Feeling Demoted-Log to come.

RidleyRider

So for since October I've been trying to gain lean muscle mass to no avail. I'm training in the gym 3-4 times per week. I'm getting in my compound movements and I'm training my abs 3 times a week. Thing is, there's no size difference and no visible improvement in my abs. Strength is there, I can bicep curl 18kg and 20kg at a push and form is good. I train hard, I don't slack. I'm doing my cardio,- I cycle a lot.

Food I was told by an ex-Olympian was good but I'll give you guys a rough idea of how and when I eat.

Breakfast 9am;
1/2-1 cup of oatmeal
2 eggs (cooked in some form)

Mid- Morning 11am;
Salad of sorts with a meat- chicken, turkey, beef, ham etc..


Lunch 2pm;
Soup with bread/roll
Chicken breast/pork chops.

Or spag bol.

GYM at 3pm to about half 5. Creatine before gym and after. Also protein shake.

Dinner 6pm;
Meats with vegetables. (Try not to consume carbs from here out)


Night meal 8pm;
Tuna salad or something along those lines.


That's roughly my day to day eating. Foods do vary of course.


My stats lie at this;

Age- 18
Weight- 68.9kg or 10st 11.9lb
Height- 5ft 11.3inch or 181cm
Body Fat %- 10.6% although varies between 10-11%
Fat Mass- 1st 2.0lb or 7.3kg
Free Fat Mass- 9st 9.8lb or g1.6kg

Where I'd like to be is;

Between 75-78kg with a body fat of between 6-8%.



Has anyone got any tips on gaining lean mass and dropping my fat %? Any suggestions welcome on food or potential supplements to take.

Its really depressing not to be seeing the gains considering the training that I have been putting in in the gym.

Note; I only drink roughly once every two months or so and do not smoke.

Oryx

As a casual observer I reckon you're not eating enough. You don't give portion sizes but still, it seems too little.

What do you do in the gym?

TommyKnocker

What do you do in the Gym that takes 2 hours 30 minutes

MaceFace

I gained 7lbs overall and my bf% went from 18.98 to 17.48 since September.

I learned a lot in this time and I would say the key things (for me) are:

1. Progressive overload
2. Eat loads (clean)
3. Sleep
4. Do cardio to get warm up or cool down only.
5. Rest muscle groups at least 48 hours before hitting them again.
6. Forget lowering bf% when building muscle. Do one or the other.
7. Figure out EXACTLY what your calorie intake should be with a macro breakdown.
8. Mix up the routine often.

What do you mean by putting on lean muscle? Is this in general or are you targeting your abs for some reason?

Give a breakdown of what you do in the gym.

RidleyRider

TommyKnocker wrote: »

What do you do in the Gym that takes 2 hours 30 minutes

I train core every time I'm in the gym. That takes a good hour and then the muscles I've mentioned below.

Oryx wrote: »

As a casual observer I reckon you're not eating enough. You don't give portion sizes but still, it seems too little.

What do you do in the gym?

I'll give a rough estimation of portion sizes soon. What I do in the gym is different from day to day.

Monday;
Biceps, triceps and legs.

Wednesday;
Back, shoulders and a light chest work out.

Friday;
Chest, legs, light biceps and triceps.

MaceFace wrote: »

I gained 7lbs overall and my bf% went from 18.98 to 17.48 since September.

I learned a lot in this time and I would say the key things (for me) are:

1. Progressive overload
2. Eat loads (clean)
3. Sleep
4. Do cardio to get warm up or cool down only.
5. Rest muscle groups at least 48 hours before hitting them again.
6. Forget lowering bf% when building muscle. Do one or the other.
7. Figure out EXACTLY what your calorie intake should be with a macro breakdown.
8. Mix up the routine often.

What do you mean by putting on lean muscle? Is this in general or are you targeting your abs for some reason?

Give a breakdown of what you do in the gym.

I'd like to be up to 75-6kg with minimal body fat and some real definition to my muscles. I do most of the above except calorie count and I don't mix my routine up until I feel I have gotten the most out of it.

Hanley

You spend an hour training your core?! How????!

