How am I doing on 3x5?

[Wes24]

Well it's been a while since I've posted. I've been doing the 3x5 for almost a month now. I'm still at my same weight of 180 lbs @ 6'2". I work out three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and rest the remaining days. I haven't done any cardio during this time due to my desire to get bigger along with eat alot but with my high metabolism I'm not sure if it's been beneficial. My arms and my legs are definitely stronger, and maybe a little larger. I don't get sore after working out and didn't even from the start. I may not be going heavy enough on squats though my bench declined on my last workout. I could only muster 1 full set, with the 2nd set at 1.5 reps total (115 lbs, up 10 lbs from almost three weeks ago), previous workout bench 2nd set I did 3 reps.

Mon will be workout A, Wed will be workout B, Fri will be workout A again. Then next week will be workout B, A, B and then back to the start again the next week.

Here is my most recent workout A:

Squats warm-up: 2x5xbar, 1x5x75

Squats 3x5x120
Bench 3x5x115
Deadlift 1x5x115

Workout B:

same warmup as A

Squats 3x5x120
Military Press 3x5x50
Pendlay Rows 3x5x80

I work out at a gym and am using an olympic bar, and I factor it's weight into the total I'm lifting. Something that has somewhat discouraged me recently more than the failed bench attempts was a guy who works there told me doing the squats 3 times a week like I do is not a good idea and that I should be working the seperate muscle groups. He said that is why I'm not getting sore because I'm accustomed to it and I'm not going heavy enough. He said he thinks I'd easily do 130 lb squats, which I think is doable also. I've bought Starting Strength just recently, and getting into it, but then I here this guy tell me I should do all these other exercises and I'm confused. And I did tell him that I'm doing the compound lifts for mass and he also does these lifts but they are mixed in throughout the week with a whole lot of other exercises, not sure which are machine or free-weights.

Any and all help appreciated!

 

[Protobuilder]

I'm still at my same weight of 180 lbs @ 6'2".

You're not gaining weight b/c you're not eating enough. Simple. And easy to fix. You need a "get big" drink.

My arms and my legs are definitely stronger, and maybe a little larger.

See above.

I don't get sore after working out and didn't even from the start.

Read this

Something that has somewhat discouraged me recently more than the failed bench attempts was a guy who works there told me doing the squats 3 times a week like I do is not a good idea and that I should be working the seperate muscle groups. He said that is why I'm not getting sore because I'm accustomed to it and I'm not going heavy enough. He said he thinks I'd easily do 130 lb squats, which I think is doable also. I've bought Starting Strength just recently, and getting into it, but then I here this guy tell me I should do all these other exercises and I'm confused.

Mark Rippetoe knows his shit. He's achieved results for many trainees. Period. Who's this guy at the gym? What's he done?

And I did tell him that I'm doing the compound lifts for mass and he also does these lifts but they are mixed in throughout the week with a whole lot of other exercises, not sure which are machine or free-weights.

You're at diff't stages in your training. What works for him may be very diff't than what works for you. Stick to what you're learning in Starting Strength.

 

[Wes24]

I am taking a whey powder though it's low carbs. Maybe I need a gainer powder. I'm certain I don't take in enough protein too. Some days I've had 3 shakes to make up for the meals I ate no protein at all. I do know it's ideal to get the majority from whole food and not powders.

The guy works at the store right next to the gym, Max Muscle. He's fairly large, very little fat. I've only talked with him a few times. Just from my observations since I started working out there alot of the guys are hopping from one machine to the next and they do a shitload of reps. I realize that it's unlikely that if they gain muscle mass they will not also get strong, but maybe less than if they were doing less reps heavier weights and more free weights, especially the compound movements. This is something I predicted would happen to when I joined the gym; everyone is going to tell me their own best version of how to workout 'properly'.

 

[ZGzaZ]

This is not an amazing transformation, and is only 2 months between the two pictures, so not much time to add a lot of muscle, but here is what squatting 3x a week has done for my quads, so tell that trainer hes a moron if he thinks you can't squat 3x a week and gain size.

