Not seeing big results yet

[SirDingo]

I got back into weight lifting this Spring. At first I was just doing my own program, of 3sets of 8reps and a 4th set of 5reps heavy weight. But I wasn't doing the right routine per most of everyone on this board.

So in May I switched to a PULL, PUSH, and LEG routine working out 3 days a week. I also added Deadlifts, and Squats to the program. I do everything in a 5x5 setup, first two sets are light warm up to perfect form, and loosen up, and the final three sets are much heavier, and I add weight to the bar every week.

It is end of July, and yes I have seen little results, even my friends said I look slightly fuller, but my arms still look the same, they don't have that shirt busting bulge yet, the main thing I have seen improve my chest is bigger, and the shoulders more defined and pumped out, but the biceps to me barely look any different.

When I first started working out I was 165lbs, now I weight between close to 175lbs, I am 5'10

The routine I am doing is correct right, 5x5 program >? I guess I need to have a little patience as Axl says.

Please reply with constructive advice, and if nothing of substance to add then don't even reply, thank's.

EDIT;

What is this site all about http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_index.html
15reps, then 10reps and 5reps ??

 

[StuWard]

It's unrealistic to expect huge gains so fast. The fact that your friends see a difference is evidence that it's working. If you keep it up, by next summer you'll be a lot bigger and your arms will catch up. Biceps are small muscles so they take a while to see a difference. They are just more visible so of course you want them to get bigger faster. The natural tendancy is to hit them harder more often. The trouble with that is that muscle is built during the recovery time. Training too frequently can be detrimental. Just work the arms indirectly on your push/pull days and once a week do a few sets of direct work, say on Friday if you take the weekend off. That will give you enough recovery time to build some muscle.

You were given some good advise on the other thread but it got lost between the wisecracks.

Different body parts require different recovery times. This time to recovery depends also on the training age of the person and also the intensity. 1 week is too long for most, especially for a beginner. An advanced trainer can train legs once a week, chest and back hard every 4 days and arms every 3 days, for example. (see Dr. Squat's ABC program) A beginner can train whole body 3 times a week. That's what you should do as in Rippetoe's Starting Strength program.

The bottom line is you need fewer exercises per body part per workout but more frequent workouts. You will get faster gains that way.

 

[Sculelos]

I agree with steward on everything he said, I can vouch for the Starting Strength program, I started about 2 months ago and I think I've put on about 5lbs of muscle, although I'm still not that much different since 5lbs spreads pretty thinly across a 6' 5" guy. In 1-2 months I probably will look quite a bit different, and I'm betting by next summer I will look fairly big for the first time in my life.

 

[s8nlilhlpr2]

I think you might have had better results had you stuck with one program and excelled at it. Everyone month you seem to get fed up or bored and change your routine. Just eat more....pretty simple. 10lbs doesn't look like that much.

 

[SirDingo]

It's unrealistic to expect huge gains so fast. The fact that your friends see a difference is evidence that it's working. If you keep it up, by next summer you'll be a lot bigger and your arms will catch up. Biceps are small muscles so they take a while to see a difference. They are just more visible so of course you want them to get bigger faster. The natural tendancy is to hit them harder more often. The trouble with that is that muscle is built during the recovery time. Training too frequently can be detrimental. Just work the arms indirectly on your push/pull days and once a week do a few sets of direct work, say on Friday if you take the weekend off. That will give you enough recovery time to build some muscle.

You were given some good advise on the other thread but it got lost between the wisecracks.

Different body parts require different recovery times. This time to recovery depends also on the training age of the person and also the intensity. 1 week is too long for most, especially for a beginner. An advanced trainer can train legs once a week, chest and back hard every 4 days and arms every 3 days, for example. (see Dr. Squat's ABC program) A beginner can train whole body 3 times a week. That's what you should do as in Rippetoe's Starting Strength program.

The bottom line is you need fewer exercises per body part per workout but more frequent workouts. You will get faster gains that way.

