New guy needing some guidance

[BigSwole84]

I am relatively new to weight lifting and I was hoping that someone could answer a question.
I am 19 years old, soon to be 20 and recently started lifting hoping to gain some weight. I am 6'4" and Last september, I weighed 170lbs. I now weigh 198 and am pretty happy with the gains that I have made. However, since about the first of the year I haven't gained any weight. I consistantly stayed between 194 and 198. A friend of mine told me that It may have something to do with drinking coffee (which I started doing alot right around the time I stopped putting on weight). I was hoping someone could give me a clue as to why this is happening. I am on creatine and am taking 10g per day. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Also, if anyone has any tips on using creatine that would be nice to. Thanks

 

[aerowana]

If not gaining that means you are past your newbie gains. And thats where the hard part comes. But upping the calorie intake always results in weight gain. Just my 2 cents cos Im a newbie too.

 

[tuc biscuit]

I suspect you aren't eating enough of training smart enough. To gain you need a good amount of quality calories, a classic bulking diet would consist of things like meats, potatoes, rice, oatmeal etc. in large quantities. When it comes to trainiung a classic beginner mistake is to overtrain due to great enthusiasm, slap your routine up and I/the other members will have a look. Also coffee shouldn't have a dramatic effect either way.


When I used creatine I took 10g a day post workout and took it with a simple carb source and had good results, remember when taking creatine it is important to drink large amounts of water (at least 6 litres a day).

 

[bigstve12]

coffee is not responsible for your lack of weight gain...if that were the case, half the people on this board would be much smaller! Eat more, Train smarter....Your gains will come farther and fewer between now that you are no longer a beginner....but they will be much more appreciated...just keep at it man

 

[Bulldog_10]

Yeah...post up your routine and diet and we'll take a look, I'm sure we can make a lot of adjustments to put you on the right track.

Also, how long have you been taking creatine?

 

[bran987]

Coffee will not make you stop gaining weight, but personally, it really blunts my hunger. Meaning you may be eating less while still feeling full and not realize you have decreased calories.

Plus if you have gained 28 pounds you need to increase calories even further to keep gaining.

 

[Backlash]

Yep, the more you weigh (at least, LBM), the more you need to eat to keep gaining. I have experienced the same thing. Started at about 170 last year and I've been plateaued at around 205 for a couple months.

 

[BigSwole84]

My routine:
I try to Workout six times a week. I dedicate each day to one particular muscle group and may hit a smaller one as a bonus. One day will be biceps then they get a week to rest. And so on, throughout Legs, chest, triceps, shoulders, and back. I eat cereal in the morning and take a protien shake with creatine . When I get to work I eat 4scrambled eggs or some tuna. Lunch consists of something with protien (tuna helper, turkey burgers, etc.) Pre workout I will generally grab something quick with some protein like a bagel with peanut butter or a tunafish sandwich. For post-workout dinner I will eat A steak or chicken or something else high in protein with a protein shake and creatine.
Thats pretty much it. I do want to jump to 3 shakes a day, That may help.
Do what you can with this and let me know where I am going wrong.

 

[bran987]

I hope you don't mean your 6 training days are in this order:

biceps
legs
chest
triceps
shoulders
back

If so.. you are hitting biceps 2 days in a row, shoulders 2 days in a row, and triceps 3 days in a row.
You also have 5 upper body days and 1 lower body day.

But I am not sure you mean this so clarify this up before we talk s'more!

 

[BigSwole84]

Here is an idea of my routine. It kinda fluctuates and there is really no set schedule. I just make shure that Each exercise is not going to incorporate a muscle group that is still recovering from its workout. For instance, I will not do Back and Legs on back-to-back days. I am sure that you are gritting your teeth at what I am telling you and I kinda got the idea that I may be wrong in how my routine is laid out but I am a newbie and still learning. If you have some better advice I am all ears.

Routine:
Biceps
Triceps
Legs
chest
shoulders
Back

 

[Backlash]

1. Biceps don't need their own day. They are a realatively small muscle group.

2. Training 6 days a week is bad for most people. You need to give your muscles and CNS time to recover and grow. I think the most common split is 4 out of 7 or 4 out of 8 days.

 

[WalkingBeast]

Welcome to the boards!! You might want to train arms together on thier own day. Works real well for me. Aside from that the split looks good. Coffee shouldnt effect your gains, but Ive read it kills creatine or something to that effect. Not sure how true that is. Keep training hard and gaining knowledge from the boards! Youll reach your goals

 

[BigSwole84]

1. Biceps don't need their own day. They are a realatively small muscle group.

2. Training 6 days a week is bad for most people. You need to give your muscles and CNS time to recover and grow. I think the most common split is 4 out of 7 or 4 out of 8 days.

With the bicep thing, I train biceps with 4 different exercises and then hit forearms. it ends up taking about an hour with two people to finish biceps which would make it hard to get another muscle group in there with the time I have available in the gym.

 

[Backlash]

Why do you do 4 different exercises for biceps? That sounds like overkill to me. As I said, it's a small muscle group; it should be worked completely in fewer sets.

 

[Synpax]

I do bicep on the same day as back and have been using the 5x5 thing. Looks like this:
back
deads 5x5
back lat pulldown 2x10
DB shrugs 2x10

bi
EZ barbell curls 5x5 (against a wall, NO CHEATING!!!)
t-bar row 2x10
wide bar grip cable row 2x10

 

[bigstve12]

yeah man...you should check out 5x5...you have a day just for tris?? Thats crazy. I would be outta there in 20min...same with a bi/forearm day. I think you need to be a little more efficient

 

[BigSwole84]

yeah man...you should check out 5x5...you have a day just for tris?? Thats crazy. I would be outta there in 20min...same with a bi/forearm day. I think you need to be a little more efficient

Yea, for tris, I do weighted dips, close grip bench and skull crushers. 3x10 for all. I was doing the 5x5 thing but I wanted to try something different just to experiment with other routines to find out what works best for me. I have to give the 5x5 props tho... Last november, my max bench was 175 and by january it was over 200. I will probably end up going back to the 5x5.

 

[BigSwole84]

Here is an overview of what each day consists of. tell me if I need to change something.

BICEPS : EZ curl, hammer curls, lateral (across the chest) curls, reverse EZ curl, forearm curls.

TRICEPS : Weighted dips, close grip bench press, skull crushers

LEGS : Squat, leg extensions, hamstring curls, stiff legged deadlift or lunges.

CHEST : Flat bench, incline or decline bench, Flys

SHOULDERS : Military press, arnold press, front, side, and rear arm raises.

BACK : Deadlift, pull-ups, dumbell rows or cable rows, shruggs.

All exercises 3x10