Not taking in enough calories to gain muscle?
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@SideSteel already covered it but you need to get into a calorie surplus, make sure you are hitting micros and macros, and get on a structured program like strong lifts, all pro beginner, etc.
oh and ignore everything the other guy said ….0 -
joncooper1980 wrote: »On the contrary, muscle confusion is excellent....
BroScience 101. "Muscle confusion" is a myth. Happy to post research that supports this if you really need me to. Muscles DO adapt to workouts BUT the only "confusion" needed is progressive overload. Posting nonsense about *kitten* like this is what confuses people who are new to lifting weights.
Eat good food. Lift heavy. Repeat.Have to agree, full body for a newbie is best. Especially since he needs to spend time perfecting the basic compound exercises, squat, deadlift etc. Google Scooby's workshop and go through his guide.
I believe I have a pretty good form in majority of my workouts, so I've been told. I've seen some guys do squats and they're barley bending their knees at all. I go just about *kitten* to floor, chest out and back slightly arched. Deadlifts I don't do. I've heard you can do them with your knees bent or straight legged. Never felt like I did them right so I just avoid them.0 -
williams969 wrote:
No. Pick an established program. Do it. Make progress. You can't progress if you keep switching things.
On the contrary, muscle confusion is excellent. It all comes down to what you choose, do whatever you want. Just know this. If you're doing full body workouts then you need to spend enough time in the gym to achieve hypertrophy in each muscle group, sounds like a lot of work in one day. Also, the key to the split is destroying the one muscle group to the point where it needs time to repair and thus GROW! honestly, call jay cutler, ronnie coleman, phil heath, ask them, and don't anybody say " but steroids" I don't give a damn, regardless of steroids, if the whole body wo 3x a week was best for muscle growth don't you think the PROS would use it? Food for thought man. Also, when I say you need to focus on the pump I don't mean never increase your weight, you should increase weight on each set while maintaining proper form and contraction of the muscle, when form fades so do the results. I can preach this til I'm blue in the face and it all comes down to what you choose to believe. LOOK AT THE PROS, don't listen to me or anyone else who is not a PRO, I am an amateur and I bet everyone else commenting is in the same boat or not even close. So, learn from the pros, eat more and grow. Also, do not do the same thing every week, your body will adapt and quit responding. Now go watch the pros.
Yeah. I used the my fitness pal and set my goal weight as 185. It said I would need to take in 3,420 calories a day to reach my goal. So I just I bumped it up and googled a 4,000 calorie meal plan and decided to do that. Along with this advice and the meal plan hopefully I'll start to see some gains.0 -
Lots of good tips. Biggest hurdle for me is getting the cals in. How do people eat so much lol. No I'm not gonna eat junk food.0
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denlawson1 wrote: »Lots of good tips. Biggest hurdle for me is getting the cals in. How do people eat so much lol. No I'm not gonna eat junk food.
People eat big because they don't put false limitations on what foods are good or bad, but rather look at a diet in it's total context. So eating 10% of your calories from less nutritious sources to reach your goal of a calorie surplus is key. Hell, if I can address all my nutrient goals during a cut, why would I not incorporate foods I enjoy more during a bulk? I surely don't get extra credit for getting more nutrients than my body needs.0 -
dorienhamm wrote: »williams969 wrote:
No. Pick an established program. Do it. Make progress. You can't progress if you keep switching things.
On the contrary, muscle confusion is excellent. It all comes down to what you choose, do whatever you want. Just know this. If you're doing full body workouts then you need to spend enough time in the gym to achieve hypertrophy in each muscle group, sounds like a lot of work in one day. Also, the key to the split is destroying the one muscle group to the point where it needs time to repair and thus GROW! honestly, call jay cutler, ronnie coleman, phil heath, ask them, and don't anybody say " but steroids" I don't give a damn, regardless of steroids, if the whole body wo 3x a week was best for muscle growth don't you think the PROS would use it? Food for thought man. Also, when I say you need to focus on the pump I don't mean never increase your weight, you should increase weight on each set while maintaining proper form and contraction of the muscle, when form fades so do the results. I can preach this til I'm blue in the face and it all comes down to what you choose to believe. LOOK AT THE PROS, don't listen to me or anyone else who is not a PRO, I am an amateur and I bet everyone else commenting is in the same boat or not even close. So, learn from the pros, eat more and grow. Also, do not do the same thing every week, your body will adapt and quit responding. Now go watch the pros.
