly.

    I didn't see any fruit of veg in your diary, so at least add a couple of glasses of orange juice for some vitamins.

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