Thank you for the good word's So if I am in the "beginner" stage ya say I can workout whole body three times a week ? So what about this routine I have been doing for two months, and it seems to be working, although slowly

PUSH day; all in 5x5 = 2sets light warmup, 3sets very heavy weight, and every couple weeks add more weight ??

- Bench presses
- Military Press
- Dips
- Weighted Push ups

PULL day;

- DeadLift
- Bent Row's
- Weighted Chin up's
- Dumbbell curls

LEG day;
- Squats
- several other leg exercises


I do these three routines once a week they last like 45 minutes, spread out a day off between each, and all in a 5x5 program. I the guy giving me advice said it worked for him, and took several months to see good results, and closer to 6-12months to get big results

He said keep lifting heavy on the final sets, and add weight to the bar every week or when ever I can, also eat more and drink Protein shakes

What is your opinion ??

 

[StuWard]

It's not bad and it might have worked for him. However, doing upper body once a week is too low a frequency for most people. Try moving chin ups to push day and military press to pull day for example. That means twice a week you train both push and pull. This will give you a high volume day where you should be pretty well spent at the end and a light day where you are just trying to prevent atrophy, sort of active rest. You should separate the 2 upper body days so they are 3-4 days apart. Maybe put legs on Weds. Legs take longer to recover so weekly, although not optimal, is good enough.

 

[coreyb]

Well I wasn't seeing much results either on the 3x5 when I had only gained 10 lbs. That isn't much man! Just wait to gain about 30-40 lbs, then you'll see why this program is the greatest! I have not isolated my bis/tris since I started this program and they're a lot bigger now. Have patience.

 

[Nathan]

Switch up your routine again and try looking at your diet - it's entirely possible you aren't eating enough, let alone enough of the right foods. You need to keep adapting numerous aspects of your plan - training, diet, frequency of training, etc. - every couple months or so in order to keep growing and progressing.

 

[s8nlilhlpr2]

Switch up your routine again and try looking at your diet - it's entirely possible you aren't eating enough, let alone enough of the right foods. You need to keep adapting numerous aspects of your plan - training, diet, frequency of training, etc. - every couple months or so in order to keep growing and progressing.

I seriously doubt he needs to "switchup" his routine again. IF he had followed the original routine recommended to him here, he would be well on his way. Instead, he butchered his own version of the 5x5, decided he didn't like it, made a new routine with help from a guy in the gym, decided it wasn't working, etc....

The whole idea of the 3x5 or 5x5 is simply to get better at the lifts and keep adding weight. I doubt he ever read the training sticky or the training primer for 5x5. He doesn't adapt every couple months, he gets bored EVERY month and makes a new post on here asking what to change.

Eat more, lift more, don't be scared to put on weight.

 

[SirDingo]

I seriously doubt he needs to "switchup" his routine again. IF he had followed the original routine recommended to him here, he would be well on his way. Instead, he butchered his own version of the 5x5, decided he didn't like it, made a new routine with help from a guy in the gym, decided it wasn't working, etc....

The whole idea of the 3x5 or 5x5 is simply to get better at the lifts and keep adding weight. I doubt he ever read the training sticky or the training primer for 5x5. He doesn't adapt every couple months, he gets bored EVERY month and makes a new post on here asking what to change.

Eat more, lift more, don't be scared to put on weight.

Thanks for the criticism again.

Anyways I think what I have been doing since June is exactly what everybody here told me to do to begin with ? Even the guy telling me to do this PUSH, PULL and LEG routine is a big fan of the 5x5 program linked on this website. So what I am doing now is what ya recommended me to do.

I just need to stick with it, add weight often and eat more.

But I just made a thread a few weeks ago and people here said I shouldn't follow the 5x5 like a bible, but could do it allot different and that got me more confused. I always though the 5x5 meant do each exercise of 5sets of 5reps, with the two first sets being light weight to help form and warmup, and the final three sets the same weight of much heavier to gain muscle mass, and that every week or two i should add weight to the bar ??