Yeah. I used the my fitness pal and set my goal weight as 185. It said I would need to take in 3,420 calories a day to reach my goal. So I just I bumped it up and googled a 4,000 calorie meal plan and decided to do that. Along with this advice and the meal plan hopefully I'll start to see some gains.
If your goal is 3400 calories, you should start there. Adding an additional 600 calories is going to start to put you into a dirty bulk range, which means more fat.
Also, I would recommend working on your form for DL. It is a very very beneficial move and address more body parts than almost any other lift.0 -
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dorienhamm wrote: »I probably would not suggest A body part split like someone previously suggested.
I would also not exclusively focus on "the pump". You will absolutely want to be getting stronger on your program.
Adding weight to the bar is A very good method of progressive tension overload.
What would you suggest instead of a body part split? Also I wasn't too familiar with the term "progressive tension overload" but I just searched it and that's some good advice. Im for sure gonna start adding that into my workout. Thanks for that, it's appreciated!
Do what you want, but bodybuilders are pros at putting on lean muscle, so if you want to listen to people who don't know jack about bodybuilding, then do full body workouts and don't focus on the pump. You'll look average in no time. Good luck.
Check out Jim Wendler and his 5/3/1 program. It's a compound lift program (I think of that as full body, though maybe the poster I quoted means something else)... with great results. It's just one option - I really like it - but it's quite a flexible program.
I also would say listen to SideSteel. He's been here a while and knows what he's talking about.0 -
dorienhamm wrote: »williams969 wrote:
No. Pick an established program. Do it. Make progress. You can't progress if you keep switching things.
On the contrary, muscle confusion is excellent. It all comes down to what you choose, do whatever you want. Just know this. If you're doing full body workouts then you need to spend enough time in the gym to achieve hypertrophy in each muscle group, sounds like a lot of work in one day. Also, the key to the split is destroying the one muscle group to the point where it needs time to repair and thus GROW! honestly, call jay cutler, ronnie coleman, phil heath, ask them, and don't anybody say " but steroids" I don't give a damn, regardless of steroids, if the whole body wo 3x a week was best for muscle growth don't you think the PROS would use it? Food for thought man. Also, when I say you need to focus on the pump I don't mean never increase your weight, you should increase weight on each set while maintaining proper form and contraction of the muscle, when form fades so do the results. I can preach this til I'm blue in the face and it all comes down to what you choose to believe. LOOK AT THE PROS, don't listen to me or anyone else who is not a PRO, I am an amateur and I bet everyone else commenting is in the same boat or not even close. So, learn from the pros, eat more and grow. Also, do not do the same thing every week, your body will adapt and quit responding. Now go watch the pros.
Yeah. I used the my fitness pal and set my goal weight as 185. It said I would need to take in 3,420 calories a day to reach my goal. So I just I bumped it up and googled a 4,000 calorie meal plan and decided to do that. Along with this advice and the meal plan hopefully I'll start to see some gains.
LOL going with the broscience plan, I see...
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I hate to be lengthy but I just wanna know if my meal plan is too much or not. 4 large eggs, 4 large egg whites, 2 bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. 2 scoops of whey protein, 67 grams of carbon gain, 1 large banana, 1/2 cups of oatmeal, 12 FL oz whole milk, and 1 tbsp almond butter mixed for lunch. 4oz chicken breast, 1 cup of brown rice, and 1 sweet potato for 1 meal. Grilled salmon and 6 oz of broccoli meal couple hours before bed. Also 8 cups of water throughout the day. Does anyone think this needs critiquing?0
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dorienhamm wrote: »I hate to be lengthy but I just wanna know if my meal plan is too much or not. 4 large eggs, 4 large egg whites, 2 bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. 2 scoops of whey protein, 67 grams of carbon gain, 1 large banana, 1/2 cups of oatmeal, 12 FL oz whole milk, and 1 tbsp almond butter mixed for lunch. 4oz chicken breast, 1 cup of brown rice, and 1 sweet potato for 1 meal. Grilled salmon and 6 oz of broccoli meal couple hours before bed. Also 8 cups of water throughout the day. Does anyone think this needs critiquing?
how many calories is that when you plug into mfp?
seems light on carbs for a bulk ….0 -
dorienhamm wrote: »I hate to be lengthy but I just wanna know if my meal plan is too much or not. 4 large eggs, 4 large egg whites, 2 bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. 2 scoops of whey protein, 67 grams of carbon gain, 1 large banana, 1/2 cups of oatmeal, 12 FL oz whole milk, and 1 tbsp almond butter mixed for lunch. 4oz chicken breast, 1 cup of brown rice, and 1 sweet potato for 1 meal. Grilled salmon and 6 oz of broccoli meal couple hours before bed. Also 8 cups of water throughout the day. Does anyone think this needs critiquing?
how many calories is that when you plug into mfp?
seems light on carbs for a bulk ….
