Consistent Workouts But No Gains

Hi all

I have posted on here a few times in regards to form chexk etc. Finally decided to ditch working at home and start going to the gym. I have been for the past 4 months consistently working out at the gym with the stronglifts 5x5.

For 4 months i have consistenly been benching and pressing and a few weeks ago I later started rowing, aquating and deadlifitng. In 4 months I have

Bench started at 37.5kg and ended up at 47.5kg
Overhead press started at 22.5kg went up to 32.5 and somehow ended up to 27.5.
Squats went from 40kg to 60kg in like 5 sessions
Deadlifts went from 40kg to 80kg in 5 sessions.
Rowing went from 30 to 40kg in 5 sessions

Wirh squats and deadlifts and rowing I feel like i started off much below my capability so its been eaay. But as u can see with my bench and overhead press I have been stagant. Wht is that??? i work out three times a week. I eat 1600 calories recommended for me cause i am an office worker but i do walk to work 2ks , 2 days a week. 175cm tall and 72kg. I actually dropped to 69.5 but still not a drastic weight loss. I eat almost 2.5kg of chicken meat a week for protien. About 400g a day it comes out to be. I get around 7hrs of sleep. Why am I not making gains?? is it the program? also I am now finding it struggle to complete squats. 5x5 recommmends it every workout sessions

Who recommended that you have only 1600 cal/day? By bodyweight your maintenance would be between 2200 cal/day and 2700 cal/day. So there’s already one probable cause for your lack of progress, you simply aren’t eating enough at 1600 cal/day. Broadly, you can lose fat or get stronger. Not both. It’s a little different if you already carry a decent amount of muscle, but from your description you don’t.

What else do you eat apart from chicken? Four hundred grams of chicken per day is peanuts. It doesn’t matter how much you’re sleeping if you aren’t eating.

Chances are your diet is the main problem. Stronglifts is pretty shitty program but again, you could be on the best program in the world and see no progress if you aren’t eating right.

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Exactly as @MarkKO says.

Stop being a nugget and eat some nuggets a big Mac, large fries and a coke.

Eat eat eat

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You’re miscalculating something. 400g of protein = 1600 kcals. I struggle to believe that you’re eating nothing but chicken. No carbs, no fats?

Eat more (maybe 2500 kcals?) and make sure you’re tracking stuff properly.

I did a double take there too. I think it refers to 400 grams of chicken per day, not protein. If it’s 400 grams of protein per day and nothing but chicken that’s a whole new level of not good.

Yh sorry I meant to say 400 grams of chicken meat. But i eat around 150g of protein a day or thats my target anways. I got the 1600 calories from my fitness pal.I also obiously eat carbs and etc to make up for the rest of the calories

Ah ok, my bad. Yeah definitely eat more - I’d be keen to capitalise on this super-anabolic period you’ll never get to experience again! If you’ve dropped several kilos then it’s safe to say you’re not eating enough to get stronger :slight_smile:

Good luck!

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When you set up MFP;
input current weight,

Set your goal weight (you will have to set this higher than your current weight)

Set it to gain 0.25 - 0.5kg p/week (Depending on how concerned you are with fat gain)

Set activity level to active

Change macro goals to 45% carb, 30% protein, 25% fat

Hitting your CALORIE goal EVERYDAY is your number 1 goal, this should be your sole focus! When you’re hitting this consistently… then start to adjust the diet to fit your macros.

You should find this puts you at LEAST 2,800kcals per day.

Switch your program to starting strength from stronglifts and follow the program exactly for 8 - 12 weeks, you will get bigger and stronger. There’s just no other option.

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I don’t know any programs that starts off with upper body only and adds squats and deadlift after 3.5 months.

Also, 4 months is nothing.

Fix your diet and get on a proven program. By next year, you will see great improvements.

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Yeah it’s called stronglift :joy:

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Touché

On a side note, i did use SL 5x5 once when I fixed my squat stance. Started with empty bar. My knees hated me…

In addition to the lack of calories, you just started squatting and deadlifting. You’ve only really been training for growth for the time you’ve been using these movements.

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Yeah everyone stalls sooner or later on stronglifts, move on to 5/3/1 or a Dan John template like this…

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Cheers guys. After almost 4 years of one and off trying, I am living by myself making ok money so its easier to eat whatever deit and hit the gym. Btw 2800 Cals seems like a lot. like its almost twice what i eat now. I really dont do much cardio except walk every now and then. Also i am.not gym savvy but starting strength omits barbell rows for deadlifts and 5x3 instead of 5x5

Yeah forget SS -same sort of limitations as SL and you hit a wall pretty quickly. The programs I posted have tons of sucess stories on these forums, try one.

As a minmum get one kind of cardio/ conditioning session in a week. Quality of life/energy and long term health will suffer over time if neglected

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Yeah that fine, whatever doesnt hurt your shoulders

Thanks,I really like the program and wasnt sure about modifying it. I’m either going to use it or try 5-3-1. I want to get bigger but my daughter is an athlete and she trains with me. So I have to find something that works for the both of us