6 years and nothing to show

skinny_guy

I have been hitting the gym for 6 years on and off and I have gained barely any muscle. I am a typical ectomorph which doesn't help. Every time I go to the gym I see someone bigger than me which kills my motivation. I have a friend I go to the gym with and he can be a dick sometimes. He keeps putting me down and saying that I should be huge by now because I have went for 6 years. I know he is only messing but it really lowers my self esteem.

I know I have to eat a lot more but I suffer from IBS and find it hard to eat a lot. I am currently taking Serious Mass which helps a lot for extra calories but I think its upsetting my stomach.

I also go out about 3 times a week, so sometimes I wake up hungover or miss meals.

So basically I'm just looking for tips and advice that will help give me more motivation, my self esteem could not be any lower at the minute. Would appreciate any advice on trying to get into a proper workout routine.
Should I start sacrificing going out on nights out? Does anyone here suffer from IBS who finds it easy to put on the pounds?

Inspector Coptoor

The alcohol could be contributing to the IBS.

You should try the following for 6 weeks & see how you get on:
From your diet:
Eliminate all foods containing gluten, lectins or giladin
Eliminate dairy.
Eliminate white carbs
Eliminate alcohol (it's only 6 weeks & still leaves time for Christmas sessions)

Aim to hit a 10-15% kcal surya every day.

Track your kcals using my fitness pal or fitday.com.

Follow a properly structured weight training programme 3-4 times per week for the 6 weeks.

Report back on your experience.

double GG

The IBS is probably the big constraint for you. In order to build muscles you need a calorie surplus so the IBS may be hindering this.

What is your diet like? Do you track your macros? (Protein, Carbs and fat intake?)

nice_guy80

you need a new friend

Brian?

nice_guy80 wrote: »

you need a new friend

That's step one anyway.

I've just gone on a gluten free diet and I can't believe the difference. It has to be worth a go for you. My GI doctors tells me there is a disproportionate amount of Irish people that suffer from coeliac disease. Probably best to steer clear of dairy as well, I am fairly sure you can get lactose free whey protein.

How does eating steak, potatoes and eggs effect you? If none of them upset your IBS eat them like they're going out of fashion. Rice would be another good carb source, but it really doesn't soak up the egg yoke like spuds.

Edit: NO MORE SERIOUS MASS!!!!

nice_guy80

Just to add to my previous post

You are not getting the basics right

1 - eat good food. You don't seem to know what you can or cannot eat. You need to get that looked at by a professional dietician

2 - training environment. training is more than 50% mental. you need a positive setting for training which will get you motivated and help you get results. if you don't have that change gym or training partner. I know plenty of people who've had to do it - some people just cannot say anything positive.

3 - your program. if you've really been training for 6 years with no results then you seriously need to look at your training program. again, get to a professional strength and conditioning coach who will set you off on the right path.

gosuckonalemon

1) Harden up and don't be offended when your friend takes the piss, you're a big boy now.

2) Stop going out 3 times a week.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Seeing bigger dudes In The gym should be motivation. Go over to them and ask advice.most big dudes worked very hard to get big and are glad to give advice and take the complement of being askd for advice.

You seem to know what the issues are for your first post,decide what your priorities are and adjust your lifestyle to match.

The Guvnor

There will always be someone bigger than you, stronger than you, better looking than you - the list goes on and on...

If we all dwelled on this we'd never do anything.

You've been going to the gym for 6 years but so - there is no book that says after x number of years you should be doing x,y, or looking like z etc.

What are your stats?

How big is your friend - not that any of this matters.

There is an Irish chap who was mentioned to me twice as having an incredible physique and fantastic potential as a European or even better world champion.



Ashly is about 63kg and he competes in the sub 70kg category in bodybuilding.

He came 9th in the Arnold European Championships and as above was giving away 10% of his bodyweight.

By all accounts Ashly is not a big man being all of 63kg but the picture tells us a different story!

Don't worry about size just work with what you have and try to improve where possible.

generic2012

Get rid of spicey foods, gluten and dairy for a week, slowly introduce each one back into your diet to see which causes the most distress. I love milk and it caused me to get the most gains when I started out. I drank 4 litres a day went to the gym 3-4 times a week (high volume, if i was doing it again I would probably go high intensity, but it worked) and went out Friday - Sunday. I didn't gain that much fat, I dont know if it was because of CLA in the milk fat and all that kind of craic or the high volume training or both. Milk is easy calories that arent filling. 4 litres is circa 140 grams of protein. Dont listen to anyone who talks about overtraining, it only happens to extreme cyclists and ultra runners. Anyone who mentions it in terms of bodybuilding is talking about under recovery, to avoid that just eat and sleep lots.

I agree with Inspector Coptoor about tracking calories and the structured workout plan. I only recently started using my fitness pal and its great. I dont use it everyday or track every food, just an odd meal here and there which it has allowed to guess how much calories Im consuming by eyeballing. I dont need to be terribly accurate, neither do you, just eat in a surplus. Any structured weight lifting plan will work, not because they are all good but because if theyre structured, you can compare previous workouts and see progression. I recommend using the JEFIT app for this.

I terms of the actual work in the gym I would would aim for the 8 - 12 rep range, not because its a magic muscle building rep range but because I think it allows for better form. When you can lift a weight for 12 reps, lift 2.5-5 kg heavier at the next workout, which will put you back down to around the 8 rep range and keep repeating this system till the gym runs out of weight. I usually aim for the lower end of the spectrum for big muscles and the higher end for smaller muscles.

And of course, compound lift. That means bench press, pull up, squat, dead lift and military press. Most beginners want big biceps but dont want to do uncomfortable heavy lifts. This study concluded that that doing big leg movements increased bicep size due to the increase in testosterone that occurs after heavy and/or compound lifts (drinking lowers testosterone too). http://www.ergo-log.com/wantbiggerbiceps.html

Sorcha16

You will not build muscle if you are burning more calories than you are taking in, it's really that simple. If you want to bulk up, it's essential that you create a calorie surplus. Additional calories will provide the increased mass you're looking for and regular workouts will ensure the mass you gain isn't stored as fat. Low body fat will also make any muscle that you have appear more defined.

If you have difficulty eating large quantities of food, make sure the food that you do eat is high-calorie -think pasta, potatoes (high carb for energy) and eggs, lean meat, cheese, nuts (high protein to repair and build muscle)

Adequate rest is absolutely essential so you may also need to review your sleeping habits.

Finally, what other people look like is of no relevance to you. Focus on your own training plan and stick to it. Repetition gets results

papu

Sorcha16 wrote: »

You will not build muscle if you are burning more calories than you are taking in, it's really that simple. If you want to bulk up, it's essential that you create a calorie surplus.

True , But the amount of calories you need to gain muscle is far far less than the amount you need to burn fat , it is possible to do both.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/gain-muscle-lose-fat/

Found this a few weeks ago , but I've basically been doing this for a long time without knowing it.

He has another good article on Bulking and Cutting
http://scoobysworkshop.com/bulking-and-cutting/

This guy knows his stuff