I forgot to add in my snack which is an apple, 2 tbsp of almond butter, crackers, and a pack of gummies lol. But with that included it's 3479 calories.0 -
dorienhamm wrote: »I hate to be lengthy but I just wanna know if my meal plan is too much or not. 4 large eggs, 4 large egg whites, 2 bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. 2 scoops of whey protein, 67 grams of carbon gain, 1 large banana, 1/2 cups of oatmeal, 12 FL oz whole milk, and 1 tbsp almond butter mixed for lunch. 4oz chicken breast, 1 cup of brown rice, and 1 sweet potato for 1 meal. Grilled salmon and 6 oz of broccoli meal couple hours before bed. Also 8 cups of water throughout the day. Does anyone think this needs critiquing?
Lifting heavy-check
Eating enough food - check
getting enough rest and recovery - check
Thread should be closed here, You're doing exactly what you need.
There is nothing more you can do that would matter unless you go on stage. High carb works. low carb works, high protein works, low protien works. High fat works low fat works. The rest is opinion. GOOD JOB! Keep on clanging and banging, just make sure to keep some before and after pics or measurements for yourself.0 -
dorienhamm wrote: »dorienhamm wrote: »I hate to be lengthy but I just wanna know if my meal plan is too much or not. 4 large eggs, 4 large egg whites, 2 bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. 2 scoops of whey protein, 67 grams of carbon gain, 1 large banana, 1/2 cups of oatmeal, 12 FL oz whole milk, and 1 tbsp almond butter mixed for lunch. 4oz chicken breast, 1 cup of brown rice, and 1 sweet potato for 1 meal. Grilled salmon and 6 oz of broccoli meal couple hours before bed. Also 8 cups of water throughout the day. Does anyone think this needs critiquing?
how many calories is that when you plug into mfp?
seems light on carbs for a bulk ….
I forgot to add in my snack which is an apple, 2 tbsp of almond butter, crackers, and a pack of gummies lol. But with that included it's 3479 calories.
ok - sounds good .. I am assuming that 3400 puts you in a surplus?0 -
dorienhamm wrote: »dorienhamm wrote: »I hate to be lengthy but I just wanna know if my meal plan is too much or not. 4 large eggs, 4 large egg whites, 2 bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. 2 scoops of whey protein, 67 grams of carbon gain, 1 large banana, 1/2 cups of oatmeal, 12 FL oz whole milk, and 1 tbsp almond butter mixed for lunch. 4oz chicken breast, 1 cup of brown rice, and 1 sweet potato for 1 meal. Grilled salmon and 6 oz of broccoli meal couple hours before bed. Also 8 cups of water throughout the day. Does anyone think this needs critiquing?
how many calories is that when you plug into mfp?
seems light on carbs for a bulk ….
I forgot to add in my snack which is an apple, 2 tbsp of almond butter, crackers, and a pack of gummies lol. But with that included it's 3479 calories.
ok - sounds good .. I am assuming that 3400 puts you in a surplus?
Yes it does.0 -
dorienhamm wrote: »I hate to be lengthy but I just wanna know if my meal plan is too much or not. 4 large eggs, 4 large egg whites, 2 bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. 2 scoops of whey protein, 67 grams of carbon gain, 1 large banana, 1/2 cups of oatmeal, 12 FL oz whole milk, and 1 tbsp almond butter mixed for lunch. 4oz chicken breast, 1 cup of brown rice, and 1 sweet potato for 1 meal. Grilled salmon and 6 oz of broccoli meal couple hours before bed. Also 8 cups of water throughout the day. Does anyone think this needs critiquing?
Lifting heavy-check
Eating enough food - check
getting enough rest and recovery - check
Thread should be closed here, You're doing exactly what you need.
There is nothing more you can do that would matter unless you go on stage. High carb works. low carb works, high protein works, low protien works. High fat works low fat works. The rest is opinion. GOOD JOB! Keep on clanging and banging, just make sure to keep some before and after pics or measurements for yourself.
Preciate it. Hopefully I'll start to see some changes now.0
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