RidleyRider

TommyKnocker wrote: »

What do you do in the Gym that takes 2 hours 30 minutes

Oryx wrote: »

As a casual observer I reckon you're not eating enough. You don't give portion sizes but still, it seems too little.

What do you do in the gym?

MaceFace wrote: »

I gained 7lbs overall and my bf% went from 18.98 to 17.48 since September.

I learned a lot in this time and I would say the key things (for me) are:

1. Progressive overload
2. Eat loads (clean)
3. Sleep
4. Do cardio to get warm up or cool down only.
5. Rest muscle groups at least 48 hours before hitting them again.
6. Forget lowering bf% when building muscle. Do one or the other.
7. Figure out EXACTLY what your calorie intake should be with a macro breakdown.
8. Mix up the routine often.

What do you mean by putting on lean muscle? Is this in general or are you targeting your abs for some reason?

Give a breakdown of what you do in the gym.

Hanley wrote: »

You spend an hour training your core?! How????!

That's just how long it takes me tbh, cover about 5 exercises doing so.

ConorCBS

RidleyRider wrote: »

That's just how long it takes me tbh, cover about 5 exercises doing so.

You're wasting your time.

Do you squat/bench/deadlift?

RidleyRider

ConorCBS wrote: »

You're wasting your time.

Do you squat/bench/deadlift?

How so?

Yup, yup and yup.

Hanley

RidleyRider wrote: »

How so?

Yup, yup and yup.

...mostly because it's not delivering the results you want.

And unless it's part of an extensive rehab program there's absolutely no need to ever train your core for that long. Ever.

RidleyRider

Hanley wrote: »

...mostly because it's not delivering the results you want.

And unless it's part of an extensive rehab program there's absolutely no need to ever train your core for that long. Ever.

So what would you recommend as an overall?

Hanley

RidleyRider wrote: »

So what would you recommend as an overall?

Stop doing an hour of core work and sort out your nutrition.

kennyb3

I'd never want to see a gym again if i trained my core for one hour for even one day - no wonder your demotivated.

If your doing 2.5 hours 3/4 times a week and cycling on top of that - your not eating nearly enough.

How many hours cycling a week are you doing?

Brian?

Forget about listing foods. How many kcals are you eating? What's the macro nutrient break down; fat/protein/carbs.

What's your squat, deadlift and bench?

Once you know that your answer will be obvious.

RidleyRider

Brian? wrote: »

Forget about listing foods. How many kcals are you eating? What's the macro nutrient break down; fat/protein/carbs.

What's your squat, deadlift and bench?

Once you know that your answer will be obvious.

I'll get my macros for you hopefully tomorrow.

Squat max is; 70kg
Bench max; 65kg
Deadlift max; 140kg.

Hailhail1967

Holy :-)

If you can pull 140kg, surely you can squat more than 70kg? What exactly are you trying to gain with the Ab work?

Anyway I would be getting rid of this "light bicep" stuff for a start. No need to be that long in the gym, its utter madness.

Find a structured gym program for yourself and follow it. At your size/age/weight, I wouln;t be worrying to much about loosing body fat at the minute.

And as mentioned get some exact portions up.

Eat more - Train heavy = Muscle :-)

RidleyRider

Hailhail1967 wrote: »

If you can pull 140kg, surely you can squat more than 70kg? What exactly are you trying to gain with the Ab work?

Anyway I would be getting rid of this "light bicep" stuff for a start. No need to be that long in the gym, its utter madness.

Find a structured gym program for yourself and follow it. At your size/age/weight, I wouln;t be worrying to much about loosing body fat at the minute.

And as mentioned get some exact portions up.

Eat more - Train heavy = Muscle :-)

I could squat more but I have this fear of falling in my ass or being stuck in the down position. Those max's are usually just sets of 5 reps. I'd like to see more visible abs than anything, or some more tone-age if you follow?

How can I structure a prgramme and not spend that long in the gym without working the muscles? I mean, how do I cut my time in the gym but still work all the muscles?

Has anyone got a programme of training on a PDF or anything that would be good for me?