 

[Rabid_Goose]

You want a gainer shake? Simple and easy. Two servings of your Whey Powder, 2 servings of whole cup milk, 2 servings of ANPB and a serving or two of chocolate ice cream and you'll be sitting at 1100 calories or so from the shake. Or make it 1% milk or something, just lose 100 calories but you won't be weighed down as much.

Tastey as hell too.

Anywho, what's your diet?

 

[Wes24]

I don't drink milk at all. I'm not lactose intolerant but choose not to. I am allergic to all nuts so I can't do that. As with milk, I don't eat ice cream either. I drink my whey with rice dream only. It's like chocolate milk to me, I love it. I take it before and after working out and often at other times throughout the day.

It would be silly for me to write my diet here just because it is whatever I'm craving for any meal, though I attempt to eat protein for each whenever possible. I do however write the times and what I ate for each meal or snack during the day in a little notebook I keep with me. I had been following a meal plan someone had posted for me in an earlier thread I made but it got tiring eating 12 oz of eggbeaters each morning and cooking chicken that would last me only a day and I didn't have enough time to do it between work and all. I had been eating sandwich meat for some time before this but stopped and went to whole chicken tenderloins.

 

[Rabid_Goose]

You have a ball park of the calories, then?

 

[Wes24]

I found a website that has calorie content for hundreds of foods but the thing is it can vary so much. Like say I eat a baked potato, the sizes are never the same; sometimes they are large, others are small. And when I have a bowl of cereal I don't first pour it into a measuring cup to determine how many servings and therefore how many calories, etc it has. I just pour it into a bowl and it depends how hungry I am how much goes in. I know this sounds like I'm complaining but how do you guys figure it out, or at least get a ballpark. I'm not sure what my daily maintenance intake should be either.

Also, as to my workouts. Is there anything I should change or add to? I plan to add in dips and/or ab work. How are my warm-ups looking? Should I add cardio at all during the week?

TIA

 

[Rabid_Goose]

I'm not too well off on training routines to help you out on that one.

But diet wise, I have written so many things down over and over, you can name a food I eat and I can tell you the serving size, calories, protein, fat and carbs majority of the time. Dieting is like a 2nd job, you do it all the time. If you are going to cut you have to watch what you eat, but bulking and you don't mind dirty bulking and sometimes the health concerns that could come with it, then just eat. Don't worry about anything really, just eat.

 

[Protobuilder]

I don't drink milk at all. I'm not lactose intolerant but choose not to. I am allergic to all nuts so I can't do that. As with milk, I don't eat ice cream either. I drink my whey with rice dream only. It's like chocolate milk to me, I love it. I take it before and after working out and often at other times throughout the day.

It would be silly for me to write my diet here just because it is whatever I'm craving for any meal, though I attempt to eat protein for each whenever possible. I do however write the times and what I ate for each meal or snack during the day in a little notebook I keep with me. I had been following a meal plan someone had posted for me in an earlier thread I made but it got tiring eating 12 oz of eggbeaters each morning and cooking chicken that would last me only a day and I didn't have enough time to do it between work and all. I had been eating sandwich meat for some time before this but stopped and went to whole chicken tenderloins.

Nobody said gaining muscle would be easy. I don't give a shit what your "maintenance" levels are or how many calories the website says are in the dry baked potato you just ate. The scale isn't moving. You're not building muscle. Simple.

1) you MUST get enough protein each and every day. this isn't optional if you want to gain. It's easier to drink it than eat it but you should strive to eat whole foods if possible. And it's not easy. You're always cooking, cleaning, eating, etc. It gets tiresome. Milk makes it easier b/c you can stir in protein powder and various other stuff to get a solid shake that you can drink all day long.

2) if the scale starts moving, you're eating "enough" . . . keep doing it day in and day out and keep a rough eye on the scale.

You won't build shit if your food intake is "hit and miss." Decide whether you want to do it. If you're not up to it, don't whine when you haven't gained.