[quote]Garro wrote:
eating is an obvious factor in not making gains[/quote]
Not obvious to me.It a well documented fact ,that the human body will use fat supplys to fuel/build musculature if a great enough demand (ie hard training) is placed upon the system.That in essence is what fat stores are for,The preservation of the bodys system.
By the same token if the fat store have been exausted(as in starvation) the body will then use muscle to preserve the organs,and lastly the brain.
Its also been well observed in studies with rats,given no nutrients at all, insulin,or growth hormone that growth can still occur,in response to GAS (general adaption syndrome)
Sergio olivias favourite post workout meal was coke and pizza,which essentially is the exact fuel that muscles require ie calories and water.I dont think his results suffered!
Still wanna keep chucking protein drinks down your throat?
[quote]coomo wrote:
The people with the top end genetics in this sport that are monsters that made progress for years and years after they turned pro are doing something that the ones that stay the same aren’t, that makes me take notice.
Have to disagree with this statement.The reason the top guys are there is due to genetics.PERIOD.They are not doing anything that “every body else” isnt doing.Its that there system allows for the rapid accumilation of muscle.
In fact they are less inclined to change anything,Simply they dont NEED to.They can do ANYTHING and aquire larger muscles,any system,any diet any regiem.Simply put they have no idea why they are able to easily aquire an abnormal musculature.If you want to know why Nijinsky can run so fast,dont ask the horse ,it wont know.[/quote]
I think you are missing the point. Anyone who steps on the pro stage and especially Olympia stage has incredible genetics. My point was some bodybuilders have been competing at the same bodyweights for years, some guys creep up the ladder. I would look to the ones who gained size for some time after turning pro for guidance as to how to maximize a physique.
A prime example right now up and coming is Trey Brewer(not pro YET). The guy is a genetic freak for sure, but so are many of the top level NPC guys. He gained a tremendous amount of his size from training for powerlifting and eating his way up to what most would call a fat football lineman type physique. But when he widdled down the bodyfat he blew people away with his size for his age or any for that matter. If he had spent his time doing pump workouts working on the feel of the muscle and never losing sight of his abs he’d be nowhere near his level now.
I forgot to put it in my first post, I still think progression and big time food is they key for success however TIME and consistency are the real factors after those things.
If you want to be huge, it takes years and years to gain significant amounts of muscle,
If you want to be strong it takes years and years to build up incredible poundages,
Being lean doesn’t take as much time but still if you are sloppy and out of shape from 25 years of crappy eating don’t expect to be ripped in 6 weeks.
Whatever your goal is people must be patient and willing to pay their dues doing the hard work over time to ever experience significant changes to their bodies.
Sticking to a program is important. I’ve been doing some variation of a 4-day Upper-Lower Split for 2 years now and the improvements I’ve seen haven’t stalled.
But that shouldn’t stop you from cycling exercises used or rep-set schemes used.
Good topic! If I had to pick a number one reason it would be the opposite of what the original poster wrote.
I think it is more accurate to say that people STOP making gains because they continue to train in the same fashion (exercises, reps, order, ROM, frequency) after their bodies have adapted to the routine.
[quote]Sxio wrote:
I do not even see why there is a discussion about this on this site.
Every single one of you should know that there is not 1 reason, there are 3.
Diet.
Training.
Rest.
That’s it. Blame your crappy results on your training if you wish, but unless you’re training like a pussy, that’s not the reason. [/quote]
I agree that “half-assed” training will yield little results (unless you need to detrain for a few weeks to recover). Even busting your ass in the gym will result in no gains if your body has adapted to the routine.
[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
Even busting your ass in the gym will result in no gains if your body has adapted to the routine.
[/quote]
I see people write similar things a lot and I’m hoping you can explain so I’m not jumping to conclusions here. Let’s make it simple and say someone is doing 5x5 for barbell rows with 185.
When you say adapt do you mean no longer progresses in terms of weight reps sets etc, or something else like an amount of time doing the same procedure?
If it’s the first I understand and pretty much agre, but if it’s the second I couldn’t disagree more.
adding weight to the bar should be the only major change your program ever requires (given that its a good one).
Iv been playing around with the Accumulation/Intensification ideas that CT presents, but havent been with it long enough to know a lot about effectiveness yet. Even that comes down to one thing though-adding weight to the bar.
Since this is turning into a general “why no progress” thread I’ll say diet is way up there. ANY overloading of the muscles will produce at least some results in the presence of adequate nutrition. There are lots of people who refuse to eat enough.
[quote]scottiscool wrote:
MytchBucanan wrote:
Even busting your ass in the gym will result in no gains if your body has adapted to the routine.
I see people write similar things a lot and I’m hoping you can explain so I’m not jumping to conclusions here. Let’s make it simple and say someone is doing 5x5 for barbell rows with 185.
When you say adapt do you mean no longer progresses in terms of weight reps sets etc, or something else like an amount of time doing the same procedure?
If it’s the first I understand and pretty much agre, but if it’s the second I couldn’t disagree more. [/quote]
I can only speak from my experience (and a few training partners). When I say adapt, I mean having completed enough cycles of the routine to where your body is no longer shocked by the workout itself and therefore doesn’t respond in terms of size and/or strength.
I have found that changing reps (fairly drastically) or exercises tends to keep the progress going.
i have easily had days where i eat 4500 - 5000 calories, but i find them mentally exhausting, all day i think about eating, what im going ot eat next, when im not longer full “oh i dont feel sick anymore time to eat!”
eating big, all the time is tough, especially when im a student. i’ve been training for a year and making decent progress, it could have been faster but who am i racing, you know? i eat more like 3000 calories per day now and i can usually add 10 - 15lbs to the bar every 4 weeks or so.
my mentality is that if i keep my diet the same, but progress with weights, wouldn’t i gradually peak at the same weight, but with less fat and more muscle and strength?
ie 165lbs 12%bf - 165lbs 6%bf
over 2 years or so while increasing in strength and keeping diet the ssame (~3000 cals ~250g protein blah blah blah)
[quote]scottiscool wrote:
MytchBucanan wrote:
Even busting your ass in the gym will result in no gains if your body has adapted to the routine.
I see people write similar things a lot and I’m hoping you can explain so I’m not jumping to conclusions here. Let’s make it simple and say someone is doing 5x5 for barbell rows with 185.
When you say adapt do you mean no longer progresses in terms of weight reps sets etc, or something else like an amount of time doing the same procedure?
If it’s the first I understand and pretty much agre, but if it’s the second I couldn’t disagree more. [/quote]
Yeah, if you’re working the exact same weight/sets/reps the obviously you’re going to stall and probably after not too long. However I’ve never bought into the idea that after a certain period it’s just time to change your program/routine.
[quote]IrishMarc wrote:
The number 1 reason people don’t make gains is effort.[/quote]
The true main reason is that people do not do what is actually required.
I think if people stopped reading articles online and actually put in some targeted effort, they would not be complaining.