My exact regime - please help me

Theboinkmaster

Hello

I was 10 stone 6ft 0" on 1 Jan 07 and began this bulking regime - now 4 weeks later I've only gained 0.5 stone in weight. I've made very good progress in all my workouts (in each one I increase the reps or weight) and have added a few cm to my chest, arms, legs etc however I am very disappointed with my progress. This is my exact regime:

Workout for 1 hour (10mins stretch and warmup incl) for 2x a week on Sunday and Wednesday (using all free weights):

Bench press 3 sets of 6-10reps
Squat 3 sets of 8-12reps
Deadlift 3 sets of 8-12reps
Dumbell presses 3 sets of 6-10reps
Neck curls 3 sets of 6-10reps (lying on a bench and using my neck to curl up at the end of it, with a weights plate over a towel on my forehead - I'm doing this as I've a very skinny neck)

Eating (I eat this Monday-Friday then on Sat & Sun I don't eat nearly as much as I don't have a routine and find it difficult so I just eat as I go):

Breakfast = bowl of cornflakes, tea + bowl of fruit n fibre, 500ml tropicana

Mid-morning snack = 2 tuna pittas with cucumber, banana

Lunch = full carvery meal and 100g cashew nuts

Mid-afternoon snack = obriens brown bread sambo with egg mayo, tuna and salad + 500ml supermilk

Evening meal = normal meal (chicken, spuds and veg, pasta etc) + 500ml supermilk

I believe all that comes to:

3,573cals
195g protein
513g carbs
105g fat
29f fibre

So does anyone have any comments or suggestions? Any would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,
Simon

davyjose

Rome wasn't built in a day, man. Are you putting on much bodyfat? increasing your bodyweight by 5% in four weeks is pretty good. A lot of people fail because they get disheartened by slow progress, but it's still progress, and it will be slow; your asking a lot of your body. Give it time and see how you go.

BrianD3

If you've gained 0.5 stone of lean mass in a month that is excellent progress. Even if some of it is fat that is still excellent. If you find yourself gaining more fat than muscle then it'll be time to reduce your calories and/or increase the amount of training Your gains will likely slow down as you become a more experienced trainer.

Weight training is something for the long term i.e years and decades. As davyjose says, Rome wasn't built in a day. Strength and size gains will come gradually.

Your programme is good and you have the right idea doing the big compound lifts. Programme woud be even better if you added chin ups and military pressing to it

I_and_I

That is actually alot of weight to put on in that period of time, most people are lucky to gain a pound of muscle a week. Keep it up and look out for strech marks.

unreggd

Did you make up your workout yourself or did a trainer help you?

Are the neck curls effective? My neck is really small too, so makes me look out of proportion, i'd love to add some mass but feel too stupid to ask :P

Congrats on the gains

rubadub

3500 kcal a day is probably about 1000kcal more than basal/normal needs, that is 7000kcal per week, 1lb of fat is 3500kcal, so if you were not lifting and just eating more you would be putting on 2lb per week, you have put on 7lb in 4 weeks, so the figures add up (hopefully most weight is in muscle). To build the muscle also uses up more calories than putting on just fat. Since you are also exercising and burning calories I think the 7lb increase is more than you could have hoped for.

So the math all adds up, what were you expecting to have gained? and how did you come to that conclusion?

Doing shrugs & upright rows to develop your traps might help your neck look better too.

Theboinkmaster

Many thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

I guess I just look in the mirror and whilst I look a little more muscler I don't look any 'bigger' and I think I've put in alot of effort so far so was hoping for more. The strange thing is the 0.5 stone hasn't gone on uniformally over the past 4 weeks in that one week I checked my weight and there was no change and then the next week there was.

I've also heard that the best gains happen the first few weeks so I'm assuming now it will take longer and be much harder to put on the next 0.5 stone. I feel what I'm eating at the moment is my max and cannot stuff my face anymore however I guess the more I weigh the more I'll need to eat to continue weight gain? (my target is 12 stone).

Any more comments or suggestions are very welcome and thanks again for the advice thus far.

Simon

rubadub

Take measurements of muscles and take photos to guage progress. Slow progess goes un-noticed, like if you have a child in the house growing up it is not as apparent as if you see a friends kid every year or so who seems to have shot up.

Weight can vary all the time, you should weigh yourself on the same scales at the same time each week. I could have 3 pints in my stomach and 2 pints in my bladder and be fully hyrdrated. Next day I would be running on empty and dehydrated and be 7lb lighter, when really it is just water.

justsomebloke

also add some protein to your breakfast

I_and_I

Don't force feed yourself too much is all I will say, there are down sides to gaining that much weight that quickly. Don't have your expectations at an unreachable height either. When I started weight training it took me 3 months to put on 1/2 a stone, but it was pure lean muscle (well....) because I ate right and trained right and thats what its all about, not just piling